Nice Place for Contemplation, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

 Canada, Ontario, Travel  1 Response »
Aug 312012
 

I saw this scene and really liked the way that the tree separated the bench and the sun drenched Old Fort Niagara across the water, in the US.  It makes the bench feel nicely isolated but gives you an idea of the expansive view. The lines, framing the scene the way they do, were what drew me into the scene. I’ve tried to process this numerous times, employing my usual HDR process and was never happy with the results. Whatever I did it always felt too busy.

Tonight, I had a bit of an epiphany. I’ve often thought to myself that I should be careful about only photographing scenes that strike me as good for HDR and make sure that I recognize when I’d be better off not using those techniques. This photo, was a prime example. The lines are very nice and the branches in the trees make for wonderful patterns. there’s enough going on that by bringing in the detail of the bench and tree the whole image gets far too busy.

I’m glad I’ve realized this and will try to stay sensitive to when I should just look to capture a silhouette. I am very fond of this technique. My first successes in photography involved snapping silhouettes, in Bolivia and Peru, with a little Olympus point-and-shoot ten years ago.

Bench and tree in silhouette with the sun drenched Old Fort Niagara across the water in the USA from Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada

 

The Baobab Tree

 Africa, Travel, Zambia  No Responses »
May 312012
 

This photo of a Baobab tree has a lot to do with elephants. The scarring on the trunk is the result of elephants. They use their tusks to peel these hollow trees and eat their bark. There are many of these elephant scarred Baobab trees dotting the landscape. The reason that this baobab wound up being captured by my lens is a bit gruesome.

The night before we’d gone on a night drive, bag of wine in tow. As we left the camp we were informed that we’d be passing an elephant carcass (killed by anthrax in the soil). The smell was palpable and we knew the drive was coming to an end when we smelled it again.

The next day we went on a sunset drive and asked to see the carcass. This request may sound odd to you and thinking about it now it sounds odd to me. At the time though, we had the opportunity to see a dead elephant and no-one hesitated in saying yes please. Upon arriving it became clear that it would be an experience. I’m not going to go into details as it was pretty horrendous, but the smell was heavy – that’s an odd word to describe a smell, but it’s the only one that fits. Five feet from the truck one member of our group was gagging uncontrollably.

After taking a quick look at the carcass and concluding that it wasn’t something I wanted to photograph (I’d been hoping for vultures) I made my way back to the truck. I saw this tree and decided to photograph it. It was pretty tricky as I’d brought my 70-300 lens. As a result I shot a panorama and stitched it together.

Baobab tree with scarred trunk under blue sky in Zambia

JE Smith Farm

 Canada, Ontario, Toronto, Travel  No Responses »
May 132012
 

It’d be pretty easy to spend all of your time driving around Bruce County photographing the farms that dot the landscape. They’re all the stereotypical barn and silo combination. Most of them are positioned in the middle of flat areas. I particularly like this one, nestled at the bottom of a hill, with a lone tree to the right at the crest.

Barn and silo with red roofs at bottom of hill with tree at crest in Bruce County, Ontario

If you’re interested in buying a print, click here.

Victoria Falls and Batoka Gorge

 Africa, Travel, Waterfall, Zambia, Zimbabwe  1 Response »
May 122012
 

My Tripod Search

On my gear page I mention that I’m not fully satisfied with my current tripod and mentioned one set of legs I’m considering. I’m going to be expanding this section soon because the more I look round the more options I find. I’ve got a good idea of what I want. The legs max height needs to be about 5’3″. At this height, the tripod head plus the height of my camera should get the viewfinder to eye level for me. It also needs to be able to set up with the legs spread out flat so I can shoot from ground level. With this in mind I don’t want a center column, as they reduce stability when extended and make getting the camera to ground level difficult. With setup in mind, one thing I like about my Benro Angel is the twist locks on the legs. So, that’s something I’ll definitely be looking for in my replacement. Additionally, I want to go as light as possible so will be looking at buying carbon fiber. These parameters are pretty easy to fulfill, but I also want it to fit in a carry on. This is where things get tricky. Hopefully, I’ll find something suitable soon as I want to bring it to Iceland with me in June.

