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So it only took me half a month to get this ready, but in reality it took me 20 minutes to get it ready and 14 days to remember to post it! Oops! So in absolutely no particular order, here are my favorite images from the year of 2010. I tried to get it down to ten pics, but in the end a few spoke to me as much as the others, so you get 15! Happy viewing!
The power of Mother Nature. This was a powerful summer storm that passed over in August after a beautiful summer day.
We had an awesome display of fall color this year. I was happy to be out shooting most days as in previous years I seemed to miss the best of the color.
When I first shot this image I didn't think it was anything special. I guess in terms of great photos it's not that spectacular, but I absolutely love the contrast of cool and warmth in the image. The blue in the ridges of the right side of the tree just pops out at me and it's a great contrast to the whole left side of the frame. I like it.
This one is more for me. I have never taken a self portrait that I was proud to display until I rented the Nikkor 24mm PC lens and shot this image. I think it's a great representation of myself and how I view my photography and what I have learned in the past year. Kudos to me!!
This is just a pretty image, plus it was the first one to sell from my gallery at Coco's Cafe, I don't think it lasted a while 24 hours there.
Ahh, Maligne Lake in winter. It was cold, and even colder when I fell through the river after shooting this image. Good times. At least I came home with a good picture AND a story!
This one just screams Fine Art Photography in my opinion. I am amazed how simple the image is, but how powerful all at the same time. Most likely one of my favorite Black and White images of the year.
Sunrise at Medicine Lake, that was pretty much happening when I got out of my van. I almost missed this one, and this was the second frame of the morning. Glad I got out of bed on this day.
A blistering cold winter sunrise over the Athabasca River in early January, just an overall nice picture.
I really don't know what to say about this one. I find it's different from most of my photography, but at the same time it really represents me as a photographer. I don't know if it's the composition, the processing, or what it is, but I really like this image and up until now I don't think I have even shown it to many people.
An image I have been chasing the past couple of years, but finally captured to my pleasing this time around. Definitely one of those trophy hunting shots, but I'm happy to go hunting every once in while.
The colors in this one make me smile. Fall was nice this year.
There is something peaceful about this one that just puts me in a calm state of mind. Maybe it's the thought of sitting on a calm quite mountain lake in a boat that puts me at ease.
The Edith Cavell road was closed for a while this year, and this was taken the second day it was open. I didn't spend as much time up there as I had anticipated, but I'm happy with the images that I came away with.
This was sort of an unexpected image. I went to Maligne Lake one night in search of a completely different image, but after walking around the shore of the lake for a while and not leaving when I was feeling unmotivated, the sun began to set and this turned out to be one of my top images this year. I love the color and the composition a lot.
Hopefully this year will prove as fruitful for my photography as last year, guess we'll have to wait and see......
I made a quick trip down to the Lake Louise area yesterday morning for sunrise shoot, seeing as after next week I'll be in Edmonton for a while. After a less than stunning sunrise at Lake Louise, I stopped at Peyto Lake on my way home. Peyto is probably my favorite lake in the Canadian Rockies, with the very unique Abraham Lake being my second fave. Here is a three image pano that I shot with the 24mm PC-E lens from Nikon. Shooting panos with this lens is just too easy!
Photo: Nikon D300s, 24mm f/3.5 PC-E
I went out for a shoot on Tuesday night at Medicine Lake, hoping for a bit of a sunset. For the first little while I though it was going to just get dark, with no exciting color to end the day...Boy was I wrong!! The show started a little slow, then built and built, and ended with some color and light that I haven't seen in quite a while. What a day. Take a look for yourself. Above is what I though would be he peak of the sunset..below is what happened moments after I thought I should head back to the van and drive home! Guess I was wrong!
Photos: Nikon D300s, 17-55mm f/2.8
I had to drop a vehicle off at the Berg Lake trail head for a friend this week. Steph and I took the dog for a bit of a walk up to Kinney Lake. It's only a 4km walk to the lake, on pretty easy terrain, but it was a great day nonetheless. Here's a little view from the edge of the lake.
