Photo of the Week 2024-02-26

' winter's wide expanse '

Enjoying my relatively recent foray into the realm of ultra-wide angle landscapes, I marvel at the way expansive skies are captured. They appear gathered from the edges of sight, pulled into the frame to compliment the earth below, particularly when I'm photographing along the shore near our cottage. Often, as in the image above, the textures in the sky and cloud mirror the patterns and shapes in the rock above and below the waters of Hay Bay.

I'm looking forward to many more outings with the ultra-wide focal lengths and the opportunity to hone my skills while creating compelling landscapes.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2022-01-03

 

WELCOME TO 2022 !!

 

Here starts another calendar year for the blog ...

 

With a snowstorm hitting areas of the province south of us, Tobermory was getting just a dusting of the 'white stuff' as the second day of the new year got underway. It was however getting colder (-10*C) and while time will tell if winter is truly ready to settle in, I decided that I needed to get out in the fresh air, so I asked Lynn and Murphy to come with me for a hike to Indian Head Cove. It wold be our fist visit in almost two years.

 

Indian Head Cove 2022-01-02

For the outing, I packed up a variety of photo gear and included the 14mm Rokinon f/2.8. It's not a lens that has seen a lot of use and I intend to work with it more in 2022. Ultra Wide Angle lenses can be utilized to provide some dramatic perspectives and exceptional compositions. They can also be quite challenging to wield given their expansive field of view. Unwanted elements like branches, feet, and tripod legs tend to creep into the edges of the frame when the photographer is not watching 'the edges' closely. There are a host of other considerations a photographer must keep in mind when a UWA is mounted and perhaps I'll discuss these in future posts as I encounter and utilize them.

 

As a beginning, I figured it could inject some interesting creative changes to my process and push me to see and create differently. What a great way to start a new photographic year!

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2021-05-03

Back when I first connected with the photography community in Guelph, over 10 years ago, it was a thing for a small group of us to head out on Saturday mornings to different locations and just wander around with our cameras. There were so many places we went, I tend to forget until I dive into the image catalogue and see something that stirs the memory.

Back in 2009, a small group of us decided that Casa Loma would be a good location for just such an outing. I can't remember how many of us make the trek into TO but I remember some of who were there and the fun we had, that day and many others. As with all things, change comes, life happens, friends move, priorities change and so do weekend activities. Almost all of my outings now are either solo or with Lynn, still good time, great memories but different.

Some time after I selected the photo below, processed it, marked it as a potential candidate for posting. Now with my outings restricted with pandemic concerns, the archive comes to life.

High Rent District

Are all horse stables this nice ... well they were at Casa Loma.

Using a low POV (point of view), with my camera actually on the brick floor, I emphasized the herring-bone pattern and lines to add interest to the scene. With scenes or subjects exhibiting strong symmetry, it can be difficult to get an exact balance. Usually if the balance is off, even a fraction, my OCD kicks in and I discard the image. In this case I missed centring the image on a pattern line but it doesn't bother me as much, perhaps because the horse stalls themselves are not the same right and left in the frame.

 

DJE