This past Sunday Zach, Gussy and I headed to Tobermory in hopes of finding snow and some picturesque landscapes to photograph – a rather spur of the moment and short lived trip, but honestly, I didn’t think I would make it up to Tobermory this year, so it was a very welcome trip, no less. If you’ve been a long time reader, than you know I annually camp in the Bruce Peninsula and always make a stop in Tobermory. However, this past Summer, because of Gus’ back surgery I wasn’t able to make it up there for camping, which left me feeling like I had a pretty lackluster Summer. And while it’s been a couple years since I stepped foot on Flower Pot Island (praise that glorious place), I was able to see it, way in the distance, from the tower we climbed, that uncharacteristically made me feel a little nervous, which I’m hoping doesn’t mean I have developed a fear of heights.
Tag: Bruce Peninsula
Natural State
Here are a few images I finally got developed from the Summer, when Ryan and I were camping in Bruce Peninsula National Park. These photos were taken at Horse Lake, which we had all to ourselves while shooting. I kind of wish I had brought more film with me – like I had in previous years while camping – but to be honest, the trip was more about relaxing, being with nature and each other, and sometimes it’s nice to just ignore your camera and not have any expectations for yourself.
I kind of like how rough these turned out – rough in the way that my hair is sort-of messy, and my makeup is barely there, and you can really notice my very questionable posture for a dancer. I like how film feels imperfect, and real, and that I, just like film, am imperfect, and real. There is something so liberating about not be able to check yourself in the mirror before shooting. I mean, when I shoot for this blog, I don’t bring a mirror with me to the location (I’m just too lazy to care about something like that), but before I leave the house, without a doubt, I have made sure I look okay. And with technology aka DSLRs, you can see what you look like immediately after taking a photo, which really acts as a mirror. With my Pentax, this is not possible, and being in the woods, the only mirror you may have brought with you is your tiny compact, and that’s in the car, far from where you are. Unlike DSLRs, I can’t see what every image looks like and fine tune the things I do not like for the next few snaps I take. There is no immediate editing, and no way to erase the image once the shutter has closed.
*photos by Ryan, taken with Pentax K1000
Dress: vintage
Belle Vie / 21: The Grotto & Cyprus Lake
1-8. Ryan really loved The Grotto. He must have spent over an hour jumping off rocks and cliffs and swimming in the freezing cold water. As mentioned before, I’m not absolutely in love with swimming in lakes etc. It makes me uneasy to not know what’s beneath my feet. I was quite happy to watch Ryan have a great time and snap photos in between scaling the rocky walls and dipping my feet in the, let me repeat, freezing cold water.
9-12. Ryan and I did a 5 km hike along the Cyprus Lake trail on our third day camping. He started to freak me out once we got deep into the forest, telling me stories about him or friends coming across rattle snakes and black bears, oh my! (Wizard of Oz anyone?!) But all was well. Not a sighting of either, which to be honest, sort of made me sad. Both freak me out, but would have been cool to see them in the flesh, at a safe distance.
*photos of me by Ryan. And that’s it for my camping trip photos.
Belle Vie / 20: Bruce Peninsula National Park
1-2. Ryan found the perfect walking stick while we were driving into the campsite. By the end of the trip he had carved the whole thing down to be as smooth as a baby’s bottom.
3. Ryan helping out a boy trying to climb onto the rock.
4. While Ryan was jumping off cliffs and swimming, I took pictures of him and stood with just my feet in the water. It was freezing! No thanks.
5. Water for days and days and days.
6. Sitting on top of the cliffs at The Grotto. It may look like I was pondering the universe, but I was probably mad at Ryan because he wouldn’t stop trying to put his dirty, wet underwear in my backpack!
7. Ryan copying my very unimpressed face. We have pretty much no pictures together, and when we do, they look like this.
8. Ryan and I did a little photoshoot with my Pentax when we found a secluded area during our hike. Smart Ryan decided to also snap a few shots with my DSLR so we could see some of the images right away.
9. I was having the hardest time really capturing how lovely this toadstool was. The orange was so vibrant I saw it from a mile away…this is the best one I could get, and still doesn’t do it justice.
10. Hanging out on the beach after our 2.5hr hike around the Cyprus Lake trail. Yes, those are my resting feet…they always look pointed.
11. More beach hangs.
12. Ryan noticed a tree that was totally dead and ready to come down right in our campsite – giving it a little poke.
13. Mountain man.
Boy Scouts
Finally sharing just a few images from our hike on our second day in Bruce Peninsula National Park. Since I had been here last Summer I knew I had to show Ryan all the amazing parts of the park. Number one on the list, The Grotto. Last summer we went during black fly season, so The Grotto was unbearable, but in late August, not a black fly to be found. This is a good thing because, well, no nasty black fly bites, but not so good because ALOT of people were around. I’ll talk more about The Grotto in another post though. All these images are from our hike up to it. If you have been following this blog for awhile, then you know how much I love hiking. Next to dancing, it is my happy place. That may sound odd, cause well, it’s just walking. But to me it’s far more than that. The harder the walk, the better. If I have to climb things, and figure out how to maneuver my body around obstacles and if there is an element of danger, well, that’s my jam. I have sort of talked before about having complete trust in my body and mind, and they often feel totally at one with eachother. And like I said in that post, I believe dancing has made me feel totally at ease with my body and it’s abilities. I just trust it, wholly. So, hiking till I die (hopefully not literally). And of course, I couldn’t leave home without my very Boy Scout-esque hiking uniform. It may make me nerdy to dress like this, and I do get the odd look here and there, but generally I am met with “oh, you look so cute!” and “i like your outfit.”. But if I had ever spent a minute of my life caring about what other people thought of me, well I would not dress or look or be the person I am today. Just bee yourself! (Aladdin, anyone?!)
*photos by Ryan
Button-up, shorts, boots, belt: thrifted
Bow tie: handmade
Backpack: TNA
okay andie 