Boffins Club - Last Warm Evening of 2014

I know the possibility exists that we will have another few warm evenings this year. But warm evenings, that are calm and comfortable enough for a couple of quadriplegics? I'm not so sure.

I'm not sure that the photos I made that night with Paul's company are that breathtaking but it was just great to be out in such a nice area, so nicely lit and populated by such nice people. It would've been nice to just sit down by the pond but to be chatting while the long exposures were being made just fit my description of a perfect evening.

I have seen some really nice work by a fellow local photographer in this area. I communicated with him a bit and determined that they do not close the gates at the Boffins Club at night. Maybe they do later on, but they were still open would we left there after 9 PM.

Seeing his work made me decide I needed to get there before the end of the nice weather but I needed to arrive with an idea. An idea that I hadn't already seen him capably execute. If you are on Instagram I highly recommend following him. His handle is @thecinnamon. Some great work with some aerial photography thanks to his quadcopter and a clear creative and technical understanding of what he's doing.

 

  Boffins Club Koi by Jay Scott on 500px

Of course my idea involves defaulting to what I'm good at, off-camera flash. It took a little bit of tweaking but I managed to get a few shots with the Koi in the photo, illuminated by the flash I had aimed at the water. I even forgot to bring the bread crumbs I was going to to lure them into the right spot. I think enough people have fed them this year that when they see humans they come looking and expecting treats. It sure was interesting to watch them shoot away every time that flash fired. That's one of the reasons  you will see the streaks in the water from the leaves that were moving the entire time of the 20+ second exposure, while the slow-moving fish were not to be seen as streaks because they took off so very quickly.

The last shot was just simply taking five minutes to move the tripod 10 feet one direction (Paul and I were pondering our jealousy of how quickly an able-bodied person could have picked that tripod up, rotated 90°, and set it down where they wanted it while it took us five minutes) to make a photo he thought looked like something out of Hansel and Gretel.

 

  Boffins Club on a Hot Autumn Evening by Jay Scott on 500px

I must say that I've been enjoying doing some more scenic type photography. In my mind I feel optimistic about trying to do more of this in the winter but we will see what happens. There may be a few more less inspiring shots made out of the window of my van where it's a little bit warmer, unless getting around is easy and I'm feeling motivated.

Oh, Autumn.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden HDR by Jay Scott on 500px

You're so lovely. But today is our likely last day above 25 and one of the last days that our house will get warmer without help from our furnace. Enjoy the weather and the beauty while it's easy to get out and enjoy it without a 20 minute clothing application process. That said, I'm planning on trying to find more locations to safely shoot from my van this winter. Try to stay safely warm, but still make something interesting. One shot in particular, I have in mind. I'll let you know if it gets made.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden Double Exposure by Jay Scott on 500px

Above I was trying to continue with the abstract by making a double exposure of the tree in the photo below and the path in the top photo. Like it? Hate it? Let me know.

 

  Robin Smith Memorial Garden in Full Autumn Beauty by Jay Scott on 500px

It was a very comfy day for Fiona's first-of-many trips to the Forestry Farm.

Sunset at the Saskatoon Zoo

It has been my intention for some time to go to the zoo at sunset with the plan to make a photograph off of the dock overlooking the pond. I'm not talking about the fishing pond but the one tucked way off in the corner that most people don't know about. Unfortunately, the path leading to it is made of a very fine clay or gravel and not very wheelchair friendly unless we have had a long stretch of heat. In addition to that, the access to the dock was down a pretty sharp drop that was manageable without a camera bag on my lap but with that bag, and possibly a tripod, it was going to be something I would need a hand with.

I knew that they had rebuilt the dock, and the photos I saw online looked really good, but I had no idea what a beautiful job they had done re-landscaping it so that getting onto the dock was as smooth of a transition as there is. The path leading to it is still very soft after it had rained but before our trip there last Wednesday we had had weeks of significant heat and I trusted that the path would be dry. Irony defined, there was a bit of a rain shower a few hours before we went. I did not believe it enough rain to make the path impassable. Despite the heat, it was still a bit soft but nothing I couldn't manage.

 

  Zoo Pond HDR 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

The above photo was a simple HDR made through some trees while still on the path leading to the dock. It seemed a nice vantage point and Bruce made an HDR portrait of me while I was making mine of the pond. We were waiting for the light to be right so at this point we were just playing though I have no problem with the photo I made. It was nice that both Bruce and I have our typical techniques but it was nice to learn something from each other that we can both incorporate in our toolkit for the times that what we've learned is appropriate.

