skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The Peace of The North
I used the phrase "The Peace of The North" recently in an email to a friend when referring to an impending departure to the cottage. Thinking about it more, there really is a different feeling to everything when I am up north. I've been fortunate to experience it regularly in the couple of years since we got the cottage.
Even simple morning walks along the cottage road hold a peace that makes them quite a different experience from my walks at home. Everything just seems ... well, different. The sounds, the air, the light ... particularly morning and evening light. And what a great thing that is for photography, when the golden hours hold just a little more magic.
A morning walk with Murphy is always a great start to the day. His eager, bouncy approach to walks can be contagious, no matter what the weather and the location. When it's up north, with sunlight cresting over the trees, I'm eager too. I know that in the fresh morning air and warmth of the sun there more of "The Peace of The North" ...
 |
| Morning's Peace |
... and I'll take all I can get, though Murphy my prefer that I stopped a little less to make photographs ;-)
DJE
While sitting on the patio at home this weekend, having a relaxing morning in the 30*C heat before heading to an afternoon wedding ceremony, I was drawn to the colourful daylilies in the back garden. It had rained overnight and I thought there might be some water droplet still remaining on the leaves and petals...
... recalling a recent email with a friend about use of macro lenses to capture close up, abstract images, I went for the Sigma 150mm f/2.8 macro on the 5DIII for some seriously shallow depth of focus, but is was a straight on shot of one blossom that I chose to work with.
 |
| wet lily |
DJE
Photographing flowers can become cliché very easily. The click, click, click of random snapshots is often heard when there are cameras and flowers present.
I have my share of cliché flower photos in my library, so I fall into the trap as well at times, but I do try to create something different with my captures as much as possible. That can involve close up macro work, working to find different or unusual compositions, photographing from an unusual point of view (POV) or in the case of this week's image, using post processing to convey a painterly photographic rendition of the scene.
 |
| lily trail |
There are those that want to challenge and debate whether the resulting image is photography or art, even if it is photography at all or art at all. I have no interest in that debate. I appreciate the artistic eye of the photographer who can see and select a scene or subject from which to create a photograph, just as much as I appreciate the painter who has the ability to put brush and paint to canvas to create their painting. For me it is more about a creative eye, intent and the end result.
DJE
PS - Our recent young visitors to the cottage, Emma and Logan, were surprised by my interest in flowers, resulting in a couple of touching anecdotes. Of course my interest in flowers at the cottage is fully with nature and wildflowers. While out for walks with either Emma or Logan along, I would point out what flowers I could identify and tell them what I knew. Wood Lilies, Yellow Lady's Slippers, Showy Lady's Slippers, whatever we encountered, I pointed them out.
One day we were in the village, heading into one of the stores and not wanting me to miss anything, pointing to a decorative planter filled with colour Logan exclaimed "hey Doug, flowers !" I just had to chuckle.
Another day, after a walk along the shore with mom and dad, Emma came up to me and presented me with a collection of blossoms from the wildflowers they encountered and wanted to know if I knew what they were. Emma even made a drawing on her electronic tablet for me that I had to snap a pic of.
... she made my day :-D
I know it's past July 1 but it was only last week and I love celebrating Canada Day ! This year, we were at the cottage with friends and planned the day to include the fireworks in Little Tub Harbour, if the young ones could stay awake ... and they did !
 |
| Flowerburst ! |
This was our first year for viewing the fireworks in "the Tub". Lynn did the planning and although I was a bit skeptical about her choice of location at first, we managed to pull off a great spot for viewing, with Marcy, Matt, Emma and Logan grabbing a park bench and me setting up several metres away on the boardwalk looking across to the ferry dock, close to the display.
Although the boardwalk was full of people (some unable to sit/stand still and not bang the railing and floorboards constantly) I managed to pull off a number of exposures that I was happy with. For all shots I used the same exposure, determined from experience and confirmed with a quick test shot as the festivities began, 17mm, f/8, 15 sec, ISO 100 on my 5D III with the EF 17-40 f/4L. The "trick" is to set up on a tripod (obviously for the 15 sec exposure) framing the area where most of the pyrotechnics will take place. Then you trip the shutter (remote release recommended) anticipating when the fireworks will explode during the time the shutter is open. Some get missed and others like the shot above, combine for multiple busts in a single frame.
Some others from the show ...
It was the first fireworks show for our younger guests and they did well to manage to stay up a few hours past their normal bed time to join us. When things got started all we could hear was Logan yelling "this is awesome! "
DJE
