My Backyard in May

My Backyard in May is a loose collection of photographs that I took one weekend in May. I hadn’t picked-up my camera for some time so it was as much a “practice session” as it was one of my “serious” photography outings. All of these photographs were taken in my yard.

Given that I classified the day’s photography as a “practice session”, I added some challenges. First, I only used my 50mm lens. The 50mm is considered to be the “normal lens” in 35mm photography. The perspective it offers is close to the way the human eye perceives perspective. Many consider this to be a boring lens, but I’ve found that using it pushes my creativity just a bit further. Second, I allowed the camera to set both ISO and shutter speed, leaving me to pick the best f-stop for each photograph. Again, just a creative game to sharpen my photography skills. You can judge whether my efforts were successful.

Nikon D750 w. Nikkor 50 f/1.4

Prairie Farmstead - New Additions

Prairie Farmer Discer

I digitized a few more of the Prairie Farmstead negatives this week. Prairie Farmstead Discer and several other new photographs are available for viewing in the Prairie Farmstead Gallery.

Icicle Cord

This image was taken after a very windy night along Lake Erie. We were celebrating Christmas with family in the Leamington area and, as was my usual habit, I stole away for a few hours to do some photography. The picture is from a series of icicle pictures I took along the shoreline that day. The pounding waves and spray coated everything with ice, leaving some beautiful icicle sculptures behind. For a prairie boy like me, open water in winter is always a novelty.

I've called this photo Icicle Cord for lack of anything better. The combination of light and shadow, especially the light moving through the translucent icicles, makes for an interesting picture. I like the contrast in textures between the water, the icicles, and the cord.

Now for the obvious question: Why did I post two versions of Icicle Cord? It's simple - I can't decide. I love the late-evening light in the colour version. I also love the rich tones created by the water and reflections in the black and white version. Pick your favourite - tell me which one you like in the comments.