Power Tower

From Photo of the day (2009)

I took the dog back out to the river this morning - back to the same area where you can get to an island which is nearly under the Agassiz-Rosedale bridge. I found a service road that runs near these major power lines with towers on the island. I was thinking about taking a side picture and including all the thrashed bush below that was cleared in maintenance. But then I got this idea, walked out through a bunch of snow and blackberry stems to shoot this straight up. I think this is straight out of the camera.

Snow tracks

From Photo of the day (2009)

I was out with Dr Phil Chris most of the day looking at some sick cows, and three rather healthy looking horses. Then I had to grab some groceries and when I finally got back to Agassiz - take the dog out and drop off my time card at work. I combined the last two and added grabbing an ice cream from the cheese plant, and headed out across the road to a field George rents for growing grass for the animals. Meg had a good run around for 45 min or so and I saw these crow tracks in the snow. The light was failing so I snapped a few shots in case I didn't see anything else, which I didn't, before it got dark. This is the result - I toyed a bit with the lighting and contrast in Picasa to bring out the shadows without having too much contrast, nothing else.

Doghouse

From Photo of the day (2009)

So, after a day of blizzard weather, today was clear. Clear and cold and windy - though not as windy as yesterday. There is snow it all the barns, all the water dishes outside were frozen (again - argh) which means I had to fish out buckets and drag the hose around again. Feels like we've jumped back to the start of January or late December. Sigh. I thought we had spring. Anyways, the snow is all blown in to strange places, patterns, and drifts - this is one that I found kind of fun. This is the doghouse I made for Meg when I started working on the farm in case the other dogs didn't care to share theirs. She used to drag it around, then I moved it closer to the other dogs and tied her to their house, at which point they all started lying in the big one in a pile. To be honest, I don't think Meg has ever been in this house except once when I threw some treats in there to make sure she fit through the door. The wasps took it over in the summer, now the snow has claimed it, Though it is not really as full as it looks.

I increased the fill light just a touch in Picasa, nothing else.

More Snow

From Photo of the day (2009)

I heard the forecast calling for snow last night but woke up this morning to rain. So, I figured, no snow today. I finished milking and it was raining slightly so I figured I should scrape out before it got worse (the scraper tractor is open and doesn't have any cover, so if its raining you get soaked). As I was finishing the rain started to change to snow, and after I came out from eating lunch (20 min after scraping) it was a full on blizzard and sticking to everything. Brrrr! By the time I left for Paul's 2 hours later there was several inches of snow, and drifts much higher than that. Didn't really want to take my camera out in this stuff and was too cold to find something at work so I took this out my sliding patio door at home with the heat up after a warm shower. Its still snowing. Looks like we are in for more misery tomorrow, then it should all melt Friday. The joys of working outside - sigh.

I increased the contrast a fair bit in picasa by playing with highlights and shadows, and a touch of fill light, nothing else.

Eyes

From Photo of the day (2009)

Ok so this is probably a little odd, if not more than a little. Its not really what I was trying for but my wide angle lens doesn't zoom any closer, and my long lens has too long a minimum focusing distance to take pictures in my bathroom. I was trying to take something that I could crop to just one eye but no luck, not only that but the other crops just looked creepy. I think it has something to do with seeing only half a face. This is the best I got - more of a self portrait cropped in an interesting manner more than anything else. Oh well. Would it be calling myself vain if I said I was inspired for this while looking in the mirror?
I set up my tripod on the counter with one leg in the sink as I could not (obviously) shoot this hand held myself. I was going to use my remote but found I didnt need it. I marked out the edges of the frame with erasable marker on the mirror so I would know where to put my face and then just played around. You can actually see some of the marker off to the left as a bit of a dark haze - Oops. I could have cloned it out in Photoshop, but I guess I am lazy. I did have to adjust my white balance to account for the incandescent lights, play with highlights/fill light and sharpen the end result in Picasa. And of course, this is cropped as well.

