Landscapes

Cracked

This was taken on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada as the ice was cracking during the spring thaw. I used to avoid shooting during the ugly, slushy time during the spring melting period. But now I'll be heading out every year looking for cracks in the ice and ridges like this. My goal was to show the sunlight shining through the ice, but if I got too low the crack going off into the distance wasn't really visible. I felt decently safe as ice fishermen had been driving on the lake just the day before. But I was still a bit nervous with the periodic creaking and cracking noises.

Sunset at Callanish

Luckily the rain and grey skies cleared for this excellent sunset at the standing stones of Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, in the Western Hebrides of Scotland. They are older than the pyramids and roughly contemporary with Stonehenge.

Light-show

A beautiful display of northern lights above an old abandoned house near Beausejour, Canada. I almost didn't go out shooting this night as I had to work the next day, but I'm glad I did. The aurora rarely respect a person's work schedule. (The light coming from the doorway was done by using the self-timer and triggering a handheld flash from inside.)

Autumn in New York

A small waterfall along the side of a trail in Letchworth Park in New York State. The main falls here are huge and occur in three main sets. This small waterfall was found near the upper falls of the park. I didn't get good fall foliage for this trip since the fall was so late in the area this year, but there were a good number of colourful leaves that had fallen and made for good foreground interest with an ultra wide angle lens.

Sky at Island Lake

This was shot just after sunset at Island Lake, Manitoba, Canada. I couldn't resist getting a shot of those two near symmetric clouds which still had some purple colouring from the sunset. (The moon was coming up behind me during this shot and there's an abstract image of the light reflecting off the lake in the Abstracts section.)

McGillivray Cascade

This is a shot of McGillivray Falls in the Whiteshell Provincial Park of Manitoba, near the border with Ontario, Canada. It's a small waterfall but it's fun to wander around the area trying to capture more intimate close-up shots. This shot of the water bouncing back and forth on its way down is one of my favourite shots from my trips here.

Bents

A shot from the small ghost town of Bents, Saskatchewan. Kind of a tricky place to find and not as many buildings left as I had expected. I had gotten stuck on a muddy road the day before, on my way to Bents, and had to watch a phenomenal sunset go to waste. This was the day after and the weather thankfully turned out ok.

The Twisted Forest

I was calling this place the Twisted Forest until I spoke to some locals and saw some signs; they call it the Crooked Bush. This little group of trees grows in all sorts of crazy directions while the surrounding trees are all perfectly straight. There are several theories about why the trees grow like this, from genetics all the way to a UFO visit in the past. In my opinion, if you're travelling through Saskatchewan this is not to be missed. It is a short drive northwest of Harris. It's a short boardwalk through the area but I was there for hours taking photographs. (A lot of time was spent switching lenses since I only have one wide angle lens but I kept changing between my regular camera and my infrared camera.)

Boulder Bay

All I can remember from this night of shooting is how cold and windy it was. It was a test of my will to stay out there, even with a toque and gloves; my fingers hurt when I tried bending them back in the car.

Reclamation

This is a shot of nature slowly reclaiming its place around the intrusion of mankind. This old car was found north of Brandon, Canada. Getting sharpness throughout the image was a challenge as the tree trunk/branch coming toward the viewer is only an inch or two from the camera lens!

Stormy Sunset

This was one of my first outings with my new Sony camera. The sun has just set in this shot but the sky still has a lot of colour. I set the camera on burst and took a few shots, trying to get a nice wave appearance with the long exposure; this was my favourite of the evening.

Silhouette

I've been photographing this tree for years. It's relatively close to home so if I feel like going out shooting on short notice, or the weather changes for the better, I can get to this site pretty quickly. I liked the way this silhouette turned out, with some nice colour in the sky.

Lean

An infrared shot of an old car in a field within Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan. I had seen and photographed this car a few years before, and luckily on this trip it was right where I left it.

Autumn Sunset

This is the same tree as seen in the photo titled Silhouette. It adds a nice silhouette and point of interest to balance out the setting sun and clouds. I have a few shots of this evening, when I moved around quickly as the sun was setting and shot from both sides of the tree. I can't decide whether I like having the sun on the left or the right better.

Spring Thaw

I stopped here the day before and saw the ice crystals and decided to return the next morning (there was also an otter foraging nearby). This was the first morning (alarm set to 4am), not quite as much light shining through the ice. I went again the next morning but it was too cloudy. Then I tried again the next morning but it was all completely gone.

Peaceful Morning

A long exposure at one of the Matlock piers in the Interlake area of Manitoba, Canada. These piers get built every spring and are taken down in the fall. There is a freshwater spring nearby that has excellent water for filling up empty water bottles.

Watkins Glen

This is the famous view of Watkins Glen in northern New York State. I had to come pretty early to get a shot without any other tourists in it. It was a fairly green autumn but you can still see some orange leaves that had fallen on the rocks. This is a highly recommended destination; the gorge hike is amazing and the town is surrounded by wineries and quaint restaurants.

Skylight

This is the main building at the Wilson-Carbide Ruins in Gatineau Park, Quebec. There is a powerful waterfall just to the side of this building. The combination of the ruins and the waterfall in the middle of the forest makes for a magical hike.

Forest Ruins

These are the Wilson-Carbide Ruins in Gatineau Park, Quebec. The combination of the ruins and the waterfall in the middle of the forest makes for a magical hike. It has quickly become one of my favourite locations to photograph since my move to Ottawa.

Slow Lean

A friend of mine told me about this house and I took a little road trip out to shoot it. It's a three hour drive from Winnipeg so it was an overnight trip. To make the sky blue, I inverted the slight amount of red colour that my infrared (converted) camera captures.