Urban landscapes: the reflections of morning
POND AND SKYSCRAPERS, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I was here a year earlier, but at least one of the major buildings you see here was under construction, so I vowed to return when the work was done and I had a clean skyline to photograph. So glad I did. Ironically, most of the buildings you see here aren’t major elements of Calgary’s skyline. Those towers are further away and these structures – mostly apartments – block the view.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the buildings and 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
Natural landscapes: where winter grimly hangs on
SPRING SNOW AMONG THE HIGH PEAKS, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA
As the earliest sunlight hit the mountaintops in the Canadian Rockies, I had to stop the car and do my imperfect best to capture the glory. I adjusted my camera light settings to emphasize the warmth of the light. It’s common for the mountaintops to keep at least some snow well into June.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300 mm. zoom lens, polarizing filter
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
Natural landscapes: captured in the shade
SPRING TREES, GLENBOW RANCH PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
This is one of those times when I really appreciated my telephoto zoom lens. I noticed the distant hillside tree, in full spring bloom, through another tree that wasn’t there yet, and recognized the opportunity to make an artistic statement. It wouldn’t have been possible without the zoom lens to zero in on this tiny section of landscape.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300-mm. zoom lens, polarizing filter
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, “Frank King’s Southern Alberta“: http://bit.ly/1oUzd4A
Natural landscapes: The spring plunge
BALLS FALLS, JORDAN VILLAGE, ONTARIO
This area is glorious for photographers. The 25-metre waterfall you see here is one of two and there’s a charming historic village nearby (you can see some of it here: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-i0).
I opted for a fairly standard vertical perspective on the falls and went for a long exposure to turn the water silky. It’s good to get here in the spring because Twenty Mile Creek often dries up in the heat of summer.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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, “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Natural landscapes: the study of a stump
CATHEDRAL GROVE, MACMILLAN PROVINCIAL PARK, VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA
This won’t be a favourite for many people, but I like the repeated curving lines and how the opening at the top right breaks up that pattern (and adds visual interest). I enjoyed the colour version, but going monotone removes a distraction to the pattern and adds a dark/light drama.
Nikon D7100m, tripod
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
Natural landscapes: under the green canopy
SPENCER GORGE CONSERVATION AREA, DUNDAS, ONTARIO
The highlight of this area is Webster Falls (you can see it in winter glory here: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-ek) but on this cloudy spring day I chose to follow Spencer Creek as it wandered away from the falls. I was rewarded with stunning scenes like what you see here.
This photo goes back to 2006, when I was still using a film camera. I had the slide burned onto CD, then did a lot of work in Photoshop to create this glowing version.
Nikon FM2 film camera, tripod, polarizing filter
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, “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Natural landscapes: the long goodbye of winter
THE SLOW MELT OF WINTER ICE, UPPER KANANASKIS LAKE, PETER LOUGHEED PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
While most of the northern hemisphere is enjoying spring flowers and grass, winter is reluctant to depart from many lakes in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
I saw this meltwater pool from far off and delicately approached it, hoping the I wouldn’t sink up to my knees in the wet, icy snow. Thankfully, it was hard-packed all the way. There was very little colour in this scene, so I dispensed with it altogether.
That’s the 8,750-foot-high Mt. Indefatigable in the distance, named after a British battlecruiser that sank during the First World War.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing 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).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Urban landscapes: like a mighty ship at sea
STUDENT RESIDENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY, ALBERTA
The strong angle of this building, and the fascinating dashes of red, made for a compelling subject and I tried a variety of compositions, all of them intriguing – especially when I tilted the camera to make the building appear to be a tall ship listing against a strong ocean wind.
The finishing touch was keeping all the red and converting the rest of the photo into black-and-white.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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, “Light and Lines: An Urban Landscape Portfolio”: http://bit.ly/LIGHTandLINES
Natural landscapes: flowing through the chutes
EGAN CHUTES PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR BANCROFT, ONTARIO
Back in 2006, my wife and I were in Bancroft for my older brother’s wedding. I took advantage of this to check out this series of waterfalls off a dirt road about 10 kilometres away. As you can see, it was a very impressive section of the York River with more cascading water sections that what you see here.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter
Click on the picture for a larger view.
Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Urban landscapes: sailing through the portlands
BELFAST DOCKLANDS, NORTHERN IRELAND
This picture won’t find favour with many people; I suspect they believe scenes like this are unattractive. But I find industrial lands a fascinating subject because it’s a good challenge to find compositions amidst all the activity and buildings and equipment.
I think I found a decent composition with this scene. There’s the broad, diagonal thrust of the waterway, a colourful place to rest your eyes and a curious left border formed by the Caribbean Princess cruise ship my wife and I were on during this 2017 trip. Notice the other person (besides me) checking out the scene? I didn’t until fishing this picture out of the archives and giving it a careful look. 🙂
P.S. here’s a fun historical note: the Titanic was built in Belfast and there’s a very cool museum all about it.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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
Rural landscapes: under the dramatic spring sky
BARN AND DISTANT MOUNTAIN VIEW, COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I wandered down a dead-end road in this western Canadian province and was gobsmacked to find this glowing red barn with a stunning background featuring endless prairies, foothills and the Rocky Mountains. All under banks of morning clouds.
