Horse

Went out after lunch today instead of in the morning as I had some things to do in town. Made for a change in lighting though I still was taking shots in my own back field. The neighbour's horse was happy to see me - I'm not sure his name - and came over to the fence. I figured I would try to make him into a more interesting subject, and as I was armed with only my 70-300 lens had to stand fairly far back. It works well for some close up detail stuff though, and right at the end I shot a couple close ups of his notes. I liked how his plethora of white bristly whiskers contrasted with the brown of his body behind him. The trick was getting the exposure and depth of field right in the ever-changing lighting (darn clouds) while still catching the horse in a position that worked. I think he was a bit annoyed that I wasn't up close feeding him some alfalfa from my field. Finally got this one towards the end. I used Picasa's highlights and sharpen tools to bring out that extra pop from those whiskers.

And one more shot of him - the first one I took actually, before checking my settings. Came out one of the best exposed shots - go figure. I liked how the barbed wire fence was in focus and how none of him was too dark for details or blown out. Must have been that perfect light before the harsher sun came out.
Cropped but otherwise straight from the camera.

Safe

This guy managed to escape Meg after a very intense chase involving him hanging onto the top of an eight foot tall twiggy tree while the dog caused it to sway wildly in her attempts to catch him. He jumped and missed the larger trees at least once from that perch, narrowly avoiding getting munched on the ground. I think once he got here he needed to catch his breath. Not long after this poor Meg discovered the neighbours' electric sheep fence hiding in the trees and went home at top speed howling a good chunk of the way. Payback from Mr. Squirrel, perhaps?
Not the best photo of a squirrel, but the leaves made kind of a neat frame and it was the best image I took today. I cropped this in Picasa, nothing else.

Dragonflies

From Friday. I was going to post these in the afternoon but after some appointments and a significant grocery pricing and reward points fiasco sort out were completed, I was tired and didn't get around to it.

 A Blue Darner (named for how the shape of their body resembles a darning needle) - he was patrolling a patch of soapberry bushes and trees and obliged by sitting still for enough time to get some good shots of him. The typical large dragonfly, and so when he parked himself not far from me it was easy to get a good shot with the 70-300 lens. I really liked how sharp his features came out - the details in his wings, hairs on his legs, and the patterning on his eyes. Straight from the camera.

Another kind of dragonfly - not sure what this one is called. He was very small for a dragon fly, maybe an inch or two long, as you can see from the comparison to the dandelion leaf he's resting on. This one was more of a challenge as he was hard to see when he landed and was less inclined to hold still. Couple that with his small size and it was tricky for sure. His eyes are not as focused as I would have liked, but the photo still has its merits. I like the shadow of his wing veins and on the leaf and the lighting is interesting. I cropped this one in Picasa to bring the focus back the the dragonfly and make him a more significant part of the image.

Signs of Fall

Delayed by processing of bulk produce (apples, peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, etc) available at this time of year, here are some photos from the last couple of weeks. All photos were shot with the 70-300mm lens and are posted as they came from the camera.

 A moulted goose contour feather in the harvested oat field behind the house. I liked how morning sun cast shadows across the feather and the texture of the downy part could be clearly seen. There aren't as many geese now, not sure if they've started heading south for the winter or are just spending their mornings elsewhere.

 And they are starting to fall... Some of the leaves are changing colours now, but this one might have been lost due to the dryness of the summer rather than the changing seasons. This was taken on a cloudy and smoky sort of morning so the colours are muted. I liked the texture of the veins in the leaf, not sure if they are particularly visible on the smaller sized image. An overall melancholy sort of photo.

Taken yesterday in the morning sun (which is coming notably later and later these days). My patch of wild fireweed has gone to seed - looking for all the world like a cotton candy farm. The backlighting really highlighted the seeds of the one stalk particularly. Viewed up close the details of the seeds are very clear, contrasted with the lack of focus and lighting on the background stalks. I'm quite happy with this one.

