The Best Kept Secret?
Lets not read too much into the title but it’s pretty exciting that I lead off the winter issue of Outdoor Photography Canada Magazine with a introduction-like article in the editors column. This quarterly column is designed to showcase lesser known photographers and I was delighted when the editor contacted me to ask if I would be interested in participating. How could I possibly say no?
Today’s Image – OPC Winter 2013 Issue
Available on newsstands until April 5th 2013, You can find the article in the editors “From Where I Sit” column on page 9. Below are the two images Roy Ramsay selected for his write up.
I Have Much to Learn
Iceland was the first group tour I’ve ever been on. With a fixed itinerary, pre-defined locations, and a large group with a variety of interests – to say I was highly skeptical was an understatement. Regardless of my hesitation, it was hard to turn down the invitation and I really wanted to travel with those that invited me.
Now that I’m home and relatively pleased with a few of the images I brought home, it’s interesting and often amazing to see what the rest of the group saw and shot. With each new image, I found myself saying “Where was that?”, “Why did I not see it that way?”, or “#*$?, my image sucks compared to that one”.
The trip was a very fast paced packed itinerary with little time to rest (most of use slept in the van) and exhaustion was a battle by week two. At a time when I was completely uninspired to pick up the camera with several excuses of being too tired, the light or weather sucks, it’s mid-day and hot, there were other photographers out making great images that I had the opportunity and intentionally missed out on.
To close off this Icelandic Adventure, we as a group have assembled a PDF in the form of an eBook showcasing everyone’s favourite photographs.
Today’s Image – Two Weeks in Iceland PDF eBook
This 122 page PDF is designed to be a portfolio of our favourite images from 12 photographers that ventured off to Iceland for 2 weeks in the spring of 2012. Published by oopoomoo, you can download this free 36MB PDF to see the wide variety of images and the different photographic styles artists can produce, even though we were often standing side by side in front of the same scene in the same weather.
Past and Present Book Now Available
After several months of anticipation, I’m pleased to announce that in honour of the park’s 75th anniversary, PEI National Park, Parks and People Association and The Acorn Press released a new book this past Wednesday night to a full house at Dalvay-by-the-Sea National Historic Site — a 77 page picture-heavy book produced primarily with John Sylvester’s images from his 28 years of photographing the park.
During the creation of the book, I was approached by Parks & People and PEI National Park to participate in this anniversary publication with the inclusion of some of my own images which I easily agreed to.
Thanks to all who attended Wednesday night where both John and I were available for book signings. If I was a guessing man, I would not be surprised if we signed 100 or more books. It felt like a successful first day and I was pleasantly surprised just how many mentioned they were familiar with this website.
You can buy the book online for only $17.80 CND or pick it up at any Parks and People boutique / bookstore.
Today’s Image – Prince Edward Island National Park: Past and Present
The following text is quoted from the introduction to Prince Edward Island National Park: Past and Present.
Prince Edward Island National Park has been welcoming vistors from around the world since it was first created in 1937. From the dramatic red sandstone cliffs and spectacular beaches in Cavendish to the pristine parabolic dunes in Greenwich, this small coastal park has captiavated the hearts of all who experience its serene and tranquil beauty.
Stretching for about 40 kilometres along the north shore of Prince Edward Island between New London and Tracadie bays and taking in the tip of the Greenwich peninsula in St. Peters Bay, the Park’s dynamic coastal landscape is constantly chaning as it is shaped by wind and waves.
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This book aims to capture the essence of this special place, preserved and protected for you to return to again and again..
As an additional preview, here are a few of the images found in the book.
How Much Resolution Do You Need?
If you’re a photographer, the internet has been polluted with people eager to spend money on either the new D800 or 5D. Both are reasonable upgrades but for the most part, Nikon and Canon has a similar fan base to Apple in which everyone complains what’s missing, but they’ll still line up to buy it. But that’s beside the point.
The D800 comes with a resolution of 38 million pixels and while there are for sure people that can use and need every bit of that, those people are not the average user. I don’t even think Canon makes an slr under 18 MP now. Marketing tells us bigger is better.
I’ll go on record by saying that I want as much resolution as I can possibly get. You never know when an agency will call and in the stock world, pricing is determined by use and size. But regardless of what the market desires, how much is actually necessary for most use cases?
Today’s Image – Covehead Lighthouse
Here is an image that I’ve shared before on my old blog as well as in my portfolio. It’s special for a couple reasons. For starters, it was made at 3:30am in the National Park during a meteor shower. It was a great all night marathon that I remember well. To top that off, Parks Canada eventually requested a license to use this image for their 100th anniversary campaign featuring a different National Park across Canada for each hour of the day. Shockingly, the 2am to 5am slot was hard to fill. :-)
The point about resolution is that this photo was created with the original Canon 5D. It has a total of 12 MP of resolution but I lost some of that due to cropping and horizon straightening. The final print still measured 5 feet wide and found it’s home in both Ottawa and Toronto with a very close viewing distance.
Here are a few photos from that exhibit.
Processing Artistry – PhotographyBB Magazine
90% of all the images I publish have very basic post processing. My workflow is often simply running through the Lightroom development panel from bottom to top adjusting color, contrast and taking full advantage of the histogram before exporting for web. However, on occasion, the image is still missing something but shows potential. And that’s when I send the file to Photoshop to start experimenting.
The December issue of PhotographyBB Magazine is out and I was kindly asked by Dave Seeram to contribute a guest post-processing article describing this very situation. The image I decided to use was of an abandoned pier on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island.
Get the free December 2011 Issue of PhotographyBB Magazine
If you would like to attempt the steps on your own as practice, I’m making the original raw DNG file for your own personal use available for download. (Lightroom’s “Zeroed” preset applied)
And I feel it’s necessary to note that while some editing should be expected, several changes were made to the copy using the first-person context which left me scratching my head. I’ve never been fond of the word “punch” to describe an image but the editor decided I should say it twice…. ah well.
Today’s Image – Abandoned Pier
Located near the St. Peters Lighthouse at N 46 26.555 W 62 44.495, several rows of posts remain at the entrance to St Peters Harbour.