I have a full-colour version (you can see it here: https://bit.ly/AlbertaSpringBarn) but I knew it would also be quite dramatic with just the barn in colour. Do you agree?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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
Rural landscapes: the castle and the brooding landscape
URQUHART CASTLE AND LOCH NESS, SCOTLAND
Of course, I would have preferred sunny conditions to capture this epic castle, which is one of the most popular castles in Scotland. But I think I did okay to make the brooding conditions quite compelling.
According to Wikipedia, the ruins you see here date from between the 13th and 16th centuries. The site came under government care in 1911. Here’s another part of the castle site: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1an.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 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
Rural landscapes: the curves of a prairie spring
NOSE CREEK, NEAR AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
Spring is usually very short on the southern Alberta prairies – just a few weeks without snow until the green finally arrives in mid-May. To most folks, that in-between time doesn’t seem very photogenic, but I knew if I was diligent, I could find something compelling. I think the curves of this stream and the dramatic sky fit the bill, yes?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, two graduated density (darkening) filters 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).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Rural landscapes: the last of the spring snow
CROWSNEST RIVER, LUNDBRECK, ALBERTA
I was photographing Lundbreck Falls, a popular tourist site in the deep south of this western Canadian province, when I decided to turn my attention in the opposite direction. Standing on a bridge over the river, I saw this composition come together. See the bits of snow along the right bank of the river?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing 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
Rural landscapes: closed for the pandemic
ROSEDEER HOTEL AND LAST CHANCE SALOON, WAYNE, ALBERTA
This charming tourist attraction is in a tiny hamlet that was once a coal mining powerhouse of 2,500. The first mine closed during the Great Depression and today, Wayne has less than 50 people and the mining industry is long gone. But the place continues to fascinate, in part because getting there from the main highway requires crossing 11 single-lane bridges over the Rosebud River.
There’s a standard close-up view of the hotel and saloon that’s pretty good and I have that photo. But I wanted something that was unique to my vision, so I used these bushes – which serve as the boundary to a nearby residential property – to provide a near-far perspective.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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
Rural landscapes: Colour in the midst of a struggling spring
WAGON ON THE PRAIRIES NEAR CARBON, ALBERTA
This scene looks like mid-winter, but it’s mid-April. On the Canadian prairies, that often means random snow days that leave fields looking many months away from planting.
I was driving a random road when this ornamental wagon came into view. I so loved the glowing colours amidst a muted landscape that I went all the way and turned everything but the wagon – and the ground it’s on – into black-and-white. You can see the scene in full colour here: https://bit.ly/PrairieWagon
Nikon D7100, tripod, 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).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Natural landscapes: beauty before the spring growth
MORNING BAY NEAR BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO
Early spring in much of Canada means messy landscapes and no green. Those were the conditions when I was in Belleville (east of Toronto, the country’s largest city) looking for morning landscapes that could overcome the early spring handicaps. I believe I found it with this unnamed inlet on Lake Ontario. I stayed back far enough to use the leafless shrubs and tree branches as framing elements.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
Click on the picture for a larger view.
Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight.
Rural landscapes: the halting arrival of spring
ICY FENCE IN SPRING POND NEAR AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
Spring is a ficklesome thing on the Canadian prairies; one day it’s warm and the next cold & snowy. I was cruising the gorgeous landscapes near my home in Calgary when I encountered this drowned fence, complete with icy tentacles.
I took care with the resulting composition to ensure the fence post was well above the horizon, thereby connecting land with sky in the resulting photo; if the top of the post was lined up with the horizon, that would have created a subconscious visual irritant.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
Click on the picture for a larger view.
Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book, “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Natural landscapes: bursting from the messy ground
SPRING AMONG FALLEN LEAVES, PRESQUILE PROVINCIAL PARK, NEAR BRIGHTON, ONTARIO
Sifted through the archives to find this wonderful 2006 scene of new growth in a charming, photogenic park along the shore of Lake Ontario east of Toronto. In retrospect, I might have cleaned up the background before making this picture, but this is certainly an accurate picture of the forest floor in early spring.
I used the built-in flash on my digital camera to help the new green growth stand out amongst the contrasty ancient leaves.
Nikon D50, polarizing filter, tripod
Click on the picture for a larger view.
Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Wander through my NEW coffeetable photography book “Bring on the Light: Forty years of photography”: https://bit.ly/BringOnTheLight
Urban landscapes: the sweeping line of lights
LIGHT INSTALLATION, 707 FIFTH, CALGARY, ALBERTA
One of the newest editions to this western Canadian city’s skyline offered a dynamic entrance and a sweeping series of light poles that challenged me photographically. There’s a lot going on in this scene, but I’m hopeful this composition put it all together in a sensible, artistic way. You can see my take on the rest of the eye-popping building entrance here: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1hC.
Nikon D7100, tripod
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, “Light and Lines: An Urban Landscape Portfolio”: http://bit.ly/LIGHTandLINES
FRANK KING PHOTOS 