Rural landscapes: surrounded by ocean
LENNARD ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE, TOFINO, BRITISH COLUMBIA
A single-engine plane took my wife and I over this island on Canada’s west coast, where there’s been a lighthouse since 1904. The 55-foot tower you see here was airlifted into place in 1968. As we flew past, I made several exposures while hand-holding a telephoto zoom lens; I’m glad for those “extra” pictures, since two of them were blurry.
Nikon D7100, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: baskets and bricks
SHADOWS ON THE BRICKS, BUTCHART GARDENS, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Scenes like this are definitely NOT why hundreds of thousands of people visit these amazing gardens on Vancouver Island. They come for the stunning flowers and artfully arranged gardens (which you can see here: http://wp.me/p2ccTX-wX).
But as my wife and I did the tourist thing, I was struck by the diagonal shadow lines, the shadows from hanging baskets, and the patterns of brick. The combination was compelling enough for me to stop and make a photo.
This may not be calendar-friendly pretty picture, but I hope it shows that after more than 35 years of photography, I’ve developed enough of a creative eye to see interesting photos beyond the obvious. 🙂
Nikon D90, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: spring in the ravine
TWELVE MILE CREEK, ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA
Most people come to this place to appreciate the beauty of Decew Falls (which you can see here: http://wp.me/p2ccTX-qI). I did too, but after that, I spent just as much time exploring the ravine that Twelve Mile Creek flowed through. On this May morning, it was rich in the fresh greens of spring, so it was hard to make a bad picture.
Initially, I was confounded by the tree trunk on the right, until deciding to make it part of the composition. Now, its presence makes the photo a little more interesting, in my humble opinion.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: like the bow of a mighty ship
SETON SOCIAL CORNER, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This startlingly photogenic art installation is in the southeast Calgary neighbourhood of Seton. It’s startling because one rarely sees creative architecture in the bowels of suburbia. But here it is, photographed before sunrise to take maximum advantage of the lighting.
The combination of a wide-angle lens and a vertical format makes the corner appear to soar over one’s head like the bow of a mighty ship. 🙂
You can see a black-and-white version of this scene here: http://bit.ly/SetonBLACKandWHITE
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: the beauty of spring snow
SPRING POND, NEAR BIG HILLS SPRINGS PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
It was a mostly cloudy morning in late April. But a few moments of glorious sunrise light did show up just as I was preparing to capture this epic western Canadian prairie scene. It made the resulting photo even more dramatic.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the the sky.
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Natural landscapes: the view from Lighthouse Park
LIGHTHOUSE PARK, WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
According to West Vancouver’s website, “The lighthouse, a national historic site, is one of the most photographed and recognizable landmarks in the entire Lower Mainland.” It’s definitely a gorgeous area and has some defensive relics from the Second World War, when people used the park to watch for enemy submarines entering English Bay.
I was looking for telephoto views of the lighthouse when I noticed the boat entering the scene. So I just waited until the optimal moment and made this photo. Here’s another view of the lighthouse: http://wp.me/p2ccTX-iP
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: spring on the landscape
SPRING POND, SOUTH OF OKOTOKS, ALBERTA
This is a typical April scene in the western Canadian province of Alberta: even as the grass is turning green, there are still areas of late snow waiting to melt. In this case, I was blessed with a strong sky and that’s what ultimately made this scene worth capturing.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: the food court entrance
CROSSIRON MILLS SHOPPING CENTRE, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
Anyone who’s visited t
his website probably knows I’m a sucker for modern architecture. This addition to Crossiron Mills grabbed my attention even as it was being constructed a year ago.
I was on my way to photograph Alberta’s glorious prairies when I decided to make a quick stop at the mall to see if there were any photo opportunities. That’s when I saw the entrance, brilliantly lit in the pre-dawn sky.
Spent nearly a half-hour exploring viewpoints and vertical/horizontal formats. (Here’s a horizontal colour view: http://bit.ly/Crossiron).
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Rural landscapes: looking inside
ME AND THE ABANDONED HOMESTEAD, NEAR BEISEKER, ALBERTA
Traveling along any prairie road that happened to attract my attention, I came upon this abandoned farmstead. The barn is still being used to store agriculture equipment, but everything else had been long left to the elements.
This is just the kind of photo subject that can hold my attention; for this scene, I decided having a person looking inside would make the photo stronger; since no one else was around, that person became ME. (Here’s another version of the scene, with everything but me converted to black & white: http://www.bit.ly/PrairieHomestead.)
