Aurora Event Sept 9, 2011

Friday I left the gallery early and headed up with Mike G to my favorite beach to try and catch the Aurora. We arrived around 7:00 p.m. and the sun was already getting low on the horizon. The sky was an amazing gradient of pastel oranges and blues so I began by shooting the main pier that's right on the beach. There are a lot of different ways to do this and I experimented a lot but one of the fun things that happened was this young boy who ran out and stopped at the perfect moment. I call this "Wish Upon a Moon"

The light was amazing and I ran from one end to the next capturing the reflections from many different angles with many different subjects as highlights.

There was a time when all I did was throw pebbles in the mirrored lake to create small converging ripples in the foreground of the shot. It always amazes me when i return to the studio and look at my images only to find something i hadn't seen. I call this one "Dragon Fly".

As luck would have it the beach was pretty much empty which I was thoroughly enjoying but when these three girls came by and climbed out on the rocks this was a shot I couldn't have set up any better. This reminds me of silhouette pictures from the 1930's that my mom had.

The main event started around 10:30 - 11:00 p.m. It was when Mike G. said take a shot i think there's something out now and we did and there was. We could barely make it out with our eye's but the camera told a different story.

I loved these little whips of light that kept on moving very slowly. It was at the strike of 12:00 that suddenly the sky came alive and we ran from one location to the next trying to catch that elusive shot. It was a frenzy that lasted not more than 10 - 15 min. but it was spectacular.

We stuck it out for the next couple of hour getting the occasional bands of light that were very nice but we felt were very secondary compared to what we had experienced earlier. All in all it was an Aurora event that we both said we have to go back many years to recall one as vibrant.

Early Morning Sunrise

Yes, it's another early morning shoot. When there's fog at dawn you will always find me out and bout.

Deer Trail Studio Tour 2007

In Sept, I traveled to Northwestern Ontario to attend the Deer Trail Tour and to photograph the Maples in all their fall color glory. It was an amazing display by Mother Nature this year.

Thank you to all the visitors attending the Deer Trail this year. Your support to the arts community is exceptional.

A big kudos to the organizers that put in the many hours of planing an executing a terrific show.

A Day In Black & White

I spent a day shooting only in B&W and it does change the way you look at things. This is a good exercise to do every once in a while. It helps me to rediscover all the subtle highlights within an image, a critical component of B&W images.

Along The River

Our Red River water front is spectacular in the fall. This year was an exceptionally good year.

Early Morning Mist

Is it worth getting up at 5:30 AM ???? You bet!!!!!

I find early morning, before sunrise, magical. It's always an inspiring start to great day.

Sigma 10-20mm wide angle

After many days of deliberations I made a decission to go with the new Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens. This lens was a need tool not only for it's landscape capabilities but I needed a wider lens capability for shooting retail store interiors for a trade publication.

The first day with the lens I went out and took these shots at Jasper Park's, Maligne Canyon. This lens was in it’s element in these narrow canyon cuts and towering frozen water falls. The effects of this lens are amazing but as I've now learned some of the distortion can be eliminated with proper technique. Still it was a lot of fun in this canyon setting.

The Sigma 10-20mm wide angle is, with my brief experience, a great extention to my 18-200mm. The wide angle 10-20mm zoom gives it a versatility that I didn’t expect. This is a sturdy well built lens that functions smoothly. The auto focus is quick, precise and very quiet. At F4-5.6 it’s not fast but I’m finding that I’m using it mostly for scenic shooting and bright interior locations.

I'll add more comments as I gain more experience with the lens.

I highly recommend it if you can find one.

December Frost

This December mother nature offered up some wonderful landscape photo opportunities.
These were taken on a Saturday morning. The air was heavy with fog, frost was on everything and the ground had a new covering of snow from two days earlier. This white on white landscape was a challange to work.


These images tend to be more emotional, so, capturing that feeling is the challenge. A seasoned film photographer said to me once, “you should always under expose the image slightly so you don’t loose detail” and that’s still a good rule in this situation.

Exposure or white balance bracketing of your images in these conditions is the safest and easiest way. Then you can process HDR in CS2.

I like to capture the image in a some what old fashion way. With my D200, if I like the subject, I’ll spend a little time and experiment using sometimes 3 metering settings; 3D (with a “D” lens), group metering and spot. Then adjusting the F stop on each setting, by eye using the preview, I’ll try to capture what I’m visualizing in the image. I might blow it out intentionally just to give a it softer detail or step it back to give me more detail and deepen the contrast, or change the depth of field. Some of the essentials for a B&W composition which these conditions mostly dictate.

All this is done knowing that in the studio I already have an idea of the post processing needed to achieve the final result.

Shooting In The Fog

Don't be afraid of the fog. It is one of the more demanding times to shoot but it is the most rewarding when you've caught a good a shot. I've attached this image with some easy tips that I use just click on the image and will enlarge for you to read. One additional equipment detail use a tripod.

This is certainly not the only technique that works so feel free to leave some comments if I've missed a good one.

New Image Introduction May 2006

This is the info-email introduction of "The Wood Ducks #1-2". These are sent out as new images are added to the Fine Art Gallery on the website. If you are not receiving these introductions but would like to, send an email addessed to comeseecomesaw@shaw.ca and request "Image Introductions" .

Taking Digital Pictures

As I tour across the country people ask me to show them how to take artist pictures. There is no simple answer to this but there are basic composition rules that can be learned. The neuvo of current computer technology and the wide variety of digital cameras can make most everyone feel they belong on a National Geographic cover. One must not forget that the essence of photography is in the knowledge of its process. The knowledge is learned not only from books and other media but from experience over time. The experience of years of picture taking where the camera becomes second nature or an extension of the photographer is when one begins to know the craft. Intuition of knowing what settings and equipment will give the shot the wow factor is acquired from experimentation and experience. The only simple answer to be able to take better pictures is practice, read, practice, practice, talk to other photographers, blog, attend field trips with other photographers, then read some more and then take a lot more pictures.

All through this learning process try to find your own style. If you like an Ansel Adams study his techniques but in some way make it your own.

The essence of photography as art I use this analogy. The painter is given the tools of a blank canvas, paint and brushes. The photographer has the camera, lens, film and print medium. The fundamental differences are the painter can imagine and create the subject they desire over a period of time. The photographer must find the subject and capture that subject with his tools in that fleeting moment as it's presented. The art of taking that once in a life time image is still the art of photography regardless of technology. Without the foundation of good image taking and the understanding of the tools, the art is lost, no matter what you do to it post production.

Always remember that art is in the eye of the beholder.

A fun way to share your pictures.

If you want to share you images with friends and family this free down load is a fun way to do it. It creats a scrolling loop that can be opened as a full screen, large banner or a edge banner that will scroll across your monitor. It's a free down load, enjoy.

http://www.filmloop.com/

Click the link to findout more.

Free Photo Organizer Download

This is a great little program that I use to keep my photo's orangized. It also lets me do some simple processing so I can take a quick look at what I've just shot. Enjoy, it's Free ! It's from Google

http://picasa.google.com/

Quick tip: If you use Picasa to process an image make sure you save your work, under file - save a copy. Then go to picture - undo all edits and delete all the edits before you move on. If you don't the original image will be lost to the new setting you've created.

CSCS Gallery Blog: The Winnipeg Orchid Show

CSCS Gallery Blog: The Winnipeg Orchid Show

More Orchid Images.