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

Winter Tree 4

Part 4 of my series of threatening winter trees. Canon EOS XSi EF-S f/3.5-4.5 at 10mm f/5.6 1/500 ISO 200 -1ev

Marin ran her hands over the bark.  It had a roughness that belied the gentle feeling that she had for the old tree.  It was not the texture of pain or neglect it was the rough places in an old friend; the places where the valleys and mountains of your lives fit together to form a bond that has lasted.  Marin leaned in and breathed long and deep, her cheek rubbing on a spot rubbed smooth by younger feet than hers. She had climbed and climbed and climbed and in those days it had always been something new.  It wasn’t new anymore, something had changed.  She could feel it under her finger tips, it was almost a sound that she could sense with her finger tips, a gentle thrumming from deep within the tree.  She stood back and looked carefully, nothing had change… but still.

This old willow was a remarkable tree and once I converted it to black and white the layers and layers of branches became very clear.  There were so many that the tree seemed to have hair that was flowing down and I began to imagine a personality within the tree.  I pulled the image into Nik Silver Efex Pro and increased the structure and contrast of the image.  This brought the bark to life and added significant drama to the sky.

-Russell Berg

Winter Tree 3

Part 3 of my series of threatening winter trees. Canon EOS XSi EF-S f/3.5-4.5 at 10mm f/5.6 1/1600 ISO 200 -1ev

Alfred turned quickly, he felt an uncomfortable shiver in the base of his spine.  There was no one there and yet it sure felt as though there could be.  There it was… he heard it slow and faint a tap, tap… tap; a walking stick on the paving stones.  He turned back to continue his walk, the set in his shoulders trying to be confident and reassuring.  The gesture was a hollow one.  He did not feel confident, he was far from reassured.  The fear was sitting there like a heavy cold stone in his belly and it grew heavier every time he heard the stick of the following man on the stones.  This was the kind of confrontation he had been hoping to avoid, he knew why he was being followed but as he passed the tree he noticed that the clouds obscured the sun and revealed a strange steal blue that was more threatening than reassuring.  

Whenever I am looking for dramatic colours I underexpose at least one stop.  I was really happy with how the sky turned out and the the effect of an HDR was underexposed tree bark was brought back by the treatment in HDR Efex Pro.  The image really jumped after I applied this effect and I was really happy with it.

-Russell Berg

Winter Tree 2

Part 2 of my series of threatening winter trees. Canon EOS XSi EF-S f/3.5-4.5 at 10mm f/5.6 1/1000 ISO 200 -1ev

Winter Tree 1

Part 1 of my series of threatening winter trees. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300mm L f/4-5.6 at 70mm f/5.6 1/1600 ISO 400

A heart filled with nothing but the weight of a sorrow that is at the same time ragged and dull, heavy and insubstantial breaks every time it feels the loss.  This is new, this something without a frame of reference, and every time she turns to see something else that reminds her she remembers and this new thing, this complete lack of the presence that dominated her existence.   She feels a ragged catch in her throat and she wonders… if the next breath will come.

I wanted to come up with series the las time I was shooting in Victoria and as it was winter the trees had a very threatening and interesting texture and form.  I don’t normally have a lot of patience for heavy post-processing filters but it seemed to fit with this series and each of the trees in this series got a slightly different treatment.  This image made me feel like the sad parts of a Bronte novel and I wanted to give it a treatment that looked somewhat Victorian.  The heavy vignetting and the ragged border push us in this direction.

-Russell Berg