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6 Miles of Glacier!

8/30/2010

This photo was taken several years ago on our approach to Hubbard Glacier. I was using a Canon D30 at the time - the leading edge of pro/am camera gear with a huge 3MP sensor in it. This is a stitched panorama with four or five images used to create the final image. The actual printed image is about four feet across and looks good (and cold) hanging on our wall at home.

We were very lucky on the day of our visit as the weather was beautiful and, in spite of the "bergy bits" and "growlers", we made a close approach to the face of the glacier where the Captain spun the ship so that everyone had a good view of the ice. Some claim that viewing a glacier is better on an overcast day as the deep blue of the ice can be better seen. That may be true, but the hot sun beating down on the ice face causes more frequent "calving". That day the thunderous sound of ice separating from the glacier face was constant and loud.

The weather in front of Hubbard is quite changeable - we have been there in rain, in fog so thick it would hide and entire cruise ship and in temperatures so cold you would think you are standing in a walk-in freezer. Glaciers like this are so large they generate their own weather and the run in to the face of the ice takes the ship through strong, cold winds blowing off the glacier and straight at an approaching ship. It's not until you are within miles of the glacier that the ship finds calm air and, if the sun is out, far warmer conditions.

If you are going to be visiting Hubbard Glacier, bring something warm to wear, It may be warm in the rest of Alaska, but standing in front of a 6 mile wide glacier is like standing in front of the largest air conditioner in the world!

Powwow Dancer: Spirit of the Dance

8/29/2010

This is one of my favourite photos of a local powwow dancer. Most powwows around Saskatoon are outdoor events - this is one of the few that I have been asked to photograph that was inside. I was grateful for the harsh lighting inside the arena as it provided high key lighting on the dancers while throwing the background into an inky blackness. Even with a high speed telephoto, I was still working at the extreme edge of shutter speeds that would render the dancers in focus.

After I had a number of sharp photos "in the bag", I decided I would drag the shutter at a much lower speed to try and give a sense of motion to some photos. This is one of the best of the day as far as I am concerned. Showing the photos to the dancers after the powwow there was universal agreement that this photo captured the spirit of the dance.

Vancouver Harbour Cranes at 6:00am

8/26/2010

Vancouver Dawn

One of the least appreciated photo opportunities on a round trip sailing out of Vancouver is an early morning cruise under the Lion's Gate Bridge and up Burrard Inlet. City buildings will either be lit up in the pre-dawn darkness or the sun will be rising behind them, casting an arc weld bright light across Coal Harbour.

On this arrival, the ship was headed for Ballantyne Pier to the east of the usual Canada Place dock. The route to the pier takes the ship right by the main Port of Vancouver docks which are lit up during the night. I am always amazed at how quietly such a large ship slips through the water so close to shore. It barely moves and is virtually silent in its progress.

The cargo cranes were wonderfully lit that morning and looked like artists' sculptures sitting on the shore. The last morning of a cruise is a sad time as we contemplate leaving "the bubble" for the real life of shore so it was a nice perk to have this great view just before we had to disembark!

In Praise of Simplicity - the Panasonic GF1

8/22/2010

Lumix GF1 and Lenses

Recently I made a business trip to Chicago where I knew I wouldn't have the space to carry my usual camera gear nor would I have sufficient free time to use the full kit that I carry. In spite of this, I still wanted to have a camera (and a selection of lenses) capable of producing images I could sell for stock. I decided that I would rely solely on a camera system I have just begun to use in a serious manner - the small 12MP Panasonic EVIL camera, the GF1.

You're looking at 1.4kg of camera gear to the left. With all the lenses. With battery. With viewfinder. There are three zoom lenses that span 9 - 200mm. As this is a micro four thirds camera, that's a range of 18 - 400mm on a full frame camera. In addition, there is a 20mm (40mm full frame equivalent) f/1.7 for low light work. By comparison, my Canon 5D MkII with battery grip and 24-105 lens weighs in at 2kg. The entire GF1 rig fits into my briefcase which also holds my netbook, cables and all the paperwork I need for my business meetings.