Seeing the lovely covering of seaweed and algae on the water, it seemed like a good time to continue my attempt at some abstract work. Like it, or hate it, I thought it was an interesting texture and contrasty subject.

 

  Zoo Pond Algae by Jay Scott on 500px

The first HDR landscape photo was facing east, this next one was facing north. If you click on the link below each photo that takes you to 500px, you can see the pinpoint location of where I was. From that you could see on Google Earth the aerial view of where we were, both for if you want to visit there yourself at some point or just to see the vantage point we had.

 

  Zoo Pond HDR 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

This next photo was facing south, overlooking a lot of the algae that was the subject for the abstract photo above.

I will admit that I had envisioned the dock facing a different direction. The winding path, combined by the 90° turn onto the dock had me turned around from which direction I was facing. The sky was still cooperative but I have other ideas for what I would like to see of a photo made on the dock with different weather conditions.

The operational hours of the zoo change based on the time of year. About the time of year that sunset is a convenient time of day is about the time of year that they back their hours off to closing at 7 PM, instead of 9 PM. That means for a few weeks each year you can be in the zoo after sunset. Right now is that time and I hope that I will have another opportunity to be there after sunset to try some twilight shots. However, as of the time of this posting, I expect to be photographing our baby and have little concern for scenery. It will come back, and I'm not going to give up great outings and opportunities but I have a feeling that there's going to be a captivating new little family member that will have the majority of attention of me and my camera for a long time.

 

  Zoo Pond HDR 3 by Jay Scott on 500px

Finally, and I know if this is not something everybody enjoys, is the piece I was most happy with. I've always wanted the opportunity to have some ethereal and moody photos shot after sunset. My ideas are numerous but my evening schedules, hatred of insects and lack of great places that are wheelchair friendly often dominate my motivation. I guess that's all the more reason to try little harder but I am quite pleased with the emotion my final photo from last Wednesday evokes. I would love to hear your feedback, whether it gives you the creeps, you love it, hate it, or whatever emotion it raises in you. I think the old ragged dock would've worked better, but whattayagonnado?

 

  Saskatoon Zoo After Dark by Jay Scott on 500px

Spring at Innovation Place

I was going to do my absolute best to get some shots of the spring fruit tree blooms this year. In the past it seemed like it was either rain, wind or other commitments that made me miss this beautiful time of year and perfect photo opportunities. It was the very next day that we had wind gusts up to 70 km an hour, combined with some rain, that made what you see here almost completely fallen to the ground or damaged to the point of withering.

 

  Innovation Place in Bloom by Jay Scott on 500px

The photo above scored me a lot of love on 500px. Like Angie said, even the skilled and discerning photographers that post, share and peruse work on the website appreciate a nice scenery photo. You won't see that much appreciation of a good food photo which took a lot more time to prepare, stylize, light and execute. These I just showed up at the right time of year, found a nice framing and made a few images.

Below you see the Saskatchewan Research Council and one of my favorite places to hang out with a coffee. The grounds are beautiful, the planters (not put out yet) are always full of the nicest succulents and there's always a nice fragrance in the air. The fountain provides the steady soothing sound of flowing water and there is plenty of sun or shade, whichever you prefer. This time, the group in the photo was enjoying the shade under the vibrant pink blossoms.

To the right, out of frame, is a nice patio with raised planters that are always full of some of the nicest flowers that bloom all summer long. You can find the photos I made over there in past years right here, here and here.

 

  Innovation Place - Saskatchewan Research Council - HDR by Jay Scott on 500px

I really wished I had more time to stay longer and keep shooting but I had another appointment to get to for the promotion of Challenging Reality. It was interesting to see newly injured individuals, remember some of the things I went through and to see firsthand which technologies I've shared were of most interest to them. It was very good to see their interest and to be affirmed that my work there is appreciative and helpful. The writing splint that I use was available to them but they were incorrectly instructed on how to fit it on their hands by their occupational therapists. I just don't see how it can be used any other way than it is supposed to be. That's why when I made a photo that I did not include my hand. The description I gave probably isn't even necessary. But, I helped accelerate the ability of two men to resume handwriting. Combine that with the photos you've seen here and it was a good day.

Vic St Bridge

If it wasn't photographed in excess before the news of its unsound superstructure, it certainly is being shot now with its days numbered.

Vic St Bridge HDR by Jay Scott

I plan to grab more from other angles, but the barriers set up to prevent traffic and pedestrians from going near it may be beyond my Photoshop skills to remove.


Those barriers didn't stop one fence-hopping pedestrian I saw using the boardwalk. Wrong lens on or that might've made a more interesting subject than the above photo.