Goose Neck Barnacles

Goose Neck Barnacles on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Canon EOS XSi 50mm f/1.4 at f5.6 1/60 −1ev

I am a pretty public person, some are probably annoyed with the fact that I sometimes push myself into the spotlight.  I am often loud and assertive but I love the quiet of time to myself.  I was searching for this one day when I drove out to the west coast of the island.  I walked out on to Long Beach in the misty October morning and the rain stopped as I walked across the beach.  I remembered a colony of barnacles on the seaward side of a large rock on the beach and I had timed my arrival to coincide with low tide.  I found my spot in a gap between two large rocks that opened out towards the ocean and began to photograph the barnacles.  I loved the quiet solitude of these moments as I searched for  the right image.  The light wasn’t great so I set up my flash and put an orange gell on my snooted flash.  I wanted orange to warm up the light and give the appearance of sunlight on a very overcast day.  The snoot allowed me to focus the light in a smaller area.  I made my snoot out of cardboard folded into a sleeve that slides over my flash.  I liked the way it brought focus to the barnacle colony.

-Russell Berg

Flowers In The Mist

A dreamy purple flower in the morning mist. Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/350 ISO 800 −1ev

I found this flower after wandering around the edges of a prairie slough on an early summer morning.  I caught a glimpse of it through the mass of green reeds and grasses.  I couldn’t get very close to it without getting wet but I was drawn by the contrast in colour and texture.  Everything was very soft. And the droplets of dew accentuated that.  I pulled out my telephoto zoom to pull the flower in close and I noticed the contrasting texture of the hair on the stems of the plant.  Normally I don’t like to have something obstructing my view of the main subject but I feel as though the out of focus stem of grass in the foreground adds to the sense of crowding and compression that was a part of the live scene.  Normally I don’t play much with filters or heavy post processing effects but in this case I applied some effects from Nik Colour Efex Pro and I was quite happy with the result.  

-Russell Berg

The same image after processing. Canon EOS XSi EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/350 ISO 800 −1ev

Moss Branch

A bright piece of moss caught my eye as we were walking down Giant’s Head Mt. Canon EOS 7D EF 70-300mm at 300mm f/5.6 1/400 ISO 250

There is a wonderful world outside your front door.

The sun was setting through the trees as we walked down Giant’s Head Mt. and it was lighting all kinds of interesting little moments  on the path.  I glanced to my left and glint of golden green against a dark background caught my eye.  It was off in the distance and I wasn’t sure that I had any kind of decent image until I brought my camera up to me eye.  Normally my 17-85mm zoom is my carry around lens, the lens I take when I want to carry only one.  Today it was in the shop to be repaired an I had my 70-300mm with me.  This branch was probably 500m away but having a lens this long pulled it in to me and allowed me to make it appear at eye level.  The branch was probably 3m up in the air and if I had had to walk up to it to get the image I would have been looking up at it.  I am sure that I missed other shots because I did not have my wide angle zoom but focusing on maximizing the equipment that you do have can yield interesting results.

-Russell Berg

Time

Rocks and sand on the beach near Tofino. Canon EOS XSi 50mm f/1.2 at f/2.8 1/350 ISO 200

A year and a half ago I drove across the island to Long Beach to spend some time taking photos.  The day was grey and cloudy and as I drove up their was a light rain falling.  I took a few pictures of some interesting bits of drift wood but I was looking for a particular colony of goose neck barnacles that I had seen in the past.  I found a large rock that faced out on to the beach and though it wasn’t the place I was looking for there were some interesting images to be made.  I ended up spending almost 2 hours in an area of about 2 square metres.  I kept looking, and seeing more images and trying new lighting techniques.  I hadn’t ever spent such a concentrated time in one small place before and it produced some interesting images and I learned quite a lot about taking pictures.  I found that having a dedicated time to spend just trying stuff out is really valuable.

-Russell Berg

Bloom

Hosta's in bloom. Canon EOS XSi EF 50mm f/1.4 at f/1.4 1/750 ISO 800

The sunlight hits the green and filters down to that secret place at the base of the plant.  In that place where the smell of the good earth is rich and dark the light has a character and quality that whispers of life and growth.  It is a special place.

Getting a 50mm lens with a short depth of field can instantly transform your photography.  It will set you apart from the point and shoot crowd right away.  This is the first photo that I took with my 50mm f/1.4.  The short depth of field turns the background into a beautiful blur that focuses the eye where the photographer chooses.  The colours here are more subtle but the light splashes of purple make a wonderful counterpoint to deep rich green.

-Russell Berg