Moeraki Art

I am not quite sure how I feel about this photo I took just a few hours earlier today.  The reason?  It is HDR Art – a special photographic technique designed to do, well, this picture for example. 

This morning while talking to my good friend Darcy who is a professional photographer, we were reminiscing about the days of developing our own film and prints (I had a darkroom when I was in grade 8.  I loved the smell of the chemicals…).  We talked about how technology has empowered us to do things we could not easily replicate in a darkroom – or even do at all for that matter.  In the case of this photo, I am able to record light in a way that can’t be captured on film or even digital sensors without multiple exposures.  And then comes the tricky part.  I have to interpret how I want this “Art” to feel.  As someone who is clearly hard-wired for the scientific and precise, artistic interpretation can be a frustrating experience – and presumably a good workout for the other side of my brain :-)

Below is one of MANY pictures I took at Moeraki beach today.  It is an amazing place and there is nowhere in the world like it.  If anything justifies multiple postings, the Bolders at Moeraki are it.  As such, over the next month or so, I will try to make 4-5 posts about the pictures I took there. For now, here is a single photo.

About this photo: I deliberately took it softly into the surreal side of the art form without getting too heavy handed (which destroys a picture IMHO).  Moeraki beach itself is surreal with all these strange alien-like rocks and you can imagine that you are on a different planet when wandering among them. So this photo is my surreal interpretation of a surreal place.

(click on the photo to go larger – it’s worth it)

Random Rocks by a Road in New Zealand

I was out driving today just looking at the scenery.  I saw many of beautiful places and checked out a few popular tourist spots.  This formation of rocks however, is just a random scene on the road to somewhere else.  It’s in the middle of wherever but when I drove by and saw them in my head after I passed them, I stopped and reversed the car to go take this shot.  If you have the ability to see it large then do so (click on the photo).  The features in the rocks are pretty cool.

Auckland Sky Tower

Most cities have some sort of tower as part of their architectural repertoire.  In Calgary, we have pretty much buried ours in the midst of taller buildings.  It didn’t start out that way of course.  Below are two photos of the Auckland Sky Tower and it’s hard to get a decent picture because it too is somewhat obscured by tall buildings until you get far away from it.  One angle that works really well is actually the view just outside of my employer’s office.  I took this picture quite early in the morning before the sun was up (I am facing directly East).  This predawn light works nicely because the Tower is still lighted for nighttime but the sky is lighter and there is more light in general making a softer, less contrasty image.  Interestingly, it wasn’t even 5 minutes after I took this photograph that the Tower lights were shut off.  I was composing another shot and poof!  The Tower went dark.

I was watching all week hoping for the Tower to be lit up with a different color light because this Tower looks great that way.  The reason I know this happens is because I’ve seen it at different times and with different lighted colors.  But , the color never changed at all and it remained it’s boring grey self .  The photograph below, which I took last year, shows what I was hoping for on this visit (and for the above shot). Maybe it will happen later this week when I visit Auckland again.

Driving in New Zealand

Driving around New Zealand is a lot of fun.  You get to zip down the left side of the road while sitting on the right hand side of the car.  I’ve done this enough now that when I get into that situation, it feels more enjoyable than tense.  The traffic circles are always fun because it’s something of a challenge I don’t get back in Calgary.  But for pure excitement, the very narrow roads, twisty steep hills and gorgeous vistas can’t be beat!  Below is a picture of my rental car on the side of Law Road on Saddle Hill.  This road has a 24% grade in places (that means it is crazy steep) and going up hill requires the lowest gear.  There is no place to pull over on the insanely steep places so for this picture, I had opt for the just really steep.  Too Fun!

Below is a picture of the town of Mosgiel in the distance on a rainy day (easier to see the town if you click on the picture to go full size).  What a beautiful view!

Finally, when I was pulled over, there was sheep fence (electrified!) close by.  Below is a creative B&W shot.

Auckland Harbor Art

I walked around the Auckland harbor last night.  It was warm and peaceful.  Many couples were sitting on benches just enjoying each other and the light breeze coming off the ocean.  It was a surprisingly long day at work so the opportunity to get out and walk around was welcome.  And it was nice to be behind the lens again.

Below is a moving sculpture.  It takes on different shapes as the wind blows it around.  I walked around it a few times, found the angle that I liked, and then waited for to clouded moon to peak out just bit.

Shot wide and low for those who care about these things.

Ghostly Skaters

Earlier this evening stepped out of the car on my driveway and I could hear music in the distance.  I thought is was a car radio across the street but it was actually music from down at the lake drifting up toward the house.  It turns out that the Lake was having a family skate night.  I went there and the music was VERY loud, the air was bone-chillingly cold and the smell of burnt popcorn filled the air.  It was clear to me that for these kids, it is a wonderful time to be young and alive – and on skates!

The picture below shows their ghostly images moving across the lake ice.

Marli Makes a Point

This is Marli our cat.  She is not allowed on the kitchen table as seen here.  But I glanced over and saw her on the table.  I had a camera handy so I was able to capture the moment.  Marli is making a point here.  What is the point?  It’s that she and my daughter have been co-users of a water cup – probably for a very long time … :-)

Family Day

Happy Family Day to all you Albertan's!

