Category Archives: Nature

Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography

Almost Full

This image of the “Almost Full” Hunter Moon was taken on October 26th in my driveway in Waterloo, Ontario. It was captured using the Celestron AZ102 Refractor Telescope and my Pixel 7 Pro’s rear camera. The telescope is Celestron’s next to bottom offering that I purchased on sale at Costco. There are much better telescopes out there but this one is more than adequate for the kids to see the moon and planet although the planets are quite small, and at that size there is a lot of natural earth shake transferred to the unit, but they are visible.

Image was captured on October 26th in Waterloo, Ontario
Equipment: Celestron AZ 102 Refractor Telescope and Google Pixel 7 Pro (Rear Camera)
Camera Settings: 6.81mm | 1/138 sec. at ƒ/1.9 | ISO200.
Additional processing including starfield rendering via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

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Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography

Dystopian Sunset

This image was shot over Lester B. Pearson International Airport near Toronto, Ontario at the peak of the northern wildfire smoke cloud that enveloped large portions of the Eastern Seaboard in June 2023. The image itself is an underdeveloped mess that despite its obvious flaws conveys an ominous window into a dystopian future.

Image was captured in June 2023 near Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Mississauga, Ontario
Equipment: Google Pixel 7 Pro (Rear Camera)
Settings: 19mm | 1/853 sec. at ƒ/3.5 | ISO11.
Additional processing via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

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From 29°C to WTF?

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©2023 Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotogrpahy

From 29°C to WTF?

After last week’s record-breaking heat the last two days I have woken up to this… Snow and temperatures hovering around the freezing point.

WTF!?!?!?

Just when you think that winter is behind us April reminds us that she can be an unpredictable and finicky one when it comes to weather. At least there hasn’t been much accumulation of the white. Don’t get me wrong, 29°C was nice but I’d be happy if we just got back to more seasonal spring weather!

©2023 Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotogrpahy
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Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography

Winter’s Last Gasp

This was the last image on my phone for March and I am hoping it is winter’s last gasp for 2023. I guess time will tell.

Image was captured in March 2023 in my neighbourhood, Waterloo, Ontario
Equipment: Google Pixel 7 Pro (Rear Camera)
Settings: 19mm | 1/110 sec. at ƒ/3.4 | ISO12600.
No additional processing. Watermark added via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

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Abandoned

The above photos were taken near a storm management pond in Northwest Waterloo. The unnamed area is a small oasis of engineered nature tucked into the suburban landscape that cradles it.

As I walked the trail with my camera the signs of abandonment were evident. The milkweed seeds have long flown, mature enough to leave their summer womb behind. An empty nest that sheltered a new generation once hidden in the dense foliage now barren and exposed. The small white seed globes are all that remain where the flowers of a Canadian Horseweed plant once bloomed, its remaining leaves black and shrivelled from an early frost.

The chlorophyll-laden hues of summer and the fiery shades of early autumn have long since faded, replaced by muted tones and subdued colour as this place waits for the snowy white of winter’s grip. For now, there is still plenty of beauty to be found in that which has been left behind and abandoned.

Images were captured in November 2022, in Northwestern Waterloo, Ontario.

Photo Details (left to right):
1) Canon EOS 60D, EF70-200mm ƒ/2.8L IS II USM | 200mm, 1/400 sec. at ƒ/2.8, ISO100
2) Canon EOS 60D, EF70-200mm ƒ/2.8L IS II USM | 130mm, 1/60 sec. at ƒ/4.5, ISO100
3) Canon EOS 60D, EF70-200mm ƒ/2.8L IS II USM | 200mm, 1/13 sec. at ƒ/11, ISO100
Additional processing via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

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Milkweed Blizzard

This late blooming Milkweed, well maybe bloomer isn’t the right terminology as we are talking seeds and not flowers, is just releasing its payload now in November. In early fall the pods of this Monarch butterfly favorite split open to reveal silky tufted seeds. Most have already blown away on the autumn wind but as I walked along the edge of the Grand River I happened upon this stubborn plant just getting to it. I took the opportunity to capture some images of the mini blizzard spilling from the dried pods. When I was done Nate helped the seeds on their journey by grabbing them in handfuls and throwing them up over his head and into the breeze.

Images were captured in November 2022, Claude Dubrick Trail along the Grand River, Waterloo, Ontario.

Photo Details (Clockwise from top left):
1) Canon EOS 60D, EF70-200mm ƒ/2.8L IS II USM | 200mm, 1/400 sec. at ƒ/3.2, ISO100
2) Canon EOS 60D, EF-S18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS | 135mm, 1/250 sec. at ƒ/5.6, ISO200
3) Canon EOS 60D, EF-S18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS | 135mm, 1/250 sec. at ƒ/5.6, ISO200
4) Canon EOS 60D, EF-S18-135mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS | 135mm, 1/250 sec. at ƒ/5.6, ISO200
Additional processing via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

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Divine Design

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Divine Design

I’d arranged some free time to take a quiet hike along the Grand River. It was a beautiful day, overcast but bursting with shades of fall in the crisp afternoon air. I stepped from the trail to examine a fallen tree, gnarled and weathered shades of sun-bleached gray concealing a punch of colour nestled within. Red, orange and yellow waves of an inner light radiating outwards across a monochromatic backdrop. I ponder the moments when each broke free from captivity, falling on the autumn wind before congregating in this nook. A series of seemingly random acts so divinely orchestrated.

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Hibiscus Syriacus (Rose of Sharon)

With the unofficial middle of the Canadian summer just days away the blooms from three Rose of Sharon bushes that line the right boundary of my backyard are bursting to life with stunning colour and beauty. It is early days for the flowering plants that will continue to bloom and dazzle into the fall.

It is fascinating to watch as hundreds of tightly wound buds push their way through the green pods that have guarded and nurtured their beautiful secret since beginning to form in early spring. Now they fill the yard with the flowers of purple, pink, and creamy white pictured above.

Even the spent pods are beautiful in their own way. See the surviving remnants of last year’s pods at Greg’s Blog post, New and Old from spring of this year.

Images were captured in July 2022 in my backyard in Waterloo Region, Ontario.
Equipment: Canon EOS 60D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Setting (Clockwise from top left): 1) 190mm, 1/8000 sec. at ƒ/2.8, ISO100 | 2) 200mm, 1/1250 sec. at ƒ/2.8, ISO100 | 3) 190mm, 1/8000 sec. at ƒ/2.8, ISO100 | 4) 182mm, 1/350 sec. at ƒ/8, ISO100 | 5) 110mm, 1/60 sec. at ƒ/8, ISO100
Additional processing via Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop.

Copyright 2022 Greg Glazebrook @ GMG Photography, All Rights Reserved.

As Local As It Gets

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As Local As It Gets

With summer has come a lot more time outside and less spent on the computer blogging or organizing and editing my photo archive. I am certain as the seasons turn I will return to the screen again to find a treasure trove of great content posted by all of those I follow. Until then I will be in the garden, at the diamonds, fields, and swimming pools watching the kids, or riding my bike around town and along the riverside trails. I will drop the occasional post when the mood strikes (like today) and both my photo series Backyard Beautiful and Queens of the Diamond will continue to update.

When you live in the Great White North summer is fleeting and the growing season too short to maintain a year-round garden. Most of the fresh food we consume comes from far-off places like California, Mexico, and South America. Of course, the war in Russia and government pandemic spending practices have sent fuel prices sky high and driven inflation upwards at a pace not seen in decades. The cost of food has not been immune to these upward pressures and is becoming unaffordable for many around the world.

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