Stick! Stick!

From Photo of the day (2009)

I was looking for an entry shot for this weeks DP Challenges - either a puzzle/puzzling thing, or an action shot. I took the dog out to Greenpoint on Harrison Lake and got a few (lots I should say) blurry shots of her chasing ducks and running through the water. Then I found a place where the light reflected off the water better so I could up my shutter speed without playing with the ISO and managed to throw the stick straight out in front of me while trying to hold my cam with its long lens. I got this - saw it in my screen and said I've got what I want. I have cropped this down to get rid of some excess blank water, increased the contrast a bit in Picasa, then used photoshop's smart sharpen to just bring out the details in her fur a touch.

Center deck

From Photo of the day (2009)

I've been meaning to take this shot for a long time - I'm guessing most people who read this blog probably don't know why I picked the web address I did: centerdeck.blogspot.com. "Center deck" is a falconry term, or possibly just an avian term, referring to one of the center two tail feathers on a bird. They are the only two flight feathers that have the quill straight down the middle of the feather as opposed to having more webbing on one side of the quill than the other. They also form the two tail feathers you see on a bird that has its tail all folded away below them. So here is a center deck from a red-tailed hawk. I got this feather when I worked for a falconry center on Vancouver Island - naturally moulted, don't worry I didn't pluck anybody. This one is from a dark morphed adult bird - that is its whole body is dark brown with little or no markings, and it has already gained its red tail (first year immatures have a brown tail with strong bars). The markings on the tail feather are also typical of a dark morph bird, an eastern bird will have only a slight black bar at the end and be a brighter red, a western bird will likely be only slightly brighter and have slightly less barring.
And here I am working with cows and goats.....

Anyways - I touched up the highlights and a bit of fill light (I had to stand on a chair and use my long lens for this, and then it was with a flash in the house) and then sharpened it in Picasa.

Footprints

From Photo of the day (2009)

Well.. I finally got my fence - though not really for the reasons I wanted. Last night they threw up a rental wire security fence between me and the burnt out apartment, today they worked on building a plywood one that goes just a bit further down than my apartment before they left up the wire one. Its not staked into the ground, just propped up with big pieces of two-by-four but it is pretty sturdy. I had forgotten my camera at home so I was limited to shots in town. I spotted these footprints from one of the workers on it just before it became wire again so I could still have some of the apartment building in the background. This shot is straight out of the camera.

Burnt

From Photo of the day (2009)

I was assisting George this morning with a goat that had aborted but retained her kid (we were trying to pull it out) when Simon who does a lot of tractor work for us came in and asked me which apartment building I was in - then told me the middle one was on fire. Thank goodness it wasn't mine. I came home to this view - apparently the whole back of the building had been on fire for several hours after 8 am this morning. The water is still dripping out of and off the building from the fire trucks. I went out my back door and then down the green bit a few apartments to get a clear shot, but I can still see it easily from my porch. I think if it had started in a lower suite more of the building would be gone instead of damaged. Makes me think though - I am away so much, it would be something to come home from work and not have a home. I wonder if the person next door to where it started will be doing that tonight. I hope no one was hurt (or their pets) and that everyone can find a new place to live.

Bell

From Photo of the day (2009)

I had a meeting with the literacy coordinator today about helping out with the computer workshops they run for local people who want to learn some basic computer skills so I was out and about after my morning shift at work. I had to dash home to make it to the meeting on time without smelling like goats so photos had to wait - I saw this on my way to the meeting, but took it on the way back. I will have to look up where the bell came from originally, but it is quite old and now stands in a brick pillar in front of the public library. This was the side that wasn't covered in graffiti - I find it a bit depressing that people figure that even things like this are open to such actions, not that anything is. The sun was nice and the bricks added a nice touch. I sharpened it in Picasa, nothing else.

