We’ve had an early warm Spring with all my trees in full bloom this year. I took some time over the last couple of weeks to photo a few examples before the wind and rain took them all away last week.
My favourite, the Artificial Crabapple tree. Beautiful blossoms but you cannot eat the fruit that follows. A ton of chubby bees were loving these as well.
A “real” Crabapple tree Pincherry
Seems to be lots of these in bloom…
The first four images were taken with a Macro 100mm lens. The last two are Lensbaby images, close up with the zoom lens… I think!
The main event at the Dryden Air Show was The Canadian Forces Snowbirds Jet Demonstration Team. They put on an excellent show as they are known to do, having highly skilled pilots and technicians along with superior standards.
I’ll have to chalk up this part of the photography to a great learning experience, I failed to do the Snowbirds justice this first time out. Even with a 400mm lens the planes were small in a group, difficult to focus on and track; just when you think you have focus lock and are following them in closer, they suddenly veer out and the shot’s gone! lol A clear blue sky would have helped with exposure as well since the light was forever changing. So many considerations if you are looking for good shots. The planes are beautiful to behold in the sky… and fast!
Still in all, an enjoyable afternoon at a well-organized, inspiring event. Thanks Dryden!
Read about our Canadian Snowbirds and aspire to the images taken by their team photographer.
More of my photo experience in my Image Gallery.
Last Saturday we attended Dryden’s Centennial Air Show, about an hour from home. It’s been years since we enjoyed an air show and this was my first experience with a camera in hand. I learned tons about what not to do the next time in terms of photography, however it will likely be years before another show comes our way and what I learned will be long forgotten by then! Quite the experience.
The first half of the show was commemorative in nature and very interesting historically.
This B-25 Bomber heads back through the smoke to survey the result of the “bombs” it has just dropped.
Swiftly moving in on the target. Stunning Pyro effects! The bomb cavity wide open.
The B-25J “Miss Mitchell” completed over 130 missions as part of the 12th Air Force in North Africa and Italy during WWII. Following a 12-year restoration by the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in 1992, Miss Mitchell now appears at air shows throughout the United States and Canada.
The sounds and visual effects of this demonstration were quite sobering for me… one can only imagine what war really is.
Luckily, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Water Bombing Demonstration followed shortly afterwards. 
Lensbaby plus a +10 Macro accessory
One from the May Photowalk Theme List for a change… it’s the back of an old barn, taken while we were in Barrie. I thought the padlock on the door was cute…
EF-S 17-55 2.8 lens @ 51mm – f.8, 1/30s, ISO 200
Lots of blue tones in these and I decided to ramp up the vibrance and go with it. I used a circular polarizer but did not have an effective angle for it in the full barn shot, as you can see from the uneven sky colour.
The Barrie waterfront is one of my favourite spots to spend the day in the summer. However, April visiting is another story. Despite the warm sun it was horribly cold with strong bitter winds, we weren’t there for long. There is a beautiful large fountain on one of the penninsula’s that I wanted to photograph but it was not running this early in the season. I was disappointed to find that it was the same throughout the Barrie area – the interesting places I had hoped to photograph were not yet open to the public.
The Spirit Catcher Sculpture, an impressive Barrie Landmark at the waterfront. It dwarfed my three grandchildren, who were very good sports about yet another photograph even though they were freezing! I liked the distortion of the city in the background in this one, taken with a wide-angle lens; I’m thinking a fisheye just might be a fun addition to my equipment at some point. More on this sculpture and Barrie, ON here.
Despite the cold there were still people boating, fishing off the shore and walking the many pathways on this sunny Sunday. Even though we live in a more northern area of Ontario, we found the Spring dampness and cold strong winds of Barrie much harder to take!
