Urban landscapes: caught in dawn light
MILLSTONE RIVER BRIDGE, NANAIMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
This city of 85,000, on Vancouver Island, has a beautiful harbourfront walkway stretching several kilometres. I happened to be at this spot on the walkway shortly after sunrise. As I admired the warm light on this compelling bridge, I happened to see my silhouette and knew it would make an interesting photo. Was I right?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky and top of bridge.
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Natural landscapes: found in the sand
SAND DOLLAR, COX BAY, TOFINO, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
One of my favourite places on this planet is Canada’s Vancouver Island. The island’s west side is a world of beaches, endless surf, bald eagles, misty sunrises, rainforest, whales and more.
I was walking along Cox Bay shortly after sunrise when I found this exquisite creation. Look at the artistic symmetry of that pattern…can it really be random?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, 70-300 mm. zoom lens.
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Urban landscapes: from the border north
GREATER VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Photographed on a Nanaimo-to-Calgary flight, this view north includes much of the Fraser River Delta, Tsawwassen in the peninsula and Point Roberts in the United States. This photo required a ton of Photoshopping to bring out what I saw in the scene.
Nikon D7100.
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Natural landscapes: life at low tide
SCHOONER COVE, PACIFIC RIM NATIONAL PARK RESERVE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
The west coast of Vancouve
r Island is a stunning place, with temperate rain forests, glorious beaches, waves fit for surfers, whales, black bears, bald eagles, sea lions and more. It’s an extraordinary environment that often leaves me praising the Creator for what He’s done.
I used a graduated density (darkening) filter to balance the harsh lighting difference between the shadowy foreground and the the sunny distance. Nikon d7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: spring sunset
MISTY RIVER SUNSET, DEEP RIVER, ONTARIO
There’s such an irony about the name of this charming little town northwest of Ottawa (Canada’s capital city). Deep River itself is just a small, barely noticed river. Instead, the town is geographically dominated by the much larger Ottawa River (which is what you’re looking at here). This scene is in the town itself.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: Grand River glory
PEACEFUL MORNING IN ELORA, ONTARIO
This charming village is probably best known for the nearby Elora Gorge, which (of course) I spent much time photographing. The Grand River flows through town and I found this viewpoint to capture the serenity of sunrise on the ancient Elora Mill. When you’ve seen all the scenery, there are lots of nice little restaurants and shops to spend your money.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter
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Wildlife: don’t be such a goose
MELTING SPRING SNOW, INGLEWOOD BIRD SANCTUARY, CALGARY, ALBERTA
This sanctuary was badly damaged during epic 2013 flooding that hit Calgary and many other southern Alberta communities. Some of the sanctuary was closed for several years while repairs were done. I made this photo before the flooding, capturing a serene moment of rest and reflection(s).
Nikon D90, tripod.
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Urban landscapes: under the overpass
URBAN LANDSCAPES: UNDER THE OVERPASS, CALGARY, ALBERTA
Actually, this is under an LRT track which crosses over the Bow River and heads into the downtown core of this western Canadian city. I was fortunate to have decent pre-dawn light and good clouds over the skyscrapers. This is a looong exposure, designed to smooth out the ripples in the river.
Tripod, polarizing filter, enhancing filter.
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Rural landscapes: where prairies and mountains meet
THE VIEW FROM SKYLINE ROAD, NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
It’s just a dirt road, but it’s not hard to see where this north-south route got its name. This is one of the most stunning areas in the western Canadian province of Alberta. I used a big telephoto lens to isolate the shack and the Rocky Mountain front ranges. A graduated density (darkening) filter was another important accessory – it darkened the sky to increase the scene’s drama.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizer.
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Rural landscapes: where wind & wildlife meet
WIND TURBINE AND RESTING DEER, NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
I was initially attracted to this scene by the wiggly tractor trail and the single towering turbine. Then I noticed the deer in the field. Sweet!! Have you found them yet?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: the pools of April
SPRING PUDDLES, PRESQUILE PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO
When I lived in the Canadian province of Ontario, this park (about 90 minutes’ drive east of Toronto, Canada’s largest city) was one of my favourite photo locales. Even in April, before spring growth has truly started, there are scenic little moments like this to capture. I did a lot of work in Photoshop to bring out the best in this scene.
