Photo-Journalism

This is definitely not a field that I imagine myself ever becoming interested in as a career ... I just can't picture myself (excuse the pun) shoving a camera into a "newsworthy" (read "bad news") event on a regular basis!

However, since I became more serious about photography and started turning my hobby into what I hope will be a career, I have found myself thinking "Where's my camera?" as soon as I see something that might be notable.

I walked out of my front door this morning, on the way to go grocery shopping, and could see this scene from my front stoep. This was one of the rare times that I didn't have my camera with me - I usually take it everywhere! So I rushed back in, grabbed my bag (which is always ready to go!), and drove a little closer.

Strangely enough, the instant I saw the accident scene, I knew exactly where I was going to go to get the shot! These photo's taken 150-200m from the scene.

They're not as sharp as I'd like ... I think the falling snow threw the auto-focus off a bit ... one day soon I'll add focus to my arsenal of manual settings!

Ski Race Training at Panorama

I managed to get up to Panorama for a couple of hours yesterday.

It is amazing how different the weather was up there ... where Invermere was dreary and foggy, Pano was sparkling clear!

I got a few decent shots of racers practicing their technique, but the images are not as sharp as I'd like. Never mind - I don't mind practicing - I thoroughly enjoyed myself up there despite frozen fingers and toes!


I got a couple of other shots that I liked:

Deer @ Dawn

I dashed out with my camera, coatless in -5C snowing weather, wearing just crocs on my feet, looking ridiculous with my jeans tucked into my socks (after having worn Sorels to walk my dog earlier), when I spied this buck wandering by in the waste ground beside our townhouse complex this morning.

I had to have the iso set at 3200 to get any type of shutter speed, so the sharpness after noise-reduction isn't what I'd like it to be, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome:

Cold Snap!

Yikes, but it's cold out there!

With night time low temperatures in the mid -20's Celsius, and daytime highs barely getting into the high teens below, getting the simplest things done (like laundry - downstairs pipes are frozen!) becomes a serious challenge!

Even at midday, it's too cold to be out much longer than half an hour, even if you're walking!

Poor Taela, short walks until this is over ...

Needless to day, having a regular photography outing, let alone a daily outdoor shoot, in these conditions is difficult! You know you're not going to be out long because batteries just won't stand up to the cold!

Here's today's photo, at -22C just as the fog banks were clearing:

First Triptych

I really like this photo and thought it would be a good candidate for a triptych.

This is my first effort at this technique in Photoshop ... no doubt there's a list a mile long of things wrong with it ... but for now I'm really chuffed with it!

I hope you enjoy looking at it!


And here's my third triptych:


Nov 17: Here's a vertical triptych - had to see if it'd work - I quite like it but not sure anyone would have such a large wall! What do you think?

Just when you start to lose faith ...

... a stunning shot presents itself!

ALWAYS have your camera with you!

New Location

We've just moved from western BC to eastern BC (about 10 hours' drive).

It takes time to adjust to a new location, finding places where the shooting's good ... I know that. Nevertheless, I'm getting depressed with what I've found around here so far. It seems so dry, dusty, and drab.

That said, we walked down by Windermere Lake over the weekend ... it was blowing a gale but presented some interesting photo op's and I got one worthy of sharing.