Continuing with the theme of rocks and water started yesterday, here is another offering from Niagara-on-the-Lake. After scrambling around town trying to find somewhere to photograph the rapidly disappearing glow on the horizon I had scrambled down to the shores of Lake Ontario and was pleased to find some interesting rocks to provide a bold foreground for a few different photos.
I’ve had a few questions about what camera equipment I use so I’ve put together a “My Gear” page outlining what I use and what I like. I’ll update it with more bits and pieces as I get them.
Setting out on a cloudy day to attempt to photograph Somerset Bridge was never likely to work out well. It did provide opportunity to scout out the area. Upon arrival, it became clear that photographing the smallest drawbridge in the world may not be as easy as expected. It’s beautiful and in a beautiful area but portraying this on camera may not be as easy as it seems. It was high-tide and one conclusion that can be made is that it will be best to go at low tide, to wade out more in front of the bridge. This would not be possible.
After scouting out the area I went to check out a couple more locations. Unfortunately, as it turned out the researched spots were all on private property. After wandering a bit lost in Hog Bay Park I arrived here, the beach covered by the tide. I snapped a few photos, well after sunset, not really expecting to make anything of them. However, I did get today’s photo. It’s simple, but I like it.
After climbing over and crawling under the large boulders here I began my walk back to the entrance. On the way I made sure to get a few shots of the surreal beachfront scenery and Boulder Bay. This shot is a combination of 7 exposures, first aligned in Photoshop and then merged into one image in Photomatix before returning to Photoshop for last touches.
If you’re watching the sunset on the South Shore of Bermuda it’s worth turning around and looking towards the East. As the sun dips below the horizon it’s pretty common for a pink band to appear on the opposite horizon that gradually moves up into the sky until it dissolves into the deepening blue sky. This photo was taken just as this pink band started it’s march upward.
When I was working this photo up in Photomatix I clicked on the rocks for a close up to check on the detail. I was surprised the discover that right where I clicked, perfectly centered in the preview square, was etched JANIE4JASON.
I was driving westward from the center of Nigara-on-the-Lake, chasing the sunset. The sky had lit up just above the horizon and I was trying to find somewhere to take a few photos of the last light. I came across a small park nestled in amongst a few houses and parked the car. I hurried across the park to find stairs down to the edge of the lake where there happened to be a beach. I fired off a few shots and then finished up with this one.
It was dark enough that setting a small aperture allowed me to smooth out the small waves on the lake and capture some of the underwater details. This is a composite of 7 photos bracketed from -3 to +3.
This is an early evening shot at Chaplain Bay, Bermuda. Normally these rocks would be covered by sand, which has been removed through the winter. In a few months they’ll probably be covered up again. In taking this photo I misjudged a wave and got pretty wet. I’d been sitting in the sand with my tripod in front of me. There was a little trench in the sand between me and the rock which was absorbing most of the wave action. Fortunately my camera was far enough off the ground to be safe.
The morning after daylight savings time is pretty horrible. Getting up in the dark again so soon after we’d moved into light mornings. The upside though, for me, is the evening. It’s now staying light long enough for me to finish work and head out to catch the sunset. I set off with beautiful blue skies, so decided to walk the South Shore beaches. My Dad decided to join me. Shortly after we parked the car we came across a lady who said she’d just seen whales jumping. I began setting up for a photo and my Dad took off in search of high ground to see if there really were any whales about. As a result,we didn’t see each other again for at least an hour.
I came upon this viewpoint when the sun was still hovering just above the bushes to the right. I decided it would make a good spot for a photo later and moved on. Soon after I got a call from my Dad asking where I was. We met up and I brought him back to the spot I’d found. He then pointed out that this is the beach we used to come to when I was a kid and we used to climb up to this viewpoint a lot.
We arrived in Cape Town after two back to back overnight flights. But, it was important that we kept moving. We could have sat around our hostel all day and been bored, then fallen asleep far too early to kick our jet-lag. So, we had a plan. We left the hostel immediately for Simons Town (via KFC for the two heathens in our entourage).
We were going to Simons Town to visit Boulders Bay. This is the location of the Western Capes penguin population. The trip was worth it for the train ride there. The tracks hug the coast and you feel like the waves could break into the trains window. Along the way we saw cormorants, seals, and surfers frolicking in the surf. It was incredible.
We arrived in Simons Town without a clue how to get to Boulders Bay. It was Sunday and the tourist information centre was closed but we kept walking. Eventually, after we’d split up to seek out sources of local information we found that it was a 15 minute walk away. We’d already twenty minutes on our weary jet-lagged legs and had little confidence in our sources time estimate. But, we persevered and it was worth it.
Upon arriving at Boulder Bay we were initially disappointed. It felt like a real tourist trap. We hit a fork in the path. To the left is where all the tour bus crowd were headed. We went right. We discovered penguins huddled under the bushes, but this was not the image I was in pursuit of. Looking down we could see the beach, with a few people sunbathing, with no penguins. However, it looked like the boulders weren’t fenced off, so we decided to do some rock hopping.
Once we got there our suspicions were confirmed and we went in search of penguins. I think we saw four in total, but it was great getting to be so close to them. Climbing over and under the rocks was good fun too. I got a lot of help from my friends in getting my gear through some pretty tight spaces. The below photo is the first penguin we saw on our exploration.
