Abstract Shooting

 

  Abstract Long Exposure 2 by Jay Scott on 500px

Love it or hate it, here is my first attempt at something a little more abstract. Taking a page from David duChemin, I tried my hand at some intentionally out of focus, long exposure, shots to see what I could make out of them. Hard to believe that the photo above was made in the exact same spot, at the same time of year, as the one below. The top one was nothing more than a camera, lens and experimentation while the one below this was a combination of multiple light stands, flashes, radio triggers, much experience and meticulous tweaking to get it looking exactly as I wanted.

 

  Forestry Farm Thunderchild Crab Apple - 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

The photo below this was made no more than 10 meters away from the first photo, just chosen because of the delicate spring shade of green nearby and the hint of pink that entered the frame near the end from a similar, deeper coloured, tree.

 

  Abstract Long Exposure 1 by Jay Scott on 500px

I know that the comment section is pretty quiet in this space, but I know you are out there reading. I'd love to know what you think of this abstract style. It's just my first attempt, but it wasn't unenjoyable. We will see where my experimentation goes.

Zoo 2014 - 4

This is the final post from this trip to the zoo. I had another since then, but will add to that in a few weeks after we get to the lovely spring blossoms on the fruit trees are in Saskatoon. Those will be in my next post in a few days.

First, we start with a nice action series of a duck taking off. I love this time of year when the waterfowl is so active and you get a lot of good action shots of them taking off and landing, as you might've seen in my last post with some landings and saber rattling.

I don't know what it is, but the kids always seem most interested in the farm animals. I suppose it's no different than when I encountered a rabbit in my last visit. I looked over and saw an animal not in a cage and wasn't sure what I was seeing. Then, they proceeded to hop no more than 4 feet away from me. I suppose the cages take away the fascination even more than a young child watching their mother feed a simple chicken.

I'm always cautious when photographing people and their children. There are a lot of people who are opposed to having their photo taken, and I understand and respect that. However, these people were really friendly and more concerned that they were blocking my way than anything. I whispered back but they were not and asked if I could take a picture. Of course, they said yes. The caged animals will be there for a long time. It's the unique moments like this that I love to sit and enjoy, especially with our own little one on their way. Maybe I'll be feeding the chickens to the enjoyment of our child in a year or less.

It was getting pretty hot and just as I was leaving the zoo I spotted a peacock hiding under the bushes, getting some shade. It was a very nice and peaceful way to end that visit to the zoo. Both arriving and leaving I was just a few feet away from a nice peacock.

Zoo 2014 - 3

Continuing from my previous post, here are some more of the photos from the same trip to the zoo.

This peacock had much nicer plumage than the one from my previous post, but was not as cooperative as the first one. Still, stood still long enough for one nice portrait.

I have been surprised at how nonaggressive the geese have been this year. Most years you get within 30 feet of them and they're hissing like a snake about to attack. This year, even with the gaggle of 15 goslings, they were particularly calm. Maybe it's because there were far fewer noisy children chasing and disrupting their children. Still, cute and fluffy as they get.

Finally, is the date that draws near while the tummy grows larger. Look at the spurt on those last few photos! You can click on the image to enlarge it and get a better side to side scroll view of Angie's progress.

The next post will wrap up this visit to the zoo and the post following that will look at the amazing, beautiful blooming for trees Saskatoon was blessed with this year. There are going to be a lot of crabapples and berries covering the ground this fall.

Zoo 2014 - 2

It has been very good to be able to get back up to the zoo again in nothing more than a T-shirt or two. There really isn't a whole lot to say about these photos so sit back and enjoy! I will add commentary where necessary.

This Peacock is not headless, just grooming itself under its wing. I certainly had the pleasure of being very close to it for a long period of time. Those calls it lets out sure are startling, though.

This little guy was born less than a week ago and was just the cutest little thing galloping across the field to get to its mother. Of course, I missed that shot because I think I may have spooked him and caused him to run across as I approached. That's why I didn't have my camera up and ready.

There will be more to come in a few days from this trip and, as of the writing of this, I've had two more excellent photo walks with results to post. They will be coming in the next little while as time to work on them and write posts comes.

Red Curry with Blue Rice

 

  Red Curry with Blue Rice by Jay Scott on 500px

Angie had a girls' night out so I whipped up a red curry so spicy that, even though it was cold by the time I was done shooting, I had to eat slowly and a smaller portion for fear of burning my mouth.

