Burnt Lands
Having woken up early on Saturday morning and not able to go back to sleep, I hopped into the car and headed west. I wasn’t entirely sure where my destination was going to be but when I’m in doubt 9/10 lately I’ll take a right at the highway on-ramp. It’s been good to me over the past year or so. This Saturday morning was no exception.
Being the start of Autumn I figured there would be fog somewhere. It was 5C when I left at 5am and it still makes its way to the 20s during the day. Lots of moisture build, especially in marsh areas. There was one road I recalled from a previous trip in August that I decided to drive along. I didn’t exactly recall the vast expanse of dead trees in a bog that is pictured below but I was quite happy to have ‘found’ it.
I’ve had the fortune to find a few foggy mornings in the past couple of months and am figuring out how I like to both shoot and process the photos. My next step is to introduce a figure in the picture (likely me, to start) and see how well I can expose the scene and keep the detail I need in both foreground and further in the distance.
Enjoy!
Foggy Days
On a recent scout for a local home builder I had the opportunity to drive around Chelsea, PQ in the early morning while I waited for the sunrise. Little did I know that the fog would never really lift (for the next 3 hours) – my shoot was not going to happen but I was granted a fog show that many only dream of. I have quite a few shots of various scenarios as I drove around but the ones here stuck out for me because of the highway lights. It was about 5:30am and the diffuse glow was mesmerizing. I was completely entranced. Having no signs of life around certainly helped give a sense of isolation and calm. In looking at the photos I could brighten them up to level out the exposure but my intention is to convey how the morning felt – this is pretty close to it.
Art in the Alley
Hi all! It’s been a while since I last posted. A lot has gone on and I’m (terribly) excited to announce that I’ll be taking part in Alison Fowler‘s Art in the Alley this June. Details are below and suffice it to say I’m humbled to be included alongside the likes of Alison, Andrew King, Ross Rheaume, and Dave Merritt.
JUNE 12 – 14
Alicat Art Studio – 1395B Wellington St.
Friday 7PM – 10PM
Saturday 11AM – 5PM
Sunday 12PM – 4PM
Before:After - Red coat
Here’s a pic I edited a couple months back shortly after my surgery. The meds were in effect and I couldn’t really work so I decided to experiment with some techniques I had seen over the months. All in fun, my goal was to bring a bit more clarity and focus to the image while retaining its mood. It’s a picture of my boy at the Wild Bird Sanctuary. Here’s the before:
This is what was involved:
- Import into Lightroom
- Minor tweaks to white balance, CA, and exposure (+2/3) + lens profile
- Some updates to the highlights and shadows in conjunction with a slight S tone curve (blue and red)
- Export to Photoshop CC
- Frequency separation (very minor) – not required but felt like experimenting.
- Cloning (to remove evidence of cheese and crackers snack earlier)
- Sharpen eyes and hair (high pass)
- Back to Lightroom
- Vignette and exposure adjustment – curves and levels
- Radial curves for focus on the face and vibrant colour of the coat
And here are the results:
That’s about it!
Art in the Wild: Winter Shed
Always loved this shot of a shed in the dead of winter. This was taken early in the morning sometime in January of 2013. If I recall correctly it was about -28 with the wind. Thanks so much to Mika Trottier for sharing.
Out on the town
I recently had the opportunity to go out on a Saturday night with the wife … and without the kids. This was all in thanks to the kindness of our amazing friend Lauren. You can find a few photos over in the portfolio section of my site but I’m particularly fond of this one:
A Foggy December Morning
Woke up this past Saturday to a pretty dense fog hovering over Ottawa. With a bit of snow accumulation on the ground I figured it’d make for some nice isolation shots at the Experimental Farm.
