Forms on a Frozen River
It is the end of January and the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton is frozen over and covered with 15 centimeters of fresh snow. I venture to the river’s edge and am captivated by the abstract forms that I see:
In a January Fog
While not unheard of, foggy days in Edmonton are also not very common. This last weekend in Edmonton was however one of those times – a fog just heavy enough to hide the far side of the river valley and flatten out depth. The high humidly and sub-zero temperature resulted in a delightful, frosty coating on the trees.
Combining the fog, frost and late afternoon/early-evening light lead to these moody, black and white images:
Frosty Thorns
Poles in a Frosty Landscape
The Five
Three, with Frosty Wires
Rowland Bend
Riverdale (a painting Series)
In the early 1990’s I did a series of paintings of the Riverdale community, in Edmonton’s river valley.
“Tree Frog Press”, acrylic on hardboard, 30 by 41 cm, 1991
“Bird Bath”, acrylic on canvas, 61 by 51 cm, 1992
One of the most distinguishing features of the community at the time was the large, undeveloped tract of land that belonged to the historic Little Brick factory, By the end of the decade those fields would be redeveloped to look like suburbia, but at the time it lent a rural charm to this area, just a kilometer from downtown.
“Old Brickyard Field”, acrylic on canvas, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“Old Brickyard Road” acrylic on canvas, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“The Little Brick House”, acrylic on hardboard, 28 by 36 cm, 1991
“The Rink Shack”, acrylic on canvas, 51 by 61 cm, 1992
“Sun on 92nd Street”, acrylic on hardboard, 36 by 38 cm, c. 1992
A decade and half later I would revisit this series with a few more paintings of the community:
“Summer Morning on 91st Street”, oil on hardboard, 51 by 61 cm, 2008
“Riverdale Garage (winter sunlight)”, oil on canvas, 41 by 51 cm, 2008
Moodier in Black and White
Here are some photos taken on the same outing as my hike last Sunday in Edmonton’s Mill Creek Ravine – but taking out the color the images have a much moodier feel.
Spring Slope
Stairs and a Patch of Snow
Trunk on a Diagonal
All Quiet Under the Bridge
Tangled Slope
and as a bonus, a black and white image from beside the river in Edmonton’s Louise McKinney Park:
Promenade Beside the Ice
If You Look You Will See
Today was another one of those days when I just go for a walk in downtown Edmonton and see what I can see – what I can see in terms of interesting patterns.
Winter Nature – Black and White
Here are a few of my recent black and white photos showing Edmonton’s river valley in early January.
Path Through the Riverside Brush
Snow Covered Tangle
Patterns In and On (and the Edmonton Queen)
Up a Snowy Trail
Downtown Edmonton Over the Frozen North Saskatchewan River
Snow and Shadows
A New Year’s Eve afternoon walk in Edmonton’s river valley revealed interesting patterns made by snow and ice, trees and the sun.
Blue Diagonals
Alien Icescape
Foot Paths
Tangled
Crystalline Edge
Trampled
Like Flakes
Spring Sneaks In (Part 2)
Here are some more photos from Edmonton’s river valley on the first weekend of April, showing the transition to spring.
For the eyes starved of color over the months of winter, the faint golden glow of the uncovered grasses and the rosy haze of the Dogwood twigs in the distance, is a feast for the eyes.
Snowy Path
Rosy Haze
Path to the Blue Forest
Subtle Color
Melting Path
Spring Sneaks In (Part 1)
As April arrives in this part of the world (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), spring continues its advance. Although it will be a good month longer until the bare trees will burst into leaf, the snow (even that which fell in the last week) is mostly melted and there is something in the air that warms the soul and brings a smile to my face.
Today while out walking in Edmonton’s river valley I caught these images, these hints of life to come:
Shrubs and Sticks
Path to Spring
Tracks in the Mud
Slow Spring
Spring Sky
A Winter’s Night in Olds – Black and White Visions
Here is part 2 of my photos from a cold (and a bit foggy) January evening walk around the town of Olds, Alberta. Part 1 featured color photos (subdues as they were); this set is all black and white:
Fire Hydrant in the Night
A Glow From Within
Highway Junction
DQ and ESSO
Coming and Going in the Night
Abstracts in the Winter Landscape
Two months into winter and my photographer’s eye is starting to adjust to the winter landscape. With the general absence of color I find that I need to see differently to find interesting photo subject matter. Here are a few recent (December 2012) photos:
Between Water and Ice
Bridge Rail I
Rusty Blue Drum
Bridge Rail II
Nature’s Magic
test
Spirit of Spring Landscapes (Part 2)
Here are some more abstract landscape photos depicting the spirit of early spring – as the snow bids a hasty retreat at the end of March (in Edmonton).
Abstract Landscape 403-027
Abstract Landscape 403-074
Abstract Landscape 403-041
Abstract Landscape 403-052
Abstract Landscape 403-027
See my earlier blog post for additional photos in this series.
Spirit of Spring Landscapes
As the snow quickly receded from the spring landscape this week, I strove to capture the essence of the season in photographs.
Dark Forest
Abstract Landscape 403-044
Spring Thaw
Before the Greening
White Woods
These photos were captured March 27th 2012 in Buena Vista Park in Edmonton using a neutral density filter, a 2-second exposure and various intentional camera motion during the exposure. These images are part of my collection of reference photos for an abstract painting series.
Abstractions of the February Landscape
Color on the Trunk
This is another series of abstracted photographs. As I have shared previously, the technique I use is to employ a neutral density filter that allow me to use shutter speed in the 2 to 4 second range. During this long exposure I will move the camera – normally in a direction parallel to the lines I wan to emphasize. In the previous and next image I would have followed the line of the vertical trunk. Generally I don’t want too great a range of movement and might go back and forth over a short displacement during the exposure.
