Caribou

Today, I went back through my files and found a couple of images of caribou that I thought I would share.

These photos were taken near Glenwood in Central Newfoundland. I was driving on the Trans Canada Highway when I saw two caribou grazing on a nearby bog. I stopped the car and took time to capture a few images. Caribou are nervous animals and didn't stay around very long after I got out of my car.

Visitors to our province should remember to keep their eyes open as they drive on our highways. One never knows where or when they will see wildlife. I have seen many animals including: moose, bears, foxes, beavers, hare, squirrels, grouse and a variety of other animals in my drives across the province. I stop every time if the animals are near the road.

Bakeapples

This morning I returned to the bakeapple patch I described on July 24 and picked about 2 litres of berries. I photographed a few ripe berries as well as a tight shot of the berries I picked. You can check the photos of the unripe berries on my Blog at http://kbrucelane.blogspot.com/2007/07/bakeapples.html

I have been uploading my daily photos to my Photo of the Day Blog since July 17 last year and have had nearly 4000 visitors since that time. Feel free to check my blog to see photos you may have missed over the past year.

As well, I created a CD of Screensavers/Wallpapers of the entire first year of my Photo of the Day. The photos on the CD are much larger than the images I send through my email lists. You can find more info at: http://www.lanephotography.com/photo_products/products/Photo%20of%20the%20Day%20Screensavers.htm

Feel free to check out the above links at your convenience.

More Bees

There were at least a dozen bees around the fireweed today. I photographed a few of them and am sharing a couple of photos of bees that landed on the flowers. (The close-ups have been cropped from the original photos)

I used my 28-80 mm zoom lens to capture these photos. This lens allows me to get fairly close to the bees without disturbing them. If you have ever observed bees in these flowers, you will know that each bee works its way around a plant spending only a second or two on each flower. I choose a flower, focus and wait for the bee to fly into the scene.

I miss a lot because the bee may leave one plant and go to another. When that happens I find another plant nearby then set up my photo again. Another thing to remember about photographing fireweed is that the plants are often swaying in the wind. This makes focusing a problem.
You have to be patient if you want to capture photos of bees or other insects.

Firweed/Bees

Photo of the Day - July 27, 2007

The fireweed patch in my yard is in full bloom, and for years I have enjoyed sitting near the flowers, watching and photographing bees as they fly from flower to flower. You will remember in mid-July I wondered if anyone else has noticed that there were fewer bees this year. (http://kbrucelane.blogspot.com/2007/07/bumble-bees.html)

I have been waiting for the fireweed to bloom because in past years there have been hundreds of bees flitting from flower to flower. I have taken photographs with two and three bees in one photo. However, this week, the most bees I could see at one time, was two!

I should point out that there could be many explanations for the reduced number of bees. I will continue to monitor the situation.

Moon

Last night when I drove into my back yard, the full moon was positioned just above the trees so I took a few photos. I am sending three images this morning to teach a lesson in photographing the moon. I didn't use a tripod for these photos.

The first photo was shot with the camera set to Auto and an ISO of 400. The camera chose f5.6 (the limit of my 300 mm lens) and 1/25th sec. You will notice that the moon is overexposed and blurry in this image. Because the camera was set to Auto, it read the scene as very dark and let in more light, causing the moon to be too bright.

To capture the second image, I set the ISO to 1600 and manually chose 1/125 sec. The camera was set to f5.6 and I wasn't sure how to change it (time to read my manual again). I took a few photos while leaning on the roof of a car to support my 300 mm lens. The third image was cropped from the second to give a closer view.

Years ago, I read an article that gave instructions about how to get a good exposure of the moon. The moon is as bright as daylight so you have to shoot the scene as though it were bright. As well, since the Earth is rotating very quickly, it is difficult to get the moon in focus. I don't consider either of these images to be good, but wanted to show that capturing a photo of the moon is a challenge.

It is supposed to be a nice evening so I may try it again with a tripod and a variety of exposures.

I photographed the fireweed yesterday and was happy that there were about a dozen bees instead of the two or three that I have been observing over the past few days.

Boats

Yesterday was the first day of the "food" fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1992, the Government of Canada imposed a Cod Moratorium in our province because the cod stocks had been decimated by over fishing. In recent years, the population of cod have been increasing (very slowly) and there is a limited cod fishery in some areas.

This year, people in the province may catch a limited amount of cod for a month or so. I chose photos of boats (taken on the Great Northern Peninsula in July, 2004) for today's photos because there will be many of them on the ocean over the next month or so.

