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Elk Island - Four Seasons - Winter

Elk Island - Four Seasons - Winter

As you have probably surmised, I am not the greatest fan of winter.  I do, however, appreciate how beautiful it can be during certain conditions. We have not had a chance to visit Elk Island this winter too often but, even so, came out with bunch of nice shots from our outings.

Ardgour Island

Ardgour Island, located right next to the Glenfinnan Monument  is a home of many interesting species of fauna and flora.  Visiting Loch Shiel we have had a pleasure of taking a little nature walk that took us there.  The spring was in the air, the flowers were blooming and the weather was still great. So we grabbed our cameras and went exploring:

First thing I noticed in Scotland was that everything is covered in moss and lichen.  It grows on rocks, on trees, on buildings and pretty much anywhere it can find a bit of nutrition. It gives the objects it covers a bit of a velvety feel, which I liked a lot.

As you can see, I even managed to find this lovely creature taking a stroll on the ground ;)

What I did enjoy the most, though on this walk were the trees. The pine trees on Ardgour Island are thought to have a different genetic makeup than the rest of pine tree population in Scotland.. Their ancestors, apparently, have survived the last ice age.. They are wonderful, some very old, some younger, but all with lovely shapes and impressive sizes..

Travelling in spring gave us an opportunity to witness their glory unobscured by leaves of many other kinds of trees growing there as well as a great colour contrast to view them before everything turns completely green. This early development also has given us the ability to enjoy the surrounding views..

Even our boys could not resist exploration and wondered frequently from the wooden path..

Alas, eventually the weather system has caught up with us and it was time to leave this interesting place and wait for the rain to stop falling before we embarked on the next part of this trip where even more amazing views have awaited us... Until the next time!

Kasia

 

Hacks and early mornings

LP2C0023-Edit
LP2C0023-Edit

It seems that my site alongside a whole bunch of others got hacked over the weekend.  I have absolutely no words for that.  None.  I knew I had a backup of my entire site, and I knew that my host provider has those backups as well.  So was I worried? Nope, not at all.  So in the morning, as planned, I grabbed my gear and headed out to my favourite spot, Elk Island National Park.  Personally I was hoping for more dramatic sunrise, but the skies were clear.  There were some lingering mists, and these provided some nice mood.   So here is one of the pictures taken with my old 1D MKII, as I hardly take the new Canon 7D out anymore.  With all the focusing problems that 7D has..... ah but we'll leave it for the next time I think.... so enjoy the bright sunny morning.

Here fishy fishy fishy

Playing around a little more with the fish eye lens.  What better place to test it out than a lovely Elk Island sunset.  So here is another Elk Island sunset, but this time with the huge distortion of a fish eye lens.  Personally I'm really liking the effect this lens produces.  Makes me wonder if fish really see the world that way :) Enjoy!

Some mornings....

Some mornings are in black and white, with a dash of color.  Sometimes it's the reverse.  That morning it was mostly black and white.  There was a little color once the sun rose above the horizon.  It was cold, and wet.  It's interesting how photos reflect the mood of the time you took them, or edited them.  Making them very personal, specially if you are shooting for yourself.  Here is that melancholy morning with a little smile.  Enjoy.

Inspirations

Enjoy! Alberta landscape, somewhere west of Edmonton.  This was taken during one of my little road trips to nowhere.  Just aimlesly driving the less traveled Alberta country roads, in search of little gems like this one.

Or this one.  The most elusive Sid the Moose.  This guy was shot almost at night.  Had to crank my iso setting to 1600, to get this, thus the noise.  Sid the Moose, lives in Elk Island National Park, and he is very hard to spot.  Comes out in the very early mornings or late evenings.  I've been trying to get a good picture of him for a long time, and so far this is as best as it gets.  Now why Sid the Moose?  Well you should ask this great photog.... she may tell you, or she might not.  :)

 

Filtering Elk Island

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.

Night at the Lake

Last night I noticed that the sky was clearing up nicely, so immediately decided to go down to Elk Island National Park, for some night photography.  I called and texted a couple of friends, but none had the time to go.... so I had to go alone.  When it finally started to get dark around 11pm, I setup my tripod, programmed the remote for the 35 picture sequence, and settled in for a long wait.  Unfortunately there were a lot of activity at that spot.  At 1am couple of cyclists went through one frame, then a car showed up and drove around the parking lot.  The best thing happened when the sequence finally finished at around 1:45am.  Right behind me there was a spectacular display of norther lights.  Here are some fruits of hanging around at night at the lake.  Enjoy. Star Trails

Northern Lights

Northern Lights

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! Buffalo

Buffalo

Buffalo

Storm at Elk Island

The other day, I wanted to try to photograph the well known Perseids meteor shower, which usually occurs at the end of August.  Unfortunately there were a lot of cloudy and rainy days, and I had a fear that I might miss it.  Then one day, the skies cleared up, so I grabbed by gear, and headed to Elk Island National Park. Stars and Clouds

Knowing my luck, or lack of it, the clouds started rolling in just as the first stars showed up.  At first they were wispy and light, but soon enough they started gathering in strength.

Gathering Clouds

Suddenly in the far distance I've noticed some flashes.  Storm was coming.  Oh what luck.  To actually be ahead of a large storm.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get some nice lightning pictures.  I quickly changed my view point, and waited.  Within an hour the storm was close enough to show off a fantastic light show, but far enough that it didn't rain.  I was giddy as a kid at Christmas. Enjoy!

Storm

Storm

Storm

Storm

Storm

Storm

Brian and his dog

A few weeks ago, and good friend of mine and a vet went out to Elk Island National Park, to see if we can catch the sunset.  We arrived at our favourite spot by Astotin Lake.  I've photographed a lot of sunsets on that lake, and they are always different.  Every one.  One always meets some interesting people either watching the sunsets, or like us trying to capture it.  This time we met Brian.  Very interesting character. On the first glance you would not say he enjoyed sunsets.  It was not the case.  Here are some pictures of Brian, and his little puppy. Enjoy! Brian and his dog

Brian and his dog

Brian and his dog

Hitchhiking

After "Summer in Winter" idea was exhausted, we moved to the main road of the Elk Island park, to shoot a hitchhiker idea.  Always wanted to use one of these big cases, and this was a good opportunity. Waiting

Good thing was that the main road in Elk Island National park, this early in the morning, is usually quite empty, so we could do what ever we wanted with out worries.

Anyone?

Bored

Summer in Winter?

I came up with this crazy idea on a spur of a moment.  I'm always thinking about weird things, things that don't belong, and this summer in winter wasn't any different.  I just needed someone to do it with.  It's not an easy task, to be dressed in summer clothes when it's -5C outside, but I managed to find a willing soul.  I picked up Jenn at around 7am and we headed out to Elk Island National park. Summer yet?

The sun has just risen, and the morning fog left beautiful frost on the tree branches.  I was hoping for a little more snow, but the weather a week before was quite warm, and a lot of the snow had melted away.  Still because of the morning fog, frost, and pale blue skies, it gave an illusion that it was really cold.

Looking for summer

Jenn was a trooper.  Heels, and a summer dress when it was -5C outside.  Amazing.  I had a couple of blankets with me so she could warm up a little between takes.  I'm not that evil.... :)

Summer?

During the shoot, I've done something I've never done before.  I switched my camera from my usual Av mode to complete manual (btw. this is all because of Christa Meola, and me peeking at the settings on her camera when I met up with her in California!).  I was taken aback with the results.  I was always afraid of the manual mode.  Sure I set the camera on manual when using strobes, but never like this.

Jenn

There will be more from this shoot with Jenn.... so stay tuned.