Natural landscapes: skiing through wonder
SUNSHINE VILLAGE, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I took my stepdaughter skiing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains for the first time at this massive and stunning resort. The weather cleared up as we approached the parking lot, so I grabbed my Nikon D90 and 18-70 mm. lens and brought it along.
A camera hanging from a strap and bouncing on your chest can make for a risky ski run, but I kept it for three runs and captured images like this before locking it inside a rental locker for the rest of the day. Sure glad I brought it along – everywhere I looked, my eyes were greeted by God’s glorious eye-candy. Amazing to think that Heaven will be way, way more stunning than this! 🙂
(BTW, if you want a sense of scale, those tiny dots on the ski trail in the lower right are people.)
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Natural landscapes: the last stand
ICE ALONG THE SHORELINE, WHITBY, ONTARIO
I loved the juxtaposition of this solitary ice chunk and the swirling water of Lake Ontario east of Toronto, Canada’s largest city. Used every darkening filter I owned to obtain an eight-second exposure, which smoothed out the rough edges of the winter waves. Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter, neutral density filter.
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Urban landscapes: Reaching for the sky
NEXEN BUILDING, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I haven’t published an urban landscape photograph for months because I haven’t done any work like this since September. But I’ve returned to it with a vengeance recently and this fabulous modern architectural design is one result. I created a black & white version that’s even stronger than what you’re seeing here, but it doesn’t show up so well against the very dark web page. (You can see that version, however, here: http://500px.com/photo/22589535). Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
This 37-story, 500-foot tower was completed in 1982. Its prime tenant is Nexen, an energy company that was just bought by Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation, which is controlled by the Chinese government. The sale was quite controversial and it took months for the Canadian government to approve the deal. In fact, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it would be the last sale of a major Canadian energy company to a foreign, state-controlled entity except under exceptional circumstances.
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Natural landscapes: when the sun peaks through
STORMY WINTER MORNING, WHITBY, ONTARIO
The sun didn’t last long, but I made the most of it while checking out the Lake Ontario shoreline east of Toronto, Canada’s largest city. Considering the jumble of branches on this fallen tree, I’m still amazed at how good the photograph turned out. Nikon D50, tripod.
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Check out my NEW coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Rural landscapes: Wind birds
WIND TURBINES, NEAR PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA
With the lack of sunshine, I didn’t think I could get very good photos, but was pleasantly surprised with this one, photographed about two hours’ drive south of my home in Calgary, Alberta.
The key (besides utilizing a tripod, of course, to get the composition exactly right) was using a two-stop hard-edge graduated density filter to significantly darken the sky. Without it, this would have been a very bland scene. Nikon D90.
Southwestern Alberta, by the way, is one of the windiest places in Canada, so it’s littered with hundreds of wind turbines. I love seeing how they can be used in photography.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Natural landscapes: my snowy friends
SNOWY TREES, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
Another photo from a stunning winter morning in one of Canada’s most popular and most famous national parks. I climbed a ridge from the road and found these immature lodgepole pine trees made a great foreground to the Rocky Mountain vista in the background. At this point, the trick was to figure out where to place the trees in the composition. Nikon D90, polarizing filter, tripod.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Natural Landscapes: a touch of snow
DUFFINS CREEK, GREENWOOD CONSERVATION AREA, AJAX, ONTARIO
One of my favourite go-to photography locations just east of Toronto, Canada’s largest city. I loved the touch of snow on the rocks; the trick was to figure out a good composition that combined the snow with the flowing water. How did I do? Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter.
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The overlooked favourites of 2012
Not sure why these photographs didn’t resonate all that much with you fine viewers. Each one received between 12 and 24 views, compared to more than 300 each for my top two pictures. But I love them all (wouldn’t have put them on the website if I didn’t) and would like to show them off once more.
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Want to buy any of these photographs? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
WINTER HAYROLLS, WEST OF CALGARY, ALBERTA
WINTER AT PICKERING HISTORICAL VILLAGE, PICKERING, ONTARIO
DUFFIN’S CREEK, GREENWOOD CONSERVATION AREA, AJAX, ONTARIO
LANGEVIN BRIDGE (OVER THE BOW RIVER), CALGARY, ALBERTA
STREAM, LEASKDALE, ONTARIO
EVENING LIGHT, OTTAWA, ONTARIO
MIDWAY CAROUSEL, CALGARY STAMPEDE
BEARGRASS, WATERTON LAKES NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
CN TOWER AND SIMCOE PLACE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
SHAW CONFERENCE CENTRE, EDMONTON, ALBERTA
Most popular pictures of 2012!
This first year of Frank King Photos has been pretty amazing. More than 11,000 people from dozens of countries have looked at my photographs – far more than I would have predicted. So thank you! Here are the top 10 most popular photographs published this year, as picked by YOU!
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Want to buy any of these photographs? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
10. Feuding marmots, Jasper National Park, Alberta
9. Awaiting sunrise, Calgary, Alberta
8. Path through the rain forest, Pacific Rim National Park, British Columbia
7. Sunrise at Bow Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta
6. Canoes at Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta
5. Badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
4. Dusk, Vancouver, British Columbia
3. Peace Bridge (telephoto view), Calgary, Alberta
2. Peace Bridge (wide-angle view), Calgary Alberta
1. “Lillian” (Black Wolf), Kananaskis, Alberta (more than 300 views!)
