Natural landscapes: autumn in the north
AUTUMN COLOURS NEAR BAKER LAKE, NUNAVUT
There are no trees of any kind in the region around this isolated hamlet of 2,000. So when I was there on a business trip, everything I saw was knee-level or lower. That means when autumn arrives, the place to look is straight down at the ground. I saw artistic possibilities in how the brilliant red vegetation snaked amongst the giant rock formations that litter the Arctic landscape.
The mostly blue sky was troublesome; a vast swing from polarized dark on one side to light on the other. Rather than manually trying to fix it – and create a noticeable mottled effect and colour shift – I simply replaced it using Photoshop. I have no qualms about this because I’m trying my imperfect best to be a fine art photographer and that means interpreting a scene, rather than simply documenting it.
Nikon D7100, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the terrain of fungus
THE IN-YOUR-FACE FUNGUS, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
You know autumn is approaching when mushrooms and fungus appear in sheltered forests. I was in this western Canadian park to photograph a roaring mountain stream, but there were so many fungus alongside the trail that I had to stop and photograph a few of them.
This one was pretty epic, so I opted for an extreme close-up – in fact, what you’re looking at here is much larger than life-size. Because I was hand-holding my Nikon D7100 (and close-ups usually have a very small depth-of-field), I did a lot of exposures to ensure one was in focus. That was a smart decision, because all the vertical pictures I made lacked the tack-sharpness I want in a photo.
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Natural landscapes: the hard northern life
CARIBOU ANTLERS NEAR BAKER LAKE, NUNAVUT
During a work trip to this remote Canadian territory, we visited a friend’s cabin and that’s where I found these antlers. Instantly realizing the photographic possibilities, I used them in a half-dozen compositions. This is one I especially like because it shows the remarkable Arctic landscape – rock, muskeg, lakes and not even one tree.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
Urban landscapes: the ships at dawn
AWAITING SUNRISE AT OSHAWA HARBOUR, ONTARIO
This working port, just east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city) has produced many satisfying photos, but this one is sort-of a repeat. I visited here before dawn a few years earlier and photographed a nicely lit ship – but my camera settings were all wrong. Another attempt to get it right turned out better, because this time there were TWO ships in port and my camera settings were correct.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the top half.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Natural landscapes: the silence and the rocks
SHORELINE ROCKS, SAUBLE BEACH, ONTARIO
I came across the group of boulders in Lake Huron on a cloudy afternoon and instantly knew there were photographic possibilities. But I also knew this scene would benefit from strong early-morning light. So I returned the next dawn and made this picture. It’s a looong exposure which smoothed out all the water ripples.
The colour version is quite muted, so a created a black-and-white version that lets you focus on the rocks and the velvety water.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky, Lee ‘Big Stopper’ neutral density (darkening) filter on the entire scene.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
Natural landscapes: the gentle, quiet flow
DUFFINS CREEK, GREENWOOD CONSERVATION AREA, AJAX, ONTARIO
On my first visit back to this charming area in a decade, I revisited a little forest cascade shortly after sunrise. A long exposure ensured a silky water flow and a lack of wind meant almost every leaf and twig stayed still. (My previous visit to this same little cascade yielded this winter image: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-N0.)
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter along the top quarter.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my coffeetable photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Natural landscapes: the surreal summer view
SANDBAR ON LAKE HURON, SAUBLE BEACH, ONTARIO
I saw the curve of this sandbar, the yawning empty space all around it, and decided it was time to try a very loooong exposure to smooth out the water and create a slightly unreal sensation as you view the photo. I kinda like the result because to my eyes, it makes a fairly unremarkable scene far more interesting. What do you think?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky, Lee “Big Stopper” darkening filter on the entire scene.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my coffeetable photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Rural landscapes: the end of a summer day
LAKE HURON SUNSET, SOUTHAMPTON, ONTARIO
My first time back to this charming vacation community in a decade happened to come on the evening of a truly stunning sunset. I had time to move around and find various perspectives as the sky stayed epic, then the sun peaked through to produce this unforgettable moment. What a blessing! 🙂
(P.S. See the dude squeezing in some end-of-the-day fishing?)
Nikon D7100, tripod, enhancing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Rural landscapes: the epic summer sky
HAY ROLL AND CLOUDS NEAR LONGVIEW, ALBERTA
The lighting wasn’t ideal – early afternoon, when the sun is high and bleaching on the landscape – but the sky was gorgeous and I endeavoured to make the most of this blissful western Canadian scene.
The composition is designed for your eyes to go to the hay roll first (since it’s the ‘brightest’ thing in the photo), then wander over to the fence and follow it back into the hills.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Alberta“: http://bit.ly/1oUzd4
Urban landscapes: the puzzle of light
LOWER LEVEL, RALPH KLEIN PARK ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTRE, CALGARY, ALBERTA
After photographing a glorious sunrise and reflections on the man-made wetlands in this 75-acre park, I ventured along the walkways in and under the environmental education centre.
I really liked the play of light and shadow in this view; it’s kinda like an underground garage, but brilliantly lit and with some water reflections. There was very little colour in this scene, so I converted it to black-and-white.
Ralph Klein Park is named after Calgary’s 32nd mayor and Alberta’s 12th premier. The wetlands are designed to improve stormwater quality before it enters the Bow River system (source of much of the water for this western Canadian city).
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter diagonally on the bottom half.
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “Light and Lines: An Urban Landscape Portfolio”: http://bit.ly/LIGHTandLINES
