Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

We had ourselves a bit of a snowstorm the other day.  Something to the tune of 50cm reported where I live in Longueuil.  So, what do you do in the middle of a snowstorm?  You go out and take some pictures!  I wanted to protect my camera and my lens, so I had originally outfitted my stuff with a transparent bag specifically made to hold a camera and a flash.  However, the small hole in the bag made to wrap over the viewfinder quickly stretched out of place and made for a bothersome experience.  The next trip to the camera store will see me picking up an eyepiece extender which will hold the bag in place without fear of rips or tears.  Back to the photo, I felt that this image pretty much summed up the situation for many people on the night.  Standing by their cars waiting for the snow removal companies to pass by and free them.  I love the blowing snow all over the photograph and the way it is captured in the lights of the tractor.  This shot was captured at f/2.8, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 42mm.  The lights of the tractor actually helped me out as they allowed the camera to get up to 1/80 second for the shot, which would have been nearly impossible otherwise, even at ISO 1600.  The higher speed allowed me to capture the show as is, instead of being one white blur.  Okay, it still looks like a white blur, but it's a detailed white blur.  I took several photos during the course of the walk, so there should be some more that will make their way to this page eventually.

A Stately Fellow

Welcome back everyone, hope you all had a nice Christmas.  I had a fine time, and as usual, my camera was never far behind.  This statue of Santa Claus is one of the many decorations that could be found in my Uncle`s house where the family gathered for supper.  The way that he was lit from below by Christmas lights really caught my eye and I waited with impatience for everyone to finish their meal and clear out of the area so that I could get a closer look and to snap a few shots.  Even with the lights being right at the statues feet, the scene was still not properly lit enough to be able to use a low ISO, and I really didn't want to use my flash as I felt it would be to strong for the scene.  Thus, this photograph was shot at f/2.8, 1/20sec, ISO 1600 at 30mm.  I placed the statue on the left hand side of the frame to give him more space in the shot, and also because I really liked the cranberries that were hanging from the wall and the shadows that they gave.  Christmas decorations can be fun to shoot, though still not quite as fun as opening presents.

Merry Christmas To All

The snow has finally arrived and as the old song goes, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  What better way to celebrate than with a photograph of everyone's favourite red nosed reindeer pulling a sleigh.  This particular shot comes from 2010 and was used on the front page of a December issue of the weekly newspaper L'Action Regionale, which serves the St. Basile Le Grand-Chambly-Carignan-St. Bruno area, though I actually took it in St. Lambert.  I was the unofficial photographer of the newspaper from October 2010 until May 2011 thanks to my knowing the editor-in-chief.  It was a great experience, taking photographs not necessarily to appease my eye, but rather to accompany a story.  It was also my first experience with every photojournalist's worst enemy, the graphic designer.  I once went to a conference given by La Presse photographer Bernard Brault (http://www.bernardbrault.com) and he described how in the beginning of his career it always bothered him how the graphic designers would butcher his photos.  After my experiece at l'Action, I understood the feeling very well.  But, I was still grateful because it was fun to see my name credited besides each of my photos, especially my front page shots.  This photograph was taken at f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I chose f/4 to put an emphasis on Rudolph leading the sleigh as my selected aperture made the rest of the photo less sharp.  I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and that Rudolph manages to lead that jolly old elf to your homes.

Front Row Seat For The End Of The World

If you are to believe certain people and certain prophecies, this will be the last time that I post a picture, and these will be the last words that I write.  So, I figured if you've got to go out, go out with a bang!  This is a shot from a few years back taken at Seaway Park in Saint-Lambert, QC.  It was during the annual fireworks competition.  While I was digging through my archives trying to find something to fit the end of the world theme, I came upon this photograph and thought it to be a good mix.  I like digging out photos for this blog, especially shots that I would have normally discarded and never used.  Honestly, I was there to capture nice shots of the fireworks, not a ball of smoke and white light.  Thanks to this blog, however, this photograph is granted a second life.  The blast of light was taken just after the final fireworks had gone off as the sky was just a big mess of light and smoke.  I was also positioned behind a bunch of summer spectators who were taking in the event, and thus inspired the new title for this photograph.  This shot was taken at f/4, 21sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  It's the long exposure time that allowed the crowd to be properly lit by the blasts of the fireworks which is kind of important as this picture would look kind of empty without them.  Sadly, this shot cannot be repeated as the city built a soccer field where most of these people are now seated, but with the world coming to an end, I guess that's not really that big of a deal after all. 

