Photo of the Week 2019-03-25

monuments

I've long admired an interpretation of this particular scene as captured by photographer and friend Alan Norsworthy.

Having passed by these remnants of a quarrying operation countless times while walking the trails at what is now Fletcher Creek Nature Reserve, I've never quite been content with my own versions. Alan seemed to have captured something different, something more that was missing in my images. I thought perhaps because of my years working in the industry, familiarity with such structures prevented me from seeing these as objects in an artistic context and I just dismissed them as "ho hum". I think that may be part of it. Often, with things unfamiliar, I'll spend some time and investigate their potential as photographic subjects, exploring different points of view, their form, their interplay with light and shadow. In this case I also think that there was a desire not to duplicate what Alan had captured, to avoid a "me too"

I marked the images I made back in 2013 for another look sometime down the road and have stumbled on them a number of times since but here I am down the road and it's time ...

... coming back to them with a new approach using some gritty post processing techniques and applying a texture, I have found something of my own.

monuments II

monuments III

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-03-18

Following up on last week's post, I processed another set of images in the same B&W Fine Art Style. This set, in direct contrast to the previous set showcase straight lines ... have a look.

Up and Away

 

Straight Up

 

Gro Up

This has been a great exercise, one that has made me want to get out and shoot more of this type of work. It's not to say I'll abandon my landscape, scenic and nature images, but widen my vision as in the past.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-03-11

"Learning never exhausts the mind."   -   Leonardo da Vinci

Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/learning

Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/learning

Following a recent Wayne Fisher presentation on B&W architectural / fine art photography, I was inspired to take some of the ideas and techniques discussed and apply them to my own images. I had some candidates from my image catalogue in mind for this exercise and ...

... I like the results.

Gehry Swoop

The 2013 image above, of the Gehry staircase at AGO, proved a worthy candidate for B&W treatment in the style I had in mind.

Another pair of candidates from the same outing to the AGO also suited the treatment.

Gehry Curves

Gehry Up

I think it's time to fire up the printer ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-03-04

burning bush

As sun begins to set on the winter of '18/'19, I find myself lamenting the change. While social media vibrates with howling and whining about another snow storm or colder temperatures, I shake my head at those never content with Canadian weather ... it's been like this (or worse) for centuries, why expect anything different.

A friend recently opined, "I think if people had stuff to do in the winter like you or myself they would enjoy it more" and I absolutely believe he has the truth of it. That I love being outside in winter is no surprise to followers of this blog, my photography and social media streams. Having "stuff to do", and enjoy doing in winter, is a big part of this.

Up north for the weekend to embrace as much of what remains of winter, I made sure to get out and take it all in. A morning walk to freshen my mind had me out, camera in hand, in silence so peaceful that I could literally hear the snow falling on my jacket with birds chirping as they hopped around the branches of roadside trees. Further along, I stopped to investigate a 'knocking' sound and quickly recognized the random pattern of a Pileated Woodpecker hammering on a dead snag nearby. Climbing over the snowbank attempting to get a view. I sunk to mid-thigh in snow and was left chuckling only to see a large black winged blur make it's getaway while I struggled to extricate myself (after quickly checking to see if anyone/anything had noticed).

Later that day, when others may have been thinking of starting dinner or making a fire to hunker down with inside, I filled a photo backpack, strapped on snowshoes and headed outside. A suspected coyote den location was beckoning me to see if I could catch some activity in the fading light. A breeze off the lake was up and I felt it's invigorating touch on my face as I took up a position across from where I had seen tracks of coming and going ...

Standing, kneeling, sitting in wait, I listened to the sound of wind off the lake, watched the loose snow swirl over the frozen surface ... for quite some time ... until with no activity from the coyote, I turned my lens to the gorgeous Huron sky, satisfied to make another series of sunset images before heading home ...

'heading home'

Not long now and I'll have to replace snowshoes with the kayak and paddle. But this outing produced a number of images that may yet find their way off my hard-drive. For now, it's the image 'burning bush' (above) that makes the cut for Photo of the Week.



DJE