One-eared Horse

From Photo of the day (2009)

Ok. So he really does have two ears. This is the same horse with a brand (or scar) that made it in January as photo of the day out grazing in the mole-y field. On such a close inspection it nearly looks like his ears have been docked - they are very short and stubby. Do they do that to horses?
Anyways, this one and another were in a closer field at the Blackberry Lane Bed and Breakfast today and, as I needed a shot for today and was on my way home, I stopped to see what I could get from these two. This one gave me the idea to try for the big nose look and I took some other ones where he looks more like a moose but the composition of this (a bit of a fluke as he moved on me and had his ear back) just really worked. I like the fence being right on the bottom and the clear gap of blue over his head is great.
I increased the highlights just a touch, other than that this is straight out of my camera.

Spring and Spokes

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

The title has more to do with yesterday's photo - well it was my idea for yesterday's photo but I was too busy moving mom goats around with all their new little kids to take it. So I took it today, and took another for today as well. I have been watching these snowdrops grow for the past week or so, waiting for their heads to turn over for a good spring shot. Yesterday looked good, and I spotted this old mushed apple from last fall right in their midst - which lined up a good contrast idea. I played a bit with the highlights and fill light in Picasa and thats it.

The bike - for today - grabbed me after I had gotten the flowers just because it was so green. I figured if I took the right perspective I could make it look interesting and I think I suceeded fairly well. I increased the shadows a bit in Picasa to make the tire and spokes stand out a bit more, otherwise this is straigt from the camera.

Another Faucet

From Photo of the day (2009)

I was planning on some star shots for today and even went out in the cold and wind to take them by Anita's house - unfortunately they didn't come out quite how I wanted. I guess I will have to review some more online star-photography tips. I took this before it got dark in case my star shots didn't come out after I saw myself in the tap while washing my hands. I thought I would get the camera in it, but I guess it captures the reflections in the mirror. I have another one that has my face in it but I liked this one better. You can just make out the top of the camera and my finger on the shutter. I didn't use a flash, instead positioning my tripod strategically around the edge of the sink so I could use a slower shutter speed in the low light. This shot is another one straight out of the camera.

Snowshoes

From Photo of the day (2009)

Went out with some friends from Chilliwack this afternoon to Manning Park. We rented some snowshoes from the resort and headed up the Lightning lakes for a walk-about. Had an absolute blast - from the Whiskey Jacks coming in for food at the parking lot to land on our hands, to learning some Nordic etiquette (don't walk on the ski trails!), to various antics by both dog and snowshoe-ers. Well worth the trip.

I got this shot as we were just finishing - we had all wandered over to look at a frozen over ice fishing hole and were standing about. Trevor had whacked the ice with his stick to see how thick it was (about a foot in the hole, 3ft elsewhere) so that's the marks on the hole ice. I had taken a few before of my own and one other persons snowshoes but I thought of this before anyone moved off. I had to play with the fill light and highlights in Picasa as snow shots are notoriously hard to correctly expose in manual mode.

Ghostly SUV

From Photo of the day (2009)

My idea for DPChallenge's gas station challenge was to get it in the evening with a long shutter to get the trailing lights of the cars. It didn't work out quite like I planned... The gas station across from my appartment just isnt really that busy at 630 in the evening (Agassiz for you). So then I started taking some shots of the intersection near by which had more cars with a little more luck. I played with a large number of shots and finally got my camera to F25 so I could use a 15 second shutter and get all the colours on the traffic light. Somewhere in between that I got this one - with an SUV that pulled up and had to wait before turning left. None of the other cars were there long enough to show up at all (which is kind of neat in its own way) but this one came out a bit ghostly with its trail of tail lights coming in behind. I thought it was quite cool. I'm really starting to like the tripod thing when I remember to bring it. I am going to try for some decent star shots eventually, when I get a clear night and have my tripod with me.

I have only cropped this and increased the shadows a tiny bit in Picasa.

