Sunday, September 30, 2007

Sunrise

Sunrises are always beautiful, and in Florida they get to see one nearly every day. I photograph every one I see while visiting Florida. Today I am working on a slide show of Sunrises, and will post it to my blog when it is complete!

More "Sky" photos at http://www.lanephotography.com/sky/sky.htm

Feel free to share these photos and links with family and friends.




Saturday, September 29, 2007

St. James the Apostle Anglican Church

St. James the Apostle Anglican Church in Battle Harbour celebrated its 150th Anniversary in August 2007. I photographed it when I visited in 2004.

I have created a gallery of photos of this church and you can find them on line at:
http://www.lanephotography.com/churches/st_james_battle_harbour/st_james_the_apostle.htm

If you visit the above Gallery you will also find a link to a Slide Show (with music) of the church.
Feel free to share these photos and links with family and friends.





Thursday, September 27, 2007

Bikers

Thanks for the comments regarding the sunrise photos I sent yesterday! Today I am sending 1 original photo and 2 images created from it.

The original is the first one (if you don't view your emails in html, it is the one that shows a bit of the road and ditch). You can see that it isn't a very good photo. I was lower than the road and shooting towards the bright sky. I focused on the bikers, one of which waved just as I took the photo.

I decided to play with the image and brightened it quite a bit. I also increased the contrast quite a bit as well. Then I cropped out the ditch and left only a sliver of pavement along the bottom. I liked this image much better. To make the third image, I converted the photo to b & w, then added the guy's red shirt.

Once again this morning, I am sharing images that I feel show why even a bad image can be saved (sometimes) by a bit of knowledge about photo manipulation software.





Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Sunrise

The two photos today were taken one morning last week on my way to work. I couldn't resist the temptation to stop and capture the beautiful images created as the sun rose through the clouds and fog. The photos are similar but upon close examination, you will see that the second is brighter than the first.

This is one reason why I always take more than one photo of the same subject. Even though they were taken a few seconds apart, the sun got brighter in that time and the lighting in the final photo changed as a result.




Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Goldenrod

Many varieties of flowers have finished blooming but there are lots of bright yellow goldenrod flowers along the trails out back. The goldenrods are late bloomers and their colours add to the beauty of the woods in fall.

The three photos this morning were taken in areas where there was plenty of shade. The bright flowers really stand out against the dark backgrounds.





Monday, September 24, 2007

Northern Wild Raisin

A couple of weeks ago I sent photos of northern wild raisin and promised I would send more to show what happens to the berries as they ripen.

The first two photos show the pink and blue berries on the same plant. Eventually they will all turn blue and shrivel up like the ones in the third photo.

They sort of look like raisins, but they don't taste much like them. I tasted a few of the dried blue ones and there was nothing to them except two flat seeds. The small birds seem to really like them because there have been quite a few around these trees lately.

If you want to view the ones I sent in early September, click the link below:
http://kbrucelane.blogspot.com/search?q=northern+wild+raisin





Sunday, September 23, 2007

Fern

The ferns are really showing their fall colours this weekend. I photographed these ferns during my hike yesterday.

As you can see from the third photograph, there are places where ferns dominate the life forms and their colours provide a beautiful trail of reddish-orange leaves.

Once again, the theme today shows that there is beauty everywhere, even in the colours and shapes of dying ferns.





Saturday, September 22, 2007

Aster

This morning I hiked to the hills behind my house to photograph the transition to Fall.

One flower still in bloom is the common aster. The first photo was taken in a shaded area. I was trying to capture the blue flower. The second photo was taken in direct sunlight. The colours look more faded in the bright light.




Friday, September 21, 2007

Abstracts

Today I have chosen something different - a series of three abstract images that I created from other photos.

The first image is a photo of a candle that has had special effects added to it. The addition of hundreds of tiny "stars" makes it look like the candle is floating in space.

To create the second image, I copied the flame of the candle three times and changed its size and shape. Finally I added an abstract photo of my face that I had shot in a mirror.

To create the third image I combined a photo of Gros Morne with one of a classic car. I created a flying car that looks like it has just flown over Norris Point. This reminds me of the flying car in Harry Potter.

I spend a fair amount of time playing with photo manipulation software and enjoy looking at the results of my "artistry".









Thursday, September 20, 2007

Ross Farm

While driving across Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, we happened upon Ross Farm, a "living museum" where people dressed in period costumes go about their daily business of running a farm.

The three photos this morning were converted to b & w to give an impression of being from a different time. The first photo is the school teacher walking towards the schoolhouse; the second is a young lady hanging wool on a fence; and the third is a guy showing people a couple of large oxen that were used to plow fields and carry things around the farm.

I enjoy visiting this type of exhibit because the people are dressed in period costumes and it is like travelling back in time.





Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Clouds

I often photograph clouds because of the many shapes and textures as well as the interesting lighting. The sunlight filtering through the clouds in today's photographs add to the image.



Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Church Windows

A few years ago I entered the RC Church in Harbour Grace and took a few photos even though it was under construction at the time. I didn't venture too far inside, but did make a few images of the interesting windows. You can see the effects of the blue glass by looking closely at the reflections around the coloured glass.

Because I exposed for the bright windows, I knew the walls would be fairly dark in the photo. I made a couple of different compositions, two of which I am sharing today.




Monday, September 17, 2007

Peregrine Falcon

The peregrine falcon shown in today's photos was a resident of the Salmonier Nature Park when I visited it a couple of years ago. I shot through a net that covered the enclosure and was lucky to get as good a detail as is shown in these images.

These birds are known for their speed while in flight and I imagine it is beautiful to watch in the wild.





Sunday, September 16, 2007

Antiques

I am sharing photos with a different type of subject this morning. Over the past few days my photos have illustrated the beauty one can see in ordinary things. The items in today's photographs used to be common in houses all around the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I photographed them in the Fishermen's Museum in St. Vincent's.

These photos do not portray the "beauty" in the objects, but will probably evoke memories in those of you who grew up here in the 1940's and 50's. If you grew up in the rest of North America, you probably wouldn't recognize the Gerald S. Doyle brand, but would know about castor oil. The jug and basin may have been common elsewhere as well.





Saturday, September 15, 2007

Garden Mums

Last evening I photographed the first yellow blooms on a garden mums plant. If all the buds on this plant bloom, we will have a beautiful bright yellow bush for the next month or so. When I looked more closely, the flowers reminded me of dandelions when they first start to bloom.

Again today, I started with a wide shot, then a closer view. The third image was cropped from the second. I find that by looking more closely at the things around me, I see them differently. Capturing the images with a camera, helps me share their beauty with over 750 people on my Photo of the Day list.





Sunrise

Sorry I am late with my Photo of the Day and am sending several images of a sunrise I photographed last weekend.

I stood outside my house and waited for the sun to rise. The following photo essay is a record of what I saw that morning.




The clouds were just turning pink when I went outside. My first photo was taken with my 17-40 mm wide angle lens. There was a heavy mist around the hill in the background.


Next, I changed lenses and zoomed in on the clouds to try to capture the pink colours.


It was a quiet morning and when I heard a moose walking through a nearby bog, I sneaked back to see if I could see it.


I tried to photograph the moose and did get 1 photo. It knew I was there and as soon as I took this "out of focus" photo, it ran away. I was going to delete this image, but realized that it captured exactly what I saw. I could barely see the moose through the trees and focusing through the branches was a challenge.


When I returned to the sunrise I could hardly believe the difference. The pink clouds had disappeared and the sun's rays were beginning to illuminate the morning sky. Again, my first photo was a wide angle view.



I zoomed in on the hills and rays. I purposely left in a small part of the land. I actually made several compositions with differing proportions of land and sky.



Zooming in closer made an interesting composition. The trees near the centre are golden around the edges.


The last photo is a close up of the rays. I don't think they are as dramatic as in wider views, but I liked this image too.


I apologize for all the photos, but wanted to share the beauty I experienced that morning just by getting up early and stepping outside my back door. Photography lets me share these experiences with you.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Red Bay Reflections

While visiting Red Bay, Labrador in 2004, I woke up early and took a walk around the town. This morning I am sharing two photos taken during that walk.

We actually stayed in the building just right of centre. The loft of this building has been converted into a "room with a view"! I have a couple of photos of it and will send them on request.

There was absolutely no wind that morning and the calm water created excellent reflections. I zoomed in to capture the reflection of the buildings.

I have 15 images of Red Bay on line at:
http://www.lanephotography.com/red_bay/red_bay.htm. Feel free to check them out.

Once again this morning my photos show beauty in a simple scene. Most people don't get up early enough to capture these images. In fact, as I walked around the town, I did not see anyone outside at that hour (6:30 AM).





Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Ferryland

Yesterday I mentioned that I was sending photos (flowers) showing that there is still beauty in the world. One person emailed back and stated that all my photos show the beauty that I see. I guess that is correct to a degree so from now on I will send photos that I consider reflect the beauty all around us. Maybe I should change the theme of my Photo of the Day to Everything's Beautiful! :)

Today's photos were taken in Ferryland (on the Irish Loop) and show a rocky beach being pounded by the Atlantic Ocean. I have stated on several occasions that I always try to capture the "perfect wave".

Both of today's photos were taken from the same location with my 75-300 mm zoom lens. The first photo shows a beach with very little wave action. The second shows waves breaking on the beach, on rocks near the beach and on rocks further out. There is lots of action in this photo.

I have a gallery of 6 photos of Ferryland on line at:
http://www.lanephotography.com/irish_loop/ferryland/ferryland.htm.



Tulips

Tulips Tulips are a sign of spring, but my tulip gardens are under a foot or two of snow. It will be a while before we see the beauty of the...