Pictures from the Earth: Judy Malley--Nova Scotia | Used by Permission

I've never visited Nova Scotia, but it's one of the places I aspire to see before I die.  Photographer Judy Malley has provided me with such a comprehensive glimpse of its many beauties.

All her Nova Scotia photographs just pulled me right in---it took me forever to choose which ones to use because there were so many that moved me. 

The ones I picked are magnificent, but you can click on her Flickr photostream and see many more equally so.  .

 

NOTICE:  All of the following photos are used by permission of the photographer.  Many are available for restricted use under a Creative Commons license----but do NOT copy or use these photographs without first consulting the terms of the applicable license!


The first photograph is a sort of iconic image of Nova Scotia, at least as it exists in my mind.  I love the angularity of the building, which looks almost like a drawing, against that dreaming cloud-streaked blue and lavender sky. And I am always drawn to any photograph combining red, white, and green.  According to the photographer, this is "the historic Gilbert's Cove lighthouse."

Gilbert's Cove Nova Scotia Canada by Judy Malley | To see her photostream, click here

This gorgeous panoramic shot was taken from the window of Gilbert's Cove lighthouse.  What would that be like, I wonder?  I  love the intense emerald against the silvery rocks, and the ethereal blue tint of the water somewhere between slate grey and blue.  And the mountains in the background are an unabashed blue against the greenish blue of the sky.  What a breath-taking tribute to the middle of the spectrum. 

Gilbert's Cove Nova Scotia Canada by Judy Malley | To see her photostream, click here

More of those intense greens and auric blues, but what really sold this for me was the little white flowers---lupines, I believe---like stars among the grass..... An amazing photograph when you look long enough to see what those misty blues are concealing.  This photograph was taken at Reservoir Park in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (on the Bay of Fundy).

Reservoir Park , Wolfville, Nova Scotia by Judy Malley | To see her photostream, click here

Here's a complete change of pace:  bricks and stone and a completely domesticated blossoming bush.   This is another shot from the town of Wolfville.  Ya'll know I love photographs of buildings and architectural details, right?

Church Entrance Wolfville Nova Scotia by Judy Malley | To see her photostream, click here

More from Wolfville.  I adore this shot---I've never seen such beautifully tinted brick on this continent.  They ought to clash with the doors----but they don't.  This is definitely one of my favorite photos out of this whole set; I love the different colors and textures (and again, there's that green-as-emeralds grass and foliage).

Church in Wolfville Nova Scotia by Judy Malley| To see her photostream, click here

 

I love the  winter palette for this photograph:  the creamy white of the horse, the bluish white of the snow, the deeper blues of the hill behind, and the delicate brown of the grasses.

"My Horse" by Judy Malley | To see her photostream, click here  

"Just waiting for me  in the Grand Pre area of Nova Scotia," writes J. Malley.  Grand Pre was founded by the Acadians before their expulsion in 1775 (the subject of Longfellow's Evangeline, which I had to read in 8th grade).  I remember it seemed longer than any poem ever.  I believe we had to memorize bits of it, but though I can still recite "Ozymandias" (which I was forced to learn by heart), any part of Evangeline I knew is gone.

I'd forgotten that it was written in dactylic hexameter.  "'Sing, goddess, the wrath of Peleus’ son Achilles,'” is one example provided in Wikipedia's explanation.  Another is "'Down in a | deep dark | hole sat an | old pig | munching a | bean stalk .'"

Here are the first few lines:
In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,
Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pre
Lay in the fruitful valley.  Vast meadows stretched to the eastward,
Giving the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number.
Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with labor incessant,
Shut out the turbulent tides; but at stated seasons the flood-gates
Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the meadows.
West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and cornfields
Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain; and away to the northward
Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the mountains
Sea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty Atlantic
Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station descended
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village.
Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock,
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign of the Henries.

Which provides some context for the horse, as well as for what follows.

A beauty shot of the same guy.   The contrast between his own creamy white and the ice-blues in the background is even more evident in this photo.  

White Horse by Judy Malley  | To see her photostream, click here  

Since Blomidon is mentioned in the Evangeline poem, I decided that these photographs should be next.  Blomidon Provincial Park is in the Minas Basin (see the aforementioned poem).   I looked at a couple of sites to see if there was an explanation for the ferrous red tint of the beach.  Again, these rose madder tints against these clear celestial blues!  Looking at other photos of Blomidon on the internet, I can see that the deep crimson color is an effect of the light, the time of day, and the weather---a happy development for the photographer; it's not always this color.

