I’ve known this family for a few years so I was thrilled when they asked me to shoot their family portraits. We had a cold windy evening, in Fishcreek Park and we were praying the rain would hold off for us and it did.
Yippee!!!
They were so much fun, everything I wanted them to do, including the “super slow-mo walk, while pretending you’re having the time of your life”, they nailed.
Boom!
Just look at mom and dad’s amazing matching blue eyes!
I love the quiet calm of a weekend morning. Waking up early, fresh coffee and the quiet, calm of the morning is the greatest fuzzy, comfort way to start a day. Not just any day, but a Sunday!
Now, I have to admit, I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. Life has been been a bit of a tornado for the last few weeks, and this was the first morning when the world felt like it was floating back to normal. It felt good. As I sipped on fresh coffee, Otis Redding was singing "Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa (sad song)". I began to day dream of where I was going to drive off to and explore with my camera. Then I thought such a beautiful morning shouldn't be wasted driving. I live right beside Fish Creek Park, literally 500 meters away. I began to think about how much I love it here. So the drive was thrown out and my hiking shoes were laced up. I filled up my travel mug, grabbed my camera bag and set off the explore my own back yard.
I didn't take long 'til I saw the first Osprey circling overhead. First one, then two, then finally three! As I walked a long the path I hoped they'd lower their orbits and get within lens range. In Fish Creek a few nest towers have been built in hope these predators will build on them so they won't use power poles and risk getting electrocuted. It has been very successful!
I camped out in front of the nest tower, waited, hoped, prayed for a landing. It didn't take long, maybe 25 minutes and I was rewarded with a landing. Now to say I was happy would be an understatement. I was ecstatic looking though the view finder watching one coming closer. I first thought she/he was flying with breakfast and as it came closer I realized it was holding a clump of grass. They were adding soft bedding for their nest.... for their soon to be laid eggs!
I couldn't believe this amazing natural scene was happening in the heart of Calgary, a stones throw from my own home! God smiled down on me this Sunday and gave me a great gift.
What's in your backyard neighbourhood? Maybe it needs to be explored by you!!!
"It has a sweet melody tonight
Anybody can sing it any old time
What in your heart puts you in a groove
And when you sing this song
It'll make you're whole body move, it goes
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa" - Otis Redding
Home coming!
Is it just me or do spring sunsets just feel good for the soul?
Last Thursday evening had great potential to be an amazing, spring sunset. Calgarians are very familiar with a Chinook arch. The tell-tail bank of clouds form a perfect curved arch that brings warm air to our city and Thursday's arch was locked and loaded. When the arch is there at sunset, the sun light at the horizon lights the belly of the arch and boom! Fire in the sky.
The drive home couldn't end soon enough. I ran inside grabbed my bag and headed for Fishceek. One of the benefits of living in south Calgary is I'm 300 meters from some great landscape locations in Fishcreek provincial park.
OK, check the sunset time, 7:30. Current time 6:45pm. The location I had in mind, I guessed, was about a 15 to 20 minute walk. Time to motor!!! LoL I was off.
My feet couldn't move fast enough. I thought if anybody saw me they'd think I was training for that weird looking speed walking event they have at the Olympics. Yep, I was a speed walker... definitely speed walker!!!
Oh, look Canadian Geese coming in for a landing! No!!! Must keep walking. Sunset, got to get this sunset. Go, Go Speed Racer! Nothing was going to distract me from my sunset mission.
I got to the little pond and was pleasantly surprised to see open water. (In March that doesn't happen often.) I set my bag down and started to set up my tripod.
*****ATTENTION PHOTOGRAPHERS TO TIP FOLLOW*****
So here's comes the idea for this weeks blog. It's about giving a tip this week!
When setting up a tripod, extend the legs before or after you've reached the actually spot your going to shoot. Never walk and futz with your tripod at the same time. Especially when that spot is on the banks of a freshly thawed Canadian pond in March......yep.... I.... um....... well..... I was so distracted looking at the sunset that I.... um... well... I stepped firmly into the pond with my left foot and drowned my ankle. Doh!! Ccccc-cold.
Oh well, got to get the shot, right!?! Soggy foot yes, but a sunset was in front of me and I got the shots. Oh yeah! From now on I'll be know as "Wet-Foot-Photog."
'Till next and there will be a next time.
...photoHuch
Ever have a bad day? A day where no matter what you do nothing seems to flow properly. The coffee pot is full of grounds, your computer has decided to slip into a coma and no matter how hard you try to get ahead on your work load, you fall further behind. Well I'm here to tell ya it happens to all of us. We all, at some point, have a bad day. A day where we wish we could hit delete and redo it from the beginning.
I love to grab my camera bag and head out for a day of not knowing where I'm going or what I'm going to shoot. A photoHuch treasure hunt! That's what I did Saturday. Full tank of gas, a large coffee and I was off. Where to.... no clue. To photograph what... no idea. Usually this results in a cool new location / subject and a bunch of new photos to pull of a memory card.
I headed west. I was thinking of rundown barns. For some reason I just couldn't get into the mindset for the hunt. Maybe I should've tried harder, because the days results were sadly disappointing for this camera nerd.
I ended up at Vermillion lakes, near Banff around 3:30pm. The worst time of day to shoot landscapes. Golden hour is best around sunrise or sunset. Still, I was determined to get something. So I began to scout for a great location.
At 4:30 the clouds began to move in from the west. Doh!
At 4:45 the clouds were having a party and were not going anywhere. In fact they had invited more friends to join in. Doh!!
I tried all the usual tricks to come up with different or unique ideas. Black n white, clouds in motion, HDR, multiplicity selfie but.... I was defeated. Nothing was turning out they way I thought about it in my head. Doh!!!
By 5, after taking a dozens of shots I admitted defeat. There would be no great fire in the sky sunset. Too much cloud cover. Time came to take my ball and go home. I threw my gear in the truck and headed for home. DOH!!!!!
Merging back onto the highway at Canmore, coffee cravings freshly quenched, I was greeted by clear skies, all the way east back to Calgary. If I would had stayed around Calgary I would of had more to show for my day then just one disappointing "keeper". Double DOH!!!
Oh well, rant over! Holy first world problems eh?!
The one and only keeper shot is below. Just click on it to see a larger view.
'Till next time, and the will be a next time.
Cheers!
...photoHuch
Holy crap, this site is now a reality!
After years of living in fear and procrastination it's time to take the leap. If we fall... we fall. Simply stand up, dust off and climb again. Let's see what happens shall we. This site is the realization of a dream. If you were to say, a few short years ago, I'd have my own photography site and would be selling my own prints; I would have walked away giggling. Well it's now 2015 and photoHuch is here. Nadene Aide, Shawna Gist, Jason Gist, Brad Barber, Greg Cox, Dave Williams and Dana Brown thank you for letting me use photos of you or your kiddos to start this site. It wouldn't have been the same without these images.
Photography is a passion. I can't get enough. I think about day and night. It's my pleasure to be able to share this with you. What's next? Who knows... but I do know this. I am thrilled just to have come this far, thrilled that the ball is in play and truly thrilled you've stopped by and had a look.
If you haven't done so already, check out photoHuch on Faceboook, like it and follow it for the latest updates and contests. Yep, that's right I said contests, prints, prints and more prints.
'till next time... and there will be a next time.
Cheers!
photoHuch
