Photo of the Week 2021-11-29

Almost the end of November and they're baaaack !!

 

' wary glance '

I recently made some time to visit an area that has provided most of my opportunities to photography Snowy Owls and was again rewarded with sightings ... two separate sightings on two separate days (likely the same bird).

 

This image of a female or immature male Snowy Owl was made on the second day, when the bird was much closer to an accessible vantage point. I was able to get close enough for this highly cropped image (approximately 60% of the original frame height) from my Canon R5 in 1.6 crop mode with EF100-400 LII and EF1.4x III (effective focal length 896mm).

 

There is no substitute for focal length when photographing birds, not just focal length, good glass and high mega pixel resolution all play an important part. I like to photograph birds, in particular, unique species like the Snowy Owls and Bald Eagles I can find near our cottage. If I was more dedicated to bird photography, my expenditure on lenses would be significantly greater. I'm not saying never, but for now I'll stick with the gear I have and get what I can get image wise.

 

Sadly, I've decided that I will I no longer share locations of where I find and photograph wildlife on social media. I've seen and heard of too many instances where wildlife are harassed by over exuberant photogs too focused on getting the shot to the detriment of stressing the animal. I'm not saying that I have no impact on my subjects, but I strive to observe and read the animal's behaviour to know when to move on ... as I did with the owl in this week's photo.  I had spent some time at the side of a busy road close to this beauty when it became evident that other cars were slowing down and my presence I was drawing more attention to the bird. As experience has taught, soon other's would be stopping and ... well, I'll just say it usually doesn't go the way I would prefer.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-11-22

 

Robertson Tract in the morning ...

It was nice to get together with photo friends for an outing to the Robertson Track in Halton. The myriad of trails there lead you through a forest of changing scenery near the top of the escarpment.

 

Arriving shortly after sunrise, we were treated to morning light filtering though a light mist, highlighting tree trunks, rocky outcrops and mosses growing on the exposed stone. For this image, I was drawn to the depth of the scene, with the receding verticals of the trees.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-11-15

 

' sparkling waters - heavy skies '

Having a front row seat to a view like this is nothing short of spectacular. Whether it's a dramatic sunset or mid-day cloudless blue skies, subtle morning pastel hues or angry storm fronts, the horizon separating Huron Waters from Huron Skies always gets my attention ... 

This image is a heavy crop in an aspect ratio using multiples of the 'golden ratio'. It's an aspect ratio I use for pseudo panoramas when cropping from the original file. The original capture was made while experimenting with my R5 set up in crop mode for wildlife with  my EF100-400L and 1.4x converter. I was making some test shots earlier and used the same setup to capture a very selective slice of the view out over "La Mer Douce".

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-11-08

 

It had been a while since going on a photo walkabout with my friend Grant, actually since we had gotten together for anything. After having dinner together and reminiscing about old times, we decided to set aside a day, pick a location, and head out to walk around and see what we could find of photographic interest. 

 

We chose Dundas Ontario and while strolling around early one Saturday morning I noticed this replica old panel truck sitting in a parking lot across the street. A little while later I had made some compositions, working to exclude elements that would give clues to the current day. Then some editing in post and a vintage effect resulted in these ...

 

Moosehead Lager Van - 01

 

Moosehead Lager Van - 02

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moosehead Lager Van - 03

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moosehead Lager Van - 04

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-11-01

Welcome to November ...

 

It was last month when I ventured into Bruce Peninsula National Park for the first time in 2021. It had been a couple of (long) years... with "stay home" orders, park closure and overcrowding, my visits to BPNP had been nonexistent. I decided it was time to see if the area still had a place in my heart and the ability to stir the creative spirit ...

 

It started with an afternoon visit to Halfway Log Dump. Short though it was, the location definitely speaks to me and I managed to capture a set of images showcasing the spectacular shoreline and waters along this section of the Bruce Peninsula.

 

Later in the month, I made a point to visit Singing Sands one afternoon to enjoy the spectacular skies over calm waters and the sandy shoreline. The outing produced a set of 12 images that I've begun adding to an album titled mid-day medley. The series is the result of an exercise in altering position, POV, placement of horizon, foreground interest an portrait vs landscape aspect ratio that showcase the sand, shore and sky in concert.

 

I've chosen one from the middle of the series as this week's POTW.

 

mid-fay medley - VI

 

DJE