Welcome to my blog, in which I post photos from recent travels and photography ideas.
These are posted irregularly, so log in at your leisure to catch my latest ramblings.
August 7 - Summer Festivals in Sudbury
On these last two weekends I took in a couple of events that were held here in Sudbury.
The first one that I paid a short visit to was the annual Greek Festival nearby.
It looked so good that I decided to have some saganaki.
There was a vast array of Greek foods available, including lamb that was being roasted on spits, and the usual souvlakis and mousaka, plus interesting desserts, but I resisted. The kids also were not into the food as bouncing in this tent was more fun.
Last Sunday I spent some time at the Sudbury Cruisers Car Show at the park in Copper Cliff.
Here are a select few images of some of the vehicles on display.
July 15 - Reading Jay Maisel
These are the dog days of summer, those days of 30 degree temperatures. For me the most comfortable place to be is inside, with the air conditioning running. So recently I picked up Jay Maisel's book "Light, Gesture & Color" to read again. Maisel has had a 60-year career as a photographer based in New York. In this collection he communicates the three most important aspects of street photography. To most of us, light and colour (Canadian spelling, thank you) are fairly straight forward. But what is implied by gesture? Maisel writes: "Gesture can reveal the essence and character of anything from a mountain range to a mayfly."
Gesture is easiest to first see in people photographs. I will present some of my people photos that I think reveal the essence of the subjects. These first images are of people who realized that I was photographing them.
The next photos I would label as candids. In most cases the subject was unaware that he was being photographed. But gesture is still the essence of each image.
Gesture reveals a part of the character of each of the subjects.
Now we just have to get out with our cameras and look for gesture, not only in people but in all other subjects. More on this in another blog.
July 2 - Editing Images
I've begun the task of editing and optimizing images from my recent trip west. Sitting at the computer is not always much fun, but it is a necessity in this era of digital photography. Besides, the very hot outdoor temperatures we've recently experienced make it much more pleasant to be indoors in an air conditioned house.
Here are a few landscape images that I made in Badlands National Park in South Dakota.
This photograph breaks "the rules" of composition by having the horizon across the centre of the frame. Rules are made to be broken. I did like the composition mainly because of the clouds.
I often like to search for graphic details within the landscape, as in these last three images. The grand landscape is not always the most interesting method of creating a sense of place.
June 17 - Back Home
When we left the Soo this morning it was raining. Sometimes the rain let up, so we were able to make some images along the way. These conditions were very good for photos as the colours are nicely saturated after a rain. This first photo I made at Harris Creek, just west of Iron Bridge, at a location where I have tried to make photos many times. These were some of my best photos from here because the light and colour saturation were so good.
We saw a few old barns along the highway. This is one photo that I made close to Iron Bridge.
We stopped in Blind River for a quick visit with Claudette and Bob Gallagher, a coffee and a butter tart (just one each). The sky then began to clear and the sun came out. We did manage one further photo stop, on the highway into Elliot Lake.
Then we drove to Sudbury, with no more stops for photography. This road trip has come to an end.
Later I will post images from this trip on my web site in the "Recent Work" gallery. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile, thanks for following.
June 16 - Sault Ste. Marie
Cloudy and overcast and cool this morning. So we left our digs (probably the worst room we've stayed in, courtesy of Ward) thinking of breakfast down the road. Nothing in Rossport, but we did make some photos along the shore of Lake Superior.
We drove on to Schreiber - nothing. What a sad town. All restaurants that had been in business were shuttered, but with chipboard. The next town was Terrace Bay, where I knew of a nice little bakery. Alas, it was also a place of the past. But there was a restaurant open at a motel in the town. It was very nice, good breakfast, good prices. We then backtracked a little to check out Aguasobon Falls. It was to be photographed only from a lookout on a great boardwalk, but from above.
Our next stops were around Marathon, a distance along the highway. We made photos at a small lake, the Superior beach, and this small cascade beside a dusty gravel road.
From here it was a long drive away from Superior views, through White River and on to Wawa. There my friend Ward was able to find another friend.
The drive through Lake Superior Provincial Park yielded no images. The light conditions were not at all good. We did make a couple stops south of the park. These provided some decent conditions, including this location from which I've made images in past trips.
At this stop, I met a Swiss family who have been on the road in their motor home for one year. I helped them by taking some photos for them in celebration of that one full year on the road. Here is a picture of Elfie and Dominic (I hope I spelled their names correctly) and their daughter. I had a great time meeting them and taking some photos for them.
Then we carried on to Sault Ste. Marie to a room at Quattro - a large suite with a sitting area and a kitchenette. This is our best room of the whole trip, and at a reasonable price. Tomorrow is our last leg of our photographic journey. Ward just booked his flight out on Monday afternoon (warning to Sharron).