The ducks are not impressed:

Methinks thou duck protesteth too much. (Focal length: 70mm, Shutter Speed: 1/250, Aperture: f8)

He (or she) seemed most nonchalant, especially given that I approached with a dog on a leash. I was able to get quite close for these shots, which is good because I haven’t much zoom on this lens. Wildlife photography of any real sort will have to wait until I can afford additional equipment, I fear.

I am watching YOU. (Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/250, Aperture: f8)

I think it’s an immature Double-Crested Cormorant, but I could be wrong. It didn’t stick around long once Rowan (The Dog Who Bounces) barked a big woof.

Evasive Action! (Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/250, Aperture: f8)

While more telephoto zoom would indeed be nice, I’m currently more interested in a wide-angle zoom. This 11-16mm Tokina, to be precise. Ah well, a girl can dream….

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning.... (Focal Length: 70mm, Shutter SPeed: 1/250, Aperture: 27)

…. and the first thing that I heard,

Was a song outside my window,

And the traffic wrote the words.

- Joni Mitchell

Or rather, the garbage truck wrote the words and it was a made scramble for the recycling, tossing this into that and those into these and pelting out to the curb in a flurry of bags.

Which completely belies the picture you see above, really. This morning’s light isn’t particularly beautiful, but yesterday’s was and I’m still basking in the glory of my yesterday.

Incredibly GREAT workout when I expected a possibly crappy out (possibly literally – I’m coming off a stomach bug), figured out the filter for the camera, saw a bunch of neat things about which I’ll post later, overcame a snag on a project and got half-way through Mount Laundry.

A good day. Hoping the momentum of happiness carries into today.

(Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1 second, Aperture: f22, Filter: ND 10).

For years I enjoyed photography with a 35mm SLR camera and worked more or less within the limits of the existing lens and what opportunity a polarizing filter could offer. I really didn’t experiment much with many different kinds of filters, mainly because it was expensive and time-consuming to conduct such experiments.

(Focal length 55mm, Shutter: 2 second, Aperture: f16, Filter: ND8)

With film, there was always the initial outlay for film, the additional cost of developing and finally the week-long wait (unless you shelled out additional funds for quicker service) for the results, which might tell you that you had to go back and try again. Disheartening, to say the least. Expensive, too, for students on a budget.

With the DSLR, however, all of these constraints are removed. Taking two-dozen shots doesn’t cost me anything but time (and I supposed wear and tear on the camera, but that occurs in film photography, too). The developing time depends on how quickly I can dump the memory card and have a look at the results. If the results are less than stellar, I can head out again right away, if necessary.

Today I spent some time with a neutral density filter (ND, for short). The one I purchased has multiple stops, which means it gets lighter or darker, depending on where you set it. This allows me to adjust for varying light conditions.

What an ND filter does is basically cut down on the amount of light that gets into the camera. When there is less light getting in, you need to keep the shutter open for longer to let enough light in. When the shutter is open for longer, moving things blur.

The corollary of this is that without the filter, in situations with bright light or lots of reflecting light (ocean, snow, etc), it becomes impossible to keep the shutter open for long periods (if you WANT that blurred effect) without over-exposing the picture. Enter the ND filter. Today I took dozens of test shots, playing with the different shutter speeds. All this work was done with the Nikon D70, on either the manual setting or the shutter priority setting, ISO 320. (Not sure why it’s set on that. Must remember to change it!)

You can see the difference in the same spot of river, taken at different shutter speeds:

(Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/1500, Aperture: f4.5) No filter.

(Focal length 35mm, Shutter: 1/2 second, Aperture: f9.5) With filter.

(Focal length 52mm, Shutter: 1/1.5s Aperture: f16) With filter.

Today’s shoot was more of a test run, to get a feel for the tool and to be able to deal with how my camera reacts to it when used in a critical situation (critical defined here as a time in which I care about the actual results of the shoot). Today was a day for experimentation without expectations and I’m pretty pleased with how it went.

A couple of notes:

• when the filter was cranked up on blast, the camera had a hard time focussing. The work-around for this was either to manually focus or to make sure aperture and shutter speed were on manual, crank down the filter, half-press the shutter to focus, keeping the shutter half-depressed, crank back the filter to max and finish the shutter depression.
• the above makes the remote shutter trickier to use. For that, go manual all the way.
• Don’t try this without a tripod. It’s not worth it.

(Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/500, Aperture: f11) The promise of a new day

Today looks like a lovely day for accomplishing many things, so I’m off to explore the world, take some pictures, work on some drawings and make Discoveries.

I leave you with the sunrise here in Torbay in the hopes that it will inspire you as it did me.

Always lock the liquor cabinet.

Love,

Vicky

P.S. For newcomers, a link to more Sheep & Turtle Posts…..

Descent. (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/190, Aperture: f8)

I had a pang of worry when I suggested that we jump the fence that bars off the ruins and go on down for a look. While the bunkers themselves are in really rough shape, I wasn’t intending that we go into the worst sections and knew that there were parts that, with care, would be relatively safe. Still, though, that little voice that screams things like, “What kind of a parent takes their eight-year-old into places like this?” had to be stomped on a little. The eight-year-old promised obedience and I knew that this particular child could be relied upon to be sensible and to listen.

Katherine took this one with my little Sony point-and-shoot (DSC-HX5) and it may be my favourite shot of the day:

Spanning, by Katherine Taylor-Hood. (Auto settings, Shutter: 1/50, Aperture: f3.5)

Take aim. (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/60, Aperture: f4.8)

(Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/45, Aperture: f8)

No More. (Focal length 31mm, Shutter: 1/125, Aperture: f4.8)

And of course, we took the obligatory pictures of each other:

My 8-year-old daughter, Katherine, took this one. It was blurry due to low light, so I ran it through a couple of filters to make it more deliberate and funky-looking. Katherine photographing me photographing Katherine.

Me photographing Katherine photographing me.

Katherine took this one as well. It doesn't show up well on this page, the page being so small, but clicking the image will take you to a much larger version, which is more impressive.

Filed under: Newfoundland & Labrador, photography, photos, Travel ]]> http://seastrandsstudio.com/2012/01/25/urban-explorations-fort-amherst/feed/ 2 vickyth Down Spanning, by Katherine Taylor-Hood Take aim At the narrows No More Me Katherine Signal Hill from Fort Amherst http://seastrandsstudio.com/2012/01/24/conception-harbour-take-2/ http://seastrandsstudio.com/2012/01/24/conception-harbour-take-2/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:50:26 +0000 VickyTH http://seastrandsstudio.com/?p=1899 ]]> We left Brigus and were cruising merrily along the road in the direction of St. John’s, our next task being to secure sufficient ice cream for the troops. John was driving. I was navigating. Katherine was scoping out likely ice cream destinations.

Suddenly I turned to John and said, “Can you turn this car around RIGHT NOW?”

Executing a more retrained (although terribly effective) version of the Bootleg Turn, John whipped us back around and down onto the wharf at Conception Harbour and then turned to me and said, “Absolutely.”

We got out into the beautiful evening sun and this is what we saw:

Conception Harbour: A beautiful little spot with miraculous light. (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/250, Aperture: f13)

You may recall that we passed through Conception Harbour on our way to Brigus earlier that same day (the shipwreck is on the other side of the harbour). It looked distinctly different by evening.

(Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/750, Aperture: f5.6)

(Focal length 31mm, Shutter: 1/500, Aperture: f6.7)

This series of houses below appears to belong to one family or to assorted members of the same family. Two of the houses, the white ones at far right and left, are constructed according to what appear to be identical plans. Front the front, the left one looks like a more recent version of the right.

Update: The houses in question are the Trahey Homestead, a heritage property.

(Focal length 24mm, Shutter: 1/2000, Aperture: f4.8)

Here’s the older of the two, with detailed shots below. I didn’t feel comfortable trespassing on the other house’s lot, since there was a fence, with a gate, which was firmly closed.

(Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/500, Aperture: f9.5)

(Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/2000, Aperture: f5.6)

(Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/3000, Aperture: f5.6)

This was a tiny, yet perfectly proportioned, little sail boat, all snuggled up for the winter. I have a suspicion that cats may use it as emergency shelter….. (how can you tell?).

(Focal length 29mm, Shutter: 1/125, Aperture: f22)

(Focal length 55mm, Shutter: 1/1500, Aperture: f5.6)

And then we were off, to ice cream and supper and home. We stopped near Paddy’s Pond to snap a couple of sunset pictures, for good measure.

(Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/180, Aperture: f9.5)

(Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/350, Aperture: f11)

Sunset over Paddy’s Pond at the end of a wonderful day.

Day is done, gone the sun….

Landfall is the cottage once owned and lived in by Rockwell Kent (famous American artist who was erroneously accused of being a German spy during WWI). The original cottage dates back to the late 1700s, but it has been substantially rebuilt since then. It is now owned by Landfall Trust, a group that has as its mandate the preservation of the cottage and that also operates a writer-in-residence programme therein.

Landfall Cottage (Focal length 22mm, Shutter: 1/350, Aperture: f11)

We didn’t get to go in, as it’s very nicely sealed up against the elements for winter. I’ll have t0 swing by sometime in summer and have a peak inside, when there are folks around. Snooping into other peoples’ houses when they’re not there isn’t really my thing….

As we were walking back from the cottage, I stopped to admire this grove of aspen. As John remarked to me, you can always tell where the Newfoundland gardens were by the growth of either aspen or alders (or both). They just take right over.

Stretching for the sky. (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/1000, Aperture: f6.7)

And then it was off home, or so we thought. We weren’t anticipating Conception Harbour pulling us back again…..

Larger Than Life. (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 8 seconds, Aperture: f5.6)

I’ve photographer Cabot Tower and Signal Hill more times than I can count, but I still rather like this shot. Yes, you are reading the caption right. That was indeed an eight-second exposure. Not easily-done, without a tripod and in the winter wind, but I managed to wedge it hard against a nearby bench and hold my breath (it probably helped that the cold had whisked it away anyway). Keeping the subjects still for any length of time was the most challenging as they apparently were all in danger of losing anatomical bits.

The shots of the city were a little easier, since Parks Canada built this lovely stone wall around a lookout, giving photographers who left their tripods home a decent spot to prop a camera.

St. John's Harbour I (Focal length 52mm, Shutter: 0.3 seconds, Aperture: f5.6)

It’s funny what you notice in shots like these. I was suddenly reminded of how orange street-lights have taken over the city. I remember as a child that there were only one or two strings of them, out along Pitt’s Memorial Drive, initially. Gradually all the night lighting has gone orange. I could have changed it in post-processing, but opted to leave it as-is.

St. John's Harbour II (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1.5 seconds, Aperture: f5.6)

In my last post I did say we’d go to Brigus next, didn’t I?

Right. I lied.

But you’ll like Cupids.

I promise.

Cupids is actually just north of Brigus and we decided to swing through the former on our way to the latter and see what the light was like on the Bluff.

Unfathomable Blue (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/2000, Aperture: f5.6)

It was magnificent!

Speckle Head & The Burnt Head Trail (Focal length 18mm, Shutter: 1/750, Aperture: f11)

And bloody cold. Cold enough with the wind-chill, in fact, that we abandoned any pretence of even a hope of climbing the bluff and enjoying the view. We weren’t attired for Arctic exploration (although it being Newfoundland, we really ought to have known better and come prepared) and so decided to save the wander up the hill for a day less-frigid and more conducive to enjoying the end result. We’ll be back in the spring….

In case you’re looking for incentive to go and do that hike, too, have a gander at this little one-minute video by Keith Nichol of the trail to the summit:

Resting Place (Focal Length: 31, Shutter Speed: 1/180, Aperture: f9.5)

The wreck itself is quite dramatic and its orientation lends itself to fairly powerful (i.e. vertical) shots, when approached from a certain angle. It snowed the whole time I was taking these, which proved to be an additional challenge, not because I was concerned with the flakes that show up in the shots, but rather that I didn’t want water blobs from the melted snow on my lens. I had to aim my shots so as to avoid shooting “into the snow”.

Contorted (Focal Length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/180, Aperture: f9.5)

The picture of the red shed below was snapped as I first approached the beach. I saw just the one crow on the roof, but about three steps forward, after this shot was take, a positive murder of them exploded off the shore. They, being black, were almost invisible against the dark rocks in the dull light.

One for sorrow - although there were actually many more, just out of sight! (Focal Length: 70mm, Shutter Speed: 1/1000, Aperture: f4.5)

I really enjoyed working in black and white for this shot. The lines of the ship and the reflections stand out so much more vividly when colour is removed.

Hulk (Focal Length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/125, Aperture: f18)

Then it was on to Bacon Cove. Bacon Cove is a wee little place that almost no one knows about and that is pretty out-of-the-way. It’s called Bacon Cove after (you guessed it) pigs. Yes sir, according to local legend, there was a big old shipwreck there and the ship was carrying pigs.The story is that, in order to use up the vast quantities of suddenly-dead pig that washed up on shore, a vast amount of bacon was cured in short order. (That’s the legend, at any rate.)

There’s another good shipwreck (possibly the ill-fated pig carrier?) for scuba enthusiasts just off shore, from what I hear.

At any rate, we popped down to this cove to hunt for a geocache and found this rather odd cabin/hut/stage in the process.

Bacon Cove. Look closely. Yes, your eyes are telling the truth. That wharf is lifted. (Focal length 38mm, Shutter: 1/350, Aperture: f11)

It appears that this clever fellow has built himself a wharf that can be lifted clean out of the water in winter. I wonder how much ice damage previous wharves had to have suffered to inspire this stroke of brilliance (or is it madness?)

A very odd wharf. Genius or madness? (Focal length 38mm, Shutter: 1/350, Aperture: f11)

Having lost wharves to the ice ourselves, we were, in fact, rather impressed. It looks relatively new, so I wonder how it will hold up over time.

Next stop: Brigus. (Well, actually, we went and had lunch first, which explains why the weather suddenly changes in the shots from Brigus onwards and there’s blue sky and stuff. You’ll see.)

Avondale Station (Focal Length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/250, Aperture: f6.7)

Today we headed hazily in the general direction of Brigus, which means we went sort of west and rather north and stopped whenever the heck we felt like it, or the light was good or someone saw something that needed closer examination. Our first detour was Avondale to check out the train museum there. I had a good feeling about the train station and Katherine was an enthusiastic second to the notion, so off we went, up the Avondale Access Road in search of a dead-end track.

“Why would you go to a seasonal museum at a defunct railway station in the off-season?” you might ask (and quite reasonably so).

Well, really, I’m not sure. There were fewer tourists than there might be in summer, although never having visited in summer, I can’t say for sure. It was nice to be able to explore and crawl under trains and lie on the snow plough without having to worry that anyone might care.

John took full advantage of this. Proper place for a lawyer.

More to the point, though, we got a bit of a feel for how cold and desolate such a station might be in the grips of winter many years ago. The station was initially built as a telegraph station in 1863 and later taken over and used as a railway station by the Reid Newfoundland Railway Company in the 1880s. Trains haven’t run in Newfoundland since 1988, so there are a number of defunct stations about, although this is the oldest.

Granted, there would have been more activity and people about, but climbing about on trains in the cold certain gives on a greater appreciation for the rigours of the work done.

At the platform (Focal Length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/1000, Aperture: f4.8)

It also gave me a great chance to play with photographing blowing snow. I must have taken dozens of shuts at a variety of shutter speeds and apertures. This one I rather like:

Spindrift (Focal length: 31mm, Shutter Speed: 1/1500, Aperture: f4)

And I got to crawl around under trains, which is always fun.

Under (Focal Length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/125, Aperture: f3.5)

The dining car was closed.

Avondale having been such a success, we packed our thoroughly frozen appendages into the car (we counted to make sure no one had left any behind) and toodled on to a shipwreck at Conception Harbour…. (more on that after I have a look at those photos!)

BFL & Falkland, dyed and spun by me to a chunky, lumpy-bumpy aran-weight-ish. I wasn't being particular.

Into these:

Handspun Hat & Mitts, sized small. John is modelling them, but they were made for my sister, Tamar, who recently returned from Vancouver, BC where hats and mittens are not generally required in quite the same way as they are here.

The mittens are loosely based on the basic mitten pattern in Operation Homespun, with modifications to fit a smaller woman’s hand (but a hand not small enough to be a child’s hand – it’s a fine balance). I’m not thrilled with the pattern. I think I’ll have a go at tweaking it so that the hand at the base of the thumb area is a little tighter.

The mittens are deliberately mismatched, just for whimsy (and so you can tell which is right and which is left).

Again, the pattern for the hat was modified. I wasn’t looking for something as tight-fitting as the original pattern, so I tweaked it here and there.

The hat is largely based on "The Hill Country Hat" from Clara Parkes, "The Knitter's Book of Wool"

They turned out rather nicely. It’s always fun to see something colourful finished that started life as raw, white, wool.

Towering Birch in the evening sun. For the record, evening is defined as after 3:30 at this time of year in these parts. At least, it is according to the Sun. (Focal length: 18mm, Shutter Speed: 1/90, Aperture: f9.5)

Years and years ago, I vowed that I would buy skis when there was actually enough skiable snow in a winter to warrant doing so. Our winters have snow, it’s true, but they also have rain (and fog, sleet, slush that falls out of the sky, freezing rain, freezing fog, hail, etc.) and lots of it.Most of these conditions are not conducive to good skiing.

So last year we all bought skis and decided to try an alternate theory, namely the idea that if you already HAVE skis and decent weather comes along, you can carpere the heck of whatever dies come your way, should any happen to do so. It worked pretty well for us last winter. We got out skiing quite a lot, actually and I would not have said we got a lot of great snow, nor that it lasted particularly long. So the gamble paid off. This winter it’s far easier, since we already have the equipment.

Day ends early (Focal length 70mm, Shutter: 1/250, Aperture: f9.5)

Today was this year’s first real opportunity to get out in the snow at all (there previously not having been any snow to get out into). John and Katherine skied, while Rowan and I snowshoed (we have those, too) and took a few pictures.

Barking (it's the right tree) (Focal length 50mm, Shutter: 1/350, Aperture: f4.8)

Rowan would like it to go on record as stating unequivocally that, while she enjoys these excursions, everyone would have much more FUN if she were allowed to run with the skiers and that snowshoers who constantly stop to take pictures are just plain dull.

Take the picture, human. (Focal length 38mm, Shutter: 1/1000, Aperture: f4.2)

The wool I spun the other day is en route to becoming Something and I dug out another project that I’ve been mulling over for the past few weeks. These silk hankies, purchased in Vancouver and dyed by me shortly after my return, are destined to become…. well, that’s the trick, isn’t it?

Silk hankies, dyed and ready for use

My initial intent was to stretch them and knit then straight off the hanky, not spinning at all, but maybe putting a little twist into them as I went and for them to be plain old ordinary mittens, made extraordinary by their silky, shimmering warmth.  But I know that, once made, I’d never be able to give them up and I already have more than sufficient mittens for my existing hands (even the spare hand) and those of my immediate household. Besides, silk is a funny fibre that doesn’t have the resilient spring of wool, which means that mittens might distort rather easily and never reshape properly to their better selves.

I don’t want to spin them and I’m really not sure why, other than that they are such gossamer things that spinning them almost seems to restrain them too much.

One layer of a silk hanky

That said, I have to do *something* with them and soon. The buggers hook on EVERYTHING, including little rough patches of skin you never knew you had, dog claws, cat ears, turtles & sheep (you have no idea), lens caps… (and the list continues).

Dyed with Procion acid dyes and heat set. They're all slightly different so as to give me a variety of hues and shade with which to work.

I suppose they could be a scarf. There’s probably enough for a good-sized scarf there. I could design a scarf for them.

Someone talk me out of this.