Natural landscapes: a photographer was here
SEARCHING FOR A VIEWPOINT, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
Conditions were even better than I’d hope for when I ventured out with the camera in November to make pictures in one of Canada’s most famous national parks.
I’d made memorable autumn photos at this spot several years before and knew it might provide excellent viewpoints of the snow-clad Rocky mountains across the valley. I was right. All I had to do was wade through the snow up the ridge from the road. My uncomfortably soaked pants are long forgotten, but this image, and others, will be with me for life.
Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Rural landscapes: Christmas cheer
MAILBOX AND WREATH, NEAR CALGARY, ALBERTA
I love this combination of a wreath with a colourful mailbox, but lighting was a big challenge. So I turned on the flash and used it to illuminate the box. The funny thing is, the mailbox illustration (a cardinal) is NEVER seen in Alberta. 🙂
May you have a blessed Christmas with at least a bit of knowledge of what the day is really all about. Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
Natural Landscapes: cold and fresh
WINTER AT WEBSTER FALLS, NEAR HAMILTON, ONTARIO
The ravine below this glorious waterfall, west of Toronto (Canada’s largest city), is a fantastical place during winter months. Snow combines with freezing mist to create an almost otherworldly environment that I “worked” with the camera for several hours. A long exposure was important here, to make the falling water silky and provide a contrast to the hard edges of the snow. Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Natural landscapes: breathing life into winter
WINTER SUNRISE, WHITBY, ONTARIO
Lake Ontario, one of the four Great Lakes shared by Canada and the United States, is a great place to photograph sunrise during winter months, when the sun is far to the south. In Whitby, east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city), there is a reasonably high bluff with trees spaced far enough apart to make clean, interesting compositions like this one. Nikon D50, tripod.
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Natural landscapes: where the river runs clear
SUNRISE ON THE BOW RIVER, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
I had to scramble down through thigh-deep snow to get from the road to the shores of this river in Canada’s best-known Rocky Mountain park. But when I look at this photograph, the discomfort (and the wet pants) were absolutely worth it. I moved quickly – before the sky became too light –Â to use a darkening filter on the sunrise, so it wouldn’t be too bright compared to the ground. Nikon D90, tripod, polarizing filter, two-stop hard-edge graduated density filter, enhancing filter.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Rural landscapes: winter in the village
PICKERING MUSEUM VILLAGE, PICKERING, ONTARIO
I was fortunate to come upon this picturesque local tourist attraction, northeast of Toronto (Canada’s largest city) after a dusting of snow and before anyone else could walk through and spoil the untouched beauty of this scene. I recall trying to find a good composition with the red building, then stepping back until the strong graphic of the shadow entered the scene and that’s when the photo came together.
Nikon D50, tripod, polarizing filter.
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Wander through my new coffeetable photography book “Frank King’s Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/11kOiRk
Rural landscapes: Where the road runs straight
WINTER ON HIGHWAY 1A, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
My first photo trip after getting my camera back from a month in the repair shop turned out to be gloriously productive, with large sections of this Canadian Rocky Mountain park covered in six inches of fresh snow.
I’ve always loved this dead-straight section of Highway 1A and knew it would make a strong composition in the right conditions. What you’re seeing is the right conditions and when I idly glanced through the camera to see my shadow, the strength of this composition immediately jumped out at me.
Nikon D90, polarizing filter.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Rural landscapes: the face of a barn
BARN ENTRANCE, SHANNON, QUEBEC
This is another photograph pulled out of the depths of my archives, dating back to 1982. I spent many happy childhood hours in this barn on my grandparents’ farm northwest of Quebec City, the capital city of this eastern Canadian province. I didn’t know much about photographic composition then, but I must have been hugely inspired by the subject matter to come up with a picture that I’m still so pleased with 30 years later. Yashica film camera, Kodak negative film, tripod (probably).
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Natural landscapes: The lines of shadow and light
SNOW PATTERNS AT LAKE LOUISE, BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
Afternoon sun cast all manner of fascinating shadows in the snows around this iconic Canadian Rocky Mountain lake. I pulled out the biggest telephoto zoom lens I had and started isolating and compressing shadow lines together (compression is a natural occurence with big telephoto lens) and went for a shallow depth of field to subtly highlight one section of the photograph. Nikon D90, 70-200 mm. lens, tripod.
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Check out my coffeetable book “BLUE SYMPHONY: Winter in the Canadian Rockies”: http://bit.ly/kFb3Xw
Natural landscapes: Winter at Niagara Falls
AN ORNATE VIEW, NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO
It was a numbingly cold sunrise at this famous Canadian tourist attraction. But that cold, combined with being there at sunrise, meant I could park wherever I wanted (and parking is usually a premium there) and work in happy solitude. I found this (hopefully) interesting point of view after making all the more standard pictures.
Nikon D50, tripod.
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Wander through my coffeetable photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Rural landscapes: Granary & Snow
NOT USED IN WINTER, SHANNON, QUEBEC
I waded deep into the archives to show you this scene of the Canadian farm where I spent many happy childhood hours. By the time I made this photograph in 1982, my grandfather had been dead for seven years and the farm fields were being taken over by weeds and bushes.
I’m still amazed that I managed to pull off this composition; it was certainly an accident to achieve this division of space and use of colour & lighting when I was only two years into photography. Looking back on it now, I realize this scene would not have been as memorable with strong sunlight and blue skies.
It’s also one of my most awarded photographs; it won ‘best in show’ at the 1982 Markham (Ontario) Fair. Yashica film camera, Kodak negative film (probably), tripod (probably).
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Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
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