When You've Got The Blues

"Quiet Dusk"

Dusk. Things quiet down. Bird song is amplified. Music carries from the distant pier. The water barely moves. We walk the trail by the local marina and here and there a couple sits on benches overlooking the restful scenery, letting the calm do the talking. I let it call to my camera on this particular night.

Why haven't I used this wonderful low light more often?

We see in colour, we see in black & white, but I have struggled with seeing in 'blues' I'll confess. There are only subtle, gradual changes from highlight to shadow. From one tone to another to distinguish shape and line. If anything, the blues of dusk cause me to really pay attention to the light, where it plays, where it disappears, what and how it illuminates and not as much on good composition to also carry a story.

When you've got the blues that come with dusk's final light, you are forced to sacrifice blatant contrast for more subtle details, in order to preserve mood and perception. And in processing, you have personal considerations galore. Do I remain true to the colour cast? Do I only accentuate the light skimming over the objects in the foreground? Across the water?

I decide it's not necessary to see every bold detail on the boats, we know they are there and that's enough for the image. I decide I love how the light grew intense near the sun's connection to the horizon and keep that intensity. I keep the composition consistent with the lily pads mimicking the clouds above.

When all is said and done, how lovely and quiet the evening was comes rushing back to me. You'll all see something different, which is just as wonderful. It's what I love about the arts period.

Have a great week, and thanks for this ramble in the dusk.

Surprise Treasures ~ Mono Monday!

"Harbour's Pilot"

This morning seemed iffy at best. There was a steady breeze, but a thick haze in the sky. The temp should have been a lovely 17 degrees Celsius, but it was so muggy you still felt sticky just walking to catch the bus. And there was no guarantee that by the time I'd gotten the kids out of the house, "watered" the dog, and caught my transfer downtown, that the naval ships, tall ship replica, and tugs that I was dying to photograph this morning, would still be in the harbour. There was also no guarantee that I'd come back with any images worth mentioning. Yet persevere I did, and when I arrived at the pier almost an hour later, they were all still docked and I'd have my pick of subjects and points of view.

Let me backtrack here a moment. It was a packed and busy weekend in the Hamilton Harbour over the last two days. The Pride of Baltimore II, a tall ship of historical significance was docked at the pier for the weekend, and further down at the industrial pier was the Canadian frigate the HMCS Montreal... both equally breathtaking for a land lubber like myself. And the crowds were insane. I caught wind that both vessels would be heading out of the harbour this morning, and decided to return today to catch whatever action I could in the camera. I rarely pass up an interesting opportunity to watch something like this, because you never know what kind of photographs you might return home with.

Today's image is a portrait... and I decided to start with it in my posts this week because it was not what I expected to come home with. Oh, I still got plenty of shots of the historical tall ship readying for it's journey to the next port in Montreal, and I got some quick shots of the frigate too, but the subject above is crucial to how the harbour functions and he was just leaning against his tug having a smoke and waiting to be called upon. Below is a shot of the Omni Richelieu, the tug he pilots through the harbour for much of the year.

"The Omni Richelieu"

(Harbour tug docked at the pier in the Hamilton Harbour)

Initially he did NOT look this friendly, but after chatting about his boat and his tasks for the day, he finally agreed to let me take his photo... and didn't he go and smile for me too! Just once. Told me I better use that one because he never smiles for anyone. So here it is. And he was one of my favorite shots of the whole morning.

It's my favorite part of being a photographer... even in locations where you pretty much know what to expect, you can still find hidden treasures. Or hidden smiles.

Thanks for the ramble! Have a great day matey!

Night Lights ~ Wide Angle Wednesday

"Marina Magic"

(4 sec.@ F/8, ISO 100, 18mm fl, tripod, remote shutter, late dusk)

I love evening strolls. It's where I decompress, and become reflective. When the weather's just right, I like to come down to the bay front with the hubby or a friend... sometimes I have to make sure I don't have my camera. I know, can't believe I said that either. But it's true. If I have it with me, I can't always relax and walk, I'm so busy seeing shots that I can't pass up. But then sometimes if I don't have it I can't relax, cause I see all the things I should be getting if I only had the camera. Must it be so complex? 

