Powell River Sunsets

These two images are taken within minutes of each other.  The beauty of the digital camera is taking multiple shots and being able to see the results almost immediately.  While I like the colouration of the second image better, the first one is composed better by framing in the sunset.  

In post production, I would also increase the saturation of the orange to make it pop more. Here is what that looks like.  I increased the saturation of the orange sky, increased the blackpoint, and added a bit of exposure as well.

Well Camoflouged

This ground squirrel is well suited for a forest and for the glacial morraine.

I purposed to leave a lot of brown space so that the viewer has to search for the squirrel.  While the squirrel is placed in a third, the tree is also a distractor to the eye.

This reminds me to think about the purpose of making a photograph.  Rather than just clicking, it is important to always think of what you might use it for eventually.

Overcoming Adversity

These belles were growing in the glacial deposits at Mt. Edith Cavell.  The bleakness of the climate is apparent with the sparsity of life.  There were about 8 different kinds of flowers growing in the area and only a few trees.

This image interested me as it has two sets of bells.  The image was made with my 70-200mm lens.

Rose Trio

At the end of last summer, I planted several rose bushes.  They have not been doing fantastic this year.  (One has even died.)

Returning from a week camping trip, this trio is preparing to show.  I set the aperture as high as possible to reduce the focal depth.  Just one of the three is in good focus and the background is blurred out entirely.

Strong Roots

While visiting Mt. Edith Cavell Glacier, we walked to the glacial pond.  The outflow streams appear to not follow a warn path as the material is all the same - glacial deposit. 

This tree was less than two feet tall  and I would guess about 8 years old.  In the cold glacial climate and uncertain soil to grow in, it was amazing to see it surviving.

The image is unique as I made the photo by almost placing the lens in the water.  Looking from different perspectives creates unique images.

Golfing in majesty

As a fun excursion in Jasper, I went with 4 golfers and took photos of the beauty and their golfing.

The difficult part of these locations is that there are too many options to choose from.  I tried to capture the 3 horizontal bands of interest - green space, mountains, clouds.

Canada Geese

Both of these images are crops to make a better photograph.  Part of the reason for cropping was that there were about 25 geese in total but the number in focus in any one shot was limited.  I have to work on my shots to have better focal depth.  I work on higher F-stops; however, I am not entirely happy with the way the lenses are performing.

Twisted Daisy

Along the Willingdon Beach trail there was a patch of tall daisies.  I found the twisted leaves intriguing.

Normally I like to use the rule of thirds; however, I knew that I should break the rules with making this image.  The high contrast nature of the white daisy with dark background draws your eye to the twisted petals.

BC Coastal Sailing

I grew up spending my summers on or near the ocean.  Seeing this sailboat anchored off Willingdon Beach brought back many memories.

This was made at the same time that the previous sun reflecting image was created.  I had to manually reduce the exposure to ensure that the sun didn't wash out all the colours and create a high contrast / low colour image.

Early Evening Willingdon Beach Sunset

My Mother-In-Law believes Powell River has the best sunsets in the world.  I have taken some wonderful shots that I will share in a future post.

Taking shots with high sunlight exposure works best using manual settings.  I was able to adjust the exposure to develop this image.

I most enjoy the horizontal lines of the shore, waves, Harwood Island and clouds.

Caribou leaving Jasper

While traveling with my ADE team back from Jasper early in July.  We were discussing how disappointed we were in the amount of wildlife we had not seen in Jasper National Park.

Then we drove past this Caribou in BC.  It was lightly raining at the time so the image quality is less than I would have liked.  My team did not want me to get out of the vehicle (wise choice but the inner photographer in me was screaming to get closer and different perspectives.)  I was able to open the door and snap some shots.  

This image is also Geotagged in Flickr.com/amboe_k

Wild Tiger Lilly in Jasper

I enjoy flowers in my garden at home and enjoy them even more when I realize what domesticated flowers look like.  This is a wild Tiger Lilly in Jasper.  Our garden varieties are cared for and replanted and fed and..... 

In nature, the same flower thrives.  It does look different; however, seeing it in a see of green is nicer than my cultured soil at home.

I took several shots with my 70 -200 mm lens; however, I found this was the one with the best composition.

Ground Squirrel in Jasper

The advantage of shooting in high resolution and RAW is the ability to crop.  This image is a crop from less than 25% of the original image.  

Glowing Cone Coals

This was exciting to take.  There was a pile of Douglas Fir cones near our campfire pit in Willingdon Beach, Powell River this July.  Throwing them into the fire the initially burned; however, they stayed as formed cones for a long time.

