the life of a nature photographer – Page 13 – photographic discovery through exploration

Folk Fest this Weekend!

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

I’m getting super excited for Folk Fest in a few days! I’ve got lots of new prints and jewelry, so make sure to come visit in the craft tent. Also for the first time, we’ll have information about the photo classes I’m teaching and information on the promotional shoots I’m doing with Eric Beliveau from Threaded Studio.

The photo is from a soggy morning near the east block of Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan. We camped there overnight and it rained the whole time. We barely made it out — all the roads around there turn to mud as soon as it rains.

7mm, f4, 1/250 of a second

Burtonsville Island

Forest, Landscape, Photo Gear, Photo of the Day

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

I got a chance to get outside yesterday, and I headed out to Burtonsville Island Natural Area. I haven’t been there this year yet, and there were a lot of surprises. There are coal mines and oil wells everywhere, and they’ve made it harder to access the natural area. There is the constant drone of mining machinery and I didn’t see as much wildlife as I often do around there. Once I figured out how to access the area (they’ve changed the roads around) I got my next surprise. The water on the North Saskatchewan River was still pretty high and there was evidence that it was about 8 feet higher at one point (which would have come close to submerging the island). No one else had been there and the trails were all getting very overgrown or non-existant. I still managed to get across the beaver dam to the island (at least the beavers keep things in good repair), but it was soggy going. I got entirely soaked pushing through the rain-soaked undergrowth, but it was a beautiful evening and I got to test out my new camera, so I’m happy. It will take me a while to get a good feel for it, but first impressions are that the Canon 6D is a very nice camera indeed, and a great update to my old 5d.

Sorry for the gross image, but this is the flood evidence on the island.

17mm, f8, 1/500 of a second

Rays of Light

Photo of the Day, Prairie

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Just taking a small break from matting, signing and bagging prints to share a photo I took a few days ago. Enjoy!

60mm, f8, 1/400 of a second

Birch in the Afternoon

Forest, Landscape, Photo of the Day

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

This was one of the most beautiful afternoon walks I’ve had in a while. I headed out to the Waskahegan Staging Area of the Blackfoot Lake Recreation Area, and wandered around for a few hours. I found this little birch grove, got dive bombed by black terns, conversed with a catbird, relaxed with a deer, shivered with howling coyotes, and got to enjoy a fantastic sunset. The only downside was the mosquitos, although there was a breeze for a bit that helped.

7mm, f5, 1/60 of a second

Summer Storms

Business, Landscape, Prairie

Monday, July 15th, 2013

We’ve had some spectacular storms here this summer, and I finally got out to enjoy one last week. Fortunately here in Edmonton they haven’t had the devastating effects they’ve had in the south of the province.

These days I’m busy getting ready for Folk Fest, and all my supply orders are starting to trickle in. I just got a shipment of a few hundred prints that I haven’t finished inspecting yet – I need to get the mats, bags, and backing for all of them yet. Pendants, earrings and cufflinks are starting to be assembled on my worktable as I’m waiting for a shipment of fresh resin. Despite a brief lull of activity due to sickness, things at the humble headquarters here are humming along. Looking forward to seeing all of you who can make it to Folk Fest – it’s always a great time!

7mm, f5, 1/640 of a second

Whaleback Weather

Landscape

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Storms are the best for photography. You get amazing skies, spots of shade and spots of light, and rain to make everything a little reflective. As long as you’re staying safe, I highly recommend getting out during storms to get great pictures.

This was taken in the Whaleback — an area of ranchland and foothills just north of Crowsnest Pass on Highway 22. I love the open rolling hills and dramatic weather of this area. I’ve driven through quite a few times, but I still have to do some real hiking in this area. One of these years…

246mm, f7.1, 1/800 of a second

Alpine Crocuses

Flowers, Mountain, Photo Gear

Saturday, June 29th, 2013

60mm, f2.8, 1/1250 of a second

The first day in Crowsnest Pass I climbed McGillivray Ridge, thinking it would be an easy re-introduction to hiking up mountains again since it’s been a while. Turns out the I need to climb a lot more mountains! It’s only 600m elevation gain, but I was pretty tired by the time I got to the top. Maybe the problem is that I always haul a lot of camera gear along, and I eschew hiking poles in favour of having a camera in my hand. Despite being a very warm sunny day at the bottom, by the time I got to the top I was wearing two jackets and a touque and I wished I had mittens along. I didn’t see anyone else the whole time though, so it’s a great hike for getting away from the crowds.

The crocuses near the top were spectacular. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen crocuses this purple. And they were everywhere. I got a chance to give my new Olympus 60mm Macro a good workout and I’m super impressed with that lens. Focusing is really fast for a macro lens, and it’s extremely sharp. My only complaint is that it doesn’t have a manual focus switch on the lens. But for being 1/5 of the weight of my Sigma macro and giving me similarly impressive results, I’m really happy.

60mm, f2.8, 1/1250 of a second

Early Summer Updates

Landscape, Mountain

Friday, June 28th, 2013

This year has been a year for starting new ventures and hanging on to some of the old ones I like. My friend and fellow photographer Eric have started shooting together (Threaded Studio) and teaching photo classes together (St. Albert Photo Classes). All the while, I’ve been trying to keep up with my photo jewelry and prints in stores and still get to the odd craft sale (I’ll be at Edmonton Folk Fest again! Woohoo!). This hasn’t left much time for soul-soothing wilderness, but a couple weeks ago, Anna and I managed to get out to Crowsnest Pass for a few days. This photo is of Mt Ward, which is on the continental divide. It was taken from near Crowsnest Mountain a little after sunset. I’ll have a lot more photos from this trip coming in the next few days.

100mm, f7.1, 1/400 of a second

Spring – A Great Time to Learn Composition

Abstract, Business, Composition, Macro

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

I’ve been enjoying the warmer weather lately and, despite the lack of ice to photograph, I’ve enjoyed coming up with compositions of what is available. Being able to go out in a t-shirt is just a bonus.

On June 25th from 6:30 – 8:30pm in St. Albert, I’ll be teaching a composition class. This is open to anyone — whether you only use your cell phone or you regularly haul around multiple SLRs. The class will cover a wide variety of techniques for composition and should be enlightening and fun. Although I mostly show nature photography professionally, I’ll have examples of everything from studio sessions and weddings to wildlife and of course lots of nature as well. So if you want a painless way to drastically improve your photos, come join me! You can sign up at St. Albert Photo Classes. You’ll notice I’m also teaching a “Mastering Your SLR” course, which is very helpful for the technical side of photography, but composition is my favorite subject—learning to compose thoughtfully is an easy way for anyone to set their photos apart.

The photo is a grass curl over a burnt log near Landslide Lake in a forest fire affected area.
90mm, f2.5, 1/1000 of a second

Symbiotica

Forest, Galleries and Shows, Wildlife

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Symbiotica — A collaborative exhibition of poetry and visual art.

Thursday from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at the Daffodil Gallery

Philip Jagger and I will have a piece on display that we collaborated on over the last month or so. There are a bunch of other collaborations there as well — should be fascinating! Hope to see you there!

And, completely unrelated to Symbiotica, here’s a shot from Vancouver Island last fall.

300mm, f8, 1/250 of a second