I love the way the clouds are banked in the background.  It is almost too artistically satisfying to be real. 

Blomidon Provincial Park by  Judy Malley  | | To see her photostream, click here

Here's another gorgeous photograph of Blomidon without those deep crimson tones.  Gorgeous though.  Such magnificent earth tones; so many textures:  the sand, the rocks; the striated banks; the leaves; and that delicate sky with those soft clouds.

Blomidon Provincial Park by Judy Malley   |  To see her photostream, click here

The next photographs are from Gaspereau, which apparently is known for 'tubing.'  Hey, we do that here in Florida too!  Is it unusual?  Wikipedia describes it as follows: using an inner-tube and floating down through the beautiful river during the hot summer months when residents or visitors of the valley are over heated and the river is high.  Here you see more of those blues and greens and vague lavenders. 

The Scenic Gaspereau Valley  by Judy Malley   |  To see her photostream, click here

Another photo from Gaperereau.  This one really reminds me of Florida, which is filled with small wooden churches painted white.  I love the dark green door.  Is Nova Scotia always so green in the summer and are skies always that soft blue with just the merest hint of green?  Such a cool blue. 

The Scenic Gaspereau Valle by Judy Malley  | To see her photostream, click here 

More of the same glorious colors and contrasts:  that beautiful red, that radiant green, that heavenly blue-green blue, those lavender clouds.  Heaven and earth.

The Scenic Gaspereau Valley by Judy Malley |  To see her photostream, click here

The next photographs are of two inns.  I couldn't resist either photo---either building could be set down in Florida and look perfectly in place.  I can't tell you how much I adore this white and charcoal tinted winter scene with the beautiful birthday-cake corals and celadon tints shining through.  Talk about your 'strange harmony of contrasts.'  The same is true of the sunny yellow painted lady in the photograph that follows.   

Snow Covered Gingerbread House Inn by Judy Malley  |  To see her photostream, click here
 

Tattingstone Inn by Judy Malley |  To see her photostream, click here 

The next three are incredibly appealing to me just for the crayon colors and the jumble of detail.   They are from Hall's Harbor.   Amazingly, there was no Wikipedia entry, so that's really all I know about them.

Halls Harbor Nova Scotia by Judy Malley   |  To see her photostream, click here 

Halls Harbor Nova Scotia by Judy Malley |  To see her photostream, click here

Hall's Harbour by Judy Malley    |  To see her photostream, click here

 

This austerely beautiful but forlorn landscape must be a bit livelier than it looks, since the photographer provided this link.  And in fact there is a town there.

Peggy’s Cove has a timeless mystique which draws fascinated visitors from around the world. The tiny harbour below the lighthouse is a painter’s masterpiece of seasoned fish sheds and colourful boats. The village is famed for its colorful homes perched on wave-washed boulders situated along a narrow inlet. Approximately 50 residents live here year-round.  (Destination SW Nova Scotia)

This is one of the world's most photographed lighthouses, it seems.  The photograph was taken from "the Swiss Air monument," which my source informs me was "erected is in memory of the victims of the Swiss Air crash off the coast of Peggy’s Cove." 

Swiss Air Monument View by Judy Malley |  To see her photostream, click here

And wow, though I don't approve of lobster traps or of eating lobsters, I just love the way this photographs captures the different textures of the shingles and the weathered wood.  I just try not to think about what the wires are for.

Lobster Traps at Hall's Harbour by Judy Malley  |  To see her photostream, click here
  

Love this guy---he's magnificent, iconic--- love the all-blue clothing against the blue contraption on which he's standing, the orange rubber gloves, the hat tilted over the eyes, and that shiny boat like a child's toy with its vermilion tints behind him.  This could be a painting, the colors are so perfectly harmonized   This is from Halifax.   

Port of Halifax by Judy Malley    |  To see her photostream, click here

No way could I resist these next two.  Is that not a sublime shade of green?  It's green with the essence of blue just barely reflected in its surface.  And what price those little touches of yellow?

"Halifax Waterfront" by Judy Malley    |  To see her photostream, click here

Once again, her human subject just happens to be attired in colors that perfectly tone with the rest of the photograph.  The blue of his jacket, shirt, and cap perfectly match the blue of the sky and water reflected in the upper window.  Amazing.

"Halifax Waterfront" by Judy Malley    |  To see her photostream, click here