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South Bruce - homestead
New roads offer up new possibilities for images.
A trip to Paisley for the Saugeen Maple Syrup Festival this weekend would provide numerous opportunities for images, both on the drive there and at the festival. As we travelled the scenic route there was a fair bit of banter on the walkie talkies between the 2 vehicles. Grant spotted the swamp backdrop to this old log homestead right along the road and said ... "we gotta stop there on the way home".
Returning a few hours later, the sky had improved and the sun was providing light with a warm quality. The others poked around the other side of the building while I went for a location that would allow me to catch the sun on the log walls and some of the colour in the sky. It was an interesting find and I'm pleased with this image.
DJE
... so I decided to do something for Earth Hour this year...
Lynn and the boys were all out for the evening so I used the hour to read by candle light at the kitchen table and decided it would also make a great opportunity for a low-key self portrait. I managed to get set up before 8:30, turned off the hockey game and used most of the time to read up on printing digital images, the rest to make the image here.
earth hour ... by candle light
... now I have to think of something for Earth Day.
sugar shack
... a sign of the season.
I went out this Saturday with a few photographer friends to capture some early spring farm scenery in Halton region. We had some success but the flat overcast cloud cover made it challenging to include the sky in any image and keep it interesting. At one point I mentioned that it would be nice to find a farmhouse with smoke rising from the chimney. We had no such luck on our travels on that day.
Returning to the area Sunday to capture another scene we had driven by the previous day, I approached the location and noticed a cloud of black smoke billowing up from behind a farmhouse and went to check it out. Passing in front of the house I came upon the image above. There was thick black smoke pouring out one stack of a sugar shack and steam out of another. Several minutes later the black smoke was gone and so was the drama. It's all about putting yourself in the right spot at the right time. In my excitement having caught the moment, I forgot to go in for some samples ...
DJE
weekend weather
... as the saying goes, "...what do you do when life gives you bad weather?
You photograph it ... then try and turn it into art."
OK, so that's not how "the" saying goes but it is how "my" saying went this past weekend. I made several attempts to get out and photograph, all of which resulted in a session of drying off the gear and hanging up the waterproof jacket and pants to drip dry over the laundry tub.
A friend had suggested the possibility of covering up our gear and donning rain slickers to capture "the poor souls" out walking and running in the downpour... but being fair weather photographers for the most part, a bunch of friends got together Saturday and worked on studio lighting set ups for still life. I joined them briefly for a coffee and some camera talk. Aside from several ideas I picked up, one of the guys brought a fantastic book with him that I ran out an purchased from Chapters that afternoon. Shoot: Studio Sessions by Peter Brew-Bevan is a large Photography Art book and well worth the current sale price at Chapters. (thanks for the heads up on this one John).
Perhaps not what I had wished for the weekend, but you take what you get.
DJE
Cold Forest Light
There is something about hiking the trails through local forests...
I find it particularly enjoyable when the sun is low in the sky. The shadows are long and dramatic. The sun flashes from behind trees as I make my way along the trails taking it all in, sights, sounds, smells. On the occasion that I made this image, Lynn and I were walking Murphy through a local forest known as the Little Tract. I was the laggard of the group, stopping frequently to take in the views.
Conventional photography wisdom would eschew shooting toward a bright light source ... to hell with conventional wisdom, I'm constantly drawn to shoot into the sun at times like this. You just need to work to control flare.
DJE
frozen fury ...
The spectacle of Niagara Falls always provides opportunity for great imagery. The challenge for me when I visit is to capture something different.
On this visit, I chose to look at the details of crashing watter and ice formations. I selected a moderate shutter speed for this image to "almost freeze" the motion of the water. To me, this emphasizes the power and fury of the falling water and together with the spray and mist, gives this image has a surreal quality that I like very much.
DJE