I am making good use of the holiday by getting an early start.  First up, take that picture I wanted to yesterday only go out 25 minutes earlier.  Check!  Go work out at the gym. Check! Learn something useful. Check! Post to this blog. Check! Take the boys to a movie and then dinner, have a relaxing evening at home with the family, and then early to bed. Unchecked but about to change …

Below is the view I saw from my front door this morning.  I went to the top of a neighborhood hill (just around the corner) to get a cleaner shot. Same view but no street lamp in the way.

Capturing the Moment

This morning was clam, peaceful and cold. I was out driving at 7:30 am and I saw a beautiful scene.  The sun was hitting the tops of the mountains and the moon was still visible just above the mountains. I thought, “Wow! I wonder if I can photograph that?” Unfortunately, I couldn’t.  By the time I pulled over, got out of the car and climbed to the top of a neighborhood hill, the light had changed quickly and the scene changed dramatically.  The moon was barely visible and the light had moved to make all of the mountains lit up (not just the tops). It just wasn’t the same.  However, I turned around and saw the sun coming through the trees and so I took that picture.  Then as I was walking away, I saw the light flowing over the gazebo and trees. and I photographed that too. It turns out that beauty is everywhere!

About the calm, peaceful and cold. I didn’t mind the cold and I loved the peace and quiet.  Thinking back, I wish I could have preserved that moment a little longer.  Oh wait, I did.  The pictures are below. :-)

59411

I traveled today to one of my favorite zip code locations – 59411.  This zip code is located at Babb, Montana.  Yeah, I know.  What is in Babb?  Not much.  In fact, there are just a few buildings - hardly anything notable at all.  Except for the United States Post Office.  I run down there often enough to pick up the mail from a PO box. This is my contribution to the flailing US economy.  I buy stuff really cheap from Amazon.com or some other vendor, they ship it to the PO Box in Babb (usually for free), I run down there and get it. ‘Nuf said.

Cold Commute

I took this picture of a kid riding his bicycle home from school yesterday when I was on my way home from work.  Nature’s Flocking was still everywhere and I intended to record a few more examples of that (it’s really beautiful when you see a cluster of trees – click to enlarge the photo and you will see what I mean).  I pulled the car over, turned up the heated seats and heater, rolled down the window and set up for a shot.  As I am composing the frame, along comes this obviously rugged young kid on a bike who is laboriously peddling away.  I am thinking wow, good on you kid!

Taking 4 Minutes for Nature’s Flocking

I added 4 minutes to my commute this morning so that I could record two pictures of a phenomenon I’ve seen many times. The temperature dropped quickly last night allowing for frost to build up on anything that was outside – including the bare branches of deciduous trees.  This weather phenomenon produces “Nature’s Flocking” and is quite beautiful to look at. This is one upside of cold!

The trees I photographed are from two different locations in my neighborhood.  They both have a lamp directly above them which gives a nice effect against the darkness of the early morning.

The first photo shows a tree under a sodium vapor lamp and so there is a slight orange/yellow tint.

The second photo shows a tree under a halogen lamp (there are not many of those around anymore).  This gives a bluer tint which makes the frost look really white.

In the end, 4 minutes isn’t enough time to really appreciate the beauty of this phenomenon but I actually get to see it all day.  Right outside my cubicle window is a veritable forest of “white” trees. :-)

Furious Fuchsia

A Dodge Charger with a Hemi all tricked out in Fuchsia?  Really?  The color, which is very hard to reproduce from this cell phone picture, is a very bright Fuchsia. The official name of the color is FURIOUS FUCHSIA (great name IMO)

In daylight this car radiates PINK.  It is really a gorgeous car but my mind keeps saying “pink” regardless of what fancy name you give to the color.  White leather seats too.  Clearly this car is not for people like me :-).

I saw the car at lunch while visiting Crowfoot Dodge (I was getting another  vehicle problem taken care of).  I thought they really had some courage putting that color on such an iconic muscle car. I mean what would The General Lee think?  Furious with Fuchsia I’d bet…

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to the three beautiful women in my life! That would be my wife and two daughters (so no funny ideas/rumors!).

  

But the Roses and Chocolates (direct from Germany) as pictured below are for my lovely Wife :-)

XOXOXO

On A Clear Day You Can See Greenland!

One interesting aspect about traveling back from Europe is that it’s broad daylight all the way.  You leave at 2 pm and you arrive at 4 pm the same day (after being in a metal tube for 10 hours or so).  When I have the chance to select my seat, I always go for a window seat on the right side of the place.  If the weather is clear you get some spectacular views of Greenland so I was looking forward to that yesterday.  That didn’t happen because although there were breaks in the cloud cover, the amount of snow in February gives you nothing but white for 100’s of miles.  In fact, distinguishing between the clouds and the ground isn’t that easy and taking a picture of it is even harder (especially through plane windows which really screw up photography).  However, I am undeterred because I’ve actually done this trip a number of times and so here are some pictures from last August taken 37 thousand feet above Greenland.  Enjoy!

So how often does anyone see Greenland?  I mean really.  It just isn’t a popular place to go!

Airplane windows have polarizing and other films on them.  This really messes around with the light meters in the camera (meaning exposure calculation) and it shifts color.  I know this and so to fix that, I expose a little high and then in post processing, I bring the color temperature back up a little (warmer) and restore the black point.  It’s mostly the black point that makes the difference in contrast. Still, I am not happy with the above photo as there is simply not enough color (it wasn’t there in that light to be recorded) and there is very little contrast.  So I moved it to Black and White which made for an equally dull Black and White.  What to do? I went artistic and ramped up the contrast and smoothed the details. 

Now I’m happy. :-)