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

The Spanish Dancer

I was wandering the streets of Gastown waiting for the Gastown Criterium Cycling Race to begin and I sat down on a bench next to this very interesting gentleman.  I said hello and we had a conversation about his life.  The lines in his face told the hints of an interesting story and his words filled in the gaps.  He was a folk singer, who had grown up in Montreal and made a living singing Spanish folk songs and jazz in easter Canada.  One day as he was singing in a dark club in Montreal, the kind that you enter by stairs coming down from the sidewalk, he saw a woman dancing.  She moved through the smokey room with a grace that bewitched him and he felt his voice reach out to meet the beauty of her movement.  She danced, he sang.  He sang, she danced and they seemed to rise to make the other better.  Early that morning he sat down to have a drink with her and 6 months later they had moved out to Vancouver.  “That’s how I got to this bench,” he said.  

“Well, thats a more interesting path than most,” I replied. “Do you mind if I take your portrait?  That dancer is written into the lines of your face.”  He smiled and nodded.

Other parts of my Inspired By Harry Callahan series Jumanji In Vancouver

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

A Man of Will

The man turns and I am immediately struck by his eyes.  He has a heavy, prominent brow covered with grey flecked eyebrows.  His eyes appear to stare out at me from deep within his head and deep in that tunnel there is a fire burning there.  He lashes out, not yelling, but his voice has a hard steel edge that cuts through all of the noise that the city uses to try and keep us down.  He moves towards me, occupying my space, a thin line of spittle forming on his lips.  This is not a man who lays down while others roll over him, and even thought the years have softened his impact this is a man who will not be ignored… a man of will.

I was wandering around Gastown in Vancouver and walked past an alley that had this graffiti painted on it.  I loved the fact that the man who seemed to be angry was lying in shadow.  That and the earth tone colours provided an interesting contrast with the celebratory, exploding colours on the the left.

-Russell Berg

Friends

The old man turns to look at me from where he sits and from eyes that are hooded with age he starts to smile. It is a gentle and knowing smile, a smile from a man that has grown very comfortable in his own skin. He has paused for the moment in his gentle banter, his back and forth with the woman who is cutting his hair. They have clearly been doing this a long time. This Saturday morning ritual where he comes and sits and she stands and cuts and they both talk. He knows the names of the children who are in pictures pasted on the mirror and she knows exactly how low his hairline should be at the back of his neck so that it does not rub on the collars of his shirts; he hates that. They share a quiet knowing intimacy that has never extended beyond this chair and these Saturday mornings but it is, nevertheless, important for each of them. They are friends.

As a photographer, imposing yourself into these kinds of situations can be intimidating and difficult. I have, however, found that people are usually willing to engage in some conversation and will let you you photograph them. That was sure the case with these two I had to force myself to go in and talk to them but once I did we had a great time and I got some amazing portraits of them. For more on the story of this portrait and another shot from this series check out this post.

-Russell Berg

Life In The Lines

A delightful old man with a lot of life drawn into the lines of his face. Canon 7D, EFS 50mm 1.4 at f2.8 1/60, ISO 400A Perfect Photographic Morning Part 3

After I had climbed down off of the scaffolding, ignoring a few strange stares, (see previous post), I headed towards the mall because I wanted to cut through to go to a waffle restaurant that I wanted to have breakfast in.  I paused for a moment, and a thought occurred to me, “nothing interesting ever happened in a mall, this morning is about ‘interesting.’”  I kept walking, heading around the block.  I had walked about 15 steps and I looked to my left and there I saw a most interesting face, I thought, man I would like to photograph him, so I screwed up my courage, walked in and asked him if he would mind if I took some pictures of him.  He laughed, asked if these pictures were going in Penthouse.  I took some photos as she cut his hair moving around them but my favourite image was this one, he was laughing most of the time but I love the slightly wry smile that he is giving here, the heavily lidded eyes that have seen so much of life. I like the old newspaper clippings and old photos taped on to the mirror and the busy countertop.  How much more interesting this was than walking past the Gap.

-Russell Berg