Aged

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

I joined DPChallenge - a photography site where new photo challenges are posted weekly. The rules vary, but anything submitted must be taken during the week of the challenge with a digital camera. Members can then vote on which photo they like the best and winners get to be proud that other photographers picked their shot. This week there is the option of either things to do with gas stations, or using a tilted horizon well in a shot. I've been keeping my eyes open for ideas for either and spotted this on the way home from Paul's on the back side of the abandoned gas station on Hwy 7. I righted the falling over toilets by tipping the camera, so this would qualify for the tilted horizon one. Not sure if I will submit it as I have some ideas for the other challenge that I haven't taken yet. I've cropped this, done a little bit of hightlights and fill light.

The other shot was meant to be today's photo and, seeing as I was too busy to take any pictures yesterday, I figured I would post both. This is several layers of peeling paint on the back wall of the same gas station as the toilets. I have only played a little with the highlights.

Faucet

From Photo of the day (2009)

I was in a rush at work. I've taken too many farm shots. Excuses Excuses. Actually, I found this shot kind of fun to do, and it wasn't until I tried doing some cropping that I realized whoever put in the taps put the cold water one slightly higher than the hot water one. Oh well. I keep seeing the drips on the shiny chrome when I get out of the shower and thought I should play around with this idea, though the angle of this shot didn't occur to me until I started photographing it. I even thought to include the ever-present dripping from the faucet.

You can even see me and the camera flash in the front of the faucet. In the end I didn't crop this at all, just increased the fill light and highlights a bit to make the shower wall come out a bit brighter.

Burm

From Photo of the day (2009)

Took the dog around the other side of my pseudo-island (which I will name Coyote Island for all the tracks I always see over there) - I was amazed how much sand shore there was! I easily could have spent a few hours exploring it. I stuck to about 1 and a half, though, as I had made plans to visit Anita by 10 am. The weather was fabulous and I took a few shots but really liked this one. Not much to say about it really - I was looking for a shot of where the rocks ended, and found it in this burm. This is straight out of the camera.

Drips

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

I had a bit of a crappy morning at work - half the cows were out in the field in the pitch black as they had got a barn door open and the wires weren't up, and then I ended up training nearly 40 moronic goats by myself, which took nearly an hour. I wasn't very up to taking shots at work so I had to dream something up at home. I decided to try some strobe photography.. or rather.. a bit of jerry-rigged strobe photgraphy. I don't have a real strobe. Or a decent dark room. Or three hands. But, I DO have a tripod, I recently bought a remote for my camera, a windowless but cramped bathroom, and an old flash that has a test button to make it flash whenever you want - once. So. These shots took me well over an hour of fiddling to get. I got the camera set up facing the mug, played with the remote to see how it worked, played with where I should use the flash from to get a half decent exposure, but the hardest part was getting some consistent drips. An assistant would have been great. After trying a shopping bag with a small hole in it I moved on to a more reliable coke bottle with some saran wrap over the top with a hole for the drips, and a big slash with the bread knife in one side to let the air in (otherwise I had 2 drips before it stopped). I needed something I could hold in the dark over the mug while switching hands from remote to flash. I found that the delayed shutter response gave me some time to get from remote to flash, and some light from the self timer. I left the shutter open 15 seconds to have enough time to put down remote, pick up flash, listen to make sure the drips were going in the cup and then use the flash, all in the pitch black (and blind after the flash had gone off). I got about 5 shots and these are the two that came out closest to what I was looking for.

Any suggestions for other strobe possibilities? Keep in mind my limited equipment and space!

Morning Shadows

From Photo of the day (2009)

Today was beautiful - Simon came and helped me finish milking the goats and training the new set so we were done a little ahead of usual. I had an idea to get a shot of a very happy donkey by putting Magoo out in the field in the morning sun and getting a shot of him rolling (he usually does this as soon as he is out). I spotted this shot on the way to get him there - I would've stood further away from him so that we were distinct but he was being very uncooperative and unless I held him he would run over to the sheep pen to try steal the hay Simon was feeding them. In the end he didn't want to roll when I did get him all the way out - typical. I guess I can save that for another day.

