Photo 101 Field Trip (Halifax Waterfront)

Digital original

Digital original, 3 image exposure blend

Digital original

Ingrid and I mark 19 Years (Prospect, Nova Scotia)

This session marked two mile-stones; it took place a little over 19 years after Ingrid and I first worked together (our first session was in 1998), and it was Ingrid's first time modeling since her cancer diagnosis and subsequent mastectomy. Even before her surgery, we'd discussed continuing to work together after she recovered, and this session was the first chance we had to resume our collaboration

Though it was forecast to be a hot and sunny day in Halifax, Ingrid and I headed for the coast, to Prospect. Ingrid and I had only worked here once before, so there was a wealth of potential to be explored, as she encountered a landscape I knew well with fresh eyes. An added bonus was we arrived to find the coast shrouded in fog, which was far preferable to sunshine for photography.

Digital infrared original

We began the session with a set of images focused on Ingrid set against the breaking waves below her, but it was the second set, made in infrared, of Ingrid posing in a shallow crevasse on a black granite rock face that really caught my eye. The infrared made the figure practically glow, and the dark granite had just enough texture and detail to keep the image from becoming too harsh.

Digital original, 2 frame stitch

Though it has been over a year since we last worked together (in Ireland), we quickly found our creative stride, and increasingly over the session, images presented themselves to us quite spontaneously. The above image, made about half-way through the session was one of these - Ingrid was shifting her pose, moving from lying on her stomach to a back-on pose, when she reached up - the the line from her hand to her shoulder, hip and into the leg revealed itself. I asked her to recreate the movement, and hold it as I made a set of images.

Digital infrared original

By far the most challenging images of the session were the last set, which were all focused on a small waterpool Ingrid came across, and asked to pose beside. Her initial idea was to set her body against the black rock on the right side of the pool...but she quickly discovered that rock was VERY slipper, so opted to pose upon the granite on the left side of the water...which left me very gently walking over the slippery, black rock to find the angle to photograph from.

The beauty of the rock pool became otherworldly when photographed in infrared - the bright green algae at the edges shifted into a ghostly white, and the black rock upon which I carefully moved dropped to a near dead black, which all contrasted perfectly with the delicate highlights of Ingrid's figure on the rock above the pool.

About the only hitch in the session was a minor technical one - I only had one tripod mount between my two cameras (one colour, and one infrared), so rather than using my usual approach of switching between the two cameras as need-be, I opted to switch between the cameras only when Ingrid and I changed our locations - essentially dedicating one camera to each pose, without real consideration of whether the colour or infrared was actually benefiting the results.

Night & Low Light Field Trip #2

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Digital original

Digital original

Summer Foliage

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Digital original

Digital original

Low Light & Night Field Trip #1

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Digital original

Digital original

A Cala Lily (Sherbrooke Lake, Nova Scotia)

Digital original, 21 image focus blend

On a hot summer afternoon, while reading a book, I caught sight of a shaft of window light falling upon this particularly beautiful flower. Not one to pass up such a moment  of beauty, I made this image. Nothing but a flower, natural light, and advanced camera technique!

A Waterfall (Indian Falls, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

I've been to Indian Falls before, but never really photographed it seriously, so on this visit, I explored the potential of the river (as it is a well-signed and easily accessible space, it will never work as a location to work with models, but I didn't see that as a reason to ignore it all together).

Digital original

After making some images of the rapids, I walked downstream (below the man-made dam) and set up to explore the potential of super-long exposures below the falls, where there was a significant amount of white foam on the water. It turned out to be quite pleasing - and without a breath of wind, the foliage on the far shore stayed completely still, for the most part.

Digital original, 2 image exposure blend

The final images were made back up by the falls, focused on the small water pools that lined the edge of the river. Overall, I really enjoyed working with the river, but (as is always the case) I wished I had a model to work in the space, to really made some images that would sing.

A Fall without a Nude (Dawson Brook, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

A good friend was wondering about trying his hand at photographing a river, so I offered to show him my favourite falls in Nova Scotia (where I have photographed models since 2000). It wasn't the same for me, working in the space without the Nude, but it did permit me some time to experiment with new perspectives and places to work from.

Digital original, 4 image exposure blend

Much like any time I work with landscape, I found the entire session a little frustrating; the fact I have made so many strong images here with models did little to dilute my frustration of finding compositions that work, and not having a figure to place into the scene.

Digital original

In the end, the session was an experience for a friend, and not for me...

Fort George (the Citadel) (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

Digital original, 9 image exposure blend

My first blog entry, from May, 19, 1997, was focused on image of York Redoubt, and dates from 11 years after I received my first camera; this entry is being made 20 years later, and I still love photographing the military structures that define Halifax. My tools have changed (from film to digital), but my passion has not diluted.

Digital original, 9 image exposure blend

An interesting fact, when looking at these images, and reflecting on where I started with my architectural images, is that they were made with the exact same aesthetic as my early film images (dramatic spacious image of spaces filled with light) - and yet they never could have been made in the age of film. Relying upon exposure blending (also called HDR), these colour photograph have a range of tones could never have been recorded on film!

Photo 101 Field Trip (Herring Cove)

Digital original

This field trip was focused on landscape photograph, with a secondary theme of working with neutral density filters. Early in the field trip I made a demo image of a 30 second exposure of water breaking over some rocks.

Digital original

As the field trip proceeded, we moved higher up on the rocky landscape, and made some images of the high-rock pools that line the path.

Digital original

My last image of the field trip was an infrared photograph, created using a 1000x ND filter to smooth out the water and blur the clouds some.