Photo(s) of the Week 2012-06-25

This past weekend, a BBQ get together with several members from the Guelph Photographers Guild happened to coincide with the 2012 Guelph Faery Fest at Riverside Park. A few of us decided to grab our cameras, pay the admission and take a walk around the fest and photograph some of the attendees. I managed to make several interesting images but the windfall was hooking up with some friends who had arranged a more formal photo shoot the following day with one of participants.

Three of us went back on Sunday with a bit of portable lighting kit to meet up with Ashley and as it turned out Ann-Marie, who also joined us for the the shoot. I`m thankful to Karen for making the arrangements and inviting me to come along ... I really think she just needed another light b*tch to hold the softbox in position ROFL.

Here are a couple of the results from the shoot.

Dryad Encounter

natural beauty

  

... and some from my walk around the fest the previous day.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-06-18

A few weeks back I spent the morning hours in and around Elora Gorge photographing as sun began to spill through the trees and into the gorge.

Working with depth of field (DoF) has always been a technique that I employ in making my images. Here I wanted to convey a sense of depth as I compressed the distance using my 70-200 zoom at 173mm and f/16. A more conventional approach to creating this image would have been to maximize DoF using a smaller aperture or shorter focal length setting.

Gorgeous Morning

I'm happy with the image but I do wish I had made alternate exposures with greater DoF to compare side by side.

DJE

Sleep Giant ... Sleep

The view of Sleeping Giant from Thunder Bay is always a sight to behold.

Sleep Giant ... Sleep

One recent morning I stopped to capture an image of Sleeping Giant in the hazy mist of morning as I left Thunder Bay for my next stop.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-06-11

The second leg of travel to Northern Ontario and facility inspections for work had me driving from Kenora to Red Lake to visit 3 sites. I set out at 7:00 am and it was early evening by the time I left the last facility to head back to the hotel. Although it meant that it would be after 10:00 by the time I was back at the hotel, there was the possibility of seeing some wildlife in the evening hours with good light.

Driving on Hwy 105, I expected the usual moose and deer, but hoped for something different. I had seen a couple of eagles soaring overhead during the day and was on the lookout for one perched in a tree. This Bald Eagle obliged me by perching near the ground on some recently cut brush of the roadside embankment. Luckily there was a place to pull over and I walked up the shoulder of the hwy about 50 m slowly getting closer and snapping off a few exposures. The eagle got skittish and flew off so I went back to the car and had just resumed driving when I saw it again just down the road. It was perched in a better position and this time let me get close enough to get some good images..

perched

Moments after I made the exposure for this image, the eagle spread it's wings and flew off having tolerated my presence long enough. What a great encounter.

DJE

More from recent travels to Northern Ontario

I couldn`t resist posting a couple of images I made while on my way between Manitouwadge and Marathon in Northern Ontario recently. With all the news of increased black bear sightings, I really hoped to be able to see and photograph at least one on the trip. With a little help and suggestions of a location from Mike (thanks), I managed to find this large sow. Her small cub was near by timidly running in and out of the bush so I was cautious not to get too close and upset her ... but with only a 24-105 mm zoom, I had to get quite close to get these ...

Big Momma

Yep ... she saw me, gotta go !

... not to worry, I was in my car at the side of the road. :-)

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-06-04

A recent business trip to Northern Ontario provided some opportunity to explore the area from Sault Saint Marie to Manitouwadge. I had never driven the section of the Trans-Canada Highway from SSM to Hemlo and expected some great scenery. Although I`m certain it`s more dramatic in fall with the trees showing brilliant colours, the spring landscape still did not disappoint.
I lost cell coverage (on Bell) just 10 minutes north of ``the Soo`` and did not regain it until my last day when I drove back into SSM for my return flight. That left hours of driving completely free of the phone ringing or the Blackberry announcing arrival of a new email to take in the scenery.
With stops for business in SSM, Thessalon, Wawa, Manitouwadge, Hemlo and Marathon there were many sights along the way. I was travelling light as far a camera gear was concerned. I had just my 7D DSLR body with 24-105 zoom and my G12 as backup. This was more than enough to get some nice images and so far, my favourite location was Silver Falls just outside Wawa in the community of Michipicoten.

Cold Dawn at Silver Falls

The weather at home had been hot and humid, hovering around 30*C while I was away. Temperature up north had dropped to single digits after my first morning in SSM. On the last day I left the motel to find frost on the car, cold morning air and foggy patches moving lazily across the landscape. Immediately I thought of heading back to a scenic lookout over Lake Superior that I had visited the previous evening. On the way, again I passed by Silver Falls. The combination of warm water and cold air transformed the scene into something special. I stopped and enjoyed some time in the fresh air making different compositions of the scene capturing sunlight as it began to arrive.

DJE