One evening when some colleagues, my wife and I had a few hours to ourselves we headed into downtown Chicago to walk the Magnificent Mile. Happily it was approaching the magic hour as the sun disappeared behind the Chicago skycrapers and the street lights began to come on. I was able to get a great shot of the Carbide and Carbon Building - now a Hard Rock Hotel - with the lit street lights in the foreground. With the camera and the image stabilized 14 - 45 zoom only weighing 500 gms it was a breeze to hold steady even at very low shutter speeds. I took a number of pictures in Millennium Park long after sunset and the hand held, unbraced shots taken at a 1/10 of a second were acceptably sharp.

Using the LCD finder is quite easy. Many have complained about the low resolution of the finder, its high cost and inability to render the entire dynamic range in a scene. All of these are true, and while the first two may be addressed in future versions of the viewfinder (or by using the G2 or GH1 cameras instead), the last annoyance can be addressed by referring to the live histogram in the viewfinder. The viewfinder will also tilt from its horizontal position through 90 degrees to vertical, making it a cinch to take low level shots simply by adjusting its position.

This is a camera that begs to be used to record RAW images. I have never been overly happy with the way Panasonic has processed JPG images in camera and prefer to extract the most detail and color from the RAW files. I have already had images accepted and sold on iStock, and since this is the measure of quality I use, I am quite happy with the RAW files that come out of this camera.
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GF1 with 8mm Peleng Fisheye

An interesting feature of the camera is the availability of numerous adapters that let you use a variety of lens from other camera systems on the GF1. This has let me use some rather interesting lenses in a new, digital way. One of these lenses is my 8mm Peleng fish eye. It gives the GF1 a rather exotic look and the end results are significantly wider and far more "fish eye-like" than the Olympic 9 - 18mm zoom lens.

Why use something so retro? Isn't an DSLR like a Rebel or an EVIL camera with built in viewfinder a better thing? Call me old school but I love the look and feel of the camera and appreciate that an entire camera system can be put in your pocket - or briefcase. Are there performance and handling compromises in this camera - yes, just like every camera out there, but they are not insurmountable and give a slight quirkiness to the GF1.

Historic Exchange District, Winnipeg, Manitoba

8/14/2010

Building in Exchange District, Winnipeg

Travelling for business and leisure this summer gave me the chance to reacquaint myself with a city I haven't been in for 20 years - Winnipeg, Manitoba. While there, my brother-in-law - who is a great photographer, gave me a tour of the Exchange District in Winnipeg. The area is full of old office buildings and warehouses dating back to the turn of the last century. While you may not know it, you have probably seen a number of these buildings in various movies as Hollywood likes to come and film in this part of Winnipeg.

This photo is an example of the kind of architecture that can be seen for blocks and blocks in Winnipeg. The whole area cries out for careful urban exploration with buildings, shapes and textures at every turn.

Carbide & Carbon Building, Chicago

8/7/2010

Carbide & Carbon Building, Chicago at Dusk

Dusk on Michigan Avenue - we were making our way from the John Hancock building to Millennium Park in downtown Chicage, passing some the most spectacular architecture this city has to offer. I have never felt so much like a country boy as I did walking the streets of Chicago, my neck sore from looking up at the magnificent buildings we were passing. I was looking for a shot that would capture a single building in a different way and was not having much success until the street lights began to come on. These street lights were old and historic, matching the age of many of the buildings. I decided to see if I could include one of these lights in a building shot so I gave it a try with the Carbide & Carbon Building, now a Hard Rock Hotel, and I am fairly happy with the results.

As this was a business trip, I left my usual Canon DSLR's at home and shot this with a much ligher Panasonic GF-1

Have any interesting stories about Chicago? Share them with us here!