To get this shot, I had to take several shots with different shutter speeds.  I also tried with flash and you could see in that image that they were actually ashen coloured.  When the fire finally died down, these cones were completely ash.

Butterfly in Jasper

Using my 70 - 200 mm Nikor lens, I was able to zoom in on this butterfly in Jasper.  I took several shots; however, this was the best focused.  It is always challenging to get animals to sit still long enough to get a good focus as well as decide on aperture / shutter speeds.

Strong Legged Tree

This amazing tree looked like it was leaning over with outstretched legs on Lac Beauvert, Jasper.  I did also take this shot as two images but have not spliced them together yet to get a different perspective.

Racoon sleeping in a tree

While camping in Willingdon Beach, Powell River this July, this racoon was scampering around.  That same evening we watched it climb the tree and begin to sleep with hands and feet on different branches.  

The lighting was poor so we used a flashlight in on the tree which woke it up.  It was cute to catch it yawning.

I don't often do night photography as lighting is tricky with just a flash on the camera.  Using the flashlight allowed the camera to focus as well.

Overlooking lac beauvert

This was a fun photo from the lawns of Jasper Park Lodge.  When I first saw these chairs, I thought of Google.  It is amazing their branding can be activated by simple colours.

Salmon Berry

It is finally that time of year.  Walking through any park, there will be salmon berries growing.  Their season is usually from mid May to mid July depending on how much light filters through the forest canopy.  This photo was made on a sunny day with my Nikon D-60.

Chive Blossom

We have have a wonderful chive garden out of our front door.  While this was not shot with a macro lens, I was able to use my 200 mm zoom.  I have gained more joy out of my chives than most flowers in the garden.  They are very hardy, start growing and blooming early in the Spring and the flowers are just dieing now in early July.

Steel Dragon Sculptures

These steel sculptures were in front of a nursery on San Mateo Road toward Half Moon Bay.  I took these photos hoping to make them into something more; however, their location and background didn't lend itself to that.  

Bumble Bee on Rhododenron

This image was nice before cropping but even better when cropped to place the bee into the upper right third.

Original image - 

I was shooting in RAW with JPEG but Aperture 1.5 doesn't display the RAW files properly.  I have downgraded to just shooting in High Quality JPEG.    Still the images are 3800 x 2600 - they have been scaled down to max 640 to display on this blog.

Field Lupine

I believe these are called Lupine.  They were in a damp portion of a field at Bear Creek Park.  It was a bright day so it was easy to increase the F-Stop and reduce the field of focus.  Working with the Rule of Thirds can create some amazing images.

Paeony bud

Photo made on June 20.  From this stage to faded white blossoms with petals falling off took only two weeks.  

Kayaking up Comox River

Our beautiful coast provides many recreation opportunities.  This kayaker was likely out in the ocean for the day and was returning upstream of the Comox River.  The photo was taken in late August 2007.

Butterfly in Prince George

This butterfly was fluttering near us camping in Prince George last summer.  I wasn't able to frame it perfectly in the camera so had to crop it afterwards.  We did have it land on my daughters hand at one point too.

Paeony with Ant help

Each Year I am amazed at the work of these ants.  Without them, the Paeony blossoms won't open without the help of the ants.  I was trying to capture them at work, but they scurry about incredibly.

Black Tulip

This beautiful image of a tulip flower was taken with my Pentax Optio.  It has incredible Macro ability.  The glow is from natural sunlight.  I basically placed the camera inside the tulip to make the photo.

Columbian Ground Squirrel - Manning Park

These wonderfully curious creatures are abundant in inhabited parts of the park.  They will come up and take food right out of your hand as they are fed by thousands of visitors a year.  This image is a crop of a larger one that had my hand in it.  It is difficult to entice them to come near for a good photo, and balance my Nikon D60 with the other hand.

These images were made at the end of May.  As you can see by the grass, Spring has not yet arrived in this mountainous park.

Bird in Manning Park

Getting these guys to sit still long enough to take a picture is challenging.  The ones in Manning Park are a little easier as they come to you expecting to be fed.  I tried several other shots to make this one.  While it is not the prettiest of birds, it does blend in very well with the environment.

Grapes in Winfield

These grape vines had not budded yet at the end of May.  This farm is located just north of Kelowna in Winfield, BC.  I usually try and use lines to shape and make photos.  It is funny with such chaos to try and make a photo - other than of chaos.