Wide Angle

 Took the wide angle lens out yesterday instead of the long one. I was hoping to try and fluke my way into getting a shot of a flying grasshopper, but it did not work. At all. The scenery out the back field was nice though and there were a few unharvested oat stalks to give a foreground... then Meg so kindly obliged with her stance. I liked how I could get the clouds and the land to expose properly. Straight from the camera with the 18-70mm lens.

This one I thought of on Monday but only had my long lens with me. There is some shoulder-high grass by the beaver pond in the field behind the house. To get this one I had to lie down on my back and shoot up. I think I rotated this to make it look like the grass was in front of me, but nothing else. Again shot with the 18-70mm lens.

On a walk

 I guess the other critters are benefiting from the plethora of grasshoppers up here - I spied this guy carrying around a hind leg of a hopper on my Friday afternoon dog walk. I liked the texture and contrast of the leg, and just the uniqueness of the situation. I cropped this in Picasa to get rid of some of the foreground blur from the narrow depth of field and bring the focus back to the ant and his cargo. Other than that, it is straight from the camera with the 70-300mm lens.

I took this one yesterday - I had originally spied what I think was a goshawk chasing a pair of ravens around and was hoping to get a couple shots of the hawk, but my camera auto-focus failed to find my targets before I could get any shots and the hawk took off. The ravens came back to check me and Meg out so I took a bunch of them cruising around. I thought I had overexposed all of them, and they were all too light originally, but I could see enough details in this one that I figured some simple post shooting corrections could fix it up. I jumped up the shadows in Picasa to make him come out more raven-black, and really like how the lighting on his body and tail covert feathers came out along with his curious expression aimed at the camera. Who knows, maybe I'll use this one to do some drawing eventually. I also cropped this one a bit in Picasa.

And lastly, again from yesterday, a still life of an opened fireweed seed pod. I liked the textures and the symmetry of the seeds here, and their contrast with the background. I made some minor increases to the shadows in Picasa to bring out that contrast, but otherwise straight from the camera.

Cheslatta Lake

Taken in May 2016 with the D200 and stitched with ArcSoft panorama maker pro just recently. The small size doesn't really do it justice, I have it as a new desktop photo on my widescreen monitor and even there is not quite good enough. I was really impressed how it came out - I guess cloudy weather actually works really quite well for even lighting. Anyways - this was shot from the monument pictured below looking down the hill side. Cheslatta lake became the new route for water flowing from the Nechako reservoir that was created by Alcan's Kenny Dam in the 1950's. They decided against putting a spillway in the rock-fill dam itself, and so instead the water flows out through the Skins Spillway on Ootsa lake into Skins lake, then Cheslatta lake, Murray lake, and out over Cheslatta falls into the old Grand Canyon of the Nechako to supply water to the Nechako river that flows through Vanderhoof. There is a portion of the old canyon upstream from Cheslatta falls that is now dry. All this water supplies the energy required to produce power at RioTinto Alcan's smelter in Kitimat and for much of BC. In the process of creating this elaborate system, the government and Alcan at the time were required to move people out of the to-be-flooded areas - including farmers and First Nations people. The monument pictured below is intended to commemorate the previous home of some of the Cheslatta people and where their dead remain buried. An interesting lake to visit for sure, though the large spans of dead zones along the shore line from changing water levels (associated with being part of the reservoir) made it feel a bit odd.

 The monument to the Cheslatta people, and another shot of it with a view of the boat on the shore below.

A broken headstone with dates and (what I assume is) a different script for writing First Nations mostly oral language.

Front yard photos

On my morning walk with Meg the dog yesterday and spied a bumblebee visiting some of the fireweed along the driveway. When I looked closer I found all his buddies - which resulted in spending a good chunk of time spent trying to get one in focus and in flight, none of which I was entirely happy with. I think I'd have to get out there in brighter light and use a faster shutter. This one came out nicely though, despite the lack of flying insects. I cropped this a bit in Picasa, nothing else, shot with the 70-300mm.

And one from over Spring break in March....

