WD Photography

10/28/2026

"Golden Solitude" 🍂🍁🌅

A Hooded Merganser drifting through the morning's first light, wrapped in a blanket of golden autumn colours.

I captured this image recently at my local pond. The surrounding vegetation was gleaming with golden colour just as the sun started to rise. Normally I'm trying to photograph birds up close but some moments are better suited showcasing the environment that wildlife actually live in. Here in Barrie, we are now in a moment where all of the plant life seems frozen in a fragile golden state. It's wonderful.

📍Barrie, ON 🇨🇦 / Oct 24, 2026

📷 Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500mm @ 500mm / f5.6 / ISO-640 / 1/1000

10/27/2026

"Just a little bird in a big world. 🌾"

10/26/2026

This Hooded Merganser Drake was soaking up the surrounding Autumn colour at my local pond the other morning. A foggy sunrise along with the reflections from the trees created a surreal atmosphere. It was a busy spot for the Hooded Mergansers as there were at least six to eight of them resting and feeding. I hadn't seen them here since the Springtime.

Mergansers in general are normally VERY skittish. I've had decent luck photographing Common Mergansers in the past but the Hooded Mergansers always evade me no matter how discreet I am. They always fly away or swim to the far side of the pond where I can't get any decent images. This time I found a perfect little beaver trail beside a storm water outlet and was able to hide most of my body quite well while keeping my camera steady near the surface of the water. I am sure these guys knew I was there but did not feel threatened as they swam very close to me on occasion as I kept a very minimal profile.

📍Barrie, ON 🇨🇦

🍁🍂

Gear & Settings:
Nikon Z6 & Nikon 200-500
@ 500mm 1/1250 f5.6 ISO-640

10/23/2026

Wilson’s Falls 🌊🌲🍁🍂

I think I’ve visited most of the waterfalls around Bracebridge now and Wilson’s Falls imaged here is top of the list for me. For being so close to town you’d never know it, it seems you’re out in a much more remote location when exploring it. There are excellent hiking trails with access to multiple vantage points for photos and sightseeing. There are multiple falls as well which make up Wilson’s Falls as a whole. I definitely recommend checking it out !

This image was captured on Thanksgiving weekend for anyone curious about the current Fall colours there.

📍Wilson’s Falls, Bracebridge 🇨🇦

10/22/2026

“Muskoka Road 169” 🚙🌲✨

169 is literally right in the heart of Ontario’s cottage country. Connecting Hwy 11 and 69 to the west while meandering through the Canadian Shield and passing by some famous lakes such as L. Joseph and L. Muskoka. Many famous celebrities own cottages and movies have been filmed in this area. For good reason, it’s definitely an incredibly beautiful part of Ontario during all four seasons. Also the night sky views aren’t too shabby either👌✨

📍just NW of Gravenhurst, ON 🇨🇦

10/21/2026

Some very interesting info about this colourful sugar maple from a local expert, Dieter Mueller:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2287417375336423/posts/2379705259440967/?comment_id=2381489765929183

“The Maple” 🍁

This time of year nature puts on an absolutely wonderful display of colour in Ontario. I have been literally stalking this particular maple tree on my way to and from work the past several years. Every year I always admire its beauty with its fullness and bright yellow orange hues as I go driving by.

Problem is there are industrial buildings all around as it’s located right in the city of Barrie. So, in order to properly photograph the tree and do it justice I needed to find an angle where I can have the tree in my image without the distracting human elements in the shot. Luckily, this tree is perched up on a very small but steep hill alongside the road and sidewalk. While placing my camera and wide angle lens basically on the ground and angled upward, I was able to photograph the tree at pretty cool angle.

What do you think, was I successful in capturing the beauty of this maple tree ?

📍Barrie, ON 🇨🇦
Nikon Z6 & Irix Firefly 15mm
@ 15mm ISO-200 f3.5 1/100

10/20/2026

Bumblebees hard at work collecting pollen from the late season aster 🐝🌸

10/19/2026

The winding roads of Muskoka are a great way to take in the Autumn’s Golden Encore 🍁🍂

📍Southwood Rd, Muskoka 🇨🇦

10/18/2026

It's a bright and perfectly clear day in Barrie on Oct 18, 2026
2:30pm / Temp 17°C / Sunny 🌞

I figured it would be a perfectly good time to get out the 500mm lens and ND100000 Neutral Density Filter which blocks 99.999% of incoming light.

What we see in the images is a fairly active sun with numerous sunspots in the center and also right hand side of the portion of the sun currently facing us.

Photographers typically use these extreme filters to take pictures of the sun to witness sunspot activity and also solar eclipses.

10/17/2026

“The Maple” 🍁

This time of year nature puts on an absolutely wonderful display of colour in Ontario. I have been literally stalking this particular maple tree on my way to and from work the past several years. Every year I always admire its beauty with its fullness and bright yellow orange hues as I go driving by.

Problem is there are industrial buildings all around as it’s located right in the city of Barrie. So, in order to properly photograph the tree and do it justice I needed to find an angle where I can have the tree in my image without the distracting human elements in the shot. Luckily, this tree is perched up on a very small but steep hill alongside the road and sidewalk. While placing my camera and wide angle lens basically on the ground and angled upward, I was able to photograph the tree at pretty cool angle.

What do you think, was I successful in capturing the beauty of this maple tree ?

📍Barrie, ON 🇨🇦
Nikon Z6 & Irix Firefly 15mm
@ 15mm ISO-200 f3.5 1/100