Photo: Nikon D300s, 17-55mm f/2.8
I've been driving in and out of Jasper National Park a few times this past few weeks. I have made a few trips to Edmonton, Hinton, and Rock Lake. The trees on the eastern edge of the park had been getting better and better with every trip. I knew the photo I wanted to get, I knew where I would set up, and I knew what type of conditions I wanted to have. So this past Tuesday, after dropping some friends off at the North Boundary trail head, I stopped at my pre-determined location, set up my camera with the 70-200 attached, focused on the pattern of trees that looked the most interesting to me, and I then I proceeded to wait....and wait...and wait. After about 30-40 minutes of watching the clouds roll by, and shooting a few other interesting forest shots, I saw the sun coming, I quickly reset my camera to the previously chosen set of tress, and fired away as the sunlight danced across the different shades of yellow. Was it worth the wait? I think so. Look above, the image is just of the pattern in the trees with no sunlight, just clouds above, cool colors and patterns, but it's lacking something. Now look below, the shot with the light has that edge that makes it that much better than the original shot. I could have packed up and drove home right away, but instead I chose to wait around for a bit, and I think I'm glad I did! So a little lesson for y'all, sometimes it pays to wait around, something sort of interesting, may get very interesting if you have the patience!
Photos: Nikon D300s, 70-200mm f/2.8
It's been a long day, I've already driven 800 kms, the sun is out and the air is cool. I take a quick look outside and I know I can't let this day pass without a taking a photo. I pack my camera bag, check all my filters and lenses for dust and off I go again. "There was patch of bushes I saw on the drive home that had some great red and yellow color in them, maybe I'll try to go there, there should be some light on Roche Miette as the sun sets." Thirty minutes later I'm standing in a swamp off the highway, away from the sounds of the cars and trucks. Just as the sun dips below the mountains I enjoy the last warm rays of light. The air quickly turns cool, the smell of Autumn is everywhere now, I shoot a few images then change spots. The light is quickly racing up the mountain face now, I had better work fast, but don't rush. I'm not just out here to make pictures, I'm experiencing the world, nature at it's finest hour. The picture will just serve to help my memory down the road. It's days like today that I realize why I love shooting pictures, experiencing nature's finest moments, then presenting them for others to view. The light is fading away now. I walk back to the van, plug in the iPod and make the quick drive back home. "I wonder what nature has in store for me for tomorrow?"
Ohhh blog, why is it that you are the first thing to get left behind when I get "busy" or unmotivated? Oh well. Lots has been going on, still shooting a bunch, more weddings these days, it seems that Sept, or Fall in general is the time to get married in the Rockies. My wife and I made a quick trip to Washington state over the Labor day weekend, it was nice to get away. The only sad part was when it was time to leave, I wanted to keep driving south, but alas, we headed north, and back home to Jasper. I did however find a new long term photo project I will pursue for the next while. Signs. Old type signs, or signs in odd places, or just odd signs in general. I found a few on our recent travels, and now I think it will be something I'll be looking for, for the next while. I may have to make a trip to the Neon Graveyard in Vegas, that would be a good time. I would have a complete portfolio of signs then! Anywho, here are a few to keep your eyes satisfied for a while. I'll post a few more pics from the trip in a day or so. Enjoy!
Earlier this week I had the chance to go for a short day hike in Banff National Park with a friend of mine. He phoned me the night before to see if I wanted to go up to "Sunset Pass", which is about 15kms North of "The Crossing" on the Icefields Parkway. Seeing as I had no other plans, other than to sit in front of my computer all day... I gladly accepted the invite!
We left town just after 6am, and were on the trail by 8:15. The initial few meters of the trail is fine, nice and mellow, but after about 10 minutes, you start to climb steeply uphill, for about 2.9km.
After 2.9km, you can either head left, to Sunset Lookout, and gain anther 300m (approx.) over a short 1.6km trail. Or you can continue straight, and gain almost as much elevation, and you end up in Sunset Meadows, near Norman Creek Campground.