An adult female sharpshinned hawk that was very successful at hunting my (very dumb and slow) roller pigeons that I had let out for the first couple times this year. This was taken with the D200, she hung around and wasn't too scared of me so I got some very nice shots. My limitations on shutter speed because of the grainy ISO with that camera kept me from getting very much for action shots, but not for lack of trying. I think I stalked around after that bird for at least 2 hours, occasionally chasing her off yet another pigeon and returning it to the safety of the loft. She hung around for several days so I couldn't let the pigeons out again until a mink or weasel got into the the coop and killed them all. Nothing much to draw the hawks in around here anymore.

Too long..

Its been a very long time since I've posted here, 3 years - or maybe 4. Anyways - was terribly busy with work and a series of falconry hawks, not to mention getting married. No more hawks - and not returning to teaching this year as we are expecting a child - and wanting to get back into taking photos, so trying to get out more again. I bought a new-to-me Nikon D300s camera body at Kerrisdale Cameras a few weeks ago while down visiting family and am trying to get inspired. I am hoping that putting them up here will keep me at least taking and processing the photos. I might post a few of my more intriguing shots from the interim years as I get caught up. Two shots I got this morning...

We have had another bad grasshopper year (well I guess its good for the grasshoppers), the second in three, and they tend to scatter like a fountain away from your feet as you walk. They also hang out on the stalks early in the morning - I think they are trying to warm up in the rising sun. I liked the sharpness of the details on this hopper somewhat framed by the head of grass in the background. Straight from the camera with the 70-300mm.

This one was unexpectedly chosen - I was trying for the details on the stamens around the outside without blowing out the yellow of the petals. I tried all different angles to add some interest - flowers are not normally my forte - and tried different lenses and small apertures to get more of it in focus. In the end it was one of the first ones I had taken, with a larger aperture, that made the cut. On the full size version the texture of the green sepals below the petals stands out along with the one row of stamen closest to the camera and some of the shadows on the petals are still visible. I liked the pop of yellow against the kind of drab colours of the house in the background. Again, straight from the camera with the 70-300mm.

Insect Macros

From Photo of the day 2012

Found this guy on Wednesday night hiding in a wild rose flower. I got a few shallow photos that I wasn't happy with before he got spooked and hid behind the flower out of reach of my lens. I went back on Thursday and got these ones - some of the only flash photography I've done that I've been happy with. I used my macro mix and the in-camera flash as a fill flash as it was cloudy. The spider is quite small, perhaps a centimeter front to back, but this lens has done some cool things. I've never got light in a spider's eyes before... viewed full size its a bit creepy actually. I tweaked the shadows and highlights a bit to make him pop a bit more and to eliminate some hazy background plants on the right. Quite pleased here!

From Photo of the day 2012

Same spider, but it tells a bit more of a story. He didn't ever pounce on any of the several beetles in the flower, I think he was posing like this to try and intimidate me, but it certainly looks like he might in this photo. View the larger size ones by clicking the photo, you might be able to make out his eyes a bit better. Apparently crab spiders have a different eye orientation from jumping spiders (six clustered forward and two on the side) this guy has six in a row and two facing backwards over the top of his head - weird!

From Photo of the day 2012

I took this mostly to help me draw it at a later date but thought it would fit in here as well. Taken at the start of April when cleaning up my house. One of many ants in my house, this one dead.

From Photo of the day 2012

Inspired by the above ant photo, I took this one on the same day for similar reasons. A dead fly that had been in my truck for a while. For lighting sake I put it in the same place as the ant. I used a bit of fill flash from an external, hotshoe mounted flash. The hairs are kind of creepy when viewed full size - no wonder so many movies make horrifying monsters/aliens look similar to very large insects...

Odds and Ends

From Photo of the day 2012

A collection of random photos from the few I have taken over the past six months. I always say I will take lots of photos with my students when we start up Photography class in January and it never seems to last very long. Perhaps because I am surrounded by some great photos from them, perhaps because processing them takes time and I already spend lots of time in front of screen at work. Anyways. This first one I took in February when we got some cold weather and I got ice feathers on the inside of my single pane windows. Hard to find the right light to get these well, but made use of my macro stuff and this one came out pretty good. A little unseasonable, but not bad. Sharpened a bit in Picasa, nothing else.

