Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty

What beauty is and why we’re drawn to it.

Images from the Journey Home

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On Monday, January 2, 2012, my daughter and I drove from Edmonton and returned to High Level, concluding our Christmas visit with family. Opportunities for photographs were available throughout the drive; and, as with any travel that combines photography with moving towards a destination the choice to stop and investigate possible shots always presents the trade-off of time lost moving toward your destination. You can move directly there and be assured of an arrival time. Or, you can look around laterally at, toward or within the places you are traveling through and investigate them through the lens of your camera. A friend who paints from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland has recommended taking as many as three days to make this 800 km journey and to stop frequently and as needed to take-in all that the landscape offers. For me, while on the south side of Valleyview, I chose to note the possibilities and to this end I’m grateful for my daughter who was able to write down possible subjects, their location and information about quality and direction of light. On the north side of Valleyview, I began to feel more at ease with stopping and taking my Canon 60D out. The images gathered are of an old homestead near Donnelly, two older trucks on a farm near Nampa and then images captured on the south hill leading into Peace River – the road’s S-curve winding along the hill and a western exposure of the Peace River.

Quotes to Inspire (I’ve been working my way through a few of John O’Donohue’s Greenbelt lectures and have looked round the web for quotes):

  • “Inspiration is always a surprising visitor.” ― John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
  • “I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” ― John O’Donohue
  • “One of the deepest longings of the human soul is to be seen.” ― John O’Donohue
  • “Beauty is the illumination of your soul.” ― John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
  • “The duty of privilege is absolute integrity” ― John O’Donohue

Listening to Lay My Burden Down by Alison Krauss from the movie Get Low; Jerry Douglas adds Dobro to much of the soundtrack (I enjoy this movie – there’s much of ‘life’ in it).

Homestead – Donnelly, Alberta

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Homestead

Here is a black and white photograph of a homestead between Donnelly and Peace River, Alberta – an image receiving attention from bloggers; structure, design and texture attract.

My intention for this photograph initially has been the exterior; but, with photographs of homes and recollection that families inhabit homes the photograph becomes something relating to that business that William Shakespeare points to … ‘all the world [being] a stage [even those floors and rooms of home] … and all the men and women merely players:  they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts ….

Home is where we start our lives and move through our first parts … right?

Listening to Moses from Coldplay’s Live 2003 CD/DVD.

Quote to Inspire: “Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” — Edward Steichen

28 December 2010 – Look Back Photos (Edmonton’s Low Level Bridge and Skyline)

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One year ago today my intention for photography in coming to Edmonton over Christmas was to capture sense of place. In any visit I had previously made to Edmonton through the years, I spent time on Whyte Avenue looking through Art shops for images of Edmonton – drawings, paintings and photographs. These shops would contain images of the High Level bridge, the train station on 103rd  Street, many images of Old Strathcona (Whyte Avenue) and its various happenings, the Hotel MacDonald, the Alberta Legislature and the Edmonton Skyline – all representing a home I’d grown up in, all representing memory and a desire to revisit former times. In late afternoon on December 28, 2010, I parked my vehicle close to the Low Level Bridge and got down onto the ice of the North Saskatchewan River with tripod and Canon 30D and began clicking away using my Sigma 10-20mm lens.

In an hour and a half I had rounded up forty-nine images of my own, new photographic memories of Edmonton – the Low Level Bridge, the Hotel MacDonald, the Edmonton Skyline. I’d also encountered a disciplined martial artist training against trees, the welcoming smile of a female long distance runner and two University students who thought I’d fall through the ice along the river’s edge … go figure.

Listening to – Beggars & Buskers, by Eric Angus Whyte on the Luddite Sons album (thanks to Stocki for this recommendation on his Soul Surmise blog).

Quote to Inspire – “The key to seeing the world’s soul, and in the process wakening one’s own, is to get over the confusion by which we think that fact is real and imagination an illusion. It is the other way around.” ~ Thomas Moore ‘Original Self’

While Waiting – A Still-Life Image

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Still Life – While Waiting

22 December 2011

I’ve been to Edmonton and back quite quickly in the last two days – through a snow storm on the way down and upon slick roads on the way back. I’ve brought my son home from University.