The first photo shows a boat that is rotting into the ocean, and other, much smaller boats tied up nearby. In the past, boats were maintained and used year after year to eke a living from the sea. In recent years I notice more and more boats that have been hauled ashore and, apparently, since they are no longer used, left to rot.

Many families are leaving the province to seek work elsewhere, sometimes leaving their homes and boats behind. Over time the houses and boats fall into disrepair and slowly return to Nature.
I have been photographing old boats and houses for many years and have a visual record of many of them.

New Harbour

New Harbour, Trinity Bay is located on the Baccalieu Trail which takes you through all communities in Trinity Bay South and Conception Bay North. You can tell from the photos that it was a beautiful day when I was there to take these photos (September 18, 2003).

I certainly would recommend taking a day or two to drive through the communities on the Baccalieu Trail. There are lots of things to see and do. One summer I made the drive 5 times ensuring I photographed something in every community. Some of the photos are on line at:http://www.lanephotography.com/tbs.htm and http://www.lanephotography.com/cbn.htm.

Bakeapples

I was hiking yesterday and came across a boggy area which had lots of bakeapples growing on it. In many places these wild berries are known as cloudberries. I made a mental note of the area and will return in a couple of weeks to pick some of these delicious wild berries.

Bakeapples, about the size of raspberries, grow in open areas all around Newfoundland and Labrador and I got pretty wet while trying to get close-up photos of the berries in today's photos. When they are ripe, the berries will amber rather than red. I'll get photos of ripe berries in a couple of weeks.

Bakeapples, which are used for jams and many desserts, contain lots of Vitamin C and are low in calories. Sounds like a perfect food!!

Lupines

The lupines in my back yard are "going to seed" and the flowers are withering. In a short while, I will collect lupine seeds to plant around our new house. I know lupines love rocky soil and I will have lots of places for them to grow.

I wanted to show you two photographs that were taken from different angles. I took the first while looking down at them; the angle from which most people would view flowers. To get the second photo I lay on the ground and looked up. Most people probably don't look at things from the ground level.

Do you get a different perception of the flowers from each image? Media creators shoot down on a subject to make it appear smaller, weaker and less significant. They shoot up to make the subject appear to be larger, stronger and more significant.

Photo hint: Take photos from different angles!

A beautiful day here in Holyrood. I am hoping to get a few photos today!!

Tely 10 Race

Bright and early this morning I travelled to Paradise to photograph the beginning of the 80th running of the Tely 10 road race, a ten mile run from that ends in Bannerman Park in St. John's.

This year there were over 2000 people who will run and/or walk to the finish line. I haven't photographed a road race of this size before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I wanted to capture the "crowd" at the start of the race and the first two photos should give you a sense of the numbers.

I didn't realize so many people were planning to walk the entire distance and after the runners passed by, I took a few photos of the walkers as well. I included a couple of images to show that there were people of all ages and abilities taking part in the race!

Congratulations to all who participated in the race!!

Avondale Railway Station

Many people enjoy visiting museums when they visit Newfoundland and Labrador. Avondale has a railway museum that is well worth a visit. Besides a restored train station complete with many artifacts from the time of the railway, there is a train engine and a passenger car that doubles as a restaurant. A few years back, they used to offer rides on the mile or so of track that still remains in the area.

For those people who are not aware:

The Newfoundland railway operated for a little over a century. From 1882-97 the trains ran over completed portions of a projected trans-insular line. The first passenger train across the island ran in June 1898. Regular passenger service ceased in July 1969, and the last freight ran in June 1988. The railbed has since been designated a "T'railway" and a linear provincial park.

If you decide to visit the Avondale area, make time for a visit to the Railway Station.

I do have a few photos of Avondale on line at: http://www.lanephotography.com/avondale/avondale.htm

The Tablelands

For people who are visiting Gros Morne National Park, I would recommend any of the hikes within the boundaries of park. I have walked to the top of Gros Morne Mountain, to Western Brook Pond and walked several trails near the Tablelands.

The first photo shows the type of terrain on the Tablelands (a fairly easy walk) with the bronze coloured rock and very little vegetation. The second photo is a closer view of the waterfall in the background.

Because I take lots of photos on my walks, I usually run out of time and don't get as far as I would like. On this particular trip, I only walked as far as the highest part of the waterfall.

Bay Roberts

The Shoreline Heritage Walking Trail in Bay Roberts is well worth the trip. The 7 km trail takes you past sea stacks, steep cliffs and an incredible view of Conception Bay.

The two photos this morning show how steep the cliffs are in the area. Remember to be very careful when taking photos in this type of terrain. You wouldn't want to fall off the cliffs in this area.

