Winter Solstice Sunrise with Olivia

 

   

 

 

Make no mistake, the main reason for making some photos at this time of year was for the latest sunrise possible, and therefore the most forgiving call time. I'm not afraid to get up early for something I love doing, but I had to consider everyone else. Rae, my invaluable assistant for the day, probably would've been up, anyway. Olivia, well, she did an incredible job but was on her Christmas holiday break from school so I didn't want to ask her to get up too much earlier than necessary. Her dad, Paul, who is better at getting up earlier than I am, was her transportation and I had to make sure he had enough time to be properly ready for the day.

 

   

 

 

We didn't get a stunning sunrise, as it was overcast, but that wasn't going to stop us from making great photos. The temperature was brisk and the wind was enough to definitely affect how it felt, but we have a couple of more vehicles for our brave people working outside to pop in and warm up in. For me, by wheelchair with all of the snow accumulation in the parking lot well, it was obvious that it would be easiest for me to get the most angles and stay the safest by shooting from my van. So, that's what I did, getting a few different looks with different focal lengths.

 

   

 

 

There's no question that without the help of an able bodied assistant, none of these would have happened. Sure, we could have taken some snapshots, but would not have been able to continue working on refining my use of my two new flashes. I still have a little ways to go with the automatic exposure refinement, but I'm getting there. I learned manual and still am most comfortable using it when the environment is reasonably static. I've often thought of how it compares to learning to aim a rifle with open sights, then learning to use a scope. When it comes down to, I still prefer to target shoot without a scope and I still prefer to use off-camera flash in manual mode.

 

   

 

 

It was good to do something that I have wanted to do for a while, now. It took getting out of bed a little earlier than I might've liked, on a cold morning and asking people to sacrifice their comfort along with me. They did and I am thankful for that. It was far more rewarding than the backup plan of skipping the photos and just going for a hot beverage somewhere.

 

   

 

 

The same can be said for the amazing 90s punk rock shoot I participated in this past Sunday afternoon. I fought an embedded cold, a lousy night's sleep and a degree of inaccessibility but I went. When all was said and done, enhanced significantly by the 90s music that we listened to, I found myself rating it in probably the top five most fun things I've done in my life. I will leave you with a teaser photo from the shoot and get back to editing the rest of the other great shots from the day.

Model: Kymm Wright (Kyki Wright of Infinity Management)
Hair: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Caitlin Wiklun

Dock Walk

In an effort to make the most of our short summer, and get out before the long stretch of forecasted rain arrives, I headed down to the river this morning behind the Mendel art gallery. It was a very comfortable morning and the sights and sounds, minus the construction sounds from the Kinsman Park, were very soothing.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the full picture.

I thought we had seen the last of the fruit trees blooming, especially after the wicked wind we had last week that blew away any but the heartiest blooms. Then, on my way back up the river bank I spotted this vibrant tree. I must have missed this while focusing on slowing my descent so I didn't go for a swim.

A few of the winter berries that did not get picked off by the birds. I find it so interesting that it wasn't until a few years ago that I realized, thanks to our tomato plants, that the ugly dried-up parts of the bottom of the berry were what once was the blossom which grew into the berry. We probably learned that in elementary school, but the things a person does not think about on a daily basis are sometimes the simplest.

One more shot from the top. One of the things that frustrates me the most on the days like this when my intention is to get some exercise is that the pain I feel is not in my muscles. Most the time it is the seams in my gloves, where the thumb is sewn to the main body, that digs in to my toneless webbing between my thumb and index finger. After a number of hard pushes up a steep hill it feels like someone is jamming a hot fork in there. The dust and grime on my gloves and push rims prevent me from moving forward using a different group of muscles because there is a greater risk of my hands slipping off, losing my forward momentum and even hurting myself.

Not the strength training I was hoping for on a nice day like this. However, I did take the time to stop in at Museo before I left. Enjoy a top-notch coffee, have a look at the photos on my camera, read a few articles and then head home.

The rainy forecast has eased from what they were originally calling for so maybe it will miss us all together.

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.

A Person Can Dream

I've often thought that having a well heated studio would be great on cold winter days when getting out and working outside is difficult or even unsafe for me.

After shooting that veggie bread the other day I gleaned a vision of a studio, with a barrier free kitchen and dining room including remote controlled ceiling tracks with multiple winches and riggings to secure lights, reflectors, silks or scrims to.

Cooking and shooting that food. And, of course, eating said food. That's my idea of the good life.

And the food in my photos would be entirely edible. No white glue being poured on my cereal or shoe polish painted on a raw turkey. People aren't stupid. A loaded burger is not 5 inches tall. If it were there would be few mouths large enough to eat it. The only trick I would continue to use is a simple steam producing technique, using clean water, that does not affect the food.

Or, perhaps I would miss the walks and shooting what I come upon. Still, at those less convenient or picturesque times of year. But, then I'd miss opportunities like the simple beauty of morning dew after a rain.

Morning Dew by Jay Scott

Saskatoon Skies and Waters

I've been intrigued with time lapse video lately so I thought I would give it a try. Some of the clips in the video below were made with still photos from the old Fujifilm S5100. They tend to be the shorter ones as I had to trigger the shutter manually. Yes, that means me, sitting next to the camera, arm extended, counting to three then pressing the shutter. Repeat 450 times, or until your arm falls off. :)

Thankfully the other clips were made with photos from either the iPod Touch or the D700, both of which have intervalometers built in. That makes it much easier to let the technology do that portion of the work while I enjoy the scene with a coffee and a friend.





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