13 Months Old and a Photo Walk

 

  One Month - 4 by Jay Scott on 500px

A lot has changed, hasn't it?

 

  13 Months - 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

Not just her above average height, but comprehension. Not that I had a great idea of a child's development, but she constantly surprises me with how much she understands. Just this morning I fed her breakfast and kept her entertained while Angie was out at an appointment. We had to make a few trades to get her to give me her bottle of milk when she was done. After she was done being very cooperative about letting me wipe her face and hands, I had to trade her a toy for the washcloth but she really seemed understand. I feel like she knows about my limitations and is okay with when I tell her something has to be the way it has to be. I also understand that she's far too young to have full control of her emotions. But I understand how a friend, also a quadriplegic, has done so well with her children and how they simply understand the way things have to be because of their mother's limitations.

Friends of ours, Joel and Lindsay, who I have always admired, demonstrated a great way to reason with their children to the extent of the child's ability to comprehend. I always wanted to be a parent like them because of their calm demeanor and the way that there kids responded calmly to talking. All this is prefaced by understanding that kids will be kids and if they are tired or hungry a lot of that negotiation will be ineffective. I reiterate that I'm constantly impressed by Fiona's ability to understand which toy or book we asked her to bring us or what we are asking of her.

 

  13 Months by Jay Scott on 500px

This past Saturday was the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk and it was a rainy day in Saskatoon. We were pretty impressed with how many people actually came out considering the rain. I wasn't going to miss it but I did do all of my shooting from inside the van. Those soft and greasy paths around the park and zoo would have been a nightmare for me and I'm confident I made the right decision.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

That meant it was time for some creative lighting, pulling my van up right under any interesting trees and digging deep into some macro shots to produce something interesting. All things considered, I think I did a pretty good job for shooting an hour and a half from my van in the rain.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

I don't know if it's my favorite, but a long exposure abstract was definitely an opportunity on a dark day like this to try to make something interesting and artsy.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 5 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 3 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 4 by Jay Scott on 500px

This was an accidental discovery. A misfire on my part made for a frame where I noticed the light for my flashes peak into the leaves, yet needing a nice shadow on others. It happened to just fall on the still-green leaves while the turned ones were in shadow.

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 6 by Jay Scott on 500px

 

  Worldwide Photo Walk 7 by Jay Scott on 500px

Afterwards we all headed over to Rock Creek & and Grill where we had a meal together and concluded our day. Things like this need to happen more often and I have tried this summer to increase the numbers. I will do so again next year and maybe a few prizes will bring out more people.

Now, I am working on wrapping up the accessible home tour from this summer. We may shoot one more home but I have only one shoot that process and that it to be delivered. After that will be something pretty big, pretty wild and pretty excited. It's coming together nicely and the best clues about it will be if you take a peek at my Instagram feed.

Who knows, maybe I will find a niche in our city and become known for something pretty cool, if I can execute it properly.

On Smart Phones vs Real Cameras - Also Some Lily Photos

Our lilies were in bloom and it was time for me to make this year's photo of the pink ones. The orange lily photo will be made today.

Unfortunately, my setup was postponed by the much needed rain. No complaints here. It gave me more time to think and execute it. Did you know that shower curtains love to float? I sure didn't until I tried to line Fiona's pool with one to serve as my enchanted pond. Thankfully, I had enough attractive stones and glass ornamental stones around to weigh it down and complete my photo. I was a little concerned about the weight of all that water and stones sitting on our patio table, but it held up. It wouldn't be necessary were I able to get down on the ground to make the photo. Thankfully, this worked.

Now, I know that a current smart phone can make some pretty excellent images. I also know they have their limitations. There our technologies being developed that may, one day soon, allow them to trigger flashes or other external light sources. You are still stuck with the fixed focal length, a screen that's difficult to see in bright daylight, which makes composing and exposing correctly much more difficult, and there is no compensation for a larger sensor size and the appearance it can provide.

I say this because I've seen a fair amount of content online from both sides. One insists all you need is a smart phone, but I argue that they are not able to produce the image below that I was able to with a DSLR. The other side demands high resolution photos not from a smart phone. I don't know exactly what the definition of high resolution is but mine has the same resolution as most current mirrorless DSLRs. This camp that I am thinking of, Lac Pelletier Regional Park who is rebuilding their website, has requested photos from visitors. I would argue that the resolution needed for a website is minimal and that a properly exposed JPEG from a phone would be perfectly adequate. This is especially true because they probably are looking for scenic photos, not shallow depth of field portraiture.

This is irrelevant to me, though, because all they are offering is photo credit, no remuneration. If you were considering contributing, I urge you to demand a proper licensing fee. You are worth more than credit. Credit will not repair your camera, replace it, pay the bills or feed your family. But, I digress.

My point was that the second shot I made of the above behind-the-scenes photo was actually quite nice. But it certainly was nothing compared to the final product as seen below.

 

  Enchanted Pond Lily by Jay Scott on 500px

I have been teaching a couple of young people to learn to use their cameras. This also includes using their smartphones but it emphasizes the difference in the capabilities between tools. A phone still does not have any variance in the available focal length, without adapters that will greatly degrade the quality of the image, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its place.

I was complaining earlier about not being able to get down on the deck to make the photo above. Countless times, in order to get that nice lower perspective, all I have had available to me has been my smart phone. I argue that the better angle was more important than impeccable image quality, especially if it were simply a photo to be shared online. Certainly there are times that I've made the effort to get my DSLR down where it was necessary to make the wanted photo and also make it with the best quality available.

Regarding a phone's ability to work close-up, you can get a pretty decent close-up shot with a smart phone but the technology has yet to make it capable of a true macro photo. Below are examples of pushing macro to the limits. That photo above? This is the same flower's stigma, stamen and petal. No, the image quality isn't perfect because of the amount of glass and adapters involved, as well as the laws of physics limiting the clarity of light at this scale. But it's still pretty amazing to see something that magnifiedhim.

