Rundle Reflection
Instead of going for the usual grand landscape with the mountain and the sky, I concentrated on the reflection in Vermillion Lakes in Banff National Park. I liked the way that the cloud hung in the sky and was mirrored in the still water. The bit of color from the sunrise accents the triangles formed by the upside down peaks.
In the best light…
Reeds On The Lake
The reeds in Vermillion Lakes are quite interesting the repeating curves attracted my eye. Find what to shoot and how to do that was another question.
It’s In The Details
Near Vermillion Lakes #3 there are warm springs that feeds into the lake that keeps that water open nearly year round. I found one that started on the other side of the road. The algae was thriving in the warm water and the steam coming off of the surface in the cold weather, caused droplets of ice to form on the stems of the grasses above the water line. It has to be far enough above the warm water so the ice doesn’t melt, and higher, the mist doesn’t coagulate and form on the grass stems. It is an interesting process that would be easy to miss. This little puddle wasn’t very photogenic as a whole, but by moving in close and seeing the details, I was able to find an interesting image.
In the best light…
Near Bow Falls
This is one of my favorite images from my morning in Banff National Park with Dave Brosha and Stephen DesRoches.
Sun In The Water
I’m running behind this week and won’t be doing a lot of writing.
The water in Crandell Lake was so clear, if it wasn’t for the reflection of the sun in the water, you might not be able to tell there is water there, at first glance.
In the best light…
Smoke Get In Your Eyes
And In Your Pictures
The view across Crandell Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park was a little smoky.
Move In Closer
While the rushing water taken with a slow shutter speed is interesting, I don’t find it very inspiring.
Dock Day Afternoon
At our recent photo walk in Waterton Lakes National Park, we met at the marina on Waterton Lake. Before we took off to other locations, I had to get one shot by the water. The strong verticals that repeated in the reflection in the water were really attractive to me. Not the best of images, it marks the start of a great afternoon.
In the best light…
The View From Here
We were down at the water front in Port Alberni to see if the sun would peek out from behind the clouds to give us a great sunset. Luck and the weather were not with us that evening, but I did catch this interesting shot of a coin operated viewing scope. Everything turned blue in the Blue Hour but it made for an interesting composition.
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 24-70mm @44mm, f/22, 25 seconds, ISO 200, Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo, Gitzo GT2531 tripod
In the best light…
Single Swan Swimming
The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest species of water fowl. This specimen at the Calgary Zoo is a fine example. Of course there is very little color in the swan itself other than black and white. The Trumpeter has a black bill and lores and the back ground colors seemed distracting to me. I converted the image to monochrome with Color Efex Pro 3.0 in Nikon Capture NX2.
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 70-200mm @80mm, f/3.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 500
In the best light…
Mallard Drake
At the Calgary Zoo, the ducks come and go as they please. The zookeepers keep the water flowing and there is often open water there. So, the wild ducks just fly in and enjoy them selves in the zoo.
The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is fairly common in the Calgary area and can be photographed in many areas along the Bow River. I liked the shadow the trees in the back ground were casting on the water. The lighter area that showed some of the reflection of the sky and matched the lighter area of the rear of the duck. The ripples on the water retained a silky smooth look while the waterfowl itself remained in sharp focus. The drake’s reflection is slightly distorted, yet is still pleasing.
Nikon D300s, Nikkor 70-200mm @200mm, f/2.8, 1/400 sec, ISO 400
In the best light…
Rocks Water Ice Snow
A simple image of winter creek details. I deliberately chose a very slow shutter speed to blur the moving water. I used a tight crop to show off the fine features of the small stream that runs across the Icefields Parkway north of Lake Louise, Alberta.
In the best light…
Bugs By The Water
I saw the bridge pilings and their reflections, and thought they would make a nice image. I liked the backlighting and the rim lighting on the pilings themselves. When I did a quick check on the LCD on the back of my camera the image looked fine but when I opened the image on my desktop monitor, I could see that all of the bugs that were flying around and biting me were also backlit and rimlit! Rather than trying to edit out every little point of light, I thought they added to the ambience of the summer afternoon scene.
Nikon D80, Nikkor 70-200mm @135mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 sec, ISO 800
Do you ever have happy accidents?
In the best light…
Moraine Lake, Rain Or Shine
On a recent trip to Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, we arrived in the middle of a rain storm.
In A Pinch
We were on our way home after an Easter dinner with friends, when we spotted the sky coloring up.