From Photo of the day 2012

This one was found by one of my students at school, we had it as a mystery and I thought it cool enough to try grab a decent shot. Its made out of snow - we found out later it was from the bottom of one of my student's shoes. For those that are intensely curious, I think the letter that "Many good things begin with" was A. I straightened this and cropped in Picasa.

From Photo of the day 2012

Taken a week or so ago - much more seasonable. A snazzy red columbine out in the cow pasture. I was using my wide-angle zoom lens, and was pretty well lying on the ground to isolate it out against the sky. I used aperture of f 8 to make sure it was all in focus and sharp. I liked how the dandelion seeds had gotten stuck on various parts of the flower. Cropped in Picasa, nothing else.

Panoramas

From Photo of the day 2012

Finally purchased the ArcSoft Panorama Maker Pro software that I liked so much - thanks parents! I spent Saturday stitching these two lovlies from September when I got to walk the dog during beautiful sunrises. This first was taken in the field across the street, the second was taken along my usual walk looking back towards my house. Oh I am looking forward to similars in a couple months! (Click the photos to see larger images on my Picasa site...)

From Photo of the day 2012

Chickadees

From Photo of the day 2012

So I stayed home sick from work on Thursday - after feeding the pigeons and hauling wood I spied some nice light and pack of chickadees outside my front door and figured I need to take more opportunities. I snapped a bunch - most didn't come out because of distractions or the fact that chickadees just move very fast and don't come back to the same branch very quickly. I kept a few more than this, but these are the best quality, despite the light not being spectacular at that moment. This first one is cropped and I played with the highlights a bit. Used my 70-300 mm lens for all three.

From Photo of the day 2012

Again cropped, but otherwise straight. Cute little guys

From Photo of the day 2012

And this one - while having a huge distracting branch in the way - makes it in because of his expression, the nice light, the fact that its straight from the camera, and... on the full size version - you can see the shadow of the shop and me in his eye. A wild chickadee's eye! Crazy! Stupid branch. Oh well - you can't have everything go your way.

Winter macros

From Photo of the day 2012

Long time, no photo-ing. I have been taking some of school events but it has been rather dark when I've been home for the last couple months. Got inspired by some good shots from this lady in Russia and from some in various magazines to get going again. New Year's resolution? I don't know. Anyway, there is more light now, and I am teaching photography again at school this coming week. This one I found on the way back from my morning walk with the dog. It was warm and melty, and has since refrozen. These little bits of stubble were sticking up through the ice with frost on them and the light worked. I think this is with my macro combo, and just tweaked the highlights to make the snow properly white.

From Photo of the day 2012

Also taken on the return trip this morning with the macro combo. Not sure why this bit of dead plant caught my eye, but I managed to get an angle I found interesting - and the right aperture to get most of it in focus. It has a symmetry of sorts, I suppose. Only increased the highlights a bit here.

From Photo of the day 2012

And this is one I took in the beginning of last November and never got around to posting - some hoar frost on the barbed wire fence in the back field. I was struggling with the available light, so unfortunately the depth of field is a little shallower than I would have liked. I sharpened this one a touch, but that's it. I figured it was a neat enough shot to include as an extra here.

Sunrises and dust prints

From Photo of the day 2012

At the start of the school year I was taking photos during the morning dog walk - back when I was getting up with the sun instead of before the sun. I got a series of cool sunrise shots over the course of a few days. I'm still waffling over purchasing some panorama software, so some of the cooler ones will have to wait.

From Photo of the day 2012

Also got this one of tracks in the clay dust road to the back of the property (before that became mud with the fall rains). A couple of small bird hops and what I assume is a mouse with the tail dragging a line between the little foot prints.