 

  Ultra Macro Lily Parts - Stigma by Jay Scott on 500px

I was hoping to use this combination of tele-converter, telephoto lens, reversal ring and backwards 50mm lens to photograph Mr. Spider but after realizing how razor thin your depth of field is, and how precise your focus has to be, I don't think it would be possible for me to make happen. Maybe if I find a dead insect, that won't move, get away or bite, I might give it a try.

 

  Ultra Macro Lily Parts - Stamen by Jay Scott on 500px

Now that our pink backyard lily has been photographed it is the orange lily's turn. I feel like the result of the pink one was better than anything I've produced with lilies so far. Here's hoping I can turn the orange lily photo into something that will be tough to beat, next year. Keep your eyes on the site for that photo in the next few days.

 

  Ultra Macro Lily Parts - Petal by Jay Scott on 500px

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

Bleeding Hearts

This is one of those photos that needs no explanation or story.

Bleeding Hearts by Jay Scott

First Photo Walk of the Year

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to go on a photo walk with a friend from Ebenezer. We decided on going to the University campus because it is weatherproof and also because I wanted to show her some of my favorite locations on campus for photo shoots so that she would have some more locations in her toolbox for her own shoots. Being relatively new to Saskatoon I thought it would be appropriate to show her some of my favorite nooks on the campus. Next time I think we will explore Innovation Place.

It seemed to be a day of plants and leaves for me. When we went on this walk nothing had started to bloom, yet, and even the trees were just barely starting to show signs of buds growing.

It is pretty ironic that my best photos of the day were all taken in locations that it did not matter what time of the year it was. However, it was nice to be able to comfortably travel from one location to the other outside without worrying about the cold, even if my favorite shots came from indoors.

What would a trip to the geology building be without a quick long exposure of the waterfall over the Koi pond? I really need to bring a tripod one of these times to get a crystal-clear photo of the still objects. That said, the Koi were posing beautifully for Brendyn and I was a little envious of her ability to lean over the water and get some nice photos of those beautiful fish.

Regardless of the weather or the photos it was just nice to spend some time talking shop and making photos with someone else who really loves photography.

I imagine the family photo session bookings will be coming soon and if you are interested please contact me sooner rather than later so we can make sure that we get you booked at your ideal time.

Would You Vote for My Photo?

It isn't often that I ask for your help, my readers. But, one of my most iconic images, "Splash of Colors" is what I chose to enter in the Midwest Photo Exchange contest with the theme of Colors. There are some beautiful entries, but I really think that mine has a chance to win. What I need for now, is your votes. You can only vote once (unless you grab a new IP address) so I appreciate your one time effort on my behalf.

It would be greatly appreciated if you would take the time, at least once but maybe every day, to vote for my photo, if you feel that it is worthy of winning and that you support me. There is no sign-up required, no personal information requested or anything that makes voting more difficult than to click the link below and then click vote. You will need to enter the capatcha phrase (the letters or words that make sure you are a human) to complete the vote so, two clicks and enter the words to complete the process.

Splash of Colors

Thank you very much and I will definitely let you know if I win.

Jay

Splash of Colour by Jay Scott

Fresh Squeezed Ancient Hop-Grain Juice

Our hops did incredibly well for their first year in our yard. It was very refreshing after killing two clematis vines two years in a row. I don't know if our hops are the kind used to brew beer, or just ornamental. Gave me the idea for the photo below, the title inspired by a quote from the Simpsons.

Fresh Squeezed Ancient Hop-Grain Juice by Jay Scott

Paul, Barb, Emma and Olivia at Innovation Place

The more times you visit a location the more you find ways to use it. Innovation Place is not a difficult place to work at, but part of the challenge is making it less obvious of where you are shooting. This is made more difficult when both the photographer and one of the people you are working with are using wheelchairs.

There weren't many photos off the beaten path this day, but that is just fine. Those are the times you take the surroundings and go with it.

Paul and I have been friends for a long time but only in the last few years have we spent regular time together, much of it exercising together. During that time it has been nice to get to know the rest of his family better. As his daughters have come to know me better it only increases the comfort level and makes for better photos.

I was simply impressed with the girls' attention spans and patience. They had returned just an hour earlier from their aunt and uncle's farm, not having normal sleep being in beds other than their own, but they were great the whole time.

Emma has been exploring making time lapse and stop motion videos and showing excellent skill for such an early stage. I've been helping her how I can and look forward to watching her skill grow. She also has had shown and interest in modelling. For her age she really has posing figured out. I will be happy to keep working with her if she pursues it.

It was a great day together finished off by lunch back at their home. Quality time and enjoyable company on a nice late summer Saturday morning.

Innovation Place Before Autumn - 3

Oh, how I wished I had seen the location from my first two photos below on the family photo shoot two Saturdays ago. It is right beside the Saskatchewan Research Council building's entrance. They are a reflective gold. The light bouncing off of them is beautifully warm and the imperfections in the glass make it look like light reflected off of water or maybe light under water.

I will post some photos from that session in a week or so and will point out those that were taken with the gold windows as a background.

I suppose the family photo session day was completely overcast so as much as those two girls sitting on the rocks pictured below would have been nice, without the direct sunlight the effect would not have existed.

One of the first crunchy leaves of the upcoming autumn season.

Watermellon Bowl of Blueberries

I would appreciate your thoughts on which of the two you like better, be it composition, processing or focus.

Watermelon Bowl of Blueberries 1 by Jay Scott

Watermelon Bowl of Blueberries 2 by Jay Scott

Unfortunately, this watermelon was best used as a bowl. It wasn't the best of the season.

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