That's right everyone,  I am officially going to create a dance in celebration of the end of yet another cold and harsh winter here in Saskatchewan.  Not only am I going to create a dance but I am going to ensure that it becomes a bigger hit than the Macarena ever was   Okay, I just took a minute to compose myself and realized that I may have been being a wee bit optomistic on the whole scale of the dance creation idea... let's start small and go with it being bigger than the Achey Breaky for now. [I could go on to comment about the requirement for one to have some semblance of rythm in order to dance at all let alone "create a new dance" but instead I will point out to the newbies here that her heiness the dancer tends to start these blogs and then I come along and make smart-assed comments inside of these otherwise useless brackets... as well as add a few photos - Rob W.]

This weeks blog is going to be on the shortish side as Rob and I have not been out to much due to the temperature being below 40 most of the time.  We did however get to the Saltcoats Vintage Snowmobile Rally (these guys really need to update their site) last weekend.  We even managed to shoot for about an hour before certain parts of my face... my hands and my feet started to feel like they were going to break and fall off.  The one thing that I will say is that the crew that came out to participate in this event must be tougher than nails because there is no amount of clothing layers that would have kept me warm ripping around that track 50 times with a windchill of about -42! [You will note a bit further down that even though "we have not been out much" I still have bills to pay so tend to shoot albeit not necessarily within my creative space.]

Here are a few of my pictures from the race... I'm sure that Rob will be inserting some as soon as he finds some time this week:

ISO- 100, F 7.1, Shutter Speed - 1/800th sec, Focal Length - 70mm

This was the first race of the day which was the kids.  This little guy closest to the camera not only appeared to be the youngest by far but was also riding a machine that was at least a few decades older than his competition and he literally blew by them like they were driving backwards

ISO - 100, F 5.6, Shutter Speed - 1/2000th, Focal Length - 200mm

Take note that for this shot I used a much bigger lens as even though these machines may look old they can still fly around the corners!  I was safely standing right behind a large post in the hopes that if someone did come off the course they would run into that before me as I was unable to move due to the hard packed snow that I was up to my waist in!

Same setting as above but with a shutter speed of 1/1600th sec.  Yep, the corners got a bit dangerous.  Rob has a series of pictures where he has one of the guys flipping his machine and flying off... I'm hoping that he will INSERT THEM BELOW.  I hope he manages to find the hint that I subtly placed in here for him

[Not sure this guy needed to be reminded of this incident. I was about 300 yards away but could not resist pulling the trigger. Fact is I had just turned in this direction about one second before the first frame, apparently I have an instinct no doubt developed from my own fair share of going over the top or high-siding]

Alright, that is the last of my rally images.  Well, actually I have dozens more but I'm thinking that is the last of the snowmobile images that you will be wanting to see from me for now

[So I will insert one blow]

 
1/800th @ F4.5 +0.3 - ISO 100

I am going to give you guys a winter photo tip as this is what I do when I have time on my hands and am looking out the window thinking that I must be living in Siberia or something as it has been too cold for human habitation for months now.  What I do is I go out and buy some flowers and then just figure out different ways to shoot them.  Try to get creative... use mirrors, candles, a reflector... you name it. [Alternatively you could find someone who is not aesthetically challenged and have them remove varying amounts of clothing - at that point you could opt to photograph them] 

Below are a few of the pictures that I took this week: [and a few that I did not - Don't get me wrong, I love them as they are great images. I'm just trying to get rid of the reputation I have for taking pictures of flowers. Thus the race cars and talk of nudity.]

ISO- 100, F 2.8, Shutter Speed - 0.5 sec, Focal Length - 100mm

ISO - 100, F 2.8, shutter Speed - 1 sec, Focal Length - 100m

Well folks that's it for now.  Rob will be adding his 2 cents... or more like 25 cents shortly.  We will have a much larger blog over the next few weeks as we are going on a Northern photo excursion with some friends so hopefully we will bring back a pile of new images

[[For those of you who know me or are friends on facebook you will know that there are two things on my mind at this time of year. One is being on my bike (photo below by Devona) and the second is motor racing - sorry guys, no flowers here, nor nudity although those things may as well be on my mind].

1/250th @ F6.7 +0.5 - ISO 400 - Notes on setting: 1/250th because I was panning the shot and wanted movement in the background and the wheels spinning (those of you who have taken our class know that a car moving 200kph photographed at 1/1500th of a second is a "parked car"), F 6.7 because I needed the depth to get the whole car in focus (car was cornering), plus 1/2 stop as it was a relatively bright day.

Now for a few images from indoor soccer and track and field which tends to be what I spend my time doing at this time of year.

Grainy as hell tends to be the story with indoor track.

Sometimes square is not so square.

I also often preach that you need to find a unique perspective from which to shoot sports or you need to do something a little different.
We have all shot the high-jumper going over the bar but the intensity and the focus on said bar is another part of the equation.


There is this sport here in Saskatchewan called boarded soccer or futbal and I think this frame speaks to one of the inherent dangers of playing it.


Saskatoon has two great facilities for indoor soccer. Great for playing soccer, not so great for photographing soccer. Manual white balance is key and even then....

Same goes for Regina's' soccer facilty. I shot there yesterday and can't believe that a building only a couple years old already has three different colour temperature lights in the ceiling.
No setting suprises here... shot as shallow as possible to get as much light as possible and an the slowest ISO that will get you an appropriate shutter speed. That should all make sense to you and if not, perhaps you too should enroll in one of our Digital Photography Workshops of which we have scheduled two in Yorton, SK and are investigating doing so in a number of other communities.]

