Reaching for the Sun

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/8 at 1/40
ISO 100

Flowers are everywhere especially in Spring and Summer. I have taken lots of pictures of flowers over the years. For this shot I decided to shoot them looking up from below.

This viewpoint helps to make this picture a little different because we don ‘t usually focus on the bottom of a flower, we usually look at them from the side or straight down into the centre where the stamens reside.

The other thing I like about this point of view is the fact that the petals become backlit by the sun which changes their colour and makes them almost glow.

Preparing for Departure

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70 – 300 VR
f/5.6 at 1/200
ISO 100

This photo was taken as we were getting ready to depart on our sailing voyage. Our friend’s children were quite excited and were running around checking out every corner of the boat. I happened to have my camera ready when Kyle poked his head out from one of the hatches.

It was a spontaneous shot and it turned out really nice. In fact, I think it was the best picture I got of him during the entire trip. I like the expression on his face and the morning sun backlighting him was warm in tone.

This photo is good example of where the rule of thirds was used to create a nice composition. Also, an aperture of f/5.6 allowed both the background and the foreground to blur some potentially distracting elements.

Lots of Knots

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/4.5 at 1/80
ISO 100


Ropes and knots are everywhere at a marina. Learning to tie several types of knots is an essential part of learning to sail. Therefore I felt it necessary to take a few pictures of ropes in order to fully capture our experience at sea.

Floats on Fishing Boat

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/4 at 1/350
ISO 100

You can’t go on a sailing trip without spending a certain amount of time in marinas. We spent a couple of nights at the marina in Lund where we gassed up and bought supplies. It was very photogenic. As the main photographer for the trip I was trying to capture some of the details along the way.

This boat should have been out doing its job but it had a problem with something that kept it at the dock. The owner was busy trying to get it working again while having a beer or two. I got pictures of him and the boat but it was this detail shot of the floats that caught my eye.

Sometimes we pass by these things and although we notice them we don’t really see them. My senses were really open to the sights, sounds, and smells of these places because I don’t normally get to experience them. I will present a few more of these details in the next post or two.

BC Seascape

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 70 – 300 VR
f/5.6 at 1/500
ISO 100

This picture was taken at the beginning of our sailing trip as we headed out of Vancouver. This was a difficult shot because I was on a moving boat and was handholding the camera that I had zoomed to 270 mm. I hoped the shutter speed was fast enough to get a sharp image. I was reasonably satisfied with the results.

However, the biggest problem was that we were a long way from shore and it was a hazy day. As a result the image was flat and dull and lacking colour right out of the camera. It took a lot of adjustments in Photoshop to get it to be acceptable enough for viewing.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to deal with haze to eliminate the negative affects it has on a photograph?

Calm Before Storm

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/5.6 at 1/3000
ISO 640

I was standing on another boat that was moving with the waves trying to take a picture of these two boats that were also moving. It was getting dark and a storm was approaching. Every now and then the evening sun would break through the clouds and shine on these two boats.

To eliminate movement as a factor for ruining the shot I chose to up my ISO to an uncomfortable setting. This gave me a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action. These settings worked as you can see in the photo. However, once again there is a lot of noise in the image.

I really like the sky in this image. I am always drawn to scenes where storm clouds and sun seem to contradict each other.

Little Red Rowboat

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18-70
f/4.2 at 1/500
ISO 100

In June of ’06 we went on a 9-day sailing trip up to Desolation Sound and back to Vancouver. Of course we got lots of pictures of boats. I liked this little red rowboat and took a few shots as I passed by.

I decided this scene would work best with what some call the “Orton Effect”. The technique involves taking two shots of the same subject, one properly focused and one out of focus. You then combine the two to create one image that takes on a dreamy quality with lots of saturated colour.

Digitally it is easy to create a similar effect from just one image. For a detailed description on producing this effect in both film and digital formats visit PCIN.NET