I only increased the shadows a bit in Picasa to bring the focus back to our shapes on the ground. If I had been paying more attention to all around composition I would have moved his water pail into the shade so it wasn't so glaring white but I was too busy thinking about getting a shot and holding a frustrated donkey.

Battling Shovels

From Photo of the day (2009)

Driving home from Paul's I saw these two shovels parked facing each other on some land where a house has been removed over the last few months. From this angle it looked as though they were competing in some kind of face-off and getting ready to tackle each other. I used a large F-stop (F 22 or so) to make sure they were both relatively in focus and my wide angle lens. A bit of sharpening was done in Picasa, other than that this is out of the camera.

Kids

From Photo of the day (2009)

I have a few reserve photo ideas on the farm for when I am completely stumped or have no time - no doubt they will show up here eventually. But not today! I turned around after unloading hay in the flat roofed shed to see Anita's daughter, Rebecca, standing with her red cap in the door of the barn. She wasn't smiling and the goats were poking at her and I thought - what a neat shot! I had to set this shot up afterwards, asking Rebecca to come and help, and being her photogenic self she changed it a bit (for the better I think) by smiling up from under her cap a bit low around her eyes. The colour of the barn door and her cap and mitts just works - and red is always a good colour. When Anita came by when she had finished washing up (after this shot was taken) she tried to clean her up a bit but I think this just has "kid" written all over it. In more ways than one if you count the goats.

And for once, this shot is straight out of the camera.

Cobwebs

From Photo of the day (2009)

Finally took this shot - I have seen it so many times and not done anything with it. Early morning light would probably have been better, or even the glow from the big lights that come on it the evening. But I am too busy milking at those times to be able to get it. These dusty webs have been in the goat barn likely since before I started working for George - they never seem to change at all.

I had to boost my ISO to 320 to be able to get this handheld. Between normal camera shake, fending off a bunch of curious goats, and poor lighting it wasnt possible any lower. I have played a bit with the fill light and highlights/shadows in Picasa but nothing else.

Pipe

From Photo of the day (2009)

Busy day moving cattle and dehorning calves today. Had a few shots in mind but was in a rush to get off the farm and the light had changed anyways - grabbed this one after I had finished at Paul's. The sliding doors fit in behind these hollow bits of pipe to keep them from blowing around and this one had water in it. The hay around it made it kind of neat too. I have only played the tiniest bit with highlights and a bit of sharpening to bring out the edges of the pipe (really you can hardly tell) in Picasa, otherwise this is straight out of the camera.

Young Goats

From Photo of the day (2009)

From Photo of the day (2009)

Found a fair bit of light in the barn at Paul's - more than in the bunker so I thought I would try some shots in there. There were two white goats fighting and I was hoping to get them head to head but they stopped before I could get my camera. Some other ones came to check me out though - I will have to say the single goat shot is probably a better picture photographically, but I had to include the double goat one as well - if only because it made me laugh. You wouldn't think goats could have such human expressions in there faces.
I had to boost my ISO to 650 to capture the goats before they moved, and I adjusted my white balance to the florescent light setting to make up for a funny hue in auto. A bit of fill light and highlights in Picasa to bring out the goats a bit.

Chicken

From Photo of the day (2009)

Last day off before work - went to church and then to Anita's for lunch. I got there a bit before them so waited in the truck listening to the radio, watching the chickens creep out of their hutch. Had a bit of a time getting it to focus on the chickens and not the wire, this one was close enough I guess. She (he?) looked like it was eyeing me up - whether to get me to come let it out, or warning me to back-off I am not sure. I did a little bit of fill light and highlights/shadows to make up for the poor daylight and sharpened to bring out the bird's eye and the wire, all in Picasa.