Urban landscapes: the colour of an Irish spring
SPRING TULIP, ST. STEPHEN’S GREEN, DUBLIN
While our cruise ship was docked for an overnight stay, I had a glorious hour or two to explore this wonderful urban park. Spring was in full bloom and compelling little scenes like this were everywhere. St. Stephen’s Green was one of the key sites of the 1916 Easter rebellion. The rebellion failed, but it was the start of a journey that led to independence for most of Ireland.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Urban landscapes: the welcoming light
ENTRY TO 707 FIFTH, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This 27-storey skyscraper, completed in early 2018, grabbed my attention for the curving indent going all the way to the top and the bright, shiny main entry (which you see here). I spent a happy 45 minutes before dawn wandering around the entry making long-exposure photos with no one to bother me. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: the snowy spring lake
PRAIRIE LAKE IN APRIL SNOW, NEAR COCHRANE, ALBERTA
I don’t know the name of this lake, but I do know it’s been the subject of many very satisfying photos — especially because the road winds around it and up a ridge, providing this very picturesque overview. I like the colour version, but there isn’t a lot of colour in this scene so I’m showing you the more dramatic monotone version.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the farm and the fields
SPRING FARM IN THE FOOTHILLS, ALBERTA
I love digging around in my archives and finding beauties like this one, captured almost 10 years ago while driving nameless roads in the southwest part of this western Canadian province. The strong red in the buildings attracted my attention, as do the fields and forests ranging off in the background.
I’m always intrigued at the prospect of showing you landscapes without including any sky. Without it, this photo is split in three horizontal bands: the farm at the bottom, the middle field and (bordered by the diagonal road) the distant fields & forests.
Nikon D90. tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: the soaring skyscraper
JAMES FLAHERTY BUILDING, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
This 17-storey structure, completed in 2014 just a few blocks from the Canadian Parliament buildings, is named after a former national minister of finance. Flaherty served for eight years before unexpectedly dying just a few weeks after resigning in 2014. The building is occupied by 2,600 federal government employees.
I was attracted by the bold exterior and the bright night-time lighting, working carefully to make everything as symmetrical as possible. There wasn’t much colour in this scene, so I went with a black-and-white treatment to emphasize the lines.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Urban landscapes: the stunning sunrise
A HOLE IN THE CLOUDS, CALGARY, ALBERTA
The day was supposed to be cloudy, but I was itching to make some pictures, so I ventured out anyway. This was my reward — 20 minutes of amaaaaaaazing dawn light striking the skyline of this western Canadian city.
See the tower under construction? That’s Telus Sky and it’s the reason I avoid photographing skylines when something major is being built. After all, as soon as the structure is finished, any pictures I’ve made would be instantly dated. But how could I say no to capturing this glorious spring light?
Nikon D7100, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky and buildings.
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Urban landscapes: the bridge and the moon
SETTING MOON OVER BELLEVILLE BAY BRIDGE, ONTARIO
This bridge connects Belleville, Ontario with Prince Edward Country, a charming rural area that thrusts out into Lake Ontario east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city). I was blessed to be here on a picturesque spring dawn, capturing the moon before it sank below the horizon.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter.
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Urban landscapes: the yellow poles
TORONTO OFFICE BUILDING
I passed this building often when visiting Toronto and always wanted to see if those yellow posts could translate into a compelling photo. Finally, I spent an hour there one afternoon trying all kinds of compositions. This is one of the best and I decided to highlight the yellow by turning the rest of the photo into black-and-white. Here’s the full colour version: http://bit.ly/TorontoBuilding.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: capturing the spring wind
McBRIDE LAKE WIND FARM, SOUTHERN ALBERTA
I know there are people who deeply dislike wind turbines, but I find them to be fascinating photo subjects. And there are hundreds of them in the deep south of this western Canada province, which is known as one of the windiest places in the country.