Today’s Photo: Victoria Falls and Batoka Gorge

After crawling out on a ledge for the photo posted here, I set up in a much safer position on the other side of the tree. I still can’t believe how unrestricted we were at the top of the falls. This day Shannon and I had gone back to the falls without a guide and just walked right along the edge in search of photos. We did have one scary moment though. On the way back to the parking lot, I’m pretty sure we encountered the biggest baboon in the world. It was terrifying and grunting. It definitely did not sound like it was in a good mood. We backed off and hid behind a bush as it crossed the path and disappeared.

View of Victoria Falls and Batoka Gorge in Zambia with giant tree branch reaching towards waterfall cascading down to green pool of water.

 Interested in buying a print? CLICK HERE

 

Canoe Break, Lower Zambezi

 Africa, Travel, Zambia, Zimbabwe  2 Responses »
May 092012
 

I like this photo a lot. It’s not often I’ll open a post like that. The thing is, I’m not sure if it’s that this is that good a photo or if it’s more to do with the memory associated with it. We stopped here for our first lunch on the Lower Zambezi. This is actually on the Zimbabwe side of the river and is the first of two times I’ve set foot in the country (both within a day of each other). You can see where we actually set foot in Zimbabwe for the first time, down by where the canoes are beached. We’d spent about two hours paddling to reach this spot and it was pretty nerve-wracking. We weren’t used to the canoes and were still pretty paranoid about wild animals. It’s funny comparing those first couple hours with the next few days where we became perfectly comfortable floating down the river… for the most part.

When I took this, HDR was still quite new to me (I guess it still is) and I was fascinated with the textures I was able to portray. When I saw this tree I knew that I had to photograph it’s old wrinkled and cracked bark. I also liked the idea of capturing the canoes on the shoreline through the trees, which would be difficult with more traditional photography methods. After eating lunch everyone took a snooze. I thought this was interesting as we were completely exposed to any wild animals that should decide to stroll past. I became numb to this threat over the next five days, except for a couple of moments when I wasn’t in sight of the rest of the group (bathroom breaks mostly).

As the group snored around me,  which I decided was a natural wildlife deterrent, I set about taking the following photo, which I must have tried to process twenty times before. I hope you like it.

Old tree with cracked wrinkled bark and five blue canoes on the shoreline on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe.

 

 

Christmas Angels of Rockefeller Center

Dec 252011
 

So, this is my first post. I didn’t plan on making my first post on Christmas day, but I’ve actually got time to go for it and I’ve decided to take it. As it’s Christmas I’ve decided that rather than uploading the photo I planned on posting (which you’ll see tomorrow) I should go with a Christmas theme. So, here you are, the angels and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York.

I  took this picture at 5:30 in the morning. It was freezing and while trying to decide the ideal spot to frame this photo a very friendly security guard came over and asked what my camera cost. This seems to be a regular question when out photographing and I’m not sure why. The cost of my gear feels quite personal, like asking a lady her age. Following the question he suggested that I use the barriers behind me as a tripod. I thought this was an odd suggestion as I had my tripod visibly strapped to my backpack. I informed him that I had a real tripod and he informed me that I was not allowed to use it. The reason he gave me was that, once upon a time, a child tripped over a photographer’s tripod and the parents sued.

At this point I decided to highlight the fact that he and I were the only people there, and I’d warn him if he was on the verge of tripping, but it didn’t make a difference. So, I used the barriers as he’d suggested. I also used my tripod, but not in the normal methodology. The barriers were too low to get the Christmas tree in so I placed my bag on them for a higher base. The tripod strapped to the outside worked to support my lens. This still wasn’t quite right so the final stacking of equipment included my blackberry and a lens cap to raise the back of the camera. At this point I was thinking if anyone were to run past and grab anything this security guard had better be on his toes. In the end, I’m very happy with the results, tripod or no.

The website is pretty shoddy at the moment but it’s a work in progress. Hopefully it will be polished by 2012.

Night view of the lighted angels and Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, New York City.

 December 25, 2011  Christmas, New York, Travel 2 Responses »
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