Reflections *Updated*

*Update to this post*
I just found out that this image of mine has been chosen by Darwin Wiggett as a winner this week in the How To Photograph The Canadian Rockies photo contest. I’m both flattered and humbled (and a little surprised) to have Darwin select an image of mine. He’s been a huge source of inspiration to me, and is someone I’ve learned a great deal from. If you don’t know who he is, go check out his images and his blog. If you aren’t inspired or moved in some way, you’d better check your pulse and make sure your heart’s still pumping.
Be sure to head over to the How To Photograph The Canadian Rockies blog to see the other weekly winners, and stay tuned for the grand prize winner to be announced next week.

Ok, back to the original post.

Here’s a shot that I just got around to working on from my last trip out to the Rockies. I was initially drawn to this isolated row of reeds and their reflections in the still water. The reflections of the clouds in the sky above add some interest to what would be a pretty boring reflection otherwise. I’ll admit, this one is leaning a little more on the abstract and artsy-fartsy side of things for me, but I actually kinda like it.
I went a little further in processing on this one than I sometimes do, with a little cropping and some cloning to clean up some a few stray reeds along the top edge. This was one of those times where I saw the image I was after, but could not physically get the camera into a position to isolate exactly what I wanted in the scene. Now, maybe if I’d gotten right down into the water and I had about a 15 foot tripod and a big ladder, I might have been able to do it, but come on, seriously… Photoshop was the obvious tool of choice here. I decided to take out the colour and go to black and white, and then add a cool-ish blue fill layer to tone the whole thing. Thanks for looking, I hope you like it!

IRIS!

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It’s been a little while since my last update here on the blog so I thought I’d take a minute to share a couple new things that are happening.

First off, I was very honoured just recently, to be invited to join the IRIS Photographic Society of Alberta. The information on the IRIS website explains what they are about much better than I can so please, head over there and have a look. I’m very excited to join up with and begin working along side the rest of the IRIS team that includes: Peter Carroll, Royce Howland, Darwin Wiggett, Samantha Chrysanthou, and Kerry Smith.

Secondly, we are holding our first ever Friends of IRIS event later this month at the Calgary Lilac Festival and you are invited. Come out and join Peter, Royce and I on May 26 as we take a small group of photographers out for a fun and educational day of photographing the festival. Come shake off the winter blues at the event that kicks off Calgary’s vibrant festival season, and sharpen your street photography skills with three photographers who will encourage and challenge your photography!

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Check out this link to the IRIS website for details and registration.

2013 Year in Review

As we head into 2014, I thought I’d look back at the last year and share with you some of the highlights and the images that go with them. This isn’t really what I’d call a top 10, top 13, top 20, etc., but simply a look back at the year that was. This was a very busy year for me that included a few pretty big changes, not the least of which was a complete career change. I’ve moved away from my finishing carpentry business of 10 or 12 years to become a real estate agent and am now working together with my wife. Finishing the courses, studying, and exams all while continuing to work and balance my wife’s busy schedule along with family life was quite a challenge, but I think the worst is over! We also sold our house and moved to the opposite end of our city, sold my truck and trailer, bought a minivan (definitely didn’t see that one coming!), and adopted a couple of cats. As you can understand, I had significantly less time to get out and shoot photos this year which is definitely something I hope to change for 2014.

So, I’ll start at the beginning. In January, we took a family holiday to the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai. Did I mention it’s beautiful? I’m pretty certain that Hawaii is one of the most gorgeous places on Earth. I’ve been there twice now, and each time I’ve been blown away by the landscape and it’s beauty. While this wasn’t a photo specific trip, I did manage to sneak in a little bit of shooting here and there and came away with a few keepers.

Hanakapi'ai Falls, NaPali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii

Rocky shoreline near Brennecke's Beach

Ocean and sky long exposure image near Brennecke's Beach

In March I had to say farewell to my very good friend Wayne Simpson as he packed up his family and moved across the country to Ontario. Many of you will recognize his name as it appeared quite frequently here on the blog over the last couple years. We had many adventures, made a lot of photos, broke some gear (wait, that was just me…) and of course, lots of laughs and good times. This next image was taken the last time we got together to shoot up at Spray Lakes right before he left. Miss ya Wayne!

Cracked ice on Spray Lakes and the Goat Mountain Range

I was very honoured to be invited to join the IRIS Photographic Society of Alberta this year. Working together with members Peter Carroll, Royce Howland, Samantha Chrysanthou, Darwin Wiggett, and Kerry Smith has been a fantastic experience. This next image was taken on one of the workshops we led at the Calgary Lilac Festival in May. This was just a fun little abstract image I made at one of the street vendor’s booths. Rows of brightly coloured woven bracelets captured during a longer exposure while panning the camera gave me this result.

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In July I went on an awesome backpacking trip down in Waterton National Park with good friends Sam and Darwin. We spent 5 days in the backcountry with beautiful weather, stunning scenery, sore feet, and lots of good times. While this wasn’t really intended as a photo trip, we were still a group of photographers after all, and made a few images along the way.

Sunrise at Maskinonge Lake

Grass reflected in Maskinonge Lake at sunrise

Sunrise at Twin Lakes

In the fall I made a trip up to the Kootenay Plains area for a couple days and thoroughly enjoyed exploring some new area for me at that time of year. I’ve only been up there in the winter a couple of times but never the fall. It was definitely worth the visit and I hope to spend more time up there getting to know the area in the coming year.

Sunrise at Whitegoat Lakes with Elliot Peak, Kootenay Plains, Alberta, Canada

Aspen trees in fall using motion blur technique

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On a cold day in December, I jumped into the car with Sam and Darwin and we headed east of Calgary to do some exploring on the prairies. We didn’t get out of the car much that day, and mostly just explored and chatted along the way. When we did get out and shoot towards the end of the day, I found this little scene in the ditch beside the road.

Snow drift pattens on the prairies

As I mentioned earlier, I’m now a real estate agent. So it only makes sense then that I would be taking the photos of houses for our listings, right? Right. There’s actually more to this and it’s something I’ve been working on for a little while. When my wife started working in real estate a few years ago, I was just in the very beginning stages of my photography addiction career and it made sense for me to take the photos she needed because I had a camera, and I was into doing it. Of course, the photos were terrible and didn’t have any idea what I was doing. Over the last couple years, I’ve taken much more of an interest in this area of photography and have been delving deep into learning as much as I can. I photographed over 30 homes last year, and feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of a few things. This is the first I’ve mentioned that this is something I’m working and these are the first images I’m sharing here on the blog. I guess I just haven’t felt like it’s been really ready to share yet, or had any images I was all that confident in. After setting up a shoot with a former client of mine who’s house I’d worked on in the past, I made a couple images that I’m quite happy with. This is something I want to do a LOT more of, and I hope to have much more to share in the coming year.

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Lastly, I want to share some of the best news of the year and that is that my wife and I are expecting our second daughter this spring! This is probably my favourite photo of the year and it’s one I didn’t take.

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Thanks so much for stopping in and having a look! I appreciate the support from all of you who’ve, liked, followed, plus 1’d, voted, or just taken a peek at my posts on social media the last year. I wish you all the best in 2014, and look forward to connecting and sharing more with you.