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After the seminar ended, and the weather cleared, I decided to skip dinner and go for a drive. I had never been through Highway 40, in Kananaskis Country, before, so that's where I headed. At first you head East of Canmore, and think "So I should have stayed in the mountains", but then you turn down the highway, and withing a few kilometers, you're right back in the middle of the mountains, and it's beautiful! I was blown away. It's still pretty brown and "spring like" there right now. I didn't have the time to hike around to look for spring flowers or anything like that, but the scenery alone was great. I'll definitely be making a summer and a fall trip down here.
While at the SNAP seminar I purchased a book by Darwin Wiggett called "How to Photograph The Canadian Rockies". It's a great little pocket sized book that highlights all the great photo stops from Kananaskis to Jasper, with a little bit of B.C. in there as well. I had picked up a few free maps when in Canmore, and marked all the spots from the book, so when I head down later this year I'll know where I'm going, and not miss a photo op due to poor directions...smart thinking..I know!
On the way home I made the trip up the Bow Valley Parkway, or the old #1 Highway, to avoid some construction, and have the road to myself pretty much. I stopped at a great little pull out called Morant's Curve, which was made famous in the 40's by a photographer, Nicholas Morant, who was hired by CP Rail to photography the rail system in the Canadian Rockies. I think I lucked out at this spot, in regards to my timing. Shortly after I set up and had the proper exposure figured out, no more than 10-15 minutes passed and a train came down the tracks! Lucky day for me! I'm sure I'll be back to this spot in the future as well!
So I've been back from the SNAP Seminar for a few days now, back to work, and back to reality. I had a pretty good time at the course, there was lots of material covered, all kinds of different subjects, from what gear the Pros used and why, to how to get published in a magazine, and lots of shooting tips and info along the way. Overall the atmosphere of the whole thing was really light, there were lots of jokes between the speakers, and with the crowd, and a fair bit of humor within the show itself. That was nice to see, as the last thing you want to do at a first time seminar is intimidate everyone there, that will never help to sell out future seminars.
I think I got the most from a section Sam did on The Use of Composition and Design. It was all about the use of tones and colors in your compositions, as well as the use of lines, shapes, patterns, textures, and perspective to add more strength to your photos. Overall it was great time, and I would probably do it again! An added bonus was that I got out to shoot a bit while I was there, the first day I spend the sunrise at Vermillion Lakes, but the sunrise was less than spectacular, so I shot some Ice Detail shots, seen above. And at the top of the post, you can see the storm moving in on Saturday afternoon, which hung around until Sunday morning, so I didn't do much shooting that night or next day. More in another post....
That's right... I'm off for a couple days for a bit of a photography learning experience. I'm headed to Canmore, AB to attend the SNAP Photography Seminar, with Darwin Wiggett, John E. Marriott, and Samantha Chrysanthou. The course will cover everything from shooting in the field, down to the nuts and bolts about the business side of photography, with a few fun things thrown in I`m sure. Seeing as I'm only getting started on the business side, that is what I'm most excited to learn about, but being around a few seasoned pros can only bring good things to your craft if you`re open minded and willing to try some "outside of the box" ideas.
On another note... It seems that tomorrow will mark the end of my 1st year blogging!! And I'm still doing it! I was looking back through some posts the other day and it brought back some memories of the past year, which was cool, and I've learned a few things along the way as, I think. So here's to another year, maybe a few extra readers this year, and lots and lots more photography! Cheers!!
I saw a photo this morning that reminded me of one that I shot last fall, shortly after I got my 70-200 f/2.8 lens, and I decided that I wanted to rework it to try a new technique that I've been playing around with the past few weeks. I think I like it, but I'm not sure if the effect would work on all photos, I know I've found a few that were better off left alone. This one I like though.
Photo: Nikon D90, 70-200 f/2.8 VR
I was out climbing the other day, and was taking in the beautiful Spring smells and sights around the boulder, with my camera close by of course! I went about snapping shots of the little detail of the Tonquin Boulder area. Lots of moss is coming back to life, sap is seeping from the trees, the river is melting, snow melting off the boulders. I wish I could capture the smells and post them here, but I haven't figured that photoshop trick out yet!
I also shot all these shots with my 50mm wide open at f/1.4...such sweet blur and bokeh at that aperture! If it's not in the tiny Depth of Field, then it's wickedly blurred, and it looks just awesome! Enjoy these few tastes of spring!
I've done a very poor job of keeping up with my "web presence" the past month or so, and I think it's about time I take this a bit more serious and stay in touch with the world and the blogosphere! So my sincere apologies to those of you who read this....both of you, if it's that many! I've had a few things going on the past while...keeping up with the 365 Project, I've only missed 4 days so far I think. That's not bad in my book.
At the start of this month I moved to a new apartment, a little bigger, which is nice, I now have my own computer room...sort of anyway, it's a spare bedroom, but we don't have guests that often, so it's my "office" for now..sweet. The few days I missed shooting when we moved, I kinda felt lost without my camera, and when I picked it back up again, everything just felt right! I realized that shooting and editing every day kept me in a groove, and it was, and still is very natural for me to shoot photos, and not have to think about the technical stuff, and just find my vision. Then when sitting at the computer, my workflow has become second nature, it has allowed me to explore a few new things, as I go through my images faster than usual. Now I just need to take the few minutes a day or every couple of days, and keep up with the blog...I think I can make it work. If I want to be seen and heard in this online world of photography, I have no choice but to stick with it. There is no giving up now... no one likes a quitter! So for now I leave you with a few favs from the past couple weeks, and be sure to check in for some more frequent updates in the future!