I tire of "nice" photos so, despite an overhead soft box to believably imitate to candle, I added a blue touch to the rice for an element of surrealism. It was also nice to have a good time to incorporate the candle holder made by my grandfather's skilled hands. It deserves a detail shot of its own. His choices of wood, glued together in such a way to make the pattern it does, has always impressed me. It, in itself, is art.

Calgary, Beet Borscht and Baguette

After an Easter weekend of greatly appreciated help in moving furniture, assembling new stuff and generally helping us to get things straightened around in our home and in the baby's room we took a very early summer vacation to go to Calgary. Angie did not know how she would be feeling by this point in her pregnancy when we made the initial, tentative, plans but it was a good trip.

After checking into our hotel, making my accessibility requests made and arranged for when we returned, we took a quick visit to the Chinook Centre for a nice coffee before heading to Lazy Monkey for a nice supper with a friend I hadn't seen for far too long. That was a lengthy visit because we had a fair bit to catch up on, but not as much as you might think. There is something so nice about reconnecting with someone you hadn't seen for years and it feeling like it was not that long ago.

After a reasonable night's sleep we made the obligatory IKEA run, where we ran into my cousins from Saskatoon, and their kids, then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Cross Iron Mills Mall, where we bumped into the same cousins multiple times. I guess those are the places Saskatchewan folk go when they visit Calgary. We wrapped the very snowy day up with supper at Joey (this dumbing down of restaurant names doesn't appeal to me, but the food did). We thought that by planning a trip at this time of year we would not run into much snow, but we did and they got hit the following weekend with even more.

The next day we went to the Symon Valley Ranch Farmer's Market where we had a chance to enjoy another nice coffee by the same roasters as on Friday, see some very unique products and vendors and bought a few things that we are in the process of enjoying now such as the beets that are the highlight of this post and a few ready-made soup and stew mixes which we plan to break into this coming Saturday. I'm not sure why, but I seem to be saving the beef jerky we picked up.

One thing about independent business and vendors, they are always so friendly, knowledgeable about their product and interested in serving their customers. It's always so enjoyable to interact with them and learn about their products that they are so passionate about. I'm not the type to snap pictures of everything and everyone, but I did snap a couple uninspiring shots while waiting for the empanadas we enjoyed before leaving shortly after noon. My apologies for the mediocre cell phone shots that precede the star photo of this post at the end.

That afternoon, Sunday, we went downtown to check things out. In past visits to Calgary we avoided downtown because we were assuming that the parking would be too expensive and the driving more intimidating than the benefit of going downtown. After Vancouver and Seattle last year downtown Calgary was completely unintimidating to drive in. We spent the afternoon at the Core shopping center, which cost us a whole two dollars for parking as Calgary has a very affordable and liberal parking policy on weekends.

At the top of The Core shopping center are the Devonian Gardens. It was a very nice place to spend some time enjoying plants and scenery since spring has been so late in coming to this part of the world. The only problem was getting up there with only one elevator for the entire shopping center which was always packed like a can of sardines. The multiple escalators seem to elude most people who could've used them.

I was hoping to have the opportunity to make a few photos of the gardens while we were there so I looked up their photography policies before we left. It sounded like they were reasonably casual but that anybody wanting to do anything serious need to reserve and pay for the time there. As such, there was a very large men's choir having a photo session after which they graced us with their talents before dispersing. It certainly added to the lovely atmosphere of the gardens.

However, I did not bring my camera because the weather looked lousy and we were not planning to go to the zoo so I was not going to haul it with me just to photograph a few flowers which would've only end up being snapshots, as seen above. The light was really nice in the gardens and the shiny metal tables made for beautiful fill light reflectors which meant Angie had to pose for me more than a few times.

After we had seen enough of the gardens and the shopping center we went downstairs and out onto 8th Avenue, also known as Stephen Avenue. This street is pedestrian only between certain hours of the day. It was nice to be able to stroll down the middle of the street, see the unique architecture and far more interesting businesses than your typical chain stores that every single mall in North America seems to have. It was almost eerily quiet to see so few people downtown in a city of over 1 million but it certainly was nice to have all the space to ourselves.

