Banff

The pale green leaves of the Aspen trees in spring are a sharp contrast to the evergreen forest beyond.  Photographed at the Muleshoe picnic area along the Bow Valley Trail.

Banff

I haven't seen a bear in the National Parks for years.  On this trip there were several; including this Grizzly who walked across the road, over a barrier and into a small pond before stopping to have his picture taken.  Some beast!

Banff

This photo was taken on a recent trip to Banff.  I had my eye on this stand of trees in the old Cadet Camp for a day or two before I got around to stopping for some photos.

Recent Projects

I have photographed this family 3 times in the last couple of years; it gets easier every time.  This is the 'back of the CD case' photo, taken on the grounds of the University of Alberta.

Road Trip

This Canada Goose was photographed at Vermilion Lakes near the town of Banff.  I had only a 17-85mm lens on my Canon Rebel dSLR so I had to make my way close to the goose very slowly.

Road Trip

These rushes were photographed in the May of 2007.  Oloneo Photo Engine black and white conversion

Road Trip

This photo was taken in May of 2007; alpine moss and soon to be flowers growing amongst the spruce needles.

Road Trip

Like yesterday's post this photo was taken in the Kootney Plains in the autumn of 2006.  Once againm handheld with the Canon Rebel dSLR.  My buddy Wade was along and I'm pretty sure I took this with a telephoto or zoom lens that he loaned me.  The soft, wispy clouds really make this shot I think.

Road Trip

We're off on a road trip to Banff in a few days; I have a few photo assignments to take care of and there will be a bit of play time too.  So in preparation I thought I'd go back to the vault and see what 'mountain photos are hanging about that have never seen the light of day.  Here's the first; somewhere in the Kootney Plains; photo taken in the Autumn of 2006.  Handheld Canon Rebel (my first dSLR); JPEG capture edited in Oloneo Photo Engine.

Recent Projects

You can't have a wedding without champagne; here are a the flutes waiting to be filled.

Canon 5DII with lensbaby composer.

Recent Projects

The groom - that's him on the right - asked me if I would stop by the Fairmont before the wedding ceremony to take some photos of him, his best man, his family and his car, referred to by me as 'black magic'. This was destined to be a black and white image from the start. I used Oloneo Photo Engine to make the b&w conversion and to adjust the image tone; I wanted it to be a very wet looking inky black image. When printed on high gloss paper with crystalline finish it looks pretty great.

Recent Projects

Our neighbours were married recently and they asked me to be the photographer.  I don't aspire to spending all my summer Saturdays photographing weddings, but they are kind of fun - but stressful too.

Weddings are personal affairs so I won't load up the blog with dozens of photos from the big day - you get to see 3; here's the first.

'A Walk in the Woods - 3 Ways'

Number 3 in the 'A Walk in the Woods - 3 Ways' series of photos taken with the iPhone Hipstamatic.

A Walk in the Woods - 3 Ways

Number 2 in the 'A Walk in the Woods - 3 Ways' series of photos taken with the iPhone Hipstamatic.

VUE Weekly

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of VUE Weekly; available free from various places around Edmonton.  A few weeks ago I was interviewed for a story on outdoor photography.  The story is part of 'Get Up And Go' outdoor activities series.  Thos edition is available May 17-23; the story is on pages 28/29 and 40.

Sometimes You Know and Sometimes....

I usually know who has digital copies of my photos but sometimes I am surprised to see them pop up unexpectedly.  As long as it's not for commercial gain I don't mind and if I get a photo credit so much the better.  Today I was told about this site:

http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/View.aspx?id=366709&q=463619189&qz=928d05

...featuring a photo I took last summer of Queen Elizabeth Pool.

A Walk in the Woods - 3 Ways

If you've been following or checking in with my blog for any length of time you'll know that I really like the iPhone Hipstamatic app.  Today and for the next 2 days I'll present 3 photos of the same scene, each using a different Hipstamatic app.  You can decide which one you like best.

