Sunrise, Bay of Islands

This morning, while searching for photos to share with you, I came across these two photos taken one after the other. They were taken on August 5, 2006 at 6:32 am. (Isn't digital photography great?) just as the sun was rising over the Bay of Islands in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador.

I was standing behind a bunch of big rocks on the breakwater in the Marina and had to stand on a rock to get the first photo. I intentionally composed the photo to have very little water and land, but mostly sky.

When I stepped off the rock, I wondered if the silhouettes of the rocks would add to the photo. Notice that for this composition I zoomed in a little and used the Rule of Thirds (horizon is near the bottom 1/3 of the photo) The rocks tell the viewer that the photo was taken from land, whereas the first one could have been taken from a boat.

I use these photos to illustrate that EVERYTHING'S A PICTURE! With digital photography, feel free to experiment.

Over the past two weeks, I have been teaching 6-9 year olds to use a digital camera and encouraged them to try different angles. They had to take one photo showing their Webkinz (stuffed toys) and one close up. I also taught them how to make the © symbol and put it on their web sites. The purpose of this project was to teach them a little about how to use a digital camera as well as reinforce the idea of Copyright and ownership of images on the Internet.

Feel free to check out their work. Go to http://www.mqp.k12.nf.ca/ then click on Student Pages > and the grade ... Most grade 1 and 2 students have their Webkinz projects on line ...

Dory

I am sending 2 photos of small boats. I am pretty sure the first is a dory, but I am not sure about the second photo. I am sending a larger image for identification purposes.

The first photo was used by a local publisher as a cover of a book about "The Dory".

I photograph boats all around the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and have many images of a variety of boasts - big and small.

Elephant

Elephants are huge animals and I have photographed a few in circuses but have never seen them in the wild. Today's photos were taken in Busch Gardens in Florida a couple of years ago. I photographed one being hosed down in the middle of a hot afternoon. I tried to photograph it without the man standing next to him, but when I saw him looking so small compared to the elephant, I captured the image. He makes a good reference in this case.

One person on this list wrote to tell me that the Naples Zoo was excellent. From Friday to Monday I didn't receive any mail at all so if others tried to send me an email about the Naples Zoo, please resend. Thanks in advance.

Sunset, March 27, 2008

Last night the colours of the sunset were spectacular; a pleasant surprise after the stormy day we had. The two photos today were taken from one of the doors in my house. I didn't even go outside to capture these images. :)

Strawberries

Sorry about the lateness of the photos today.

I am sending three photos I took of strawberries. The last one was taken on my back deck
.
Enjoy.

Tall Ships, St. John's

Several years ago (possibly 1997, the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the New found lande by John Cabot) I photographed a group of tall ships as they entered St. John's Harbour. A few days later, I photographed them again as they left.

The first photo this morning shows one of these ships entering the harbour. I captured a puff of smoke as the crew fired a cannon to announce its arrival. Fort Amherst lighthouse can be seen in the background.

The white ship (I believe it may have been Portuguese) looked very majestic as it left St. John's. Houses in the Battery can be seen in the background.

My email is still not working ... I will respond to emails when I get it straightened out.

Splash of Colour

This morning I have decided to send a "splash of colour" which is a sign of things to come in this part of the world.

The snow is all but gone, but it is still pretty cool. It will be a while before the flowers bloom, but today's photos are a reminder that they will.

The bleeding hearts make excellent photographic subjects because of their colours and shapes. The yellow flowers look like daisies, but I am not sure what variety of flower these are. The third photo shows a field of blue flag irises after a heavy rainfall. Notice how the top leaves have folded downwards, almost like they are protecting the pollen that is found inside the flower.

My email server is having problems over the past 24 couple of days, and I have not received any email. If any of you sent a response regarding the Naples Zoo, you will receive a response when I start receiving emails again.

Tigers

During my first trip to Florida in 1980, I photographed tigers at Bush Gardens and was lucky to catch them up and around their enclosure. One even went for a swim, which my kids (and I) enjoyed at the time.

The first two images this morning were taken 27 years ago with Kodachrome 25 slide film. They were scanned 15 years ago and when I finally got access to them a couple of months ago, all I had to do was touch up the dust spots.

