It was a promising day, for a very nice sunset. As everyone know sunsets are my weakness. So I gathered the family, and off we went to Elk Island National Park. This time I decided to change it up a little. A while back I have gotten myself a set of Cokin filters. We were discussing them at length with a fellow photographer (whom I admire very much). The main thing is that they are really hard to come by. I think the company went bankrupt, and completely disappeared. I haven't been able to find any pertinent news on the web at all about Cokin filters. So as a little reminder I took them along, and here are the results. Enjoy.
Nature in the wild - Part 1
When I decided to try to shoot my star trails I came out to the Elk Island park, a little early. I really wanted to try out my friends 24mm tilt-shift lens. I have to say, that it is going to be really hard to give that lens back. Really hard. I had to try it out on landscape photographs, and what better place for that than Elk Island National Park. Arrived at the park, just before the sunset, and here is the first part of what I captured. Enjoy.
Elk Island in the snow - Part 1
This year started slow for me, on the photography side. So I finally decided to break the spell, and after clearing off the snow around the house, I decided it would be a good idea to drive out to Elk Island. And it was. It is such a peaceful place. Snow was falling hard, and I could barely distinguish the white, featureless road ahead. I almost drove into the ditch, because I was paying attention to the scenery. I didn't see any cars around. It was absolutely awesome. I was trying to spot any kind of fauna, and I got lucky. I found these guys laying about, trying to keep warm. Enjoy!
New toy and Elk Island
So a couple of days ago, a package arrived at my door.... post marked from Australia. I almost cut myself opening it. My hands were trembling a little when I dug into the styrofoam. What I uncovered was a beautiful black Canon 1D. Yep no other designations, no Mark this or Mark that... none of that nonsense :) . This is an original Canon 1D and right now I could easily call it Classic. The camera is in perfect condition, apart from little scuffs on the top. Works great too. Yes it's only 4.5Mpx, but the megapixel race is over, and this is a 10 year old camera, so I'm not concerned. I charged the batteries the same day, and decided to take it out for a spin in Elk Island.
I took both of my Classics, the 5D and the 1D. I put a 70-200mm plus 2x extender on the 1D, and a wide angle 17-40mm on my 5D. I mainly concentrated on the animals with the 1D. Luckily they were very photogenic that evening.
Also our canadian beavers were out in full force building their new house. There were 5 of them and they really didn't pay any attention to me. I was standing at the edge of the pond maybe 8-10ft from them.
The pictures have minimal editing on them. White balance adjustment, levels, and a little sharpness. I have to say that the 1D passed with flying colors. More pictures from the trip, on the next post.