I woke up a little late, got a late start after finding the Cornwall Walmart and gather a few supplies. Cereal bars, cheap juice, etc. Stuff that I won’t spend ridiculous amounts in gas stations and that can also double as “breakfast”.

After that I found myself in a great mood. Very positive and feeling like no matter what happens this whole trip, the money concerns and life in general is going to work out wonderfully. I spent some time last night reading and learning about gear, techniques and looking at photos like the ones I hope to make money taking when I get home. That said, I’ll be available for portraits and creative photo projects once I’m home and ready to go. The positive side of needing certain gear is that I found out it really isn’t as expensive as I thought it was.

I drove the back roads most of the day today, finding some old farms, barns and the odd cool “tree” with a good layer of snow as a background all around. I found myself throwing caution to the wind and at many crossroads flipping a coin for the next direction. It was this that lead me to meeting my newest friend. I had just made a coin-flip turn and out of the corner of my eye saw something large and winged landing itself on the top of a fence post. Now I’m not a big brain when it comes to birds so I’m just gonna say it was a big beautiful light colored owl. Sitting there, hanging out.

I spun the truck around, pulled up on the opposite side of the road and quickly got my gear ready and slowly made my way across the road, taking shots every step. I got quite a few of him, sitting there, looking at the ground, looking at me. He seemed pretty casual, not threatened by me. We had a few moments then a car pulled up, slowed down, and proceeded to back up. Two guys get out, one armed with his point and shoot camera and proceeded to get closer and closer. As one decided he had to talk to me as his buddy approached the owl I was off my game. When my owl friend decided four is a crowd and flew away I missed capturing his departure as I hoped I would. None the less we shared a minute or two and that made my day.

So here I am in Kingston Ontario, home of the Tragically Hip. Sitting in the Second Cup having a coffee and using the wireless and more importantly enjoying the seat. Doing some edits to upload to this site and will hopefully have a shot of said owl friend up in a little bit.

My New Friend