In 2003, I visited Bush Gardens again, but this time the tigers were sound asleep and didn't move at all. I took a few photos of them, but I like the ones I had taken several years earlier much better.

When I first started travelling as a young adult, I stopped visiting zoos because I hated seeing the animals pacing back and forth in small cages. Over the years, however, zoos have changed and animals have much more room to move around. In fact, you can hardly tell that the photos I am sharing today were taken in a "zoo".

When I go to Florida in a couple of weeks I am planning to visit the Naples Zoo to get photos of "rainforest" animals. If any of you have visited that zoo, please let me know what you think of it. I have visited their web site and it looks great, but a few reviews on line were not good. I'd like to know if I can photograph everything in one day, or would I need to go more than once.

Lilies

It is windy and rainy here in Newfoundland and Labrador at 6:00 am. The temperature is supposed to get up to 8° C (48°F approx) today and with high winds and rain, the snow in the woods will probably be gone after a few more days.

This morning, I am sharing two photos of white lilies. At first I thought they were the same variety, but when I looked at the stamen, I noticed they are different, so I assume they are not the same.

The first image was taken in an outdoor flower garden in direct sunlight. I used my 70-300 mm lens to take this photo because I didn't want to walk into the flower garden to get the photo I wanted.

The second, close-up image was taken inside a greenhouse and the light is much softer (less contrast) than the first photo. I used the macro setting on my digital camera to get this image.

Spring

On Monday, I took a 2 hour snowshoe hike behind my house. It was amazing how much snow had melted since my walk the day before. This morning, I am sharing three photos I took during the last hike.

The first image shows the point on the trail where I stopped and turned back. You can see that the trail has been transformed into a small river that was flowing underneath the snow on which I was standing. I had walked around several areas on the trail that were similar to this, but much smaller. The second photo shows another part of the trail that I had walked over a few minutes before stopping. The water flowing under the snow was a little unnerving because if I fell trough, I would get very wet, then have to walk an hour or so with wet clothes. That wouldn't have been very comfortable.

The third photo shows the lake that I had walked across the day before. I was amazed at how much it had melted in less than 24 hours. I certainly didn't take a chance walking across it during my last snowshoe hike of the year. The temperatures on Friday are supposed to be around 10°C (42°F) so I suspect that there won't be too much snow left by the weekend.

These type of photos document the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Last year, I started photographing the trails and hills behind my house in late April and have continued throughout the year. I have thousands of photos of the changes throughout the seasons, almost on a daily basis. I'll probably continue the "project" again for another year or two. Taking a camera along on my walks forces me to "see" the changes that are occurring and allows me to share them with others. The walks are also good for the body, and the soul.

Carnations

On the first day of Spring, I decided to send flowers to everyone. I like carnations because they have a variety of colours, are prolific and they also smell great.

Both photos were taken without a flash or tripod near our large living room window. Notice the different lighting in each image. The first was taken at an angle nearly parallel to the window and the colours are very soft. In fact, on some monitors, this photo may be too dark.

I moved position so the window was nearly behind me to capture the second image. It was difficult to manoeuvre from this angle and I couldn't get much closer. The lighting is stronger in this image and there is more contrast.

Next time I'll try more angles and use a tripod to see if I can get more spectacular images.

Hawaii

In 1980, I visited Oahu, Hawaii for 2 weeks. I shot an average of 1 roll of 36 slides per day which at the time cost me around $20 per roll. Today I have chosen 3 images to share.

The first two were taken from our 11th floor hotel balcony. The sunset shows palm trees along Waikiki Beach, a hotel, and beautiful colours. We witnessed a beautiful sunset every night we were there.

The surfers used to start at daylight and continue throughout the day. I used to swim out among them every day to observe how they surfed. A friend and I rented surf boards on our last day there and I actually caught a few waves and stood up on the surfboard for a good distance. It was fun!

The third is a silhouette of a girl from New York. I approached her and asked if I could take her photo with the sun setting behind her. She agreed and I took several photos. Each is a silhouette and a few are closer and better than the image I am sharing today. Since they were slides, I have to wait until I come across a scan of other photos in the series before I can show you.