We ended up going in both directions. First we headed left to the lookout, from which you get the view above. Absolutely spectacular. It wasn't the most beautiful day, but that view alone would be good on any day. I think from the trailhead to the lookout, which is 4.5km, with approx. 650m of elevation gain, we got there in just under 2 hours. And within the first 45 minutes I had blisters on my heels the size of a loonie, that I am still nursing four days later...Ouch!
After the lookout we headed back down the where the trail split, then continued on to the Meadows and Norman Campground. It's only a small campground, with 3 or 4 sites, but what a nice spot! Mountains all around, Norman Creek right there, huge open meadows. I think I'll head back here this summer for a small photo trip. One side of the meadow would get great sunrise light, the other would get awesome sunset light.
After a quick lunch at the campground, and a quick lesson on how to actually "properly" use a compass from Chris, we headed off into the meadow to see if we could make it to the top of the pass. Which we didn't make it to. We got about 1/2 way to the top of the pass, and my feet were so sore, I couldn't take anymore elevation gain. So we turned around, and after a few snack stops, we were back at the truck by 2pm. It was a great day, even with the blisters, and I'm definitely planning a trip back here with the wife and dog sometime this summer!
Photos: Nikon D90, 17-55mm f/2.8, 10.5mm f/2.8
Well, it may not be the biggest city in the world..but it sure is a lot bigger than Jasper. Last week I spent two days in Edmonton and while there, I had to do a bit of shooting. I always love shooting from hotel balconies when I travel, so I of course got that taken care of. My balcony shot on this trip was of the sun rising over Edmonton's Downtown area, they day we drove back home.
When I was in Edmonton a few months ago, I heard that The Art Gallery of Alberta had a new home, in a fancy new building. This trip I found the new building, which has some super cool architecture, and managed to get down there just after sunset for some twilight shots. I really like the shapes of the building, and how the light plays on it.
From one of the spots I shot the Art Gallery, there was a subway station nearby. I headed over and looked down the stairwell and though..."that might be a cool shot", and it turns out it was kinda neat. The color shot is cool, there are about 4 different light sources, so the colors are very vibrant, but I though the black and white gave it the feel I was looking for. Summer in the city is so much nicer than winter. I'm sure I'll be back shooting here before long!
Photos: Nikon D90, 10.5mm f/2.8, 17-55mm f/2.8
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 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!
It's been almost a month since my last post...guess I've been out doing things!! I've been shooting a lot. A lot more than any other February in the past. If you were to look at my photo library, Feb. is always the month with the least amount of photos. In my efforts to make sure I take at least on picture a day, that changed this year, in a major way. After a bunch of deleting out of focus, or just plain crappy shots, I have still kept a few thousand images in each of he first two months of this year. That may not be a lot for some, but it's a bit of a step up for me...am I'm happy about that. Each one of those frames is helping me to become a better photographer. I'm also starting to notice that certain types of photography are becoming a little easier now as well. The other day I did a product shot, and within a couple frames I had my lighting down, and then shot a bunch of different compositions until I got just what I wanted. This time a year ago that may have taken me the better part of an evening, but this time, my set up and breakdown of my gear probably took just as long as the shoot. Things like that are my goal for this year, and so far, I'm pleased.
I'm also making greater efforts to explore new places outside. I've been to Banff National Park at least three times already this year, a couple of those days I haven't come away with photos that I absolutely love, but I was there, trying to make it happen. The last trip payed off big time for me, I got the conditions I've been waiting for, and in one day shot a number of frames that I'd be more than happy to hang on my wall. So after two full months of this "365 Project", I think I've only missed one day, and that was this past week, and I'm going to use the excuse that I was pretty sick this week. Sleeping in your van in the middle of winter is never a great idea....there's another lesson! I've already learned a few things about myself, photography, and where I would like my photography career to take me. Hopefully the next couple months will bring more lessons, more photos, and more experience behind the camera. The photos on this post were taken early in Feb. and I will do a couple of follow up posts with recent shoots from the rest of the month.
