James Smeaton Photography is in Marshy Hope, Nova Scotia.

4 days ago

Getting Into The Gates

The Story:
It always been hard to satisfy the actual feeling of approaching a wide and majestic landmark with a single photo. That's why I stitched over 15 individual vertical shots together to create this super high resolution scene. It actually feels pretty close to what it was like to hop out of the car and gaze upon the incoming hills. It was more good fortune to find the fall colours at their peak where nearly every colour of the rainbow can be found in the scene. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography

4 days ago

The Old School Bridge

The Story:
Most of the time this bridge is pretty unremarkable. Built for function and littered with dents and crumbled edges its easy enough to miss. However on this morning it played the gate to a most magnificent play of light and limb. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography is at Brierly Brook.

4 days ago

Along Those Lines

The Story:
The back road of Brierly Brook lights up like this as the sun sets, it is a delight I have enjoyed many times before capturing it on an Autumn early exit from the desked life. There is a point in the day much before this when you have to decide if you will take your camera along, because I did I was able to do a quick pop out of the car and do some proper justice to an undulating synergy. I will see if I can keep up the effort and deliver this scene in a few different seasons. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography is at Brierly Brook.

5 days ago

Golden Boy

The Story:
There was this one morning this fall where the fog clung to the earth with stubborn abandon. The diffusion was so durable that light caught in the vast mists was both slowed and saturated. It felt magical to be inside of and Max seemed to feel it as well. This was taken at the end of my drive way and even though the crop is super tight I like how the road has a blurry divide as the hill gives way to the gradient of golden glowing trees. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography is at Fairmont Ridge.

2 weeks ago

Up On The Ridge

The Story:
I was cruising the skies around Fairmont Ridge, just across from the Jimtown area, when I came across this property that seemed to sit right on top of it all. From the ground, all you see is the ridge — but from the drone, it’s neat to peek over the peak and see the land beyond. If you zoom in, you can even spot the windmills off in the distance. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography

2 weeks ago

Big respect to Virginia! The photo offers a tiny glimpse into her determination via her eyes.In 1952, a woman rejected from surgery created a 60-second test that would save more lives than any scalpel ever could.
Dr. Virginia Apgar wanted to be a surgeon. She had the skills, the dedication, and the degree. But hospital after hospital said the same thing: "No operating room will hire a woman."
So she walked away from her dream and into anesthesiology—a field no one wanted. A field where she'd be underestimated for the rest of her career.
But Apgar saw something everyone else had missed.
In delivery rooms across America, newborns were dying within minutes of birth. Doctors would deliver a baby, glance at it, and make a split-second guess: "This one will make it" or "This one won't." There was no system. No standard. Just chaos disguised as medicine.
One morning in 1952, sitting in a hospital cafeteria, Apgar grabbed a napkin and sketched out five simple measurements: heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes, and skin color. Each scored 0, 1, or 2. Add them up. A perfect 10 meant healthy. A low score meant immediate intervention.
She called it the Apgar Score.
It was so simple that some doctors dismissed it. But nurses loved it. Hospitals started using it. And within ten years, nearly every delivery room in America had adopted it.
Infant mortality plummeted.
Babies who would have been left to die were suddenly being resuscitated, treated, saved. A test that took 60 seconds became the most widely used clinical assessment in medical history.
Apgar didn't stop there. She earned a master's in public health, joined the March of Dimes, and spent the next two decades advocating for mothers and babies worldwide. She studied birth defects. She pushed for prenatal care. She testified before Congress.
When journalists asked how she succeeded in a field that tried to shut her out, she smiled and said, "Women are like tea bags—you don't know how strong they are until they're in hot water."
Dr. Virginia Apgar died in 1974. But her test lives on.
Every two seconds, somewhere on Earth, a newborn is scored using her system. Millions of lives have been saved because one woman—told she wasn't good enough for surgery—decided to rewrite the rules instead.
Sometimes the greatest breakthroughs come from the people who were never supposed to be in the room.✍️ ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography

2 weeks ago

Thy Nobel Friend

The Story:
I did my second day of silence years back and in that experience I had a profound tear laden insight regarding Max. Because he has never spoken to me in words I have always had to ASSUME his thoughts, and without my own voice to convey my ideas I realized HIS thoughts could be some of the most raw, poetic and selfless contemplations imaginable. As a creature that has tasted the wind for hours uninterrupted, who has gazed deeply into the rising moon and listened for years to the coyotes howls something tells me his mind is a beautiful library of appreciation. Let alone his ideas around love and loyalty. Imagine if you will how much forgiveness he offers for my various absences. A truer friend I may never find. This photo reminded me of all these notions, his stoic pose, and the beams of light that surround him do pretty good job of pointing to these truths. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography is at Brierly Brook.

2 weeks ago

Back Road Brierly Brook

The Story:
Hard to believe this kind of calendar-worthy beauty is right in our own backyard — but it’s everywhere in Nova Scotia this time of year. These tracks lead east toward Antigonish. ... See MoreSee Less

James Smeaton Photography is at Brierly Brook.

2 weeks ago

Old MacDonald Had A Farm

The Story:
The colours of fall were a nice compliment to the the recently hewn fields and their attendant haybales. There is a post card quality to the quaint rural roads bending into the distance. I never thought I would develop a taste for classic country life but as the years past I really do dig the pace and space it affords. ... See MoreSee Less