The image I present is one taken, standing in line waiting to pay for items needed in the long, upcoming night drive homeward. It reminds me that the concept of a subject’s duration is the core feature of still-life paintings and photographs.  Perhaps this image taken ‘while-waiting’ adds a new aspect to the concept of still-life. This image is a while-waiting shot – one that gives me something to do while our cashier scans each item of the customers ahead of me in queue. This shot precedes eight hours of driving, a time I would spend with my son listening to music, listening to a few of his ideas and a shared joke or two. And, through those times that he slept I’ve been able to make good headway in digesting a couple of lectures presented by John O’Donohue.

Daylight Winter Images

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20 December 2011 – daylight, winter images around High Level, Alberta; we’re nearly at 60 degrees North.  So, sunrise happens quite late (9:00 a.m.) and sunset happens quite early (3:30 p.m.).  Daylight is diminished and there’s more dusk at this time of year.  The day’s images have been about lines, texture, atmosphere and colour – children sledding in silhouette and a fire burning down to coals.

Christmas Lights – Grande Prairie, Alberta

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It has been a whirlwind  weekend traveling to Grande Prairie and back, all in pursuit of Christmas.

Of the landscape travelled through, weather’s interaction at the Dunvegan Bridge over the Mighty Peace was shifting mist and cloud against a backdrop of conifers laced with snow – beautiful picture taking weather, mountain weather. I stopped for a few shots, then was presented with excellent colours of the Dunvegan bridge in the two kilometre descent before crossing the Peace River – a snowy, wet world from which the yellows and browns of the suspension bridge stand above the metal grey of the river. With my SUV I trekked down and up a couple of times searching for a safe and easy place to park; no safe place suggested itself.  With an abundance of time (one of these times) I will park at the Dunvegan landing and hike back up the North embankment for about a kilometre with camera bag and tripod and get a few good shots  … one day.

At Christmas, Grande Prairie adorns itself well with seasonal lighting as does Grande Prairie Regional College and the Automobile Dealerships – I like the shallow depth of field in working with the Christmas lights on the Dodge truck image and the bokeh that was found.  The final shot is taken of a farm, well lit, within a dark, dark landscape last night – colourful schtuff.

Canon Lock-up Issue – I did have  lock-up issues with my Canon 60D on Saturday night … it probably had to do with using live view and inexact button pushing with gloved fingers;  I was sorting things through yesterday morning and by supper time the camera seemed to have good integrity with the shots I took of the farm house.  If the problem persists I will most likely re-install the firmware as a means to conquer the issue.  If any of you have experienced a similar issue I would appreciate hearing from you.

Against a Reflective Surface – Christmas Lights

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Leaving school, against the blackness of night, I encountered beautiful hoarfrost on an Aspen Willow tree – a reverse silhouette (white against black). I started my pickup truck and used the engine’s warm-up time to explore the silhouetted Willow. Again, the camera is atop the tripod and again I’m using the 60D’s live view to ensure that I find crisp detail in manual focus. I took three shots of the tree – one I include here; the composition needs work but I’m happy to have captured this image. Consideration – my shots are better and more well-composed when I’m warm and taking time to look seriously around the frame to see what’s there and to capture the image; in winter photography I’ll have winter outwear on … something I didn’t have leaving school tonight.

Later, at home, in front of our Christmas tree the recommendation of photographing Christmas lights against a reflective surface came to mind. Our Christmas tree, like most others, stands in front of our window as Christmas beacon to others in our neighbourhood; this evening, I just needed to recognize its beauty and its potential. I put my Canon 50mm prime f-1.4 lens on my Canon 60D and attached the 60D to my tripod; I worked with live view to find focus detail and to establish bokeh (blurring of lights). I turned out lights in our living room and kitchen making all dark except for our Christmas tree and its lights. I began exploring bokeh, using a small depth of field (lens aperture f-1.4) and blurred Christmas lights against the reflective surface of the window. The images I include appeal to me in terms of shape, colour, texture and mood.

Tonight (15 December 2011) – listening to Martyn Joseph’s ‘Have an Angel Walk with Her,’ from his ‘Evolved’ album http://www.martynjoseph.net/ .

