Messy Photos

With a design background, I tend to be very line conscious in my compositions. Visual weight, positive and negative space, leading lines, rhythm – these are my photographic language. I like clear focus and simplicity. But sometimes it’s interesting to try another language. Every once in a while I’ve taken photos that come from a different place. They bypass my need for clear focus and, while still often being recognizable, are a mess of line and color almost in the vein of abstract impressionism. Here are a few that I think have worked over the last couple of years.



Magical Mushrooms

Mushrooms are one of those subjects that help photos feel just a little bit magical. Maybe it’s the books I grew up reading, but I end up wondering when a little gnome will step into the scene. In fact, a lot of my favorite photos I’ve taken have this fantastical feel. Not necessarily on the small scale, but something that hints at otherworldly creatures and epic adventures.

Lines in Snow

Snow on the North Saskatchewan River. Taken a few years ago while on a hike with my Dad and brothers near our old house in Saskatchewan.

The Edge of Light

Taken at Panther Falls about a month ago as the sun was coming up. For the curious, there were no color alterations done to this photo – just boosted the shadows a bit and took down the highlights to even out the exposure. This is a good example of different white balances in one photo. It can be a huge problem when photographing people, or it can look really awesome to get some complimentary colours in nature photos from an otherwise pretty colourless scene.

The Purpose of Parks

Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park was created in 2005 just north-west of Edmonton. In fact, it’s almost in the city. Cars are constantly driving by and industial buildings are quite close. The park is hard to get to, except for one wildlife viewing platform on the east end of the lake. Not sure if this is the result of wildlife conservation and not wanting people to disturb this area or if it is just poor planning. On the north side of the lake there is a road that goes in, but it is a gated private road going to oil wells.

I’m pretty annoyed at the park actually. I think parks should either be for the public or for the wildlife. This park seems like it’s for corporate interests trying to look conservationy and not succeeding. There are huge power lines going through it, traffic going all around it, private oil wells in it.

Taken a few days ago on Big Lake.

Landscape Light 2

Often sunrises and sunsets are the best light. This light is more unusual, so it adds interest to a scene, as long as the light is not competing with other elements of your composition. I often feel like sunrises or sunsets are bandages though – something to fix an otherwise boring scene. So if you’re taking a photo of a sunrise or sunset, make sure you consider the composition as well, and what makes the foreground interesting.

Taken at sunset in Cooking Lake Rec Area last summer.

Landscape Light

People often say that direct sunlight in the middle of the day is not acceptable light for landscapes. There’s a small bit of truth to that, but don’t let that stop you from taking awesome pictures. When the light is contrasty, look for things to shoot that look good with that amount of contrast, or things that create interesting shadows. When there are clouds, look at the shapes of the clouds and look at the subtle details brought out by the soft light. All light (and lack of light) is good to shoot in, you just have to look at things differently and be aware of the light.

I’m not the guy who waits for 8 hours for the right light for a scene picked out days in advance. I’m too impatient and there’s too much to see. In that 8 hours I would have missed twenty different compositions that were perfect for the light at the time. Don’t get me wrong, being at the right place at the right time is a beautiful thing. I’m just not often willing to sacrifice a day of exploring for one good photo. Maybe someday I’ll grow up and calm down.

Shot in Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba at 1:45 in the afternoon.

Small Mossy Creek

Goldstream Creek is an awesome creek on Vancouver Island, although I’m sure it’s not the only one. I could spend a month exploring a creek like this. It’s such a peaceful otherworldly place.

Art of the Day

Some people feel really strongly about this, so here it is – this is photo art (as opposed to a photograph). I don’t normally do a lot of processing on my photos (except in previously mentioned dust nightmares). This one felt like it needed a little more to take it a little further from reality. Because really who wants to look at slimy seaweed? So I played with the colors a bit. Honestly this is still less processing than you see in any fashion shoot, magazine cover, etc.
My goal (and the goal of most artists) is to create beauty, not to use any one process, be it film, photoshop, or paint.

Taken on China Beach, Vancouver Island last summer.

And the original. Hopefully this doesn’t ruin the above for everyone.