Giant Protector

Since I wrote a little bit about changing perspectives in my last update, I figured this would be a good time to post some similar style photographs, while also getting a couple more snow photographs out of the archives.  March is already upon us, which means that these would have likely disappeared into a hard drive, never to be seen again.  These photographs were taken during a snowy walk this past January.  I've mentioned here in the past that for some unknown reason, I find snow covered benches to be interesting.  With these photographs, I was trying to capture the presence of the bench and the tree, from two different perspectives.  With the first photograph, taken at f/13, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 35mm,I was trying to show the difference in size between the tree and the bench.  It's just one of those strange things that I notice from time to time.  With the second photograph, which was taken at f/13, 1/50sec, ISO 400 at 24mm, I tried to make the bench seem closer to the tree.  So it would kind of appear that the tree was protecting the bench from the harsh winter weather.

There's still snow on the bench, but not as much as has fallen on the ground or the tree.  I admit, it's kind of a stretch, but it does illustrate my point.  From where I chose to the the photograph, it looks like the branches of the tree are reaching out to cover the bench.  The two photographs are of the same thing, but with the first I tried to make the tree look like a looming giant over the bench, while in the second, I tried to make it look like a protecting force.  Is all of this only in my head?  I guess that's for you to judge, but it's just one of the things goes through my mind while taking photographs and trying to keep it interesting.

Different Perspectives

There comes a certain time when as a photographer I get a little bogged down with the feeling that any photograph that I put up here has already seen this page in some way or form.  This photograph is kind of an example.  It's a photograph that I took of the old Clock Tower down at the Old Port of Montreal.  The tower was built in 1922 as a memorial to Canadian sailors who had died during World War I.  It is a building that I've photographed several times, and others have photographed even more.  But, when I'm in the area I still can't help but want to photograph it again.  I guess the trick is to try and see things from a different perspective.  One of the things I try to keep in mind is to move.  To try and see things from a different angle.  So, that's what I did.  The first photograph is something along the lines of what I've taken several times before.  I tried to line up the photograph so that everything leads to the Clock Tower.  If you follow the sidewalk, the lamps or the tops of the trees, they all lead end up at the tower.  It's not that far out of a concept, it's something any photographer learns pretty early in the game.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 100 at 66mm.  So, what can I do that would be a little different?  How about this.

Change the angle.  It's not the most amazing photograph ever taken, but for me it was something fun and a little different.  I walked up the base of the tower, pointed my camera up and snapped away.  Rather than looking up at the tower, you might think I'm looking down at a sidewalk.  The second photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/1000sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Same building, just from another view.  I guess that's kind of the trick, seeing things from different perspectives helps to keep things fresh.

Ghosts On The Water

This would be the last of my little ice fog trilogy from the last few days.  This is one of those photographs that you don't expect to get and then thank the heavens that you happened to be in the right place at the right time.  As previously mentioned, when I arrived at the Victoria Bridge there was more ice fog on the river than I had thought.  While walking around and looking for a good angle, I looked over the water and caught the sun rising into the steam.  I just thought it was a terrific view.  It took me a few tries to get the proper settings, and I must admit to a little colour manipulation in Photoshop, but I really like the final results.  This photograph was taken at f/16, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The intensity of the sun in the fog is what grabbed my attention, but they way the sun lights up the rest of the fog on the water is what really grabs me.  Like a bunch of ghosts.

Chilling Sunshine

As previously mentioned, I wanted to have a brighter sky for my ice fog photograph.  I had originally planned on returning Sunday, but there was very little steam on the river.  I woke up early on Monday and checked the traffic cameras.  There was all kinds of fog showing up on the video.  Moving at a speed that I'm not known for so early in the morning, I was quickly out the door and headed back to the river.  I was on the shores of the St. Lawrence in about 10 minutes.  Only one problem, there was so much fog that it was blocking out the bridge.  I ended up watching the steam roll over the river and tried to time my shots so that I could grab a photograph while the steam was low enough to see the structure.  As a result, you can make out the bridge in the back of my photograph, while I also managed to keep some of the big clouds like at the right of my shot and the one going through the third stone pier of the bridge.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/80sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Much happier with this photograph, but there was still one little surprise waiting for me.

Everyone Knows It's Windy

We went through a cold spell this past weekend.  I believe the weather dipped to -36 Celsius with the wind on Saturday.  A temperature that sends most people, myself included, running for cover.  Though not before making a run to the river to try and get a photograph.  I've long been a fan of steam coming off of the river in really cold times, and this was an ideal day.  I took what ended up being a popular photograph last year that even ended up being shown on the local news.  I had always kicked myself about not taking a photograph from the other side of the bridge, so that was my cold mission.  I was a little late to leave, and the sun decided to hide behind a cloud just before my departure.  Being a sucker for punishment, I still made the drive.  I took the photograph at f/10, 1/320sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  I think I managed to capture the 'coldness' of the time, but I still felt a little bit empty about the photograph.  The seed was planted in my head, I would have to return.  Would I have any success?  Tune in next time to find out.