Big Color
The last post was about Black and White with selective color. This time I’ve selected images with bold color. Starting out in photography with black and white, I really became aware of the colors not captured on Plus-X Pan. (more…)
Rainy Days and Wednesdays
I’m not fond of overcast, rainy days, and waiting around for a load just makes me grouchy. One of the forklift drivers where I was loading, ran into the corner of a 3 story shelving unit and bent the leg. The entire rack had to be unloaded, so the thing wouldn’t fall over, but I digress. The end result was, I had to wait and was 3 hours late leaving Calgary on Wednesday. Usually I do little things around the truck while I wait, like the windows or generally cleaning up. When it rains, the interior gets humid if the truck isn’t running and I don’t feel like cleaning. (more…)
Keep Trying
We were down by the Elbow River near Bragg Creek where I found this idyllic scene. I used my Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo to slow the shutter speed. I like the smoother texture of the water when using a longer exposure. The Vari-N-Duo is a variable neutral density filter with a warming polarizer. This filter works great with moving water, and that’s usually when I put it on. This time the back lighting in this image caused a lens flare. I tried moving locations but in doing so, I lost the composition that I liked. Some people like the look of lens flares but I usually prefer the look of a cleaner image.
For those that really, really like the look of lens flares you can buy a plug-in for Photoshop that creates light flare. Red Giant Software sells the plug-in called Knoll Light Factory Pro on their website for $399.00. Knoll Light Factory Pro was created by John Knoll, currently the Visual Effects Supervisor for ILM and is considered a guru for Star Wars special effects. John was also a co-creator of Photoshop!
More Trees
This is for my friend Heather in King Cove, Alaska (pop 792 census 2000). She’s practically next door neighbours with the TV Show Deadliest Catch on Discovery. Heather claims they have no trees at King Cove, and from looking at the area on Google Earth, she may not be exaggerating! After moving from the Vancouver, BC area to the edge of the Bering Sea, the tree population is certainly different. I understand the need to see what you are missing in your life. Lucky for me, I live close to the places I want to see. Well these are the trees I’ve got now, and I promise to get to the Giant Cedars this summer for more.
Abraham Lake peers through the pines and spruce with it’s turquoise waters.
Nikon D300s, 70-200mm @130mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, ISO 200, Manfrotto tripod, Markins Ballhead
Excuses
We were headed up the Maligne Lake Road when we saw a sign that read Maligne Canyon. Sherri said “What’s That?” I said “I don’t know, I’ve never been there.” Then let’s go.” she replied. So we found ourselves in a largish parking lot next to a Teahouse and what appeared to be trail heads. What caught our attention was a herd of deer in the parking lot. We took a good number of frames of the deer in their various poses. At some point I turned to my wife and asked “Is that a waterfall I hear?” We wandered toward the sound I was hearing and found a path along side of a rushing creek that had been carving it’s way into the rock below it. The patterns worn into the rock were amazing. Farther down the trail I came across a bridge over looking this falls. Of course my trusty 25 year old aluminum Manfrotto tripod was left behind in our vehicle. My beloved carbon fibre Gitzo was still waiting on parts, after breaking it at Allstones Creek on the ice. I was growing tired of the extra weight of the aluminum and thought I could get along without it on a short walk. It was darker in the slot canyon where this waterfall was located. I was worried about camera shake with a slower shutter speed with no VR on the 24-70mm. I rested the edge of the camera on the bridge and managed to pull off a sharp image. I could have run back and got the tripod but I didn’t have the energy.
D300s, 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/80th sec, f/8.0
Point of View
When there are thirty photographers milling about searching for that perfect shot, what can you do to stand out from the crowd? Sometimes I just stop and look around. Who cares if you look like a goof just standing there while everyone else is clicking away. What I try to do is, change My focus. I often start out looking for the “great classic landscape”, but sometimes it feels like “been there done that”. You need to look at your location with fresh eyes. (more…)
The Right Equipment Helps
The right equipment, assuming you are shooting a DSLR, starts with the right lens choice. I started with the 24-70 set at 24mm. Of course a tripod is a must. On an overcast day, with my ISO set to 200 (my lowest in spec) f16 was giving me exposures of 1/2 second. I wanted that really creamy look to the water, so I went with the Singh-Ray Vari-N-Duo. It’s a combo filter with a warming polarizer and an adjustable neutral density filter from 2-8 stops. This brought my exposure to 15 seconds, now we’re talking smooth water. The snow above the falls was still too light and was getting blown out according to the highlight warning (blinkies) on my LCD. I got out my newly purchased Singh-Ray 4×6 Galen Rowell 3 stop hard edge graduated neutral density filter. I was surprised to find that the Vari-N-Duo has front filter threads, so I could have mounted the lens ring and filter holder, but doing so would surely have moved all of my settings on double swivel filter. So, I just handheld the grad in front of the lens. I had just heard John E. Marriott describe the technique used by Mike Grandmaison, so I tried it. I was fairly pleased with the results.
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