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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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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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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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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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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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.
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Rural landscapes: the road to mountains
HIGHWAY 6 TO WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
The drive to Waterton, in the deep southwest of this western Canadian province, is simply glorious. It was a June morning when I stopped the car to take in this view and then figure out how to capture it. The colour version is pretty sweet (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/WatertonRoad), but I knew this version would also be compelling.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the peaks and sky.
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Natural landscapes: the road through alpine glory
HIGHWAY 93, KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
I climbed above this road, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, because I wanted a clear view to photograph the two peaks on the right. Once I reached the top, I realized the entire view was photo-worthy, especially with a vehicle travelling the highway. The colour version is good (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/KootenayNationalPark), but I knew it would also make a dramatic black-and-white picture. Do you agree?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: alone with the morning fish
FISHING AT SIBBALD LAKE, KANANASKIS, ALBERTA
This charming lake, set in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, is photogenic in all seasons (here it is at the peak of autumn: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-Ji) and has an easy-to-follow trail all the way around.
I was blessed to find this man trying his luck just an hour after sunrise, and he graciously let me improve this scene by having him in it. Here’s the colour version: https://bit.ly/SibbaldLake.
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/1oUzd4A
Urban landscapes: the lights of a summer night
THE VIEW FROM SKYLON TOWER, NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO
I’m thankful my wife’s dad lives in this very picturesque part of Canada; it means we get to visit often and I have many opportunities to photograph the falls, Niagara River and surrounding landscapes.
This long exposure shows off the Rainbow Bridge, one of several connections in the area between Ontario and the United States. Here’s my photo of the Skylon Tower, made earlier that same evening: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-II.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: the badlands and the bad sky
CLOUDY MORNING AT DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR BROOKS, ALBERTA
Actually, the sky wasn’t all that bad–just filled with dull clouds. So I used a few filters to drastically darken it, then boosted the contrast on my camera to add some punch to the fairly flat (yet still gorgeous) scenery.
in other words, this isn’t a documentary picture; I did a lot of interpretation, because I’m trying my best to be a fine art photographer. Finally, because the lighting lacked drama, I went for a black-and-white treatment. You can see the colour version here: https://bit.ly/DinosaurBadlands.
Dinosaur Provincial Park is one of the richest fossil areas on the planet. Forty dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe.
Nikon D7100, tripod, two graduated density (darkening) filters on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the heavenly equine landscape
GRAZING HORSES, NEAR MORLEY, ALBERTA
These horses grabbed my attention as I drove along Hwy. 1A west of Cochrane. They were far enough way that I could use a telephoto lens to draw them closer and, just as important, make the distant Rocky Mountains appear dramatically close.
The key to making this picture compelling was to deal with the very flat lighting, caused by the sun being directly behind me. Increasing the contrast with Photoshop brought the picture closer to how I imagined it as I stood in this amazing landscape, taking in God’s glory.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300 mm. zoom lens
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Rural landscape: the road to stormy weather
JUMPING POUND ROAD AND SUMMER SLOUGHS, WEST OF CALGARY, ALBERTA
I was up and on the road for sunrise (which, at this time of year, is about 5:30 a.m.), but there were too many clouds. Fortunately, conditions cleared enough that when I found this scene, the light was good and the sky was interesting. Later that day, parts of Calgary were pummeled by the worst hailstorm in many years.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the epic evening photo
CRESCENT FALLS AND EVENING SKY, CLEARWATER COUNTY, ALBERTA
Crescent Falls Provincial Recreation Area is an amazing place for a photographer. The falls are actually two epic plunges, then the Bighorn River flows on through a spectacular canyon (which you can see here: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-Xq).
I spent several hours exploring everything from the top and, here, from the bottom. How amazing is it that these two women would be taking phone shots right when I was ready to capture the epic cloud? 🙂
P.S. I prefer the drama of black-and-white, but for those who want the colour version: https://bit.ly/CrescentFallsSky.
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
Urban landscapes: dawn on the docklands
GREAT LAKES SUNRISE, OSHAWA, ONTARIO
Lakeview Park and the adjacent docklands are one of my favourite photo locales east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city). It has a great combination of beach and industrial area that looks especially good in pre-dawn light. For this compelling sunrise, I combined Lake Ontario with the silhouetted docklands to make what I think is a pretty good photograph.
Nikon D7100, tripod, probably a graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Check out my coffeetable book, “Light and Lines: An Urban Landscape Portfolio”: http://bit.ly/LIGHTandLINES
Rural landscapes: the loch landscape
LOCH LOMOND, LUSS, SCOTLAND
This charming village has just 450 residents, but its picturesque setting and endearing streetscapes mean its regularly invaded by busloads of tourists. During our 2017 cruise ship vacation, my wife and I were among them. I stole away to search out compelling landscapes and came up with this scene. The lighting was dull, so I kept the boats in colour and converted the rest of the picture into black-and-white.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Natural landscapes: into the deep valley
MORNING AT JACQUES CARTIER PARK, NEAR QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC
My wife and I spent a few days camping at this provincial park back in 2007; this photo captures just a bit of the spectacle. The park is really a one-trick pony – but oh, what a spectacular trick it is. The Jacques Cartier River flows through a deep valley in the midst of a mountainous landscape. As I photographed it, I felt like I was in a land of endless fjords.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: in the land of hoodoos
BADLANDS LANDSCAPE, DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
I drove more than two hours from my Calgary home in hopes of capturing sunrise light at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. As you can see, my hopes were in vain. So I made the best of the situation, finding landscapes like this and using Photoshop to darken the cloudy sky.
Dinosaur Provincial Park is one of the richest fossil areas on the planet. Forty dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe.
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 THE ALBERTA BADLANDS: A Landscape Portrait”: http://bit.ly/HtBAW6
Natural landscapes: blooming in the badlands
SPRING FLOWERS AT DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
I arrived at this incredible place – a UNESCO World Heritage Site about two and a half hours drive southeast of my Calgary home – hoping to photograph in sunrise sunshine. Nope. The clouds didn’t break up ’til 11 a.m. So I improvised, finding intimate scenes like this and using the built-in camera flash to make them ‘pop’ against the big, BIG background.
Dinosaur Provincial Park is one of the richest dinosaur fossil areas on the planet. Forty species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe.
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 coffeetable book THE ALBERTA BADLANDS: A Landscape Portrait”: http://bit.ly/HtBAW6
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