Picture Reality

CameraDawktor's Photo Contest #1

2006-03-30T22:59:00.000-05:00

This is my entry in CameraDawktor's photo contest #1. It's my favourite shot of my son.

Here Comes The Sun

2006-01-30T21:54:00.000-05:00

Conventional photography rules usually state that you try to keep the sun out of photos unless it is just risen or just setting. Soemtimes you have to break the rules. Here is a sunrise, late afternoon sun, and a sunset.

Patterns

2006-01-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

I like to look for interesting patterns. The patterns on this patio stone showed up best just before sunset when the light was hitting the stone almost horizontally. I think the maple key makes the picture.

The next picture kind of plays with reality. The subject is the Commerce Court West building in Toronto. This is with the camera placed on the building and looking up to the sky.

"Painting" with Light

2006-01-26T21:48:00.000-05:00

I like to experiment with the camera to get different effects. Take for instance this river:

The picture is what most cameras will automatically give you for the time of day and the light levels - a wide open aperture and a fast shutter speed. This has the effect of freezing a moment in time. However, does it show the movement of the water? Not really.

Take a look at the second picture of the same spot:

I love the way the blur of the water conveys the movement. By closing the aperature, I forced a much slower speed (I think this was about 1/2s. The longer exposure allowed the bright coloured foam in the water to "paint" the film. I've tried similar things with stars and traffic, but I have never found the right place to get satisfactory results.

Little Furry Animals

2005-12-28T19:49:00.000-05:00

Our kitchen table allows us to look through our back doors and into our garden. If you have read Karen's Gardening Blog, you know that a few years ago we had our dying back yard ripped up and turned into a woodland garden. I love watching the birds, squirrels and even rabbits enjoy the yard and its many features.

A couple of days ago I used Karen's new camera and caught this little visitor in the middle of his/her lunch:

Something must have startled it, because the next thing I knew it was gone and it took me a minute to find it again in our Corkscrew Willow:

I cropped the above photo to zoom in and further reveal the perfect hiding spot:

Contrasts

2005-12-17T21:22:00.000-05:00

The contrast between the links of the chain on the gravel underneath just seemed to catch my eye.

Flowers at a Macro Level

2005-12-15T18:25:00.000-05:00

I take a lot of nature shots. I either like to look for interesting patterns or closeups with lots of detail. Here are a few of my flower closeups.

The first one was taken with my old SLR. I was trying out a roll of Kodak Ektar ISO 25 film which was supposed to be the highest resolution 35mm film at the time. As you can see from the result, the Ektar film had a problem with strong reds and which over saturated the petals of these tulips.

On the other hand, the red in this picture of red pansies taken with our Sony DSC-S70 camera show more detail in the red.

And finally for today, an oriental poppy from our front garden.

I think flowers is the theme for today because out first major snowstorm of the season is upon us and it's nice to think of spring.

Infrared

2005-12-14T21:22:00.000-05:00

I always like to experiment with different things. These are a few pictures from the one and only time I tried infrared film. Infrared film is black and white and is very difficult (and expensive) to handle and process. However I wanted to try it. All of these pictures were shot during an overcast day through a dark red filter (so only red and infrared light got to the film).

When I took these shots I had absolutely no idea how they would turn out. I just lined up my shot and took my chances.

In this one, the sky was giving off so much IR light that a good part of the top of the picture was completely washed out.

Infrared film is not very sharp so the images are kind of fuzzy. I find that it adds a very ethereal look to the next shot of the trees.

One thing I did know about infrared film was that living things emit a lot of infrared light. So, green foliage looks white in the picture. Check out the spruce tree in the last shot.

I sometimes wish I hadn't picked winter to try this. But I love these winter photos.

View from Below - View from Above

2005-12-13T05:34:00.000-05:00

I like the way the white lighthouse stands out in this picture. It's all alone and dominates the barren landscape.

In contrast, the next picture shows how a certain tall building can dominate a completely different landscape: