The Hand of God

Last weekend we returned from a lengthy and much needed vacation at Universal Studios in Florida and an Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas.  Was a fabulous trip but still paying the price on two counts:

1. Detoxification.

2. Image editing.

With more shots than I care to admit to pour through, catalogue, and develop the latter may be the most difficult but I hope to start posting some of my favorites over the next while.  To cap things off I’m going to start with this.

God Rays.


This type of show on the open seas was fairly common, with a degree of cloud cover allowing the setting (or rising) sun’s rays to poke through and spotlight a small portion of the water.  I have many… MANY… of these with different framing and crops and spot size.  This may or may not be my favorite, but I had to start somewhere.

And while the skies look incredibly ominous and threatening here it is purely an aesthetic choice, one that I made at the time of shooting.  It was actually bright and warm and we had mostly smooth water the entire trip.  Which is good news as rough seas would have either made me hurl and/or spill my Margaritas.

The Riverbank

Took advantage of a free morning and beautiful weather yesterday to saunter over to ye ‘ol riverbank near home.  The Red River is usually high and a mad rushing Torrent of Flood Terror this time of year.  Actually… no… wait…  It’s usually still mostly frozen this time of year with ice jams of primary concern.

Enter Global Warming.

It’s been 20’ish Celsius here on the prairies which for mid-March is insane.  Snow is pretty much all gone, and the waters are flowing freely.

And they’re low.  Incredibly low.  Thankfully low given the burden flood fears this city has enjoyed over the years.  To wit this post from last year.

So with the well exposed riverbank there is ample textural detail to capture.  Wasn’t “seeing” as much as I would like so frames are limited, although I ended up really liking the first of this series.  


Now let’s see if this lasts and merges into another glorious summer.

Travel Trilogy Too

Strange how travel ebbs and flows.

After an almost-three-month drought of being grounded I found myself last week on the second of a back-to-back let to Toronto.  Gear in tow and with a seat at the window I thought I’d expand upon the engine shot from the week prior.  This time around in black and white, with the addition of a simple horizon image with the clouds sweeping in like rolling water.


Back down to Earth for a little while now.

Rarified Air

I’m a travel snob.

I freely admit it.

Having achieved airline status now on my third (?) year I’ve come to very much enjoy the perks associated with priority boarding, lounge access, and the piece de resistance…

Executive Class upgrades.

All these things make the chore of travel less of a, well, chore.  And so I find myself this morning sitting in my comfy exec seat with not one.  Not two.  But three open seats along my row.  Strangely only half the executive cabin was occupied.  Presenting me with a photo opp that I’ve not had before…



This was in stark contrast to my Friday return from last week where Air Canada saw fit to change aircraft and plow us into an “economy only” air bus that had nothing for chow other than light snacks.  And no seat-back entertainment.

Heathens.

Walls of Stone

A couple of weekends ago we were embroiled in a hard hitting ringette tournament out of town in quaint Stonewall, Manitoba.  So named because they have much stone.  And walls.

Two aspects of that weekend stuck with me photographically.  As did the frost to my eyelids as it was uncharacteristically brisk that weekend.  And that was just inside the arena.  The aptly named Ice Palace.  Were it not for the pitched heat of battle on the ice we probably wouldn’t have made it out of there.  But I was inspired to return to shoot this passage underneath the stands.  Cold, hard concrete that was all about perspective and high dynamic range imaging.


As for the rest of the arena?  Best left unsaid.

Also of interest were these two stone towers.  Part of the town’s overall “stoney” palette.  These were also shot in HDR to get as much detail and texture as possible.  There are still bits of skin on my camera and tripod from that one as it really was cold out that early evening.


Was an overall good weekend despite the travel and the temperatures.  Girls got bronze, and I got some interesting frames.  Along with some ideas for a future trip armed with some serious neutral density and time on my hands.
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