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.
March 12 - Photographing Wildlife
My most favourite subjects to photograph are animals, birds, and all species of wildlife.
I enjoy spending long times observing and making images of wildlife. But the hardest part is finding them.
National parks are some of the best locations to find wildlife. Here it is also easier to photograph them because they are usually unafraid of humans. But this does not ensure success. I still need good conditions and accessible animals.
On our journey out west this winter, our first stop was in Yellowstone National Park.
This large herd of bison was photographed at the north end of the park, near Gardiner, Montana.
The only road that is open in Yellowstone in winter runs from Mammoth through the Lamar Valley to Cook City.
This drive was not very productive, though I did photograph a few bison along the road
I saw no Bighorn Sheep and few elk, and that was it. Having one day in the park versus having time to return means that I have to be very lucky to spot the wildlife and have them in interesting locations, or to witness typical behaviour.
This elk I photographed near Gardiner, by the north entrance.
Our visit to Banff National Park was the next wildlife photo opportunity.
Along the Minnewanka Road I found a group of bull elk, or wapiti.
Along the Bow Valley Parkway I found this cooperative magpie.
You can find wildlife in places other than national or provincial parks, if you know locations that they frequent.
One of these spots is on the west side of Okanagan Lake, between Vernon and Kelowna.
I got lucky on my first foray, coming across a group of ten Bighorn rams.
On two subsequent trips along this road, I encountered no sheep.
It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Sometimes there are these serendipitous moments, like this pheasant I spotted perched in this pine tree behind the house in Coldstream. I was able to photograph it from the living room, a luxury seldom experienced in wildlife photography.
March 5 - Landscape Photography While Travelling
Making landscape images is fraught with many challenges even in familiar areas . The photographer is always at the mercy of the weather conditions. But around home he can return to the chosen and often familiar locations when conditions may be optimal.
These photographic challenges are exacerbated while one is travelling. We are truly influenced by the prevailing conditions. As we are usually on the move, it requires a lot of luck to be able to create great images. These situations have to occur while we are passing through because we can seldom return or wait for those atmospheric conditions that we wish to experience.
Nevertheless, I sometimes get lucky. At other times, when confronted with an amazing landscape, I have to get creative.
Here are a few landscape photos from our most recent trip in Europe.
If the skies are clear, I may get some images from the air at either takeoff or landing.
This photo showing the patterns in the landscape was made as we approached Munich Airport.
Luck favours those who are prepared. Understanding weather conditions helped. After an evening rainstorm and sensing that the sun was going to shine, I walked onto the road above our airbnb in the Austrian Tyrol and got this photo.
Visiting this region of Slovenia was planned, with research telling me about this iconic setting at Lake Bled.
Getting up early and driving to this location for sunrise resulted in these images of this island church.
Knowing where to go helped, but I needed some luck to have an interesting sunrise.
Looking for a high viewpoint often gives a unique view on a landscape.
I realized that I could get overviews of Lake Bled from Bled Castle, and thus got this photo.
Doing research before leaving home lead me to this alpine pasture off the beaten path in the Julian Alps of Slovenia.
Here again a chosen route over Vrsic Pass in north western Slovenia brought me to this location.
This setting is high in the Dolomites of northern Italy, near Cortina. Research again had pinpointed this location. All we had to do was go up a cable car and hope for decent weather. This is nothing spectacular, but a good composition and post-processing created this scenic.
Often views from the side of the road offer great views, as in this photo on Livinallongo, northern Italy.
And sometimes I get lucky. As we were driving up to our airbnb, I pulled off the road to photograph this storm over Lake Sarnen in Switzerland.
I knew about this small lake, Riffelsee, and the possibility of photographing the Matterhorn reflected in it. First I needed a clear day with some clouds and then just had to work at finding a good composition.
These are some of the landscape photo that I was able to make. Yet there were a number of locations in which the timing did not work because of the weather conditions or the time of day that I was there.