Morning Light
“Morning Light” was the result of a bit of a happy accident. I neglected to stop down my neutral density filter sufficiently to get a “proper” exposure. The image was over-exposed but still one I could work with in post-processing. I liked the over blown background exposure that resulted.
Abstract Landscape 381-104
Yellow at the Base
The yellow at the base of the tree (that you may be able to make out in the previous image was from the lichen that I typically find on the trees around the Edmonton region. Especially in the winter this color seems intense. However, straight out of the camera, these long exposure images typically do not have much color, so I usually will bump up the color saturation significantly to get an image that feels to me like what I was actually seeing/feeling.
The Edge of a Hill
Trees, Snow and Ice – Mid-February Black and White
This past week (middle of February 2012) I have been drawn back to black and white nature photos as I wandered the ravines and river valley in Edmonton. Here are five of my favorite images:
Tall and Bare
Fallen Logs Across the Creek
Black and White Trunks
Shadows Across Frozen Creek
Against the Sun
Do you have a favorite amongst these image? If so, which one and why?
Northern Winter (Black and White, Part 2)
A continuation of an earlier post sharing some black and white landscape photos taken in January/February 2012 in the Edmonton river valley
Open Water and Ducks
Blue on Blue in Black and White
Stairs in the Valley
Grasses, Trees and a Cloud
Beautiful Trail
Northern Winter (Black and White, part 1)
Winter, in Edmonton, Canada typically means a fair bit of snow and temperatures in the minus 15 to 30 Celsius range. The 2011/12 winter has been atypical. Except for a week in mid-January where temperatures fell to below normal, most of the winter has featured daily highs around freezing. Nonetheless, there has been snow on the ground since November.
This series of photos are some that I took during the last week of January and the first week of February 2012 the the North Saskatchewan River valley in central Edmonton (in fact most are in Dawson Park). Dawson Park lies on the north side of the river valley meaning it gets a lot of sun and the snow can melt (or blow away) relatively quickly on the exposed ridges.
The Ridge
The Steep Path Up
Dawson Park seen from the south side of the river:
The North Bank
One of the fascinating things about Dawson Park is a section of “hoodoos” a geological formation more famously associated with the badlands of southern Alberta near Drumheller.
River Valley Landscape
While the exposed areas have just a touch of visible snow, the sheltered trails are well covered with snow and very wintery in appearance.
Birch and Snowy Path
Winter – Naturally Black and White
Of course there can be color in the winter landscape, you just might have to look a little harder for it. In this post though don’t strain yourself looking for color as I am featuring 5 black and white photos. Although there has not been a lot of snow in Edmonton in this winter of 2011/12 there has still been enough to keep the ground basically white. On the day I took these images the sun was out and the sky was deep blue – which with a color filter in the black and white conversion, yielded a deep dark sky on some images.
Packed Snow Field
Two and the Forest
Lichen
Reach to the Sky
Frozen Bend in the River
Technical Notes: The photos in this group were all taken in the early afternoon on January 7th, 2012, near Laurier Park in Edmonton. I used a Nikon D80 with a 18-55 lens and a polarizing filter. Post processing including conversion to black and white was done with the Capture NX2 software.
Abstracts in Blue
Not much to say about this group of photos, other than that they were all taken using long (4 seconds) hand-held exposures with deliberate camera motion. The early morning time of day is responsible the dominating blue cast to these images.
Blue Fenceline
Abstract 356-033
Abstract Landscape 356-038 (River in December)
Abstract 356-034
Abstract 356-039
First Snow – Abstracted Landscape Photos
Today (2011 November 12) Edmonton had its first (and unusually late) snow of the season. While there are many thing about the snow I am not a fan of, I have been looking forward to applying the camera-motion abstraction technique that I’ve been playing with in recent months, to the snowy landscape. Here are some of my first results:
Abstract Landscape 326-379
Abstract Landscape 325-383
Abstract Landscape 326-390
Abstract Landscape 326-397
Abstract Landscape 326-410
As with my previous photos in this style, the original intent was to give me reference images for paintings. However, so far I have not been able to create a painting that I like as much as or better than the photo (which is okay – for now).
My basic technique in this style is to use a neutral density filter to allow me to get a 2 second exposure. During the exposure I move/shake/vibrate the camera around vigorously. Post processing usually is required to increase contrast and color saturation.
Hueless City
There are some days when black and white just seems right. On a day like today (March 24th) when fresh snow covers the City of Edmonton, its one of those days. Here are some of my favorite photos du jour:
Komatsu
Lots of Parking
Downtown Alley
Glass Blocks
Teatime
Color Play Abstractions
Today I was playing with the color on some new photos, using the Capture NX2 software. For the most part these effects were created by inverting the “quick fix” curve – essentially creating a digital color “negative”. On the right I’ve included the original unaltered images for comparison
Magpie 2
Magpie original
Copper Snow
Copper Snow original
Abstract 110314-11
110314-11 original
Abstract 110314-004
110314-004 original
Abstract 110314-21
110314-21 original
The Continuing Beauty of Winter
It is the first week of March and still very much winter in Edmonton, as evidenced by a deep blanket of snow everywhere. On one hand you could think that would make for boring photography but I take it as a challenge – and that is the fun. You can see from these 7 photos, all taken in one day, that there is lots to be seen, lots to be captured and different ways of presenting the final image.
White on Blue
Not Coral
Three Twigs
Grass Arc
Nest
Melting Dirty Ice
Shadows of a Picket Fence
Winter Barks (part 2)
Continuing on from Part 1, here are some more photos, featuring the wonders to be seen on the bark of trees (even in the middle of winter):
Cracked and Yellowed
A Touch of Orange
A Knot
Sun-bleached Bark
Tracks