Christmas Lights – Balancing Ambient Light

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From school I drove home on streets that are slick, polished ice. They are not quite treacherous, only difficult to begin moving on in a half-ton truck without weight in the box.

So … Christmas lights – I arrived early and had good post-dusk light.  The homeowner did have the Christmas lights on already and clouds feathered against a silver blue sky as background.  I framed the shots taken to include more sky but ended up cropping to balance things out in the images. In terms of setting, I had the white balance set to Tungsten and the blue derived from the sky was more tending to a dark turquoise than royal blue.

The matter of having a reflective surface in the foreground is really the idea that reflection of lights within a foreground surface should artfully double or duplicate the subject photographed doubling the number, size and shape of the Christmas lights. As I thought this through the hood of a vehicle was my first conceptualization of this technique; but, Kyle Thomas www.kylewith.com has demonstrated that the side of a vehicle can be used artfully to bounce or reflect different subjects … the side of a clean, glossy vehicle should serve to reflect among other things … Christmas lights. The snow does reflect light, but it does so more in an atmospheric glow of the dominant colour among the Christmas lights.

I did use a tripod to steady my 60D.  But, using the tripod is forcing me to think through composition because manoeuvrability of the camera on top of a tripod has some limitations; usually I see and understand the composition as I move toward it and find it. The movement of the camera to the best composition on top of a tripod is more mechanistic and I suppose I have not only to think through the lens but through the tripod structure and its movement, as well. I’ve been using the live view display with the pistol grip to position the camera in terms of composition; then I’ve been using manual focus with the plus ( + ) settings within live view to focus accurately upon the subject.

Tonight, I worked with an ISO of 100 and f-stops between 8 and 11. The duration of the exposures is anywhere from 8 seconds to 30 seconds. I did shoot once every minute or so and can track the sky’s darkening through the pictures. I took fifteen shots tonight, three of which I include here. Point of Consideration – in these town shots the mix of Christmas lights and ambient light combines with street lights that light the roadway, the yard and the house. The effect of Christmas lights against ambient light should be more striking if street lights are excluded; I may need to find a farm in the vicinity that has used Christmas lights well and on their own, away from powerful farm lights.

Other thoughts – I am taking public shots of Christmas lights around town; watching someone photograph your home and its lights must be a bit awkward if it’s not happened before.  Maybe I’ll present a photo of the sight to the homeowner as a positive, goodwill gesture.

The shot I like is the one with grey skies; my daughter and wife like the other two.

Christmas Lights – Around Town (attempt #1)

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Christmas lights were the subject of last night’s foray into picture taking around town. A friend’s home had good oblique angles and provided dark architectural landscape that her Christmas lights outlined and accentuated.  And, in most instances Christmas lights highlighted architectural shape against night’s darkness, making homes look like Gingerbread houses. Beyond this, Christmas lights add atmosphere and mood with their reds, greens, blues, purple and clear white colours, all of which have a gradient of reflection upon surrounding snow. So, I began the endeavour of capturing Christmas and the Christmas spirit around town.

Tonight, I’ve just read an article on the Strobist blog, ‘Photographing Christmas Lights,’ http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html  and it contains six recommendations for capturing the outdoor beauty of Christmas. One key concept is that Christmas lights reveal themselves best in fading ambient light following sunset and that the trick is to balance the Christmas lights against the ambient light. Here, framing shots would make intentional use of the sky as background to composition; I would need to shoot across the subject (lights) into the ambient light. And, where I began shooting Christmas lights at 8:30 p.m. I would need to move the photography three hours ahead to 4:30-5:30 p.m. to find the sweet spot of the ambient light fading into background glow. In terms of camera settings, where I had my white balance set to custom at K 10000, the Strobist article recommends using the tungsten setting to bring out a royal blue in the sky. I did use my tripod and took shots from low level, eye level and from the deck of my pick-up truck box as a means to find best angle of view.  Strobist recommends a low level shot so as to use much more of the sky as background in the composition. In terms of foreground in most shots I did utilize the light, reflective surface of the snow to create foreground interest; here, there may be better ways to explore foreground use.  In the shots I took last night snow tends to add the feel of a large blanket insulating the earth below it.

So, I’ll be out and about in the next few nights, right after work.

Winter Sunset

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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.’