Later I was standing in a line for food when overheard a guy telling a group of people that a "professional" photographer asked to photograph his girlfriend on the beach. There were 50 busloads of people at the luau we attended and I wondered about the chances of me lining up behind her boyfriend. As I said before - each photo brings back vivid memories. : )

Spring

After a 3 hour snowshoe hike yesterday, I am convinced that Spring has finally started in this part of the world. Snow is disappearing rapidly and the warm sunny day certainly had water running, and lots of it.

The first photo today shows a pole line with lots of grassy areas visible. The second image shows a large puddle formed by melting snow. The third image shows how wet the ground is where all snow has disappeared.

Finally, I had to photograph the moose tracks in 2 feet of snow. Even though they have long legs, it must be difficult walking through the deep snow during winter. I bet they will be happy when the snow is gone completely.

Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador

This morning I am sharing two photographs taken from the highest mountain behind my house. Both were taken looking North towards Holyrood Harbour. The weather is much different - one sunny and clear and the other mostly overcast. As well, the one with the person (my son) shows less rock and more of the valley below. I like this photo more than the other because the colours are richer and the person adds more interest to the image.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I am sharing 4 photographs of "Julie", a model I photographed a few years ago. I was photographing models who were wearing swimwear designed by a local fashion designer. Because Julie looked so Irish wearing the Shamrock suim suit, I have sent photos of her for St. Patrick's Day for at least 2 years.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Feel free to check out other photos in my swimwear galleries.
http://www.lanephotography.com/newfoundland_swimwear/swimwear_photography_1.htm

Birds

Travelling to warmer climates gives me the opportunity to photograph exotic species of birds. Today's photos were taken on Florida during my first visit there in 1980. It was the first time I had seen such colourful birds. I believe the first two are macaws and the third a cockatoo, but I am not certain.

Our students are doing a rainforest unit right now and are looking for photos of birds and animals that live in the rainforest. These include: macaws, parrots, monkeys, apes, gorilla, tigers, poison arrow frogs, snakes, boa constrictor, anaconda, alligators and crocodiles. An expanded list is on line at http://www.mqp.k12.nf.ca/rainforest/rainforest_links.htm

If you have photos that you don't mind students using in projects, feel free to send them to me and I'll make sure that they get on line ASAP.

Pottery

The first photo of a pottery display was taken in Edmonton in 1988. It was taken at an outdoor art exhibit. The jug and basin were taken in a local museum - possibly Lobster Cove Lighthouse - around the same time.

I like the contrast between the two images. One colourful and modern, the other nearly black and white, and reflecting the past.

Seascapes

Last summer I visited Ferryland and was treated to the sight of waves crashing against the shoreline. I am sharing two images this morning that depict seascapes in this small town.

There is no shortage of wind and wave power in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. If only we could capture the energy and convert to electricity.

Years ago when I was in Hawaii, I saw a large wind-farm in operation and wondered why we didn't have one or more in this province.

Weathered Wood

This morning I am sending two black and white photos that depict weathered wood. The first shows shingles on an old shed. You can see that they are weathered and cracked. As well the nails have rusted.

The second looks very similar, but this piece pf wood has been weathering in nature. This photo was taken on the banks of Badger Lake in Central Newfoundland many years ago.

Even though we humans have learned to cut and modify trees for building materials, the wood eventually weathers, then rots away the same as if we hadn't touched it.

I think this says something about our perceptions of the world. In general, humans think they are outside of Nature and that they are the most important living things on the planet. However as today's photos show, what we build will not last. It is time we realized that we are part of Nature and change our life styles to care for the planet that gives us life.

Flowers

A few more photos of flowers this morning. Today I am sharing three different photos of hibiscus flowers taken in Florida a couple of years ago.

These are fairly large flowers and the slightest breeze causes them to move. As well, when shooting close-ups it is difficult to get everything in focus. It helps for the camera to be parallel to the part of the flower on which you are focusing.

Shooting directly at the flower from a close distance may cause the reproductive parts of the flower to be out of focus. In the second photo this morning, the tips of the anthers are slightly out of focus.

I moved back a couple of feet to get the third image. Because I am no longer close to the flowers, the focusproblem of macro photography is no longer an issue.

HINT 2 - Flower Photography - for extreme close-ups use the macro setting on your camera and try to keep the camera parallel to the part of the flower on which you are focusing. Be patient and wait for the wind to stop.