Photo of the Week 2024-10-14

 

While working through a number of photos from my recent trip to Scotland, an opportunity to photograph the Aurora Borealis at an intensity seldom seen had me out with camera at a local viewpoint, Pilkington Overlook, north of Guelph. To say it was a special is an understatement, it was possibly a once in a lifetime experience with the Kp predicted at 8 and clear sky conditions. 

 

I managed to get back from a trip to visit our sons in Eastern Ontario and scramble to prepare for the possibility of a very late and possibly very long night. Arriving at the spot I had selected, it was evident that a crowd had gathered and cars filled the parking area spilling out to the nearby roadsides. When I saw a couple walking to there car I asked if there was anything to see and they indicated that there was but they were going to check out another location. So I continued to grab a camera, tripod, headlamp, had and some gloves to find a place to set up.

Although it was much earlier than I had expected, the show had already started. There was subtle aurora activity across the horizon from NW to NE. Over the course of just over an hour, the performance built to a stunning climax before fading away ... 

Here is a screen capture of all 72 RAW files from the shoot, all without any enhancement, the way the camera captured the scenes with consistent exposure settings. It shows the progression of activity from 21:41 to 22:46 ... it's near unbelievable.

 

At it's peak, I was astounded by what was being captured on the camera sensor. No, it didn't look like this to the naked eye and for an explanation of why, I direct you to this resource so I can focus the discussion on and showing the images I made.

Over the past couple of days, I've been eeking out some of the images I made, mostly those leading up to the crescendo of colour that occurred where I was just after 22:00. The colour really started to come on just before 20:00, with red becoming as prominent as green in the sky. By 20:10 it was all around, ahead to the north, to the west, to the east, overhead and even behind me. It was simply overwhelming, even with the naked eye.

I've attempted to select a set of images from the 3 dozen that I've processed to illustrate the progression of the event during the period I was photographing. Here they are in sequence ...

 

Find me on FB, Insta and flickr to follow along as I post the complete collection of images from this amazing event.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-10-07

Recently, day two in Scotland had us picking up a rental car and navigating our way out of Edinburgh (a story in itself) to the Battery Road Bridges Viewpoint in North Queensferry. All three of the bridges, The Forth (rail) Bridge. The Forth Road Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing are something to see. As a retired Civil Engineer, my interest in what we build remains keen and I was particularly eager to make this stop at the base of the Forth Bridge because of it's historical and engineering significance some of which which can be read via this link.

 

Worth singling out is that the Forth Bridge, once the longest single cantilever span bridge in the world, is a Scottish icon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and today, second longest to the Quebec Bridge which I intended to visit again with sufficient time to photograph (spoiler alert: potential future blog post).

 

' Forth Bridge '

Following my intention, as laid out in a previous post, to look for something a little different, something creative and unique to my vision in "Photography When I Travel", I created the image above. Getting close to the north support base, I was able to use an ultra-wide focal length to capture this powerful composition. Of all the images I made during the brief stop we had on Battery Road, this is my favourite.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-09-30

 

Back from Scotland for a week and I'm still posting images from the first day we were there, almost three weeks ago. At this rate it may take me a while to get through all that I shot during the trip :-D

After making a stop at the Scott Monument (last week's post), the next stop while in Edinburgh was Dean Village. Research on potential locations to visit and photograph led me to add this to our Day-1 itinerary as it was just a short walk from our hotel. There was much to photograph (see my Scotland 2024 Album on flickr for some additional images), and the old stone bridge carrying Bells Brae across the Water of Leith really caught my eye. So much so I had trouble selecting just one image, so here's a collage.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-09-23

 

I don't do "Travel Photography" per se, I do Photography, while I Travel. What's the difference? Well, to me Travel Photography is done in a documentary style that that provides a straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects and events. Straightforward being the main differentiator.

When I do Photography while I Travel, in addition to the straightforward, common subject compositions to document the journey, I'm looking for something a little different, something creative and unique to my vision. Travel schedules do not always allow for me to explore photographic options to the extent I would like and such was the case on the Scotland 12-Day Self Drive tour Lynn and I just completed. I'll elaborate ...

 

This trip was not a photo specific tour, it was a trip for Lynn and I to see Scotland and would have us on a schedule with pre-booked accommodation each night and with check in and check out time windows to meet as well as set distances to navigate by car each day. Given that I was both driver, navigator (for the most part) and photographer, it was not possible to be at locations at optimum times or in optimum conditions for photography. I was very much, you're there when you are and you get what you get as far as light and weather, then move on to the next. Far from the planning I might do ahead of shooting to check weather conditions, arrive at time for the best light, schedule a time to avoid excessive crowds etc.

 

Our first night was in Edinburgh and since we had done the Castle and Royal Mile on a previous visit, we started at the Scott Monument close to our hotel.

In this lead image, I used an 11mm focal length and extreme upward angle to capture a dramatic perspective emphasizing the grandeur of this monument to one of Scotland's iconic personalities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pair of shots were made from the lower walkway behind the monument to include some of the colourful flowers and flowing lines of the steps up to street level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the final images for this post, I composed with the bright blue sky and white clouds, some would say not the norm for Scotland, to capture the beautiful weather we were fortunate to have as a welcome to Alba.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-09-16

 

' 2024-09 Travel Kit '

While I was getting organized, I decided to grab a phone pic of the camera gear I would take on our return trip to Scotland ... missing is my Benro Travel Angel Tripod that would be packed in the suitcase.

What is all of this?

Cameras - 3, a Canon EOS M5, M3 (blk), M3 (wht)  full spectrum infrared conversion - all 24MP

Lenses - Sigma 18-300 DC on EF to EF-M mount adapter, EF-M 11-22 (x2), 15-45, 18-150

Filters - 58mm var ND, 72mm var ND, 58mm 590nm IR and 720nm IR

Memory Cards - SD, various capacities

Business Cards

Batteries - 3 in cameras plus 5 spares

Battery chargers 3 AC plus 2 USB for in car charging

Accessories - spare Arca Swiss plate and allen wrench, wired remote, wireless remote, rocket blower, lens pens, AC adapters and reading glasses

Lens cloths in the RedRock outdoor gear backpack that will fit everything (and more) for carry-on for flights.

Stay tuned for what I was able to capture using this gear during a 12 Day Self Drive trip.

 

DJE