Plane Over Pender

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/3.5 at 20 minutes
ISO 100
Manfrotto 055

Vancouver is an impossible location for shooting star trails because the city lights interfere with our ability to see the stars. However, on Pender Island that interference is minimal.

As a result, I had to make an attempt at it while I was there on vacation. This photo is the result of my one and only attempt. Keeping the shutter open on new digital SLRs sucks back a lot of battery power so I opted to only do a 20-minute exposure.

When I first viewed the image I was disappointed that a plane had flown through the scene during the exposure. I have since changed my mind and I now think it adds another element to the photo.

In post I adjusted the white balance to produce a warm pleasing tone to the sky albeit somewhat unnatural. I definitely want to try this again when I find myself in an area without light pollution.

Gone Fishing

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70 – 300 VR
f/8 at 1/750
ISO 100

As with the picture from the previous post, this picture was taken on Pender Island in September of 07. The layering and gradation of colour intensity was what struck me about this scene.

The image had a blue tint in the original shot but not as extreme as it is here. I increased its intensity by changing the white balance to fluorescent in Camera raw. I then increased the contrast and sharpened it slightly.

I really like the final image. It is one of my favourites from that trip.

Na-na-na-na-na

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70 – 300 VR
f/11 at 1/60
ISO 100

This is a picture of someone else’s art. Can my photo of this sculpture also be considered art? I would argue that it can be based on the lighting and exposure I chose.

I took several pictures of this sculpture and most do not have the direct sun. I love the sculpture but I don’t find any of those pictures to be that interesting. They are just snapshots of a statue.

However, when I was done and ready to move on the sun suddenly broke through the trees and shone directly on the statue. That side lighting suddenly transformed an average scene into something that grabs your attention.

The contrast in the lighting gives the image a dreamy quality I like.

Trying to Blend In

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70 – 300 VR
f/16 at 1/90
ISO 100

If you like nature you don’t have to go very far to see it, at least not in Vancouver. This picture was taken in my front yard. This butterfly arrived one morning and proceeded to spend a lot of time there over the next couple of days.

As a result, I was able to observe its behaviour and predict where it would land. My point of view was not by choice but I like it just the same. I always feel sightings like this are gifts, special moments to remember and feel lucky to have experienced.

I was fully zoomed for this shot and as a result it probably would not have been as sharp without the vibration reduction feature in this lens.

Spring Flowers

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28-105
f/4.5 at 1/160
ISO 100

Last week I thought I would buy my wife some flowers for a change. I thought I better get a shot of them before they withered. There are no Photoshop tricks here. The effect was created in-camera. I have already detailed the effect in my “Flower Impression 2” post.

The Hinge

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/16 at 1.5s
ISO 100
Manfrotto 055

Have I said I like old and weathered things? This is a garage door I saw in an alley a block or two from my house in East Vancouver. It was a dark cloudy day so to get a proper exposure at f16 I had to have the shutter open for one and a half seconds.

A better was to get this shot may have been to add some light with a portable flash unit. This also may have added a directional element to the light allowing some of the textures in the wood to be more noticeable.

Reaching for the Sun

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Tamron SP90 Macro
f/27 at 1/45
ISO 100

Trees are everywhere and they don’t complain when you take their picture. There are lots of different ways to picture them. One of my favourites is to shoot them as silhouettes against a bright sky.

For the image above I wanted as many of the branches to be in-focus as possible so I used a very small aperture. It was a rather still morning so the slow shutter speed was not a problem.

In this photo the tree almost seems to be reaching out to grab the sun. I positioned the sun where it is in the photo on purpose by adjusting my camera position accordingly.