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                 Lion's Head is located on the Bruce Peninsula about 80 kilometres north of Owen Sound. This area of the Niagara Escarpment is well-known for its rock formation that from a distance resembles the profile of a lion. Some 400 million years old, these Cabot Head, Amabel, and Guelph formations of bedrock are exposed in the cliff face. Glacial outwash and eroded potholes lie on top of the escarpment, while mounds of rock debris overgrown with vegetation, lie along the bottom. The cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, including those at Lion's Head, support one of the most ancient and least disturbed forest ecosystems in North America. Of particular interest are the ancient white cedars found along the cliff's edge. The park is also known for the presence of both nationally and provincially rare plant species. [Description from http://www.trailsandtamaracks.ca] We took the hiking trail starting from the parking lot at McCurdy Drive, went to Lion's Head Point and made the loop back to the parking through Moore Street side trail . It took us approximately 3.5 hours but we stopped for a lot of picture breaks. The wind was very strong that day with some rain which was extremely felt on all the lookout points. You will notice the rain drops on the lens on some pictures. The hike was very scenic. I personally love the forest on Bruce Peninsula. It is very magical. A lot of bright green moss covering stones and tree trunks, tree roots and rocks diversifying the trails and beautiful lookouts over Georgian Bay, not too mention the turquoise waters. You will be able to say from the pictures how much I enjoyed this hike :).      I love long weekends. Even though it is just one extra day off work it makes me feel like I get so much free time I have to do something useful with it. So we did. We planned a trip to Bruce Peninsula. It was special because our friend Madzia was celebrating the 30th birthday with some of her friends. We were all camping on the private land somewhere half way between Sauble Beach and Tobermory. The scenery was magical. It felt like a little private festival in beautiful cedar forest, with huge bone fires in the evenings, djs playing some great tunes all night long, and a great chilled crew to relax with. Nearby there was a very unique rock beach where we spend all days until sunsets. The beach had a moon feel to it because of the rock formation with thousands of little pores and cracks in it. The water was crystal clear and perfect for snorkeling. The rocks under water were flat and reddish in color which reminded me of a Mars surface with fish levitating above it;) It is one of these unique spots you want to keep to yourself as a secret place so it never becomes too popular and overcrowded.        I'm very happy to share that my picture was selected as an overall winner of the 2013 SNOW Media Showcase hosted by the Blue Mountain Resort and SBC Ski and Snowboard Resort Guide. Thank you everyone for the votes and all your support. I'm extremely pleased to be awarded among so many great photographers!. Below is the winning picture which was captured on Whistler Mountain, BC in December 2011 on a perfect pow day. :)  After a very long break I finally set up my home studio again. For that occasion I upgraded my two soft boxes with new fluorescent bulbs. I was previously using regular tungsten bulbs. They were heating up very quickly and would stop working in the middle of the shoots. I decided to fix this issue and bought the strongest fluorescent bulbs available in a local hardware store - 42W. Henry's offers 85W fluorescent bulbs, but they didn't have any in stock. I'm glad it happened cause it saved me a lot of money :). New bulbs made such a huge difference. The light is white, not yellow and the bulbs are not heating up at all. I had them on for good three hours without any problems. They are also much brighter than my previous set and on top of that they are energy efficient. Below are my favorite shots of that night with Peter Zielinski as a model.  Niagara Falls is located approximately 100 km from Toronto, about one hour drive. I visited it on many occasions, but I'm always excited to go back. The majesty of the falls impresses me every time. I can stand there for hours looking at thousands of gallons of water falling down, at the birds enjoying the breeze and playing with the wind, at people coming and leaving. There is something very special about this place. I just wish it was located somewhere in the middle of a forest, in more natural scenery.  |