Spring Sky

Years ago I read this story about a guy who, when the weather was fine, would pull into his driveway after work and just go and lie down on his front lawn for a few minutes gazing up into the sky before heading into his house.  If I did that somebody would probably call for an ambulance, but I do it sometimes when I'm out walking the dogs, Parker and Banjo.  There's a spot on our 'loop' perfect for this; it's at about the 3/4 point and the dogs like to roll in the shaded grass and get their bellies rubbed for a few minutes before heading for home.  This photo is a tribute to every man who who lies down on his lawn and to the arrival of spring!

iPhone capture with Photoshop levels, curves and colour adjustment.

Anderson Burko House Concert

Here's the last of the Anderson Burko house concert series.

Canon 5DII with Lensbaby Composer.  RAW file conversion made with Adobe Lightroom 3.0; Black and White consersion made with Oloneo Photo Engine.  Final edit and crop made in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Thanks to Roy and Derrell for letting me muck around during their performance and to our friends Craig and Nese for hosting this in-house concert.  To see Anderson Burko in concert check them out on Youtube.

Anderson Burko House Concert

Here's another 'between sets' shot taken with the Lensbaby Composer.

Anderson Burko House Concert

Here's a capture showing Roy doing his thing.  Sometimes, as acclaimed portrait photographer Richard Avedon once said, you just have to say no to perfect light and accept what happens.

Anderson Burko House Concert

This time the guitar is in focus but even at ISO 6400 with a shutter speed of 1/25 the hand motion is still there and the photo is that much the better for it I think.

Canon 5DII with Canon 70-200 F2.8 lens.

Anderson Burko House Concert

The Only part of this photo that is in focus is the mike stand - but if there was great depth of field, perfect colour and no hand motion blur would anybody stop for a second look?

Anderson Burko House Concert

Before we headed off to the gig we had a discussion about how much impressionist painting and music played by people like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and John Prine have in common.  None of these guys has the voice of an angel but what comes out is pure magic - truly soulful stuff.

I was thinking about that when I took and later edited these images.  Most were shot at ISO 6400 so there filled with digital noise.  The lighting may not be perfect and there may be some focus or motion showing but that's the whole point.

Anderson Burko House Concert

Between sets me and the camera, fitted with the lensbaby composer had some time to cruise around.

Anderson Burko House Concert

A while back our mates Derrell Burko and Roy Anderson rolled into town for a private in-home concert.  There were about 30 people in attendance and the lads brought the house down.

Recent Projects

Here is an overview of the lab where the posts from the last few days were taken.  Composite of two images taken with the Canon 17mm TSE lens.

The Stuff You Find When You're Not Looking

Here's the last of the detail shots I took in this laboratory.

Canon 5DII with Lensbaby Composer selective focus lens.

The Stuff You Find When You're Not Looking

Here's another example of some things I could not just walk by with camera in hand.

The Stuff You Find When You're Not Looking

Sometimes whilst on Photo Assignments I have time to photograph things that are lying about; in this case I was in a laboratory and after I took the images I was sent for I took a few extras...here's an example.



A Case for Worms

Long ago worms slithered in between the wood and the bark of this tree which has now fallen.  Looks a little like some ancient language written on a cave wall.  Or Something.

A Face in the Forest

Can you see the face in this gnarly tree bark?

Recent Portraits

This is my personal favourite from the portrait session with Pam.  I think this is a perfect all purpose portrait suitable for corporate/professional use, a resume, your grandma's coffee table or your Facebook page.  Looks great in both colour and black and white.

All photos in this series taken with the Canon 5DII and Canon 24-105 lens.  F/8 at 1/125 sec, ISO 100.  Single off camera Elinchrom BX500 R1 with umbrella modifier camera right and white reflector camera left.  Canon 580EX flash with 450mm beauty dish provides separation between Pam and the grey backdrop.  Remote strobes triggered by Pocket Wizard wireless transmitter.  RAW Files edited in Adobe Lightroom 3.0.  Black and white conversion made with Nik Silver Efex Pro.  Final polishing of the image made in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Props to the lovely Pam for trusting me with her portrait needs and for her patience and also to my sensational wife Terri whose talents extend to wardrobe, hair and make-up management.