Nikon D50 (long since retired), tripod.
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Natural landscapes: below the falls
ROCK FORMATIONS, CHAUDIERE RIVER, NEAR QUEBEC CITY, CANADA
Originally photographed in 2004 on slide film, I had it scanned into a jpeg. And it was a truly HORRIBLE scan. So I did a whole lot more work to fix the colour cast and darken the horribly overexposed (again, thanks to the awful scan) highlights. How did I do?
NIKON FM22, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Wildlife: en route to the north
FEEDING SNOW GEESE, CAP TOURMENTE, CANADA
I’ve made two spring trips to the Quebec City region and both times had opportunities to photograph thousands of snow geese, who regularly stopped along the shores of the St. Lawrence River east of the city to feed before continuing their migration north. This trip was likely in the late 1980s, when I was still using my long-retired Nikon FM2 film camera and negative film.
This was the scan I came up with. It’s not perfect, but I really like the grey-blue cast and how the afternoon sun made the white bodies stand out.
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Rural landscapes: Spring fields
MAYSTAR RANCH, SOUTH OF LONGVIEW, ALBERTA
For some people, the endless brown fields of southern Alberta’s prairies and foothills are underwhelming. For me, they’re pregnant with possibility. That’s what this photo represents. I followed a little-known road deep into Kananaskis Country – but before I got there, I found this ranch entrance. The sky is crucial to making the scene memorable – not sure I would have made the photo with a plain blue sky.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: welcoming April
SPRING SUNRISE OVER THE WETLANDS, PRESQUILE PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO
I dug into the archives to find this beauty, made in 2006 with my first digital camera. Going digital renewed my interest in photography, since it gave me so much more control over my photos, at much less cost.
Presquile, about 90 minutes’ drive east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city) is one of my favourite parks in southern Ontario. Lots of wildlife, a variety of geography and Lake Ontario shoreline make it fabulous year-round.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscape: The Rockies’ spring water
ELBOW RIVER, KANANASKIS COUNTRY, ALBERTA, CANADA
It was sunny that spring day, so I needed all the darkening filters I could find to reduce the light coming into my camera and necessitate a looooong exposure. That turned the water beautifully silky, transforming a chaotic mix of shapes, light and shadow into something that I hope is far more pleasing.
This was photographed just a few months before massive rain and snowmelt flooded six rivers in southern Alberta, including this one. Entire picnic areas were wiped out as the water churned way, WAY over its banks. Repairs to natural and urban areas are still taking place almost three years later.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter, one or two neutral density (darkening) filters.
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Rural landscapes: as the snow melts
PATTERNS OF SPRING SNOW, NEAR AIRDRIE, ALBERTA
This just shouts SPRING, doesn’t it? There’s a surprising amount of colour and contrast in this scene on the Canadian prairies, aided by the slanting afternoon sun. It took a bit of work to position the snow and the old building correctly in relation to each other and to the overall composition. I think I pulled it off. Agree?
NikonD7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: as spring arrives….
UPPER WATERTON LAKE, WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I withstood the afternoon wind (Waterton is possibly the windiest national park in Canada) to find this symmetry between the shoreline ice and the peak across the water. The lighter water is from a stream entering the lake; look carefully at the lower left of the photo and you can see the ripples of arriving water.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: and then there was snow
GLORIOUS WINTER AT JOHNSTON CANYON, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
My wife and I were blessed to walk along this popular Canadian Rockies canyon right after a snowfall. You can see the bridge we crossed in the distance. I looked for patches of open water to break up the endless white of the canyon floor. There was so little colour in this scene that I opted for a black-and-white treatment.
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Urban landscapes: hands up
CAMPUS BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA
As soon as I saw this wondrous slab of colour and design, I knew I had to photograph it. The trick was waiting for the sun to emerge from clouds and to keep tree shadows from interfering.
I purposely twisted the perspective to create strong diagonal lines and angled spaces, which makes the composition less static and more energetic. I also put the hand off-centre, letting the windows in the lower left serve as a balancing element.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter.
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