So last week I got out to shoot on Monday morning only to find myself uninspired by landscapes and very draw to wildlife photography. So who would have thougth the same thing could happen again one week later? Not me, but that's exactly what happened. I left the house at 7am yesterday, ready for what looked to be a hopefull sunrise. The coulds were clearing East of town so that's where I planned to head, until my plans were dashed by an accident which closed the road for a few hours. So instead I headed to Maligne Lake again to see if I could catch a nice sunrise with the new snow on the mountains. It has been close to -18 degrees celcius here the past few nights, so there has been a fair but of snow falling up high. As I got closer to the lake the clouds set in and I didn't get a sunrise at all. I took a few shots of the boat house which is now closed, then decided to walk a little up the lake to try and find something cool, which wasn't too hard, within minutes I almost literally ran into three Moose!! I was playing with my camera and walking and looked up too see this moose staring at me from about 100ft away!! AWESOME!!
I shot with these guys for about 45 minutes then went down the road and shot a few frames of the fresh snow on Medicine Lake. Like I said last time, my wildlife photography needs work, but it's definitely something I want to work on for the future. I find I'm like a tourist again, driving around waiting on the side of the road for Elk, Bighorn Sheep and other animals...funny how that happens.
The moose photos were pretty simple, I usually keep my camera in Aperture Priority, and let it choose the shutter. Due to the low light I was shooting almost wide open on the 70-200 here, around f/4.0 I think. The landscape was really easy, three frame HDR to get all the detail in the trees and add a bit more contrast that usual. Shot this one at f/22 to get maximum DOF, shot bracketed frames at -2/0/+2 EV. I did the same shot in a single frame with a Graduated Neutral Density filter and I'm undecided which one I like more. Maybe in the next few days I'll post both so people can see the differences between the two shots and you can decide which you like more. More to come later....
Photos: Nikon D90, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 (moose), 17-55 f/2.8 (lake)
The power of Mother Nature. This was a powerful summer storm that passed over in August after a beautiful summer day.
We had an awesome display of fall color this year. I was happy to be out shooting most days as in previous years I seemed to miss the best of the color.
When I first shot this image I didn't think it was anything special. I guess in terms of great photos it's not that spectacular, but I absolutely love the contrast of cool and warmth in the image. The blue in the ridges of the right side of the tree just pops out at me and it's a great contrast to the whole left side of the frame. I like it.
This one is more for me. I have never taken a self portrait that I was proud to display until I rented the Nikkor 24mm PC lens and shot this image. I think it's a great representation of myself and how I view my photography and what I have learned in the past year. Kudos to me!!
This is just a pretty image, plus it was the first one to sell from my gallery at Coco's Cafe, I don't think it lasted a while 24 hours there.
Ahh, Maligne Lake in winter. It was cold, and even colder when I fell through the river after shooting this image. Good times. At least I came home with a good picture AND a story!
This one just screams Fine Art Photography in my opinion. I am amazed how simple the image is, but how powerful all at the same time. Most likely one of my favorite Black and White images of the year.
Sunrise at Medicine Lake, that was pretty much happening when I got out of my van. I almost missed this one, and this was the second frame of the morning. Glad I got out of bed on this day.
A blistering cold winter sunrise over the Athabasca River in early January, just an overall nice picture.
I really don't know what to say about this one. I find it's different from most of my photography, but at the same time it really represents me as a photographer. I don't know if it's the composition, the processing, or what it is, but I really like this image and up until now I don't think I have even shown it to many people.
An image I have been chasing the past couple of years, but finally captured to my pleasing this time around. Definitely one of those trophy hunting shots, but I'm happy to go hunting every once in while.
The colors in this one make me smile. Fall was nice this year.
There is something peaceful about this one that just puts me in a calm state of mind. Maybe it's the thought of sitting on a calm quite mountain lake in a boat that puts me at ease.
The Edith Cavell road was closed for a while this year, and this was taken the second day it was open. I didn't spend as much time up there as I had anticipated, but I'm happy with the images that I came away with.
This was sort of an unexpected image. I went to Maligne Lake one night in search of a completely different image, but after walking around the shore of the lake for a while and not leaving when I was feeling unmotivated, the sun began to set and this turned out to be one of my top images this year. I love the color and the composition a lot.