Sweets For My Sweet

It is big business time for flowers, candies, chocolates and other romantic unmentionables.  That's right, Valentine's Day is back again.  Some people call it nothing but a day created by stores to build business, and they might be correct, but for a photographer, it also means all kinds of fun activities.  Two of the things that I really like photographing are flowers and candy.  Both are full of bright colours and interesting shapes.  Since the last few Valentine's Day posts have featured flowers, I figured we'd go the other route this year.  I actually found these candies last year at Biscuiterie Oscar.  It's a little candy shop on St. Hubert street in Montreal.  A little visit to Lozeau is never complete without a stop over at Oscar for something sweet.  I grabbed these up while picking up some frames for my photography exhibition last year and, being the kind of guy who likes to think ahead, thought they would make a nice little update for Valentine's Day.  I played around with a couple of different apertures, moved the candies around a little bit and let Mother Nature take care of the lighting.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 100 at 59mm and the second photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/80sec, ISO 100 at 64mm.  I liked the mixture of the whites and bright reds.  I also really liked how depending on how I positioned that red heart, it made the little bits of sugar stand out.  As is the case with most of my candy photographs, I hope you find them all to be as interesting as I found them to be tasty.

Something You Don't See Every Day

If you were to take a little stroll through my photography archives, you might find yourself coming face to face with some fairly interesting, and strange, things.  That's where this photograph comes from.  It was taken last summer while visiting with My Lovely Assistant's family.  I was trying to get a photograph of her little niece, but at that moment in time, she wanted nothing to do with the camera.  So, I decided to play around and took this photograph of her little doll.  I had recently gotten a telephoto lens and decided to give it a little action.  It's getting released into the world now because I figured with Valentine's Day about to happen, this would probably be the only time of the year that I could release a photograph of a doll sitting inside of what looks like a giant set of red lips.  Strange things indeed, but when your human model doesn't want to smile, you have to improvise.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/6400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  Yes, all of these years later, and I still find myself taking photographs at ISO 3200 in bright sunshine.  Here's to hoping that I manage to kill that little habit in 2016.

Classic Oldsmobile

I'm not really a 'car guy'.  I like to drive, but I couldn't tell you anything more about my car than what year it was built, and I'd probably get that wrong as well.  What I am is a 'detail guy'.  I love going to old car shows to see the cars, but they generally don't photograph very well due to all of the people there to look at them, and the cardboard signs in their windows explaining to people the year and make of the car.  I prefer to zoom in and get photographs of the details on the car.  The lights, the grill or the logos.  Such as the front grill of this classic Oldsmobile.  This brand is always of interest to me as it reminds me of my Grandmother, who drove an Oldsmobile for many years.  I took this photograph at f/9, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  When I saw this front grill, I thought it might make for a cool photograph.  The kind that a 'car guy' might like to hang in their den.  See, that's why we need 'detail guys' as well.  Now if only this 'detail guy' could remember to bring a pad and paper with him next time so that he can remember a few more details of what he is photographing.

Super Kickoff

The Super Bowl has once again arrived, so I figured this would be a good time to move what's left of my football photographs to the great big hard drive in the office.  I had lots of fun photographing three games of the Champlain Cavaliers.  Their home field is a short walk from where I live and I thought it would be a fun chance to try my hand at some sports photography.  I think the photographs came out pretty well considering that I was confined to a fence behind the end zone.  You can see the photographs I took of the first game by following the link.  I went back a few weeks later and the photographs of that second game are at this link.  They say that three is a magic number, so I went back a third time and those photographs are at this link.  Yeah, that's a lot of links, but I've been good about putting them in my little photography posts of late.  These photographs are a couple of extras that I took during the third game.  The first photograph of the kickoff and the kicker with the golden shoes was taken at f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  The second photograph of the running back finding some room to run was taken at f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm and the final photograph of the quarterback waiting to get the ball was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.

When I was last talking about these photographs, I mentioned how it was odd that all of the games took place at night, when the year before, they played mostly in the afternoon.  While we haven't had much of a winter, some of those autumn nights I remember as being rather cold.  If things work out, I'll try to take in some of their games this coming season.  Hopefully under brighter, and warmer, circumstances.

Taste The Rainbow

I think I've mentioned a few times about my photographs getting lost in my archives.  This one got lost in my exhibition!  This is one of the photographs that appeared in my Very Colourful exhibition of last year.  I was taking a stroll down memory lane the other day while backing up my photographs on another hard drive when this one once again caught my eye.  I was trying to remember when I'd posted it here on the blog, but it seems as if it managed to slip through the cracks.  The colours of these little jujubes really catch the eye, and provide a nice little visual relief to what has been a rather grey couple of weeks.  The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 60mm.  I placed the plate of candies next to the window on a very sunny day and let the light from the sun bring all of their colours out.  Maybe it's just me, and I suppose that I'm a little bit biased, but looking at the candy photographs that I take always make me smile and the colours always seem to put me in a good mood.

Napoleon's Cousin

Back in November I introduced you to a visitor that My Lovely Assistant and I had back around Christmas 2014.  His name was Napoleon, and sadly, he didn't live to tell others of the great times he had with us, or what wonderful hosts we are.  Or so I thought.  A few months later, I came upon another corpse.  Thankfully, it still wasn't a human corpse, but rather another insect that looked exactly like out Christmas visitor.  This guy, who I'm guessing is Napoleon's cousin, ended up meeting his end in a slightly more spread out pose than his cousin, so I decided to crop his obituary photograph in a more widescreen form.  This photograph was taken at f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  The sun was nice and bright when I took this photograph.  It was taken on my window sill, but thanks to some tight focusing and a Macro lens, you could never really tell.  I still think it's a little bit weird to be photographing dead insects, but it's also much easier than trying to photograph live ones.