Snow Day

We had a snow day this week where school was cancelled and I decided to dedicate the day to photography.  This is my journey that day.  I went out early to the marina because I love the idea of boats with snow, there’s a juxtaposition there that I think is interesting.  I got down really low on the dock and hung my camera over the edge with a wide angle lens to place the boats in a dominant position in the frame with the snowy trees to form the background.

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF-S 10-22mm at 10mm 1/1250 f/3.5 ISO 1250

I kept walking around the marina and I saw a place where the snow had fallen into the water in front of a sail boat.  I was sticking with my wide angle 10-22mm at its widest to play with the angles of the floating snow against the angles of the bow of the boat.  I felt like there were some interesting relationships there.

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF-S 10-22mm at 13mm 1/1000 f/4 ISO 3200

As I was packing up my car to leave the marina, I saw the snow plow go by on Stewart Ave.  I thought to myself, what image says snow day more than a snow plow so I raced off after the plow.  They stopped in a nearby parking lot so I went up to them and asked if I could take their picture and where would they be plowing next?  They told me that they were heading up 19A but had a few repairs to do.  I went up the road, parked my car and got out to wait for them.  30 minutes of standing beside the road later I was paid off with this image as the truck roared by.  I did get soaked but it was so worth it.

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF-S 10-22mm at 21mm 1/1250 f/4.5 ISO 2500

From there I started driving around some neighbourhoods just watching for interesting photographs and I found this older gentleman shovelling his sidewalk.  I went up to him and we had a little conversation and asked if I could photograph him while he worked.  He was fine with that, such a nice man with a face full of character and we had an interesting conversation afterwards.

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF-S 10-22mm at 21mm 1/1250 f/4.5 ISO 2500

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF 70–200mm + 2x at 292mm 1/12500 f/5.6 ISO 200

Later in the afternoon, after the sun came out I thought I might get some good photos of the sea lions down at Duke Point as the sun went down.  The quality of the light is so key in making a good photograph and the low winter sunset produced some beautiful light.  In my boat as I headed out there I crossed paths with a large freighter.  I loved the contrast in colours and the striking lines created by the anchor chain, it’s shadow and the other anchor in the background.  I waited until Snake Island drifted into view in the background and got this image.

Canon EOS 7D Mk II EF 70–200mm at 200mm 1/1000 f/2.8 ISO 100

My timing with the light was just about perfect as the sun began to disappear over the horizon just as I was finishing my photographs of the sea lions.  The golden light plays over their dark brown fur to create some really beautiful colours.

That was my snow day, I had a blast.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Threatening Skies

The heat of the mid-afternoon sun had begun to ease as the skies in the south had darkened.  There was a tension in the air as the storm rolled up the coast.  The wind picked up and palms began to whip stiffly in the breeze.  It was coming fast and then it was upon us, the sky opened up and released its water.  The rain was warm and wet and delicious, rinsing the sweat salt from my skin, easing the warmth that pulsed underneath.

I went out into a storm on the beach in Panama to enjoy the rain and then as it ended the most amazing, dramatic skies appeared.  I rushed back to our room for my camera and headed down to the beach.  I knew I needed to underexpose to increase the drama of the sky and dramatic skys are great on their own but the picture is so much stronger if there is something with some visual interest in the foreground.  I remembered that there had been a boat down the beach so I hurried down there.  I knew I wanted to use a wide angle lens to get as much of the sky as possible but that also mean that the boat would appear smaller so I waded out to get as close as possible, (I was chest deep in the water).  I really am happy with what I got.  I feel like the photo has a strong sense of the drama of the passing storm and the boat adds some visual weight to the foreground.  I did have to lighten the boat with the Brushes tool in Aperture to make it pop a bit more.

-Russell Berg

Beginning

The prow points out into the morning mist. Canon EOS 7D EF-S 10-22mm at f/4.5 1/30 ISO 200

A photograph needs contrast to produce an interesting image. There is something special about the contrast of colours and textures. The hard smooth wood (1) of the prow pointing off into the soft vaporous mists (2) is accentuated by the shift in colour from the warm reds and ochres of the cedar (3) to the cool blues and whites of the water and the fog (4). I pushed up the contrast and the saturation values to increase the difference between the two tonal ranges in the photograph.

-Russell Berg

Harbour

Nanaimo's boats lie in harbour under a dramatic sky. Canon EOS XSi EF-S 17-85mm at 17mm f/22 1/125 ISO 200