My Blog

One-Handed Photography

Landscapes, Life, Nature, Photography

I’m still recovering from major surgery this past September. But I’m mobile enough now to get out of the house for some photography, so I decided I would go out to a local area known as the migration pathway for Sandhill Cranes. These are large birds, similar to other species of cranes, with huge wingspans and beautiful graceful flightlines. Many photographers in our area “flock” to the farmers’ fields where these birds stop on their journey, to fuel up on the remnants of corn fields.

Sandhill Cranes on the Wing

I had one particular challenge this year in getting out to photograph them. They are notoriously shy and make it a point to stay as far away from the roadways as possible. My challenge: because of my surgery, I am still walking with a cane, so trekking around the countryside to get the best vantage point for photographing these birds would be no easy task. Here’s how I did it.

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Space: The Final Frontier (Part 2)

astrophotography, Expertise, Photography, Tools

A few days ago, I published a single image that was the result of months of elapsed time (days of actual time) and represents the most effort I have ever put into a single photographic image. The image? The Rosette Nebula, a hydrogen gas cloud in the Milky Way Galaxy, our galaxy. These gas clouds are either stellar nurseries or the remnants of stellar explosions. Either way, they populate the sky with amazingly photogenic objects.

Rosette Nebula

These gas clouds either emit or reflect light. As such, we should be able to photograph them as we would other subjects, right? While all the photographic “rules” apply about exposure, composition, white balance, sharpness and colour saturation, they are multiplied exponentially when dealing with objects that, in this case, are a whopping 5,000 light years from us in distance.

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Not in the Mood

Artistic Ideas, Life, Photography

This is a bit of a hypothetical discussion, as I am at home, recovering from surgery. All is well and I will be back on my feet in no time, but for now, I have to imagine what it would be like to live this topic that I am writing about. What is the topic? How our mood can affect our photography. Duh!

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Self Critiques in Photography

Artistic Ideas, Photography

As we approach the end of summer here in the northern hemisphere, many activities will begin to ramp up after summer vacations. One of those is the resumption of camera club meetings. Many of us find our creative outlet there, along with camaraderie and friendly competition. For the past 7 years, I’ve been a member of a competitive camera club. One of the traditional validations of photographic work is through competition. It’s actually quite natural for us to think that one of the best validations of a photograph comes from having “expert judges” assign a number to it. But I no longer think that. Here’s why.

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One Door Closes…Again!

Career, Learning, Life, My Community, Photography

Back in 2014, I made the decision to retire from full-time work. I was proud at the time that I was able to make a career in jobs I never really loved but that were enough to fund my other interests, such as photography.

In 2021, I decided a little more work was ok, for the first time in a field of interest, and accepted a part-time job at Henry’s, one of Canada’s leading camera and video retailers. This week, that too has come to an end, making room to move forward into new personal challenges.

The job at Henry’s was not just another job. It filled a gap that was years in the making. And it came at a time when the Covid pandemic had stripped away all of my regular face to face human contact. I needed it more than it needed me. So why am I leaving?

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Farm Life

Life, My Community, Photography

I had the pleasure, and it was a pleasure, of visiting a working farm a few days ago. Bragg Farms, in Clarington, Ontario, is home to cornfields, sunflower fields, soy fields, potato fields, many free range chickens and, wait for it, tourists, along with a website and an online store.

I had the chance to spend time talking with one of the owners and it was an eye opening experience. Farm life certainly isn’t what it used to be when I was a kid.

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Passages

Life, Photography

Our lives are full of milestones and passages. Birth being a prime one of course, then everything else that happens along the way. These past few weeks have been full of milestones for me. Another birthday, my first trip outside Canada since Covid, a major move for a family member, major surgery for another family member and the loss of a friend and coworker.

Each was a collection of emotions – I guess that’s really what defines a passage. If there was no emotion, it would be just another day.

I’m left with a desire to share the emotions of those moments, while preserving my own and others privacy. Kind of an odd mix. But I guess we discover things about ourselves as we go through these passages and share them.

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Profit vs. Popularity

Life, My Community, Photography

There was a recent announcement that DPReview (its website, social media and YouTube assets) would be shut down by April 2023 after 25 years of activity. The published outcry has been huge, with opinion firmly expressing the view that this is a big loss for the photographic community.

How is it that something universally popular can be deemed unnecessary? It seems to happen a lot. This piece isn’t a commentary on the merits of any particular service. It’s about the decision-making of corporate owners.

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Technical Skills vs. Artistic Eye

Artistic Ideas, Expertise, Life, Photography

Photography is an interesting hobby/occupation: there is so much to learn to simply take competent photographs. Some (ok, including me) believe that learning the basics is key to eventually being able to express yourself artistically. But some come at it the other way around – using their artistic nature to develop their photographic eye, then learning what is needed to express it digitally, often through trial and error.

I grew up in and worked in very technical arenas – my parents worked in fields where following the rules was paramount and expected, and where training and development were necessary to be able to work in their fields at all. I then spent a career in an engineering company (an electric utility) where “creativity” was not really encouraged and could have devastating consequences.

Then I retired…

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Womanizing Photography

Expertise, Learning, Life, Photography

We live in amazing times. The technological, societal and social changes that have occurred over the past century are mind boggling. I grew up in a small immigrant home, with no air conditioning, no fancy electrical devices (we had a hand-wring washing machine) and no technology of any kind. We got our first colour TV when I was 16.

Today, my life is surrounded by convenience gadgets and entertainment toys of all form and function. I connect more than 20 devices to my home internet network to provide everything from the service to write this post to the automated voice that wakes me in the morning to the electronic keyboard and wonderful online instructor that are teaching me how to play piano. No one born in the mid-20th century could have predicted how far we could come.

Despite those changes, some aspects of our society still could stand with some improvement. Women do not equally participate in all aspects of business, culture and sport. We don’t always get recognition even when we do. Even in my little world of hobbyist photography, the vast majority of people who are accomplished artists and who offer their expertise to others are male. I wanted to bring forward some of those challenges in this post. Maybe some of this applies to you. If so, it would be great to share experiences and advice.

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