Doorway critters

From Photo of the day 2012

So I stayed out later than I should with friends, and then on coming home found my entryway invaded by large moths. I'd seen them the night before and took some useless photos of them, but had another go yesterday evening. They are about two inches long, and most of them were dark brown with pink secondary wings (they keep these covered when settled), but then I spied a couple of white ones and thought of the old pepper-moth example for natural selection. Anyways, it was dim so I had to haul out the tripod. Good thing they weren't moving at all - this shot needed an 8 second exposure so I could use a smaller aperture (increase the depth of field) and keep my ISO lower (minimize grain). Beyond about 500 ISO this camera seems to need some decent light or things end up horribly noisy. I tweaked the colour temperature a bit towards blues in Picasa and used my macro combo and tripod with the incandescent white balance setting.

From Photo of the day 2012

These sapsuckers had a nest somewhere near my house. This adult was around all summer and then started bringing its babies by in July. The willow tree he is on is just outside my front door and I was on my way out when I spied one of the babies and figured I should grab some shots. This guy grabed a bug and took it to a hole (I don't think it was the nest) and proceeded to eat it there. I managed to get one shot with it in his beak and the rest came out pretty good. Cropped, increased shadows and sharpened in Picasa. I used my 70-300mm long lens to shoot it.

Dew

From Photo of the day 2012

So I went out Sunday morning in the fog/dew and got a bunch of shots. This one is by far my favourite, though it takes a larger image to truly appreciate its sharpness. I could likely blow this up to at least 11X17 with no issues. Anyways, the butterfly must have been a bit cold and damp as he wasn't going anywhere and I got to take a number of shots. This was with my macro combo, only a touch of shadows and cropping in Picasa.

From Photo of the day 2012

The dew on part of a spider's web strung between the electric fence wires. I liked how you could see the world upside down in the bigger drop. It was an interesting challenge as it was blowing in the breeze and kept moving out of the focal plane. I used some continuous bursts to get the shot and kept the few that were in focus. I tweaked shadows and sharpening in Picasa here.

From Photo of the day 2012

Some of the last fireweed of the season - the light was a bit too warm from the morning so I changed my white balance to "incandescent" to compensate - a good choice because such light is too yellow and now the camera compensated for the yellowish morning light. I think I did a touch of shadows and minor sharpening here.

From Photo of the day 2012

And lastly, a leaf on the trail I walk with the dog in the morning. I loved how it was coated in little drops and then the big one magnified everything underneath it. Same deal as the others I think, a bit of shadows and sharpening.

Fair and Frost

From Photo of the day 2012

I took some photos at the fall fair last weekend - mostly of the draft horse events because I always find such big horses fascinating. At the end of the teams with carts they had the team of four horses - this was the set of grey Percherons - turns out I've been driving past (and admiring) the leading two mares on my way to work for the last year. At this point I think they were trotting. I sat on the ground and angled my wide angle lens up through the bottom bars of the gate to make them look as big as they seemed in real life. I might have increased shadows a bit in picasa but otherwise straight from the camera.

From Photo of the day 2012

This one I shot on my early morning dog walk yesterday - I guess its officially fall. We had our first frost out on the field. I took my macro combo and spent some time getting the right angle, focus, and aperture was the hardest. It wasn't very bright out yet - long morning shadows, so not a lot of available light. I had a fairly wide aperture so the depth of field isn't what I would have liked. If I'd been thinking I would have poked the ISO up to 400 and then shot with a smaller aperture. Oh well - still thinking like a film photographer with no shot to shot ISO (ASA) control. Still it's different and I quite like how it came out.

Lightening

From Photo of the day 2012

So I finally fetched my tripod from school and had a go at the lightning that has been happening over the past few days. I missed out on the most intense storm I have seen on Saturday night because I had no tripod. I managed not too badly last night with a more spread out storm. This first shot was taken on my way home along the side of the highway - you can just make out the blur of car lights and the red glow was from the streetlights at the intersection. I shot these with either a 15 or 30 second shutter, hoping some lightning would happen in that spot during that time. Most of these are quite heavily cropped, though the first was shot with my wide angle lens with less cropping (the rest were with my 50mm lens at f 2.8). Hard to see in these sizes but there is a fair bit of ISO grain, one of the few times I got the D300 instead of the 200... ah well. Cool all the same - new type of photos for me!

From Photo of the day 2012

From Photo of the day 2012

From Photo of the day 2012