The Best Photographs of October

If September presented too many great photos from which to choose, October appears to have been a bit of a dry spell, photographically. I have chosen the following six from that month but I'd be very hard pressed to find a seventh worthy of this list.

Take a look, think about it and then cast your vote for Favourite Photograph from October. You can use the "Comment" button at the end of this post, send me an email or speak to me in person. And thanks for your help!

#1: Urban Farm (281)

 #2: Spectacular Orange (283)

 #3: Framed Front Entrance (291)

 #4: Red Sky at Morning (297)

 #5: Catching Fire (298)

#6: Reflections In Sharp Focus (304)

September's Favourite Photograph is...

September's Winner

 #3: A Swath of Sunlight!

What an interesting vote for the photo of the month for September. Everybody seemed to agree that it was a strong group from which to choose but nobody seemed to be able to agree on a favourite. As you can see from the online comments, our three voters each preferred a different first choice, with one going with the Sunlight shot, one the Cake picture and one the Wilmot photo.

The same went for people who emailed me or talked to me in person. Lots of interest, little consensus on a first pick. But just about everybody mentioned "A Swath of Sunlight" as a wonderful photograph, most saying that, if it wasn't their first choice, then at least it was their second.

So it's the big winner this month. I have to admit, I love all five of these shots so I'm grateful for all the help in picking the best of them.

Watch out for the next vote, Favourite Photo for October, coming soon!

Truro's Victoria Park, in all its glory

Jacob's Ladder

 After hearing about my own battery-operated debacle with my camera, our friends Tiziana and Marco very kindly sent along some of their own photographs of Truro's stunning Victoria Park. You'll notice, of course that the first two shots were taken during the summer while the bottom two are winter scenes.

The park is beautiful in all seasons, apparently.

The swimming hole

There are boardwalks and wooden stairs criss-crossing the place, including the daunting Jacob's Ladder, a challenge for even the most fit stair-walker. And you'll find any number of water falls, large and small, the size of each depending on the season.

Can you imagine that the second and fourth photos capture the same scene? Kind of amazing, isn't it? Thank you, Tiziana and Marco, for sharing these lovely shots!

Cascades in winter

Yep, that's the swimming hole in winter

Make Tracks for Truro... and glorious Victoria Park

Man, I hate those rookie photographer mistakes. I'm no pro but I'm a lot better than forgetting to recharge my camera batteries the night before going to one of the most stunning, and surprising, city parks in Canada.

One of many tiny waterfalls

Patti and I visited friends in Truro this past weekend for a birthday party, our first visit to the city that calls itself the hub of Nova Scotia. Truro's slogan is "Make Tracks for Truro", which is a lot of fun to say, by the way, and recalls the city's railroad past, I guess.

At the party, we had several locals tell us of the glories of Victoria Park, an inner city park that was supposed to blow us away if we got a chance to visit. I'm always skeptical about these kinds of comments, since too many people in the world suffer from too much civic pride, in my opinion.

When I got the chance to visit Victoria Park the following morning, however, I learned very quickly that Trurorians (I just made that up) have every reason to be proud of this magnificent park.

The placid stream

Victoria Park is absolutely beautiful. Centred on a narrow river valley, it features a gorgeous wooded setting, complete with complementary wood bridges and stairs that lead up the sides of the valley. It's quiet and lush; you feel like you've left the world completely behind.

Unfortunately for me, however, I had neglected to recharge the Olympus' batteries before my visit and suffered the ignominy of hearing the "Batteries Dead" chime immediately following my second photograph of the day.

Even worse, the two shots I did manage to take before the batteries gave up the ghost are pretty bad. They capture none of the park's beauty and, in fact, insult my memory of the place. The bottom shot is especially awful, making a beautiful stream look like a sewer. Oh well. We'll go back and I'll get more, better photos. I promise.