February 26 - Late October Photography
We returned from our European holiday in Mid-October, well past the normal time for fall colours.
Still I was able to spend these few days following our return photographing what remained of the colours of autumn, though these were not the vibrant hues of the earlier part of the season.
Here are a few images that I made in the Sudbury area in these waning days of October.
These photos show that there can be a lot of photo opportunities even though the brilliant hues have disappeared.
February 19 - Photographing Travel Companions
While on vacation, we all like to take photos of our friends and family.
Too often these are static images, just record shots, which is fine. But in this photo Veronica and Veda are too stiff, not relaxed. The image gives no context, as to where we are, or what are we doing. Yes, we have a nice car!
This photo is somewhat better. Jane and Veda appear relaxed. The background provides context, giving a clue about where we are travelling.
We can surmise that we are somewhere in an Alpine region, in this case, Austria.
Even though this is another record shot, the viewer knows where the photo was taken. Better yet the subjects are relaxed and enjoying themselves.
Even though the ladies are obviously posing in this photo, this is a better image. Why? I think the viewer will pause and look longer at this photo. It evokes mystery - where are they standing? Their placement in the upper left is the focal point of the photo, but this also allows the viewer to see the landscape of its setting and ask where was this.
Giving the people in your photos something to do rather than just standing and peering at the camera improves the photos.
Food is always an integral part of why we travel. Here Veda and Hannah are having a meal at our airbnb.
Wine helps the posing. Why four plates?
This photo shows the setting of a café where they are relaxing over coffees and pastries.
I made this photo from outside the restaurant, a less typical point of view and thus a more interesting image.
When taking photos of your fellow travellers, do include images from cafés, pubs, and restaurants, but look for something unique, and try to show the location. Take many photos because you are looking for flattering expressions on the people.
And remember to also photograph the food, even the beer.
One way to photograph your subjects other than them standing in the scene is to have them walking while you take the photo.
There is more of a story to this photo. We are walking high in the mountains. It's also a landscape image of Hallstatt Glacier.
This photo is another example of catching your subjects in action. It is a much better photograph because of the dramatic back lighting and the setting in an old village.
Capturing images of your companions candidly in action adds another dimension to your story of the trip.
Well, not exactly in action!
There is nothing bad about asking your friends to pose for a photo. But try to make it fun.
Have them do something that is humourous, something that is not simply posing.
These photos, even if they are portraits of your subjects, say here we are, having a great time.
What are they contemplating? Caught unawares sometimes works.
I hope that I've provided you with some "food for thought" for photographing your fellow travellers on your next holiday.
May that be soon.
February 12 - Snow Ghosts of Silver Star
Sunshine finally was the order of the day last Wednesday, so I decided to spend much of the morning photographing the snow ghosts of Silver Star Mountain. These snow-encrusted trees are what are referred to as snow ghosts. The snow will cling to the trees until either warm weather or high winds force the snow to fall off the conifers.
The scenery was fantastic, though it had been even better the Monday of the previous week, when I had chosen to ski rather than photograph. Unfortunately all the days since had been very foggy. So I was not going to miss this opportunity again.
Although all this heavy snow hanging on the trees creates a beautiful landscape, there are some negative aspects. With all the weight of the snow, many trees snapped off their tops or simply fell over. Parts of the ski area were closed at times to allow for the removal of fallen and dangerous trees.
All of these pristine scenes have been photographed at the perimeter of the ski runs.
Most often I was photographing while on my skis. Otherwise I would have been sinking into deep snow.
This was a small selection of the photos that I made that day.
Which one is your favourite?
I'd like to hear from you.
If you do not like any of them, feel free to let me know.
This has been my first blog post in almost four months, the last one coming from Switzerland.
I've finally processed all my images from our autumn European trip. I hope to share some of those in future blogs.
I plan to post an new blog once a week, every Sunday. Hope to have you along.