This was taken on a true photo night, when my photo rambling partner Kelly and I set aside time to ramble and shoot the bay at sunset. And it's the best of both worlds... I relax AND get cool night shots.

The more I photograph at night, the more I'm learning about the capabilities of my camera actually. Anyone who knows me knows I'm more concerned with composition, lines, and design than calculating hyper-focal distance off the top of my noggin. But I also know that in order to effectively portray those elements I also need to understand how best to use my gear.

I've discovered I learn about my camera best at night. I take for granted how to photograph daytime scenes in most cases. In ideal lighting, I can anticipate how little the camera will need to work to get a shot. I know how to meter, adjust, shoot and feel confident I got it. But for the image above, it makes me take my time. I begin to understand how aperture affects the lighting, creating blazing flares or star burst effects. How no matter how low my ISO is dialed down, if my exposure is unnecessarily long, I'll get more noise or less detail, so finding the right shutter speed is a precarious balancing act. And for years I had no idea I needed to turn off the one feature that is supposed to help with camera shake or any movement if the camera is on a tripod... the Vibration Reduction feature on long lenses. Simply because it'll want to fight against what's anchoring it. It's meant to give you better control handholding. And not for anchored exposures.

The image above just seemed quiet and a bit romantic. The type of setting I like to stroll through. I made sure I kept the winking lights warm to complement the deep blue. And the extra sky gives a feeling of vast open space surrounding the marina.

For some excellent night photography tips I'd check this out once you're done reading today's post. I know I'll be getting to know my camera better all this year.. out in the dark. Relaxing AND doing what I love.

Thanks for the ramble folks, and have a good one! 

The Best Light ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"Come Sail Away"

(1/125 sec @ F/5.6, ISO 200, 55mm fl, 55-200mm Nikkor Telephoto Zoom VR)

It's about this particular time of year that I find myself longing to escape. I want to toss aside the bulky winter gear and head somewhere tropical. You too? Every time I look at this scene I feel all warm and toasty, and can almost hear the water lapping the pier. The thing is, for this shot, I hadn't even left home.

I took this last August (ahhhh remember warm August nights?) down at the Bayfront Park. A good friend and I had been enjoying the evening, watching Scottish Country dancing on the promenade and I turned and saw the light. Most arguably the best time of the day to photograph is from when the sun begins to set, till about half an hour after... and this is why. Beautiful color abounds. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a sailboat leaving the harbour for a short jaunt on that calm night, and I started shooting long before she came into the frame so I could fine tune my exposure and have it near ready for when the boat sailed into the shot. The light was changing rapidly, and so I dialed in a faster ISO so my sailboat wouldn't be fuzzy, and kept the shutter speed above 1/100 of a second. I waited till the sailboat hit the sweet spot within the frame, and got the shot.

The other aspect of shooting into the light from the setting sun is that you can get fabulous silhouettes. If you haven't tried this yet, it's a lot of fun. It can be while the sun is sitting above the horizon, or as it's gone down. Meter off the light, not your subject and work quickly since the light will change rapidly once the sun hits the horizon. I had my telephoto in use at the time, and had no time to switch it out, so I kept it on it's widest focal length and composed. In editing I used the color balance tool in the layer adjustment menu to mute the tones that were too blue and dull and she was done. As always, I work in Corel's PaintShop Pro X3 and work from RAW files.

So, a little something to brighten the wintry day for me. I hope it did the same for you. And silhouettes can be taken any time of the year... so I guess I have no excuse, I should get out there this week once the sun comes back out and get something more current. Just walked into that one didn't I? Have a good one folks, and thanks for letting me ramble on!