Winter Sun Video

Winter Sun was a very welcome photographic moment. I was driving through the countryside and had been photographing shelter belts against the dramatic blue sky. The good light suddenly started to fade as the sun ducked behind cloud cover. “I guess that’s it,” I said to myself as I walked back to my pickup. I started to drive home when, out of habit, I glanced up at the sky to see if there was a chance that the sun would reemerge soon. When I saw the perfect circle of the sun filtered through the winter clouds, I quickly pulled over and started shooting. The clouds were moving quickly, so I was lucky to capture a few good images of the sun filtering through.

Winter Sun

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Winter Sun is a photograph that represents both the excitement and frustration of winter photography. Photography is all about light, so the flat, diffuse light on overcast winter days can be frustrating. This kind of light doesn’t produce shadows and contrast, which are the basic elements of highlighting shape and texture. So, when the sun is out, I like to get out with a camera.

Winter Sun was a very welcome photographic moment. I was driving through the countryside and had been photographing shelter belts against the dramatic blue sky. The good light suddenly started to fade as the sun ducked behind cloud cover. “I guess that’s it,” I said to myself as I walked back to my pickup. I started to drive home when, out of habit, I glanced up at the sky to see if there was a chance that the sun would reemerge soon. When I saw the perfect circle of the sun filtered through the winter clouds, I quickly pulled over and started shooting. The clouds were moving quickly, so I was lucky to capture a few good images of the sun filtering through.

I’ve enjoyed photography for so long that aside from learning new equipment, the technical side of things has become second nature. The fun part is exploring the world around me in search of interesting subjects to photograph. I deal with some frustration when I don’t find something. I’ve learned, however, that even on a day when I’ve been frustrated by a lack of inspiration, taking “another look” has revealed interesting visual opportunities that made the day worthwhile.

Nikon Z8 w. Nikkor Z 80-200 f/2.8

Tree and Angry Sky

I often hop in the truck with my camera gear after supper. Early evening is the beginning of “golden hour”, when the sun is low in the sky. At this time of day the low sun creates interesting shadows and bathes the landscape in beautiful yellow orange light. No golden hour on this August evening. The clouds obscured the sun a few minutes after I left home and the rain started after that. One of the things I love about photography is the need to creatively adapt to changing conditions. So, I shifted my vision from “golden hour” to “thunder storm” and started to look at how the storm clouds and rain changed the prairie landscape. I drove around for about 30 minutes and took a few photographs. This one, my favourite from that evening, was taken just as I was arriving home. If you’ve followed my work, you know I can’t resist a lonely tree. The dramatic, angry sky behind this one made it irresistible.

Everyone who lives in Gretna, Manitoba knows this tree. It is located on Roy Smith’s land and is directly your line-of-sight when you turn onto Highway 30 from Gretna. I’ve taken a few pictures of this tree but none had the dramatic background that this one has. It was very dark by this time, meaning that I’d have to use a tripod and a long exposure or jack up the ISO in order to get a sharp picture. It was wet and windy outside so I chose the latter option. I have a bracket that I can attach to my truck window to support the camera in a pinch. It helps, but it isn’t a substitute for the tripod. My lens has built-in stabilization, which also helps. I turned the ISO to Auto and shot with the slowest shutter speed that I felt would give me a sharp picture. The ISO ended up at 7200, but I got the 1/250 @ f/8 that I needed to get the picture I wanted. High ISO settings increase the noise (like graininess) in the photograph. Since this photograph doesn’t depend on sharp details the high ISO noise wasn’t as big a factor for me.

Nikon D-750 w. Tamron 24-70 F/2.8; 1/250 @ f/8, ISO 7200