I went for a black-and-white treatment of this scene, simply because it’s more dramatic than the colour version. This ‘farm’ alone has 114 turbines, which (according to co-owner TransAlta) produces 235,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the brooding spring dawn
CLOUDY MORNING ON THE BAY OF QUINTE, BELLEVILLE, ONTARIO
The renewed growth of spring was barely underway when I visited this part of Belleville, a city of 50,000 east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city). I appreciated the moody atmosphere and decided to emphasize it to make more of a creative statement.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: before the colour arrives
EARLY SPRING IN THE FOOTHILLS NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
At this elevation (1,000 metres above sea level), spring tends to arrive a little later. That means we deal with a few more weeks of brown fields. But it all looks pretty good with a white fence and golden evening light.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the spring peaks
SPRING IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES
I captured this view, in exquisite lighting, from my airplane window a few years ago. It’s amazing how the Rockies can look like January even as the rest of Alberta and British Columbia are well into the renewal of spring. Nikon D7100
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Natural landscapes: the beauty of spring breakup
MELTING SNOW ALONG THE BOW RIVER, GLENBOW RANCH PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
I had a few joyous hours of photography along this western Canadian river, capturing many scenes like this in beautifully warm evening light. Winter can last a long time this far north and at such a high altitude (1,000 metres above sea level). But it’s still sweet when it arrives.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the last gasp of winter
LATE WINTER SNOW ON THE BADLANDS, DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA
Many people have rarely seen photos of Canada’s badlands, so I can’t resist showing you these badlands with snow. I like the play of brown soil and snow and the subtle sense that you can walk around the tall hill and see what’s behind. I darkened the sky to ensure a strong contrast with the ground and also to subtly push your eyes back into the photo. (Here’s another badlands view, right after a snow storm: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-td.)
Niko n D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: the glow of spring frost
FROSTY LANDSCAPE NEAR BRAGG CREEK, ALBERTA
It was one of those days when I had to work hard to NOT make great photos of this transformed western Canadian landscape. This charming road was just north of the Trans Canada Highway; while traffic roared past on that route, I didn’t see a single vehicle during my time on this dirt trail.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: amidst the March fog
SIGNAL HILL, ST. JOHN’S NEWFOUNDLAND
One of the most iconic places in this east-coast Canadian province was shrouded in fog when I visited. I didn’t mind; I knew anything I photographed here would be laden with atmosphere and I was right.
The misty structure is Cabot Tower, which opened in 1900. It was built to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s North American landfall in 1497. Behind this view, on clear days, is a glorious vista of St. John’s.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the near & far view
BARN AND OLD TRUCK, NEAR DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA
It was -25c when I spotted this old truck along the road and realized it would make a compelling photo when contrasted with the newer, maintained barn in the distant background. The key was going with a shallow depth of field so the barn would be just enough out-of-focus that it would complement, rather than compete with the truck for your primary attention. Here’s the colour version: http://bit.ly/TruckAndBarn.
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Natural landscapes: the roadside waterfall
TUMBLING DOWN THE HILL, TORBAY, NEWFOUNDLAND
I was traveling to a work meeting when I encountered this beautiful little waterfall, surrounded by icy snow, on a hillside beside the road.
Fortunately, I was early for the interview so there was time to stop, haul out the photography equipment and make long exposures like this.
There are waterfalls, big and small, all over the province’s Avalon Peninsula (here’s another one in the same town: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1dm).
What a blessing to find this one, which I processed black-and-white because the scene had so little colour.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the winter wave
CRESTING WATER OFF THE COAST OF CAPE SPEAR, NEWFOUNDLAND
As I processed this jpeg with Photoshop, I debated whether to crop off some of the left side – after all, some might see the current composition as being weighed to the right. But then I decided to keep it because the cresting wave is rolling to the left, so there’s space for it to fall and space for your mind to consider what the water will look like just a second or two after this exposure was made.
I love the drama of black-and-white, but some might like colour better, so here it is: http://bit.ly/WinterWave
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300 mm. zoom lens.
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Natural landscapes: epic winter!
SHADOWS AND SNOW, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I was a long way from this small section of mountain in the Canadian Rockies. But a decent telephoto lens let me show you a close-up view of raw, spectacular winter. The colour version is good (you can see it here: http://bit.ly/BanffWinterShadow), but to my eyes this monotone version has more drama.
Nikon D7100, tripod, 70-300 mm. lens
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