The little spot just above the centre of the second photo is actually a boat with several people in it.

Peonies

This morning, I photographed peonies in my back yard. In order to capture rich colours, I experimented with the EV settings on my camera.

The first image was taken with ISO 200 and -.3 EV setting. The second image was cropped from the first in order to emphasize the shapes and colours of the petals.

The third image was cropped from a photo of another flower on the same plant. The lighting on the petals is much different and they appear much brighter.

Bumble Bees

Over the past several days I have noticed that there are few bumble bees near any of my flowers. The photos today were taken in July, 2004 on the lupines in my back yard. There were lots of bees that year but I haven't seen many over the past couple of days.

I know that there are problems with honey bees in other parts of North America, but am wondering if the lack of bees in this area is because of the cool weather we had in May and June.

River

I have been photographing rivers for nearly 40 years and have many images taken across Newfoundland and Labrador.

Today's photos were taken in Quidi Vidi Village, located in St. John's, on the river that flows from Quidi Vidi Lake to the ocean. I took photos with my wide angle and telephoto lenses.

Seascapes - Ferryland

A 15 minute walk to the Ferryland lighthouse is well worth the effort, especially on a nice day. Once you reach the lighthouse other trails will take you to the steep cliffs where there are lots of photo ops.

Over the years, I have been trying to photograph the "perfect wave" and there were lots to photograph the last time I visited the Ferryland area. I photographed the sea crashing against the rocky shores all around the lighthouse.

If you would like to view more photos of the Ferryland area go to: http://www.lanephotography.com/irish_loop/ferryland/ferryland.htm

or more seascapes: http://www.lanephotography.com/seascapes/seascapes.htm

Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar

The Salmonid Interpretation Centre, located in Grand Falls -Windsor, provides the opportunity to observe and photograph Atlantic Salmon as they swim up the Exploits River to spawn.

Even though the lighting is fairly dull, and the salmon are constantly moving, you can get a few good photos through the glass. I have 10 photos on line in my new Atlantic Salmon Gallery at:http://www.lanephotography.com/animals/atlantic_salmon/atlantic_salmon_01.htm

I am not certain of the exact statistics, but there hasn't been a commercial salmon fishery for several years and the number of salmon returning to rivers all across Newfoundland and Labrador hasn't increased as much as one would expect. Hopefully they will survive as a species because they are amazing fish.

Cape Bonavista

If you visit Cape Bonavista, you will see rocky cliffs that have been carved by millions of years of erosion. The constant pounding of the ocean has created seascapes that are both dangerous and beautiful.

This was a challenging photo shoot because it was a dull, overcast day. If I exposed for the sky and water, the cliffs would be too dark; expose for the cliffs and the sky would be too bright. Since I was shooting digital photographs, I experimented and tried a variety of exposures and compositions.

The first photo today was taken in colour and was a fairly good exposure. I converted it to black and white and liked the result. If you would like to see the colour version, let me know.

You will notice that the sky is totally white in the second photo. That's because I exposed for the cliffs. However, by including only a small part of the sky, I made sure the cliffs were well-exposed.

Hint: Shoot a variety of angles and compositions; especially when shooting with a digital camera.

Holyrood

Yesterday afternoon I hiked to one of the hills behind my house. The first photo was taken looking out towards Conception Bay. I am facing in a northerly direction and can see the town of Holyrood, the mouth of Holyrood Harbour and a good portion of Conception Bay.

The second photo was taken looking in a westerly direction. My house is the single little white dot that is located in the centre of the white circle. My walks take me through all the forest you see between my house and the hills.

One would think that I would get bored after exploring this area season after season, year after year, over the past 25 years, however, each time is enjoyable. I enjoy the feelings of peace and quiet, hearing the birds sing, seeing the occasional rabbit or moose, watching the plants go through their life cycles and, of course, the beautiful scenery.

As you could probably predict, I have photographed all of the above and have accumulated quite a collection of images of the forest and how it has changed over the years.

Brigus

Today I am sharing two photographs of Brigus (approximately 30 km from my home Holyrood) that show the new construction on the waterfront of that community.

I was shocked to see that two, four-story houses have been built there and another very large house is under construction. I find it hard to believe that the town would allow these large houses to be built.

I don't know if they are individual homes or condos that will be sold, but either way, they must be blocking the views of long-time residents of the town. I am not certain that I would call this "progress". Brigus is a beautiful community and I would hate to see it lose it's "quaintness".

The second photo is a closer view of the houses.