Winter Coat

Seeing as how Winter has pretty much been non-existent this year, I'm trying to make an effort to get out as many of my snow photographs before Spring officially arrives.  This is another photograph I took after what has so far been our only snowstorm this year.  This is some long grass that was planted in a park close to where I live.  I focused tight on this particular branch and used a large aperture to blur the background.  I took this photograph at f/4, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 34mm.  I like the blurred background in this photograph.  There is all kinds of stuff going on back there to keep my eyes busy.  I also liked how all of the snow was resting on the back side of the plant.  Kind of like a winter jacket.

Family Ties

Those of you who visit my my Facebook page that is associated with this blog might have noticed a little change in the Profile Picture that is being used.  I then realized that the photograph that has been on that page longer than any other, had never even been given its own little entry on the blog.  So, now it's time to shine a little light on that photograph.  It's an old Brownie Target Six-20 and was made by the Kodak Company.  It was produced between 1946 and 1952.  It produced 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" negatives and could be bought for the low low price of $3.50.  It only had two f-stops, f11 and f16 and generally had a shutter speed of 1/125sec, though there was a tab you could pull out which would enable the user to open and close the shutter manually, and thus get a slower or faster shutter shutter speed.  When I began to get interested in photography, my mother passed this camera down to me.  It had belonged to my Grandmother, or Mémère as we called her, before that and was the first piece in a now growing collection of photography items.  I ended up taking this photograph while I was taking my courses at Concordia University.  It was for a course in Product Photography where we were asked to bring in items to photograph.  This seemed like a natural choice for me at the time.  The photograph was taken at f/10, 1/60sec, ISO 200 at 46mm.  It was shot on a plexiglass table, which combined with the lighting produced the reflection of the camera.  I really like that reflection, it kind of makes the camera look grand in my eyes.  Mind you, knowing the heritage of this camera, and also knowing that it was used by Mémère, it was already rather grand to me.

Before The Explosions

This is one of those 'extra' photographs that I believe I've mentioned here before.  People who have been visiting here for a while are well aware of the fact that I really enjoy shooting photographs of fireworks displays.  However, to do so, I need to get to the location a fair bit of time before the explosions begin in order to make sure that my camera is properly positioned.  I also take several photographs to make sure that everything is in focus.  Sometimes, these little test shots ended up producing a photograph that I enjoy.  Such is the case with this one.  It was taken before the fireworks display down at the Old Port of Montreal to celebrate the New Year.  In case you've forgotten what those photographs looked like, you can visit them again at this link.  I really liked the different colour lights on the building, the white clouds in the sky and the small lights of the city in the background.  This photograph was taken at f/16, 16sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I then cropped it to 12" by 4", or what I like to call my 'Wide Screen Cut'.  It helps pass the time a little bit quicker when I take these little shots before the fireworks begin, and sometimes it produces something I like.

Beach Therapy

As far as Winter's go, this one has been kind of mild so far.  However, while scrolling through some social media posts this morning, I noticed lots of people complaining about how cold it was.  So, I thought it might be a good idea to send you all to the beach.  I'll be honest, this photograph was taken on a chilly September afternoon while in Percé, Québec.  Our feet didn't stay in the Gulf of the Saint-Lawrence waters for very long.  But, if you ignore my words and just focus on the photograph, maybe it will carry you away to a warmer place in your mind.  This photograph was taken at f/13, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  It was also taken while My Lovely Assistant and I were on vacation this past year.  Some of the other photographs I took during that trip should eventually be here, at my pace, in a few years.  In the meantime, let the beach, and your imagination, take you away.

No Picnic Today

Here's another snowy photograph that I took during the last little storm.  For some reason, I get a kick out of seeing everyday stuff being covered with snow.  Like the trees and those two picnic tables.  While I originally picked up a camera and began to learn more about photography because of the bright lights and big bangs of fireworks display, I'm also a big fan of these peaceful, quiet scenes.  I took this photograph at f/13, 1/50sec, ISO 400 at 42mm.  I had tried to use a slower shutter speed in order to better capture the snow that was falling, but I felt that it only served to clutter the photograph.  Sometimes, they say that less is more.  I believe that such is the case here.

Mocha Yule Log

My neighbour just recently took down his Christmas lights and My Lovely Assistant just took down our Christmas decorations the other day so I think that's a pretty safe sign that the Holiday season is coming to an end.  I still have this last bit of holiday cheer to pass along, because when the holidays come back around in December, I'm guessing that I'll have a new batch of dessert photographs like these to share.  Those of you who remember the Chocolate & Pear Yule Log photographs from a few weeks ago should also have your taste buds watering over this tasty offering.  It's a Mocha Yule Log, another of My Lovely Assistant's tasty creations from this past Christmas.  As with the other photographs, I tried to keep things simple with the photographs.  I chose to shoot these from a higher angle than the other set, and I also didn't include the Christmas table decoration, choosing to instead rely just on the serving plate and the kitchen table. I also wanted to make sure that the powdered topping of the yule log was visible because I really liked the little design in the middle.  I also really liked the little texture of the sugar on the cranberries.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 30mm and the second photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/200sec, ISO 400 at 24mm.  As you can tell by the different camera settings, I'm still in my 'Learning How To Use Flash' phase.  It's a phase that has lasted a bit longer than I would have liked, but it's also blending into my 'Learning To Properly Photograph Food' phase.  Hopefully both of them are advancing as well as My Lovely Assistant who has obviously aced the 'How To Create Awesome Desserts' phase.

