Winter Wonderland in Tobermory, ON

After packing on a crisp Friday morning, Carlos and I drove 3.5 hours north of Toronto, to be surrounded by trees, the lake, hiking trails, and lots of snow. Work had been getting really busy, and things in my personal life had been taking a stressful turn. Getting away from the business of the city for the Family Day long weekend was perfect. I really wanted, and felt like I needed to do nothing. And by nothing, I meant, no longer striving, working, or hustling... just for a weekend. 

Most of the time at the cottage was spent relaxing, reading, cozying up by the fireplace, and watching some Netflix.  The best part was the tech detox, keeping our phones away and just spending some quiet time talking, reflecting, reading, relaxing, napping.. it was so wonderful. 

Taking the SLR with us, we went hiking and came across a semi-frozen lake in -21 degrees Celsius weather (-5.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The hike was a good hour at least, I honestly couldn't feel my feet by the end of it! My hair also formed mini icicles where condensation from my breathing formed water droplets that froze. 

In fact, there were only two businesses open when we were there - a grocery store and one restaurant/pub. We went to Tobermory Brewhouse Company for a romantic dinner (it was the only place open). This one of course taken with my iPhone 6Plus and a selfie-stick!

Taking Pictures Around the Cottage

What a huge difference between this scene and the city! Our winter this year has been extremely mild, barely any snow and temperatures hovering just below zero and sometimes above zero degrees Celsius as well.

Its been a while since I've shot photos I put on his boots and went outside onto the deck.  There was an eerie mist over the lake, which seemed to be too rough to freeze over.



I took this one a litte bit earlier in the morning before the sun had come out. Winter has a tendency to look very drab and dreary when photographed raw. So when post-processing in Lightroom, I was sure to increase the contrast drastically (more so than non-winter photographs), add a bit of saturation & slightly increase exposure.

I still only own one lens for my camera, Canon EOS SL1, the camera kit lens 18-55mm f 3.5-5.6. Its a great starter lens and honestly good enough for someone who occasionally photographs. I loved taking macro photography/closeups of the winter scenery:

 I was so fascinated by the texture of the pine needles in snow.

Photos from our Hike

I was taking the camera out so often from the pack that Carlos was carrying, taking off my gloves each time in order to snap a picture, my fingers actually started to feel very painful from the cold.

There was a point in the forest that I wanted to stop, turn around and go home because of the pain in my fingers (sharp pins and needles in all of my digits). Even when I had put them back into my gloves they still remained cold and very painful. Carlos took my hands out and tried to warm them using his own hands and breathing on them. Eventually I warmed up and we trekked on!

A trail sign pointing us in the right direction!:

A lot of the snow on these trees looked very heavy! Its impressive how the branches seemed to hold up.

This was probably one of the neatest scenes we came across on the hike, the lake's waters were pretty rough, and closer to the shore they were still enough for the surface water to freeze.

"Snow lift":

I squatted very close to the ground to take this shot:

There were times where we would be hiking and there would be a scene that I would see and instantly feel like this would make a beautiful picture. The sunlight coming through the trees seemed like a good opportunity - although using the camera in these temperatures was pretty difficult: 

One last look at the lake before turning back to head home:

We wanted to ensure we got home before the sun set, as we felt the temperatures would probably plummet at that point.

It was a wonderful trip, and I think this was the first time that I actually enjoyed a hike. Carlos and I didn't really talk much during the hike. I just focused on the nature in front of me, and literally putting one foot in front of the other.