Shifting foot to foot in the cold, just to photograph a bunch of ducks
I really don’t do well in the cold. Keep that in mind when you look at today’s photo offering. I trotted down to Queen’s Quay to snap a few photos of the ice. I usually avoid going down to the harbour during winter because it can be bitter but got this notion in my head that I had – yes had – to photograph ice on the lake. Not a clue why. And yet I did.
I’m glad I didn’t wimp out. Not a lot of photos, but a few that pleased me. The day’s adventure was about testing settings to get the best colour balance. I didn’t exactly cover myself with glory on that end. Quite a few awful pictures, although a few stood out. I scoured them, trying to figure out what worked, what didn’t and think I’ll go back down in a week to try some new settings.
One thing I didn’t know was Toronto is the winter home to ducks that paddle around the tundra all summer. 
They are Long-tailed ducks. Funny thing, I didn’t see a single Canada goose, but I saw quite of few of thee elegant looking birds. My lens really isn’t ideal for taking long shots of wildlife, but it did an admirable job. I didn’t know one of the birds had reared up like that until I was home looking over the photos. I’ll post a few more tomorrow after I’ve finished cropping them down.
Much of the ice was gone, so there wasn’t a lot to look at, but I took a few. I liked the combination of light and clouds bouncing off the thin layer of ice. Took a bit of work afterwards to adjust the exposure, I didn’t have things quite right. I’d like to try again with completely different settings to do a comparison of the colours, exposure etc. 
(I can’t believe I’m about to say this but …) hopefully it’ll get colder and the harbour will freeze up a bit more and I’ll slip down for another try, but I just looked out over the balcony, I see snow drifting down. Maybe I’ll lug my camera with me again today as I head out to work. Might get another shot like the ones I posted yesterday (take a look at them here).