Category: Photoblog Intention

Santa Day Fireworks

December 10th, 2011

Midway through this December, Saturday afternoon, my daughter and I were in the Cab of my white 2000 GMC Sierra half-ton working our way through town and our list of errands. Not having read this week’s newspaper, The Echo, and without the town of High Level having a Twitter-feed we chanced upon the Santa Parade moving through mainstreet. Later, at supper, I learned about fireworks being among today’s events – at 6:00 p.m. the High Level Fire Department would begin a fireworks display. With all the night photography I’ve done, I hadn’t yet captured fireworks. I found my blue folder of Night Photography notes from Darlene Hildebrand (Her View Photography http://www.herviewphotography.com/ ), skimmed them, briefly, put my Canon 60 D on top of my Manfrotto tripod, changed lenses to my Canon 15-80mm zoom and set the shutter release for a 2-second countdown. The camera settings for the photographs I took are ISO 100, f-8 with an exposure of 13 seconds. I got to the fireworks site, aimed my camera into the sky toward an anticipated fireworks target area and made rough calculations for focusing to subject; using live view I adjusted composition area against where fireworks were bursting open and fell from; each of the 79 pictures taken are at a range of approximately 200-300 metres from the camera. Above, you’ll find some of the better exposures I snapped.
Refit & Refuel

December 10th, 2011

Shell Service Station – High Level, Alberta

I’m going to study this picture. It does capture a sense of this being an outpost and a place to refit and refuel in night’s darkest hours. The intent, however, was to capture something iconic, a gas station lighting the night … it being more of a beacon for a point of rest before continuing on, more something you’d expect listening to John Mayer sing ‘Route 66’. High Level’s Shell Service Station is open 24/7 year-round and is midpoint between Edmonton, Alberta and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. In terms of the shot taken, it may be that the 50mm prime lens limits what can happen with plane of focus and composition; more movement on my part would be needed to find the right location and composition. Still, I like the crispness of most parts of the photograph. I may try a few shots looking more straight across to the service station one of these nights.
Highway & Town

December 8th, 2011

Highway 35 … Going North

This evening I was working with a prime lens, a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. I’m getting a sense for the distance to subject it accommodates. With my 60D’s sensor having a correction factor of 1.6, the 50mm lens behaves more like an 80mm lens; so, this evening I’ve been putting distance between me and my subjects. In this shot, I’ve created some blur (light trail) with a 10 second exposure and the tail lights of a vehicle moving through the photo from left to right. Working with live view is helping focus manually to different parts of the landscape; this is f-10 for five seconds … I’ve probably focused on the second lamp post to the right.

I also listened to episode 6 of Sid & Mac’s Shutter Time podcast, a discussion with Randy Pond regarding social media and its uses – good discussion of flickr, google +, facebook, tumblr, wordpress and how an upcoming photographer would use them.
Grain Elevator

December 8th, 2011

Viterra Grain Elevator – High Level, Alberta

The Viterra grain elevator in High Level, Alberta is the subject of this shot. Weather attracted me to this shot. The day has been cold starting at -31C and warming to -17C this evening when this photograph was taken. The grain elevator shares railroad tracks with the local lumber mills and a sulphur car loading station. Steam blows from the mill from right to left (east to west) surrounding the grain elevator, blurring. In this shot I’ve used shallow depth of field (f-5.6) with an exposure of five seconds . The point of focus is the structure holding the light on top of the elevator; it is the clearest area of the photograph. Also, I’ve been using ‘live view’ on the Canon 60D as a means to find better, more crisp manual focus with regard to the subject. As I left the site, two deer crossed in front of me … perhaps having accessed grain spillage.
Snow-capped Barrels

December 7th, 2011

Snow-capped barrels

A photowalk through town yields a discovery, a cluster of snow-capped, wooden barrels – several curves juxtaposed against a netted fence.
Painting Light

December 6th, 2011

One of five shots, painting with light out in Fort Vermilion, Alberta. Note that by the front deck/porch the maglite has been turned back toward the camera and captures a streak of light. Also, note the ghosting image of the person at the bottom right corner – that’s me, I’d been there long enough for the exposure to pick me up.

Old Bay House – Fort Vermilion, Alberta
Winter Sunset Silhouette

December 5th, 2011

Silhouette through Playground 1

The silhouette of a school playground structure against the backdrop of a churning red sky.
Winter Sunset

December 5th, 2011

Sunset through Playground Swings

At day’s end, this fiery sky confronted me. I gathered my tripod and camera. Making an image would be about camera placement and framing an appropriate foreground, then working out which aperture settings best served the image. I tried several shots with varying apertures, exposure times and lens lengths. Wide open, the lens limited cloud movement and the sharpness around lights within the scene. At f/22, a sharper image was possible, but lights on the school building blew out at the center and a star effect was produced via the lens shutter leaves.

The scene – a tall tree and playground swings in front of an elementary school. A warmer start to winter has yielded little snow on the ground and a cloud-filled day. The camera faces southwest, and at 3:45 p.m., the sun has fallen beneath the horizon yet is reflected briefly along an interesting billow of clouds producing a fiery red outcome above. High Level is at 58 degrees north. In December, we are familiar with diminishing sunlight. At the winter solstice, we may have the sun for less than five hours in our day. This sight is quirky and unusual at the start of the year’s twelfth month.

Later that night, I would photograph firefighters at a nearby lake – their training for ice rescues would see them plunging into the icy, frigid water and pulling each other out from the ice for their practice.

Quote to Inspire – “To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand (José Ortega y Gasset).”

Listening to – David Gray’s ‘Shine,’ ‘Flame Turns Blue,’ ‘A Clean Pair of Eyes,’ ‘The Other Side,’ ‘My Oh My,’ ‘Babylon,’ and ‘Sail Away.’
In My Back Pocket

December 2nd, 2011

Welcome.

If you’ve found your way to this photo blog, you’re likely someone who loves photography, or who simply appreciates what a well-made image can do. Either way, you’re welcome here.

My first photo-a-day project began in 2011 — one photograph every day for a year, born from a belief that daily practice builds something that intention alone never quite can. That project has since grown into an ongoing commitment: learning by doing, day after day, year after year.

The Practice

What drew me to a photo-a-day project in the first place was its insistence on showing up. It creates a productive pressure — to work through a concept or skill, to post the result, and to reflect honestly on what happened. Day by day, that kind of discipline builds something lasting.

The best analogy I know comes from a friend who talks about fitness. He’s serious about strength training, but he also keeps a 5 km run in his back pocket. Every morning, alongside his regular training, he puts in fifty minutes of long, slow cardio — not because he’s preparing for a specific race, but because he never wants to be caught underprepared when life presents an opportunity or a challenge. His point is simple and worth taking seriously: daily practice maintains the strength, stamina, and readiness that matter when the moment arrives.

Photography in My Back Pocket

That’s the spirit that has carried this work forward since 2011. Practicing steadily, year after year, competencies deepen, understandings become more instinctive, and quality results become more consistent. The way I talk about photography has shifted over time, and so has how naturally I reach for a camera within any given day.

The best images come from photographers who are genuinely prepared — who understand their craft and their intent well enough that when the right moment appears, they are ready. That readiness is what daily practice builds, and what I hope to carry forward.

The invitation here is simple: stop by when you can, look around, and say hello. Share a thought, leave a comment, or ask a question. The dialogue has always been as much a part of this as the photographs themselves.

Thank you for stopping by.

Lumens Borealis