Ingrid and Driftwood (Long Beach, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

I normally have a real reluctance to photograph with bright sunlight, but in this case a) it was the only day Ingrid and I were both available at the same time and b) it was the last day in May, and the direct sunshine was a delight after months of Nova Scotian winter and spring.

Digital infrared original

Numerous times during this session I opted to work with my longer lenses (85mm & 135nm) to create tighter compositions, or permit me to move farther away from Ingrid and yet still focus the compositions on her. With both lenses, I took advantage of their large apertures (f/1.2 & f/2 respectively) to throw the background out of focus.

Digital infrared original

The sunlight shaped so much of this session, shifting my focus from shape and form to light. In the above image, I had to work carefully with Ingrid to get the angle of her torso just right to the angle of the sun, so her mastectomy scar was not highlighted. I realize it would be simple to retouch it out, but after witnessing Ingrid's victory over breast cancer, I strongly prefer to leave it in my images (all be it as a subtle element, as opposed to the focus of the image).

A Black & White Field Trip (Victoria Falls, Truro, Nova Scotia)

Digital infrared original

Victoria Falls is a striking gem located in Truro; a series of waterfalls on a relatively slow flowing river through a park that runs through a residential area - it is, for all of that, a stunningly beautiful place to photograph. The above image takes full advantage of the low contrast of infrared photograph to blend the sunlit trees and deep shade of the falls into a single, striking result.

Digital original

Part of what I love about Victoria Falls is how active the river is in many different ways. Just down from the falls, the riverbed is relatively flat, with small rocks providing interruptions to the river flow.

A Black & White Field Trip (High Head, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

One of the first things to catch my eye during this field trip was the overcast sky turning the sun into a glowing patch of sky; this is idea to reflect in water pools, and in the above image, I placed the sun behind a small rock, which created a strong glow in the water around it.

Digital original

Most of this field trip was spent exploring longer shutter speeds (the focus of the Summer Light field trip series). This small inlet between two larger rock formations was a perfect situation in which to use a 15 second shutter speed.

Digital original

The above image is by far my favourite of the session, by this time the evening sky had turned into a series of horizontal lines, which were a pleasing counter-play to the chaos of forms in the rocks below.

Spring...Colour (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital origina

I have not seriously pursued flowers as a subject for a decade or so (apart from the frozen flower series, which ended in the Frozen Light Exhibition of 2010), but they are always present in spring, and never fail to catch the eye. Early in my experiments with florals, I came to the conclusion I preferred shallow depth of field over deep - which is at the heart of why I like the above image so much.

Digital original

Much of the challenge of a good flower photograph is making order out of chaos - individual flowers may catch the eye, but separating them from the riot around them is not always easy. In this case, a 150mm macro lens and large aperture combined to throw the surroundings out of focus, and keep the attention where I meant it to be!

A Day of Field Trips (HRM, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

Point Pleasant Park is a fabulous place to wander with a camera, and its the most seaward point there is a monument featuring the anchor from the HMCS Bonaventure. I made this composition as an example of how to use super-wide lenses.

Digital original

The Halifax waterfront is a shadow of its former self, with only a handful of working ships docking on a regular basis. Of these, the most numerous are the ocean-going tugs, which ave a wealth of weather on their hulls.

Digital infrared original

The final field trip of the day was on the Dartmouth waterfront at Sunset; during that adventure, I was fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of this striking cloud set in contrast to the silhouette of a tree.

An Experiment with Paper & Light (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

In the process of revising a course about black and white photography, I needed an image to demonstrate how contrast could be adjusted to influence the appearance of an image. After some experimenting with existing images, I decided to make my own!

Winter, Water & Ice Field Trip #1 (Papermill Stream)

Digital original

The hanging ice on this tree was eye catching, and when combined with a long exposure to blur the water below, proved to be quite serene in appearance.

Digital original

Elsewhere along Papermill Stream I found small patches of ice, in this case formed over a bed of fallen leaves.

Digital original

My last images of the field trip were of small trees mid-stream, each wearing a skirt of ice. A long exposure (6 seconds) ensure the rushing water behind them blurred into a delicate backdrop.

Frozen in Flight #5 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 67 image focus blend

The more I work with the frozen butterflies, the more I am doubtful of the direction I am taking. When I made my first experiments with frozen flowers, I found the results engaging and inspiring, but with the butterflies, I am enjoying the technical challenge, but find the images leave me flat.

Digital original, 56 image focus blend

I think the real issue is transparency. Where the light illuminating the flowers, and came through the petals, with the butterflies, the light is just...light...there is no sparkle or brilliance coming from the butterflies. I will have to muse more on this, but I am beginning to think the project is a non-starter.

Frozen in Flight #4 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 56 image focus blend

The successes with the butterflies continue; the freezing issues seem to have been resolved, and I am able to focus on the real question - is there a way to make this work, in the same ways the flowers came to life in ice.

Digital original, 41 image focus blend

The interesting thing is I am not certain it will happen; many similar visual elements are appearing in the butterfly images, but they just don't have the same magical look as they had when juxtaposed to the flowers. It could be just my closeness to the process, but I am not convince the flowers and butterflies can be treated in the same way!

Frozen in Flight #3 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 51 image focus blend

The explorations continue, but this image, focused on the main body of this butterfly, was easily the most pleasing image of the session (even through it is a little sinister looking).