Long Winter's Nap

It's already done?  It has only been a week since I went out for a walk on a snowy day.  Since then, the temperatures have gone up, and the rain we've had over the last two days has made most of that snow slowly disappear.  While on that walk, I ended up going past a cemetery and something caught my eye.  No, it wasn't the beginning of a zombie attack, but rather my attention was grabbed by the colour of the tombstones against the fresh white of the snow.  Thanks to the large snowfall from the week before, I was able to climb up a snowbank and place myself above the fence that was along the road.  The snow continued to be useful a few minutes later as my eye was once again grabbed by the little walking path in the middle of the cemetery. I once again stepped onto the snowbank and tried to frame my photograph so that the cross would be right in the middle of my shot, with the trees lining the path on both sides leading to it.  Most importantly, while I was doing all of this, I was also trying to protect my lens from having any snow fall on it because I hadn't brought a cloth with me to wipe up any wet spots that would have resulted should the snow have made contact with my glass.  The first photograph was taken at f/13, 1/20sec, ISO 100 at 40mm and the second photograph was taken at f/14, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Some people may think of cemetery's as being a little spooky, but in this case I thought that it made for a nice peaceful winter scene.

The Snow Has Arrived

A little while back we were all lamenting the fact that we we're not going to have a white Christmas.  The snow did finally arrive, though a few days late.  I went out for a little afternoon stroll down the streets as the snow was falling this past weekend to see if I could grab a cool photograph or two.  I really like it when the show clings to the branches on trees and nice empty streets.  I guess you could say that I filled a personal checklist with this one.  I took this photograph at f/14, 1/25sec, ISO 100 at 58mm.  I used a small aperture so that more of the photograph would remain clear.  I think it adds more to the photograph to be able to see the cars in the back of the photograph as clear as the trees in the foreground.  It was a little bit late in getting here, but I think we can safely say that Winter has now arrived.

Gummy Christmas Wreath

People still have their Christmas decorations up, so I suppose that means that we are still in the Holiday Season.  So, before it suddenly becomes the month of May and I end up missing my time window, here's a little photograph I took a few days back.  As tasty as candy is to eat, I find that it is almost as fun to photograph.  There are all kinds of bright colours.  In this case, My Lovely Assistant and I were making a trip to Bulk Barn and noticed these cool gummy Christmas wreaths.  I bought some with the idea of photographing one of them.  The rest were bought so we could eat them.  In order to get this photograph, I used a flashlight and put a piece of wax paper over the light.  I then put the gummy wreath over the paper so that it would be lit from underneath, allowing all light to bring out the colour of the candy.  The photograph was shot at f/7.1, 1/320sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  It was kind of a lucky bonus, but I also really liked the effect that the light had going through the wax paper in the background.  A fun little project you can do inside the house on a cold winter day

Correcting A Mistake

Well, it's often been said that when you try and rush things, you end up screwing something up.  That's what happened to me a few days ago.  I was rushing, trying to get my photographs of the fireworks from New Year's Eve down at the Old Port of Montreal up before the end of January 1st.  I had re-written my little commentary for a third time, and it was nearing midnight.  I pressed the 'Publish' button and didn't even notice that the sixth photograph was not the right one.  I guess we can use this little post to explain the difference.  The photograph on the right is the photograph that got posted, while the photograph on the left is the one that I wanted to post.  What's the difference?  If you notice, the photograph on the right is not really straight.  As I mentioned in the original post, in the middle of the show I went from shooting horizontally to shooting vertically.  I was moving kind of fast and I didn't adjust my tripod in the perfect position.  As a result, I needed to rotate the photographs a little bit afterwards in Photoshop.  3.5 degree clockwise to be exact.  I then had to crop the images a little bit in order to get rid of the white space that was created by the rotation.  First post of the year and first mistake.  Hopefully I'll get better at this as the year goes on.

New Year's Fireworks 2016

This is now the third time that I try and write about these fireworks you see here.  My first attempt ended up being scrapped as I seemed to only be able to write about how this blog was beginning to feel like a hassle at times.  The second time was scrapped as I seemed to only be able to write about the lack of manners some of my fellow party goers were exhibiting.  All negative thoughts and words.  But for me, photography has always been a positive.  Something I enjoy doing, something that I like.  There's enough negativity out there, so I'm going to try and start off 2016 on a positive note by trying to forget the negative and tell you that I shot these photographs down at the Old Port during the yearly New Year's Eve party.  There were many more people than usual this year which made moving around a little more tricky.  However, My Lovely Assistant and I finally made our way to a good spot and I ended up starting 2016 off with some photographs that I really like.  The first photograph was taken at f/18, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took over the course of the show.

f/18, 24sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/18, 14sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/18, 10sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/18, 7sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/18, 12sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

I generally prefer shooting fireworks horizontally rather than vertically, but my wide-angle lens isn't quite wide enough for the distance that I was from the explosions.  To be perfectly honest though, in this case shooting vertically got everything I needed into my shots.  The fireworks, the building and the people were all there, while shooting horizontally would have resulted in lots of empty space in my photographs.  It was a good way to ring in the New Year, so all that's left is to wish all of out there a healthy and happy 2016.