Something New

I've grown to be annoyed with seeing my name stretched across my photographs like a bad tattoo, so I am debuting a new watermark with this photograph.  While I deem myself to be somewhat handy with a camera, I am far from being a graphic designer, nor am I an expert in all things Photoshop.  However, I wanted to create something a little nicer which wouldn't hide as much of the photograph, yet still offer a bit of protection along with saving my images at a small size and resolution.  So, I took the words you are all used to seeing, "Eric Mahannah Photography 2012" and I shaped them into the form of an eye because I thought it to be kind of cool as I use my eyes to prepare my photographs and you use your eyes to view them.  Hey, nobody ever accused me of being poetic.  On to more interesting things, the photograph.  This image was taken back in September, and is another example of my famous 'going home with an interesting photograph you hadn't planned on taking' theory.  This one was taken while I was waiting for a tour bus to move from in front of Montreal City Hall.  While saying some nasty words under my breathe about the previously mentioned tour bus, I turned my head to the left and saw the wonderfully lit skyline with the moon nicely placed in the sky.  The different shades of blue are due to the sun having just gone down over the horizon, but there was still enough light left in the sky so that it wouldn't appear to be totally dark.  This shot was taken at f/9, 8sec., ISO 100 at 24mm.  Along with the sky, I also like the two 'ghosts' who are walking along the sidewalk in the bottom left hand side of the shot.  This effect is caused by the 8 second exposure time of the photograph, which also creates the 'star' like shapes around the lights.  Hope you enjoy.

Sneaky Little Frogger

One of the things that I like about photography are the little surprises.  You can plan on taking a certain image, and then you get home and find something that you didn't even know was there.  Such was the case with this photograph.  I'm sure that there will be some doubters out there on the interwebs, but I swear to all of you out there that I did not know that the frog in the lower right hand corner of the photograph was there when I took this picture.  I was still new to the photography game when this picture was taken, and this image was actually taken as a 'homework' assignment for one of my courses.  What I was looking for was something colourful and I really liked the look of the green lily pads against the dark water.  The green, yellow and black immediately caught my eye as I thought this picture would be perfect as a jigsaw puzzle.  This shot was taken at f/7.1, 1/1000, 52mm at ISO 400.  It was only after getting home and putting the images taken that day on my computer that I noticed my little friend sitting right there and giving me his best smile.  I was really happy to include this image in my exhibition as it was one of my early shots and that little guy proved charismatic enough to generate a sale and many smiles.

Three Months Later

It's been a little more than three months since I opened up this little spot on the web, and thanks to all of you who have been visiting.  One of the first photos I had wanted to put up here was the photograph you see to the left of the screen.  I asked for, and was given permission to use it way back in August, but things always seemed to happen.  New shots were taken, there was an exposition to prepare for, I got lazy...the regular excuses.  Better late than never, here is one of my favourite photographs that I have taken.  One of the toughest jobs you can have as a photographer, in my opinion, is to photograph someone's wedding.  I've had the honour of being the 'guest photographer' at the weddings of two of my good friends and both were great learning experiences.  The role of 'guest photographer' is quite easy.  Take as many pictures as you want, but stay out of the way of the real photographer.  I had ample opportunity to take the in-between pictures which can be just as beautiful as the shots the pro is taking.  This particular shot was taken in the alley behind a restaurant in Vancouver.  The wall was a red that was very easy on the eyes.  The wedding photographer had set the bride exactly where she wanted her with the afternoon light softly falling on her face.  As the photographer was adjusting her camera, I snuck off a little to the left and snapped away.  I like how it appears the sun created a window, made special just for the bride to show off her beauty.  I also like how she wasn't looking at me directly, but rather seems to be lost in a moment of quiet contemplation.  The photo was taken at f/5, 1/100 sec,ISO 400 at 30mm.  I also owe a debt of gratitude to Gracci & Rico Pelaez who took this freshly graduated photographer and took the time to teach me a couple of tricks as well as being very generous with their time considering they were on the job at the time.  Visit their website and see their amazing photographs at their website http://www.pelaezphotography.com/.