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.

Tall Ships and Opportunities Abound

"Sorlandet in Sunset"

One of our long weekends just past, the family and I wandered down to the waterfront to enjoy the Tall Ships event happening in the Hamilton Harbor. The weather was a perfect summer temp, so the entire Pier and beyond was swarming with people there to enjoy the festival. The tall ships don't dock here every year, so the crowds were thick. As were the number of cameras visible. You knew the local photo communities were about to be flooded with sea faring vessels photographed at dock.

Limited access was the order of the day... many ships roped off for special sailings and tours, others simply docked near food and displays... and throngs of people. It quickly occurred to me that there were only so many places and views and vantage points to be had. And that all weekend hundreds of other photographers would use them all as well. But I didn't let that deter me from getting my own photographs of these carefully restored and historical beauties. And sure, I could have returned with dozens of others in the early morning hours in the dawn, to try to get something different and unpopulated but I was also enjoying some added family time.

I guess I'm posting all this to say that I no longer valiantly try to get "the" shot when I'm out on a ramble... one that no one can compare another to... I think over the last little while I've figured out that I'm always happy documenting what my own eye and camera actually see, or interpret, around me. If I'm experiencing something similar to someone else shooting nearby, so be it. Another photographer I know showed up, saw how limited it all was and decided it wasn't worth it. But why not? Why not enjoy what you see? What speaks to you personally is just that, personal. And if it's personal, you would hope there would also be something unique about it anyway.

So many are obsessed with the "it" shot that no one else can get. But the world isn't exactly getting any bigger. Just the opposite. You are going to ramble and explore and get the same scenes or subjects someone else might have had at some point. Does that mean you pack the Nikon away and pick a new career or hobby? For me that day, it meant noticing the way the sun shot beams through the Norwegian Sorlandet's rigging across from where I happened to pause with my daughter. I took a minute to drink in how pretty it was. It meant if I waited in that exact spot, I could compose for a nearby ship to sail into the frame as well, under a golden sky. Getting the image was a creative and personal experience. And after some slight editing, I can say that this photograph is completely unique to me personally, which is the most rewarding feeling to come away with anyway.

In a world overflowing daily with more and more photographers trying to outdo one another, fabulous images will abound on a more personal level. Don't let anything rob you of that.

Thanks for the prodigal ramble, gang! It's been a while I know. 

Have a good one.

Using Size & Space ~ Mono Monday!

"The Guardian"

Sometimes your circumstances force you to be creative. No easy answers pop into your mind, no quick fixes will do a subject justice. Gosh darn it, you have to apply every skill you've filed away for just such an occasion. This was the situation I faced as I walked the pier by the bay in Hamilton last week.

This Algoma Central Corporation Tanker is part of the largest fleet of vessels serving the Great Lakes and St.Lawrence Waterway. And due to it's enormous size and proximity to other industrial spaces hovering near along the pier I discovered I didn't have enough focal distance or enough room to back up and include a hefty portion of her all tied up to the dock. But I liked the lines and anchor chain sweeping away from her, I liked how massive her front end looked (not a nautical term by any means but hey, I'm a photographer) and I realized that even the weight and size of her could be conveyed if I was careful.

The key to this image working well, is playing her size against the steel mill off in the distant haze. There were no dramatic clouds, there were no people I could coerce into standing in the photo to give perspective and scale...

but I anchored the remaining part of my composition and perspective onto that steel mill and suddenly this image tells a story. Those lines lead your eye down to the outside of the frame where you suddenly realize there's something in the distance and the image comes together. The contrast of size and all the space needed really worked in the photographs favor. To say I

was giddy when I realized I could work this out is an understatement. Okay, so I did a jig in the middle of the pier, but don't tell.

I still wasn't fond of the the color version when I was editing, so I decided to process in Corel's Platinum b&w filter and warmed it slightly with a Nik plug-in called Skylight to remove the starkness from the image. Now shape and space and size are the main characters... and the Algoma Guardian now looks as if she's watching over the harbour.

I've missed focusing on monochromatic photographs. I hope to have some more ready soon. In the meantime, enjoy your day. And take the time to photograph something. Have a good one folks, and thanks for the Ramble!