Great Grey Owl

Forest, Photo of the Day, Wildlife
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

Aparently, besides showing photos from my Banff trip, I’m a little focused on birds, thanks to my class. Here’s a Great Grey Owl I spent some time with a while ago. In the last photo, if you look closely at his bill, you can see he’s recently had a meal (if you’re squeamish don’t look too close). Right around his bill (especially on the first photo) you can see his “rictal bristles” which help him feel his food while he’s eating, a little like a cat’s whiskers.

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If you’re wondering why I’m using all these terms, no, I’m not trying to seem smart. I’m trying to do whatever I can to remember it all, and blogging about it should help.

Night Sky Over Lake Louise

Landscape, Mountain, Night Photography, Photo of the Day, Winter
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Another night shot from Lake Louise. You can see the constellation of Orion right above Fairview Mountain and the Pleiades star cluster a little higher and to the right. The brightest star you can see right at the bottom is Sirius – the brightest star (besides our sun of course). That’s pretty much the extent of my constellation knowledge (for this part of the sky anyway). If there are any astonomy or mythology buffs out there, feel free to chime in.

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Palm Warbler in the Forest

Forest, Photo of the Day, Wildlife
Friday, January 14th, 2011

I took my first Wildlife Biodiversity and Ecology class last night and it was fascinating. It was a three hour class on Ornithology (birds) and it seemed way too short. It’s always awesome to see a whole new world open up before you, that you vaguely knew was there, but had no idea what it involved. I hope I have the time and motivation to follow up on this brief introduction (although I suspect I’m going to hope the same thing for every other class). John Acorn is a very interesting prof, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of this class.

I thought I’d post a bird photo in honor of the class, but ironically I wasn’t able to identify it. I obviously need more classes and/or experience. So I suspect this is some sort of warbler (maybe a Palm Warbler? edit – yup, it’s a Palm Warbler — Dendroica palmarum). I found it in a poplar forest in northern Saskatchewan.

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GH1 Thoughts and a Photo

Abstract, Photo Gear, Photo of the Day, Water, Winter
Thursday, January 13th, 2011

For this trip I tried out an interesting new (well, actually almost 2 years old) camera. Panasonic’s GH1 is actually a very capable camera. In good light the image quality is very close to my Canon 5D (mark I – more than 5 years old, but with a larger sensor). The battery lasts a very long time (I lost 1 tick on the battery meter on a 5 hour hike in -25 weather while taking 332 photos). I had problems with my 5d battery dying, although, to be fair I have an old third party battery for my Canon. The 100-300 lens for the GH1 is a very sharp lens with good image stabilization. For a small light telephoto setup, it is great.

The one area where is fails completely is at night. The previous night photo I took with my 5d turned out pretty well, while it was impossible to get anything with the panasonic. I might have been able to get something if I had a lens for it with a focus distance indicator, but with the 14-140 lens there is no way to focus a night shot. The screen was completely black, and of course autofocus would not work on any camera. The photos are also much more grainy than my 5d when long exposures are used.

Here’s one area where the GH1 does better than anything else around – telephoto (at a reasonable cost and weight). Flowing water and ice in Johnston Canyon. Taken with a 600mm equivalent lens.

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In the Caverns of the Deep

Photo of the Day, Travel
Monday, January 10th, 2011

After a long and occasionally scary drive to Banff (after 10 I stopped counting cars in the ditch on highway 2), we’re here safely, I’ve now finished my design work for the day, and I’m finally ready to go out hiking! Hello -20 weather!

Here’s one from last summer.

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Opening Doors & What Might Emerge

Photo of the Day, Prairie
Thursday, January 6th, 2011

In my photography I often attempt to capture a sense of the peace that comes in solitude and darkness. But sometimes I want to push beyond what is there into a world of the fantastic where stories lurk just around the corner. These stories are at the edge of our reality, flitting through our collective dreams.

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