Photo of the Week 2012-12-31

Getting away for a couple of days between Christmas and New Years for some winter photography has become somewhat of a tradition (How long does it take to make something a tradition ? ... I dunno, it just feels like a tradition). For the past couple of years our destination has been Tobermorey and we thought we would change it up a bit this year by heading to Algonquin Park. The initial idea was to reserve a yurt and stay at Mew Lake Campground in the park which would allow us to get an early start to locations a bit more removed from the highway and possibly allow us to see some wildlife. As it turned out, the yurts were all booked so we went the more conventional route of booking rooms at a local Inn ... not a bad call given that temperatures dropped to -18*C the first night.

Rising from a warm bed to head out in the dark when temperatures are -18*C requires a bit of determination and a dose of encouragement from having another photographer along to keep you from rolling over for some more "zzzzzz" time. When we had the gear packed in then vehicle and climbed in, the temp gauge on the dash read -16*C but it had dropped to -18*C within a couple of minutes of setting out across Hwy 60 and stayed there until well after sun had risen.

Arriving at Mew Lake, we scouted around and selected a suitable spot to park and gear up for a hike on snowshoes in search of a spot to capture sunrise. It was not long before I was in a position to see morning light as it bounced off some clouds as it began to warm the day.

-18*C and rising

There is something about breathing deeply in the cold morning air and having your nostrils freeze together ... It was the start of another great day.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-12-24

With the official arrival of winter came the first local snowfall of any consequence in 2012, just enough to lay down a dusting of the "white stuff" and launch my official winter photography season.

I decided to get and early start and hike the nearby Watson Rd. section of the Guelph Radial Trail so I could be back well before noon. There was a blustery wind gusting and  skies were cloudy when I arrived at the trailhead ... in pitch dark. Sunrise was completely blocked out by the cloud cover and there wasn't much sense starting out before there was some daylight so I sat and finished my hot tea. Soon, the clouds would break up a bit and and it was time to head out.

After meeting up with a couple of friendly pups out for an early walk with their human, I took the trail loop clockwise and started the gentle climb to the lookout just in time for sun to start breaking through and announce arrival of this "winter morning". 

winter morning

DJE

Photo (series) of the Week 2012-12-17

Introducing ... Gus !

Sometimes I need photography to be just about capturing everyday moments, not about creating the next "Fine Art" image. What better to illustrate this than photographing a new puppy.

 Lynn and I had a trip to Toronto planned to get a number of things done and she suggested that we make time to stop in and visit her sister so we could check out the new addition to their family, Gus, a Bernese Mountain Dog. 

Like all puppies, Gus is a going concern, with needle sharp teeth that he loves to let you feel as he mouths your hand or tries to bite your sock, pant leg, sleeve or anything else he chooses. Don't let those "puppy dog eyes" fool you. Behind the cuteness there's puppy mayhem just waiting to explode.

Gus is going to be a big boy. Those huge puppy paws with cute pink pads give away the fact that he's from one of the big breeds. He should top well over 100 lbs when he's full grown.

All of these shots were taken during periods when he was resting or tuckered out completely otherwise he was trying to get up and personal with my lens or biting at my camera strap.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2012-12-10

After last weekend's outing to RBG for some extreme close up flower photography, I had an opportunity to go and shoot a band during a studio recording session. The session was in Oshawa and because I arrived later, they had already set up and laid down base tracks for the 4 songs they were recording but I was still able to capture some of the session for the guys.

Here, John lays down a vocal track for Ocean Pearl.

vocals - in the booth

For this shoot there were a number of challenges to getting some decent images in the recording studio setting. Space was limited, ligting was terrible for photogrpahy with incansescent bulbs, warm coloured wood surfaces and very low lighting levels. With the various booths having double glass windows and doors for acoustic, I was shooting through at least two layers of glass for most of the shots and since reflection and glare were part of the ambiance of the location, I just went with it. This image of John in the vocal booth I think illustrates what I'm talking about and IMO the reflections bring a sense of the environment to the image.

DJE 

Photo(s) of the Week 2012-12-03

 It's all about the blur...

... exploring the realm of macro photography with flowers after an inspiring presentation by local photographer and friend, Don Corby.

DJE