Rural landscapes: the artistry of abandonment
ANCIENT TRACTOR IN A PRAIRIE FIELD, NEAR HIGH RIVER, ALBERTA
I’m a sucker for old buildings and vehicles, so when I spotted this antique beauty in a glowing field of morning green, I stopped the car and spent the next half-hour finding various compositions of tractor, prairie field and sky. This is one of them.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the amazing sunrise reflection
DAWN LIGHT ON THE RIDGE, WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
This pond was beside the road I was traveling and I stopped to investigate creative possibilities. As you can see, those possibilities were downright breathtaking. I actually photographed this scene twice, coming back a second time as the first light of day strengthened and increased the contrast and colour. There was just enough clouds to block the sun from hitting the peak behind the ridge, a key requirement to make this scene truly compelling.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the summer beach view
PACIFIC OCEAN, EL BALSAMAR RESORT, EL SALVADOR
During a day off on a mission trip with Samaritan’s Purse, our gracious hosts took us to a resort to spend part of the day enjoying the surf, dark sand and glorious views. I wandered off with the camera to find artistic scenes like this.
Nikon D7100, polarizing filter, fill flash (to illuminate the closest palm branch)
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Urban landscapes: the soaring tower
CN TOWER AND RIPLEY’S AQUARIUM, TORONTO, ONTARIO
When it was topped off in 1976, the tower’s 1,815-foot height made it the world’s tallest freestanding structure. And it kept that record for 32 years. I combined it with the wonderful, modern architecture of the nearby aquarium, a truly marvelous $130 million tourist attraction that opened in 2013.
The only significant colour in this scene was the blue sky, so I went monotone to increase the drama. (Here’s the scene, horizontally, in colour: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-rC.)
Nikon D 7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: under the canopy of clouds
THE APPROACHING STORM, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
July is canola season in this western Canadian province, where eye-popping fields are scattered over the prairies. I could see an afternoon or evening storm starting to build, so I headed out with photography equipment to capture canola under a soap-opera sky. It makes for a compelling combination, eh? 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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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/1oUzd4A
Natural landscapes: sprinkles of morning glory
MORNING DEW, REVELSTOKE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
I don’t know the name of this plant, but I sure love the artistry of the petals sprinkled with summer dawn dew. The challenge was to have a very shallow depth of field (to keep the background out of focus, so it doesn’t compete with the main subject of the picture) yet still achieve tack-sharp focus on just the right area of the scene.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter (probably)
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Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Rural landscapes: on the edge of the storm
PRAIRIE OIL WELL, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
This was one of the most exhilarating photo trips I’ve ever been on. Cruising around near my home as the storm prepared to hit, I encountered this well that I’d first photographed a decade ago.
Seeing possibilities for a very different picture, I left the car and hoped to make some good compositions before the rain began. As I made pictures, the thunder rolled and rumbled around me almost without interruption. So the adrenaline was pumping!
I went with black-and-white because there was almost no colour in this scene. But it was so, SO contrasty between the very dark clouds and the brighter section in the lower right that I adjusted the camera to its lowest contrast in order to keep some detail in both ends of the light spectrum.
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, “Frank King’s Southern Alberta“: http://bit.ly/1oUzd4A
Rural landscapes: the rolling ocean of yellow
CANOLA FIELD, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
July is canola season, when random fields in this western Canadian province glow with flourescent, in-your face atomic yellow. It’s a great time to just cruise country roads looking for these fields. This example was particularly compelling because the prairie slough added a great visual element.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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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/1oUzd4A
Rural landscapes: the road through summer flowers
FLOWERY MEADOW ABOVE HIGHWAY 1A, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
This scene, photographed in 2016, slipped my mind until stumbling on it the other day. I’m finding that even when the views are good from the road, climbing adjacent ridges or inclines can make for even better pictures.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Natural landscapes: the summer flow, the summer peaks
MORNING ON THE ELBOW RIVER, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA
A 90-minute drive from my home in Calgary brings me to scenes like this, best captured in the warm light of morning or evening. I’m incredibly blessed!
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, neutral density (darkening) filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
Click on the picture for a larger view.
Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
