Oh Canada!

"Canadian Pride"

Well it's been busy days around here lately, and I've neglected the blog in the midst of the chaos. But here we are approaching the Canadian long weekend, prepping for Canada Day on July 1st and I wanted to post an old favorite out of my files to celebrate.

Can I share a dream with you? One day, it's my hope to travel across the country in one giant back roads road trip. And take my time, finding small details like this one above, to photograph. Hidden gems in the rural and the urban.... without ever taking a short cut on the highways and freeways. I don't know if it will ever happen but our country was built on the dreams of people who had a heart to explore. And I know I'd get the chance to meet photographers from one end of this beautiful land to the other as well. I think that would be extremely exciting.

It'll be something to plan for when the kids are grown, and the hubby has less responsibilities... for I now I keep dreaming.

To my fellow Canadian photogs and beyond... Happy Canada Day weekend and keep your dreams alive!



2012 = More Growth

"Wet Winter Brown"

My first post for 2012. Despite wild winds and sheets of rain, I managed to get my first "ramble" for the new year yesterday on the 1st of January. Mostly I was scouting for a quiet country road on which to ramble along more thoroughly in the spring, with a volunteer 'model' or two, (calling all volunteers looking for a free 8x10 in the greater Hamilton area?) but I managed to stop and get this shot with the rain just moving in on the scene.

I think New Years Resolutions can be too much hype and not enough reality, but there's something to be said for looking back at the last year and finding areas in your craft and your life that need to change and need to grow. Growing is what I need to focus on for 2012. After reviewing my work over the past year I noticed something. I started out the year strong, but somewhere along the way, lost focus and if I can be perfectly honest, became a lazy photographer. Let me explain.

Far too often, my images were based less on work and more on chance. Yes, happy "accidents" are nice but I think in many instances when out with the camera I kept shooting long enough to get just any shot, and not returning or waiting or preparing for "the" shot. I can now see it in my work when I look closely at the images from the past year.

I've also noticed that I'm still waiting for "ideals". The ideal weather, the ideal backdrop, the ideal story, the ideal website to finally show it all on. But sometimes that's just an easy way to not make decisions, and blame your failure to capture greater photographs on your circumstances. Instead there should have been times that I decided to learn to use what I had in a new and interesting way, or move on to something better. But in too much waiting comes remaining still, becoming static, and who needs that for another year?

Not I.

So, I'm looking forward to more growth in 2012. To making decisions that count, to exploring new things, to building a foundation my photography can really expand and then stand on when the time comes. Learning to be a better photographer. Which never stops anyways.

Onward into 2012! And thanks to all those whose support I have had for the last year. Can't do it without you. Have a fabulous week!

And thanks for the ramble.

An Honest Landscape

"Fields Awaken"

I realized looking through my rather sporatic postings, that I had yet to post a photo of one of my favourite genres of photography in a long while.... the landscape. So here's one today that I recently took exploring some back roads in Southern Ontario. It embodies my favorite kind of day. It was early morning, far from the city haze. Most of my fellow photogers that have ever shot with me know how much I love a great lazy sky, jewel toned with a white cloudy depth that evokes all the beauty to be found on such a day. The air crisp, the sun yet to reach it's killer heat of summer. And a ruggedly honest scene, nary a skyscraper to be found. An honest to goodness landscape.

I shot this at 1/200 sec.@ F/8, 55mm focal length, ISO 160, handheld from the side of the road. My trusty kit wide angle zoom, circular polarizer, and early bright light. The only true editing I did was to tweak the RGB channels a tad in PSPx2, and some unmask sharpen.

I personally like the old tracks running through the soil in the foreground... they lead your eye to the grand tree or the tiny shed respectively. And like I said, it represents everything I love about hopping in the car spontaneously, all the windows down, tunes cranked, and wandering the back roads enjoying the simple scenes along the way.

Read an article this week in PopPhoto mag, about another photographer who's landscapes are exceptional... Glenn Oakley whose work can be found at http://www.oakleyphoto.com/. He commented on the way to really "push it (a landscape) further, is to bring people in." He calls them animated landscapes, and for the most part he has someone ready to ride, pose, or wander into the shot.... and I noticed he's right. Makes a difference to what is already a wonderful scene. Having read about this and seen his amazing images, I feel compelled to shoot my next landscapes with an attempt to include people. To give them a little push. (Not that anything I shoot will be as remarkable as Glenn's, and I hope he will not mind that I've included his talent here in my blog. But remarkable photographers will always inspire me to strive harder to take the best images I'm capable of.)

Will I connect with the resulting images just the same, or will there be a refreshing difference? Will you? We'll find out. My personal challenge starts tonight.

Thanks for letting me ramble on folks! Have a good one!