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
P.S. Since making this photo, I’ve found out the homestead was used in the movie “Brokeback Mountain”.
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Rural landscape: abandoned on the prairies
DERELICT HOUSE, NEAR CARBON, ALBERTA
How’s this for a stunning find? An outstanding setting for a truly abandoned old home in the glorious prairies of western Canada. The entire scene was in shades of brown (spring green doesn’t arrive in southern Alberta until May), so I decided to keep the house in colour to ensure the landscape complemented it (rather than competing).
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: inside the grove
THE FOREST FLOOR, MACMILLAN PROVINCIAL PARK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
This is Cathedral Grove, easily the most popular part of this provincial park on Vancouver Island. My wife and I wandered through it on a wet day, which caused the temperate rainforest colours to pop so much that I had to decrease the almost lurid saturation. There wasn’t a lot of light in the forest, so a tripod was a must for every photo I made
NikonD90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the west coast morning sky
TONQUIN PARK BEACH, TOFINO, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Our 2012 visit to the exquisite west coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island was ridiculously brief, but it did give me time to visit this wonderfully rocky and dramatic beach at sunrise. (My wife and I have visited twice more; it’s not possible to get too much of this glorious place.)
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Rural landscapes: before the golf course
FARMLAND, OAK RIDGES MORAINE, WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE, ONTARIO
This quietly beautiful area, north of Toronto (Canada’s largest city) was an area I loved to roam through during my early years of photography. I knew the owner of a property in this area and that gave me access to bucolic farmland and forest. This photo, showing a spring pond, is so old that I made it on negative film. What you’re looking at was scanned from a paper photo, then worked on extensively in Photoshop to bring out what I saw that spring day.
Notice the near-far progression of interest points? You start at the fence post, then go to the tree and finally end at the barn. The entire area is now a golf course for rich people, but I’ll always have photos like this to show it in its glory.
Nikon FM2 film camera, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: reflections in the spring pond
SPRING POND, PRESQUILE PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO
Spring growth was only a whisper when I wandered through this park in April 2007. But ponds were everywhere and I like the supple, mildly surrealistic mix of light and dark in this pond.
Nikon D50, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: spring, delayed
SPRING SNOW ON MT. KIDD, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA
This is common in the Canadian Rocky Mountains; just when you think spring has truly arrived, along comes an epic snow dump to remind you that at this elevation, anything can happen at any time of year.
Mt. Kidd’s epic twisting rock makes it one of the most distinctive peaks in the Kananaskis region.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the disappearing ice
SPRING BREAKUP, GLENBOW RANCH PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
The Bow River flows out of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and through this park, just west of the city of Calgary. I found scenes like this on the river, greatly enhanced by warm evening light.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: the beckoning spring
CAMERON CREEK, WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
The strong diagonal lines of old, melting snow, creek and rocky land attracted my eye to this scene. That it all starts with an imposing mountain didn’t hurt, either. 🙂
This is one of the windiest national parks in Canada; so windy that it prevents most of the lake around the Waterton townsite from freezing.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Urban landscapes: Lines of brick, stone & glass
BUILDING FACADE, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I don’t remember the name of this building in Calgary’s downtown; it’s older, not very tall and probably didn’t have a name. But I was intrigued by the converging lines and the one centre line that bisects the entire scene – yet still doesn’t cut the photo in half.
Photos like this, where it’s crucial to achieve straight lines and balance throughout the scene, are a good reason to use a tripod. I kept the bland white sky out of the picture so your eyes could concentrate on the lines and textures.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Urban landscapes: light and lines
VIVO RECREATION FACILITY, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This is where I go to work out, about five minutes’ drive from my home. I’ve always been impressed with the architecture, but knew I couldn’t photograph it well without making long exposures. Fortunately, the folks who run the place kindly allowed me to bring my tripod in just after the facility opened and before the place was overrun with people. This is one of the results.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Rural landscapes: where the birds stay
BIRDHOUSE IN LATE WINTER, NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
I was blessed with strong morning light to illuminate this glorious scene in the deep southwest of this western Canadian province. The mountains in the background are mostly in Waterton Lakes National Park. The mountains are slightly out of focus, which is perfect to ensure your eyes go to the birdhouse first, then enjoy the rest of the scene..
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter, fill-flash (to illuminate the front of the birdhouse).
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