Point Pelee National Park, established in 1918, resides no more than a twenty minute drive from my residence. Essentially it is the only area with trees in a local landscape dominating by agricultural development and greenhouse complexes. It is my refuge whether on a bicycle or with my kayak. Normally I arrive at the park before sunrise and on days when there is some fun cloud formations accumulating over the lake. Point Pelee is on Lake Erie which is remarkably shallow, which keeps the heat in and as a result, we frequently get vapour magic in the sky.
Blue Heron Refuge
The park is known world wide for being located on a significant bird migration route. In the spring, most of the songbirds arriving are nocturnal. With Point Pelee peninsula extending 20 kilometres into Lake Erie, this is the first point of land they see and it provides a much needed resting stop. Fall migration can begin as early as June and in October the locals host a migration festival, where numerous birdwatchers arrive from around the world, toting monopods and lenses that probably weigh more than me.
“At Point Pelee, the migratory birds are sure to collect preparatory to their passage across the Lake. It is a vast roadway over which birds of passage are sure to travel."
W. H. Ballou, 1877
Dedicated nocturnal Ornithologists
The Park is operated by Parks Canada and it is open year round. The majority of the park is accessible by vehicle, but off road vehicle's and motorized boats are prohibited. Bicycle trails and kayak/canoe launch points are available with the park offering third party boat rentals. A popular launch point, referred to as Boardwalk, allows the paddler access to a large marsh which adjoins the lake. During the summer, white swans, egrets and blue herons are abundant around its shores. Dodging beavers and muskrats is not uncommon.
The most popular way to explore the park is via the twelve kilometres of bike trails or cycle the nine kilometre main roadway to the visitor centre and then onward to “the tip”.
Boardwalk launch point. A cold early morning start. I am humbled by this guy
Self Back Portrait, Woodland Trail.
Numerous beaches are available on the west side of the park, with cooking and washroom facilities at the majority of them. Safe, clean and graffiti free. The east side of the peninsula receives the most wind and wave action. It is not recommended to swim as the currents are strong and very unpredictable. Fifty kilometres to the south of the ladies below is Ohio, U.S.A..
He just showed up
Conversing ladies
Every time I venture into the park, which is usually once a week, I am always rewarded with photographic opportunities. I find the following quote below so very appropriate;
Early morning beaver patrol
Photographer stand in
“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.” – Jay Maisel
Besides advocating the adage: good luck favours the prepared, I recommend to other enthusiastic amateur photographers the following necessities:
tripods as in plural. A high quality standard tripod and a compact in your pocket type model as well. I highly recommend the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB with BH100 Head and to a lesser extent the Vanguard. Espod CX 1 compact tabletop. Careful with this one as it is generally well made, except for the plastic locks for the legs. I still like it as it takes no room and it accommodates so well, shooting from the ground up.
2) get the app clear outside. It is amazingly accurate for providing weather information, specifically breaking down cloud cover at different altitudes and times of day. Also, if you are near major waterways, the app Maritime traffic.com is a must have.
3) If you are focused on landscapes, having a few graduated filters and an adjustable ND filter is a good idea. I use the Cokin system, which is good enough for the optics on my Pentax K1.
4) Bring along a hat(s) or other portable props, for those solo shots. I am a big fan of having a prime point of interest in my images and a lot of times the only one around at six o’clock in the morning is me.
Zeroed in
Just me at “the tip”
Thank you for viewing. Additional photographic exercises in insanity, can be seen on my encrypted just for fun website, Michael O’Hara Photography (oharaphoto.ca).
If you are a fan of mechanical graveyards and they're relics, silhouettes, mannequins and so on, maybe there’ll be some images you will enjoy.
Note: All photographs are copyrighted.