We made our way down to the Olympic Plaza then back to the shopping center and off to supper at a French-Indian fusion restaurant. It was called Saffron Mantra, had only been open a few months and was run by some really nice people. I hope they do well and that the few places they could improve get worked out quickly. I would not mind visiting it again.

We returned to our hotel and got to bed early to make for an easier trip home the next day. They were very accommodating at our hotel but we did not get an accessible room. I didn't terribly need it this time so I thought I would enjoy the opportunity to make a photograph while not on the bottom floor, as 99% of accessible rooms are.

After an uneventful trip home Monday, and another shorter week because of Angie's three-day course beginning on Friday, I dug into the beets we bought at the farmer's market in order to curb our craving for beet borscht after my Aunt Doreen's whetted our appetite for more of it.

I don't know I've cooked with purple cabbage before but the pattern and texture after cutting into it was just too beautiful to not make a photo of it.

The broth had begun to take on a bit of a purple texture with the juice of the cabbage but it wasn't until these little nuggets of beet are added that it turned to that deep and rich color.

Accompanied by a nice French baguette, with the dill stirred in at the very end, we had a very satisfying supper of hot soup and chewy bread. The best part, in addition to the enjoyment of cooking it, it was good to make a photo just for the fun of it. I always appreciate the purpose of my work on Challenging Reality but every once in awhile a photo just for the fun of it is important, also.

 

  Beet Borscht and Baguette by Jay Scott on 500px

It's Zoo Season and Four Months to Go

After another prolonged winter, and slower melt than I would like to see, I finally had the opportunity to go to the zoo for some photos and more real-life exercise than what I get at the track. Unfortunately, there were still many piles of ice that were just soft enough that I could not wheel through or over them. Where the snow had been cleared in the winter there was heavy machinery for annual tree trimming. Because of that I really only got a few photos of the bears, a few of the lynx on the new platform in their habitat, and some decent opportunities to photograph some geese.

 Being prior to their hissy-fit stage, which occurs when the babies arrive, this one was kind enough to waddle up on top of a snow mound which provided me a much more interesting background than I normally can get from my seated position. There wasn't much I could do about the seeds and sand on its beak.

Normally I think more of geese with a goofy expression like the one pictured above, or steaming on a platter accompanied by mashed potatoes. But, when they are friendly and easy-going I like them a lot more.

It was interesting to watch the geese walking and stomping on the ice trying to break it up. They had made a few holes for swimming in but I doubt there was much in there to eat, yet. I'm sure that after yesterday's wind and tomorrow evening's rain it will advance the melt a lot quicker.

What was more interesting to me was watching them walk and fall through the snow banks that are still around. A video posted by The Camera Store TV today had some B roll of exactly that, a goose walking on snow and breaking through up to its belly. I guess Calgary isn't that much more melted than we are.

Lastly, before I decided I had seen all that I was able to get to for the day, were the lynx. Their new platform gives them both a better view out and visitors a better view of them. With the snow receding I should be able to get a better angle, with less fence in the foreground (but the red branches of the red bush against the fence were intentional). Early mornings will be the best time to find the cats sitting up there looking out.

But, the biggest news is of course that Angie is due in a mere four months. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that but feeling our baby kick for the first time the other night brought me one step closer to it sinking in to my brain. We will continue with the regular series of photos and post a new composite periodically.

For those interested in the technicals of the above photos, it varies from each session to session, but the location is the same (hence the entertainment center in our snug living room creeping into the bottom left corner of each frame) and the light sources, though the power may vary from one to the other, are the same each time. The key light on camera left is a 90 cm soft box with the equivalent of a one quarter cut of CTO, the fill on the right is a small Pringles-can strip light with a one half cut of CTO, and one hair light at rear camera right with a full cut of CTO and a 20° grid spot. For each I was at about 90mm, shooting between f/4.5 and f/5.6, ISO 200, no ambient influencing the photo.

I don't know if I've ever received so many "shares" or "likes" on Facebook and I'm appreciative of how much people enjoy the photos. However, I have a feeling nagging in the back of my mind. I am almost as passionate and dedicated to Challenging Reality, and have been posting photos there for over a year, pouring much effort, emotion, time and money into that, trying to express how much it means to me to those who view it, but cannot seem to get the word out the way I am hoping to. So, next time you take a look at that site or see a post on Facebook, could you remember how much it means to me and take the time to share it, or even create your own new post linking to the site or article.

Thank you.