Have a great week and try to enjoy some of this beautiful weather now that it's finally here! [Bedeep, bedeep, that's all for now folks!]

Devona [Rob] 

Woohooo... a three part blog!  This totally has to make up for those times... albeit rare... when it took me more than a week or two to get a blog entry in.  And, what has happened in the past 3 minutes since I posted the part II entry...well, I filled my coffee cup and checked the forecast to realize that the wind has dropped in the past few hours from 80kmph gusts down to 50kmph.  Who knows, if it gets down another 30kmph I may even drag my snowshoes out and head out into the night to take some pics.

Before I start this final entry I thought that I would include a little tidbit that I came across quite a long time ago but to me it completely rings true.  I have always believed that having an eye for creating an image is one of the most important aspects of photography... to go along with that you also have to have a camera with you.  Both Rob and I carry a camera of some form with us every single time we go anywhere... it's true... can you count the amount of time you saw something that caught your eye and you didn't have anything to record it with?? 

"Ansel Adams got his famous Shot “Moon and Half Dome” on his way to happy hour. Yes, he pulled his Cadillac over at 4 PM and grabbed his Hasselblad and got that shot. Got back in his car and drove off to have some more fun. Ironic how photographers now line up in droves to try to get the same shot. Ansel loved to get shots of the moon, and was prepared to jump when he saw that shot."

Okay...enough about my "take a camera with you everywhere you go" lecture and onto some more photos: 

ISO - 100, F -18, Shutter Speed - 1/15th sec, Exp Comp - +1.3

Above are just a few of the superb images that Rob shot of some snow drifts.

This is a picture that Rob sent of his cat Bristol... I affectionately have re-named him "the cat that is constantly caught in the door"... why you ask?  Well, the answer is very simple as I am sure every single time I have ever talked to Rob on the phone you can hear Bristol meowing very loudly in the background so I automatically tell Rob to let Bristol out as he is obviously caught in the door???  On a side note Rob's dog is named Daytona ... bet you all are having a hard time figuring out what one of Rob's favorite sports happens to be lol.

ISO - 100, F-13, Shutter Speed - 1/2 sec, Focal Length - 105 ... Macro Lens {To this day all I see when I look at this image is a little animated bird flying towards me}

{This thing conjured serious martian images... martians with strangely curved feet and HUGE lips}

ISO - 100, F-7.1, Shutter Speed-1/8th sec, Exp Comp - +1.3

The above were a few of the shots that Rob took at the Floral Conservatorya few weeks back.  The pictures below are a few that I shot when I went last weekend.

ISO - 250, F 16.0, Shutter Speed - 1/5th sec, Focal Length 200mm

ISO - 500, F 5.6, Shutter Speed - 1/640th sec, Focal Length - 200mm

The above 2 shots were taken of the frost on the panes of glass on the roof of the conservatory.  The patterns were fantastic and I intentionally did not compensate my exposure as I wanted the white frost to come out with a darker more bluish grey tone so that you could see much more of the detail in the images....okay, that totally made me sound like one of those techno wiennies that I love to make of ... sorry Robert {you better be}

ISO - 250, F 2.8, Shutter Speed - 1/1250th sec, Focal Length - 200mm

Wow... that's it for this week and now that I just realized it is already 1:00 PM I guess that I should find some breakfast.  I am going to leave you with a few tips for shooting in the cold as I hear that this warm snap isn't supposed to last all that long

When shooting in the cold try to remember to do the following:

 - Let your camera acclimatize to the conditions... whether you are going from cold to warm or warm to cold give your camera time to adjust... the bigger the temperature difference the longer the time needed.  The one thing that you don't want to happen if to get condensation on your sensor.  When going from one temperature to another keep your camera sealed in your camera bag or a ziploc until it has had the right amount of time to gradually warm up or cool down.

- Always try to keep some of silica gel packs in your camera bag... for those of you who aren't familiar with those they are the little packs that always come in new boxes of shoes that say "Do not Eat" {Also don't pack too many of them in your carry-on or you will be asked a number of chemical related questions at security}

- Keep a absorbant micro fibre cloth in your pocket at all times so if your camera gets snow on it etc then you can just quickly wipe it off as we all know that the #1 killer of cameras is moisture. {Yes, then insert your damp camera in your pocket for de-moisturizing}

- Don't forget that the cold also effects your batteries. Low temperatures also affect batteries that are not in the camera.  {So are we affecting or effecting here?} Always try to keep an extra battery in your pocket and try to rotate them from pocket to camera as you will get much longer life from them by doing this.  Another thing to keep in mind is that even if your battery is reading dead in your camera by taking it out and letting it warm in your pocket for a bit you can usually get at least another dozen shots out of it.

 Well, that's it for now... I seriously have to go and find something to eat!  Have a great week...or two and try to get out shooting while the temperature is at least bearable!

Devona {and Rob}

That's right folks, I do believe that I am sitting right in the eye.  What makes me think that??  Well, as I type I am looking out my window and I am sure that the wind is blowing at least 100kmh... in my book we are indeed having a hurricane!  And here I thought that Saskatchewan was immune to those things   I will take the wind over the cold though.  Actually, now that I think of it maybe it would be a toss up but right now I think I favor wind because I am so sick of talking to people about how cold it is... I should have counted the amount of times in the past month or two that I have heard the line "Is it cold enough for you?".  I have come up with a new response to that so when I am asked I seriously look people in the eye and say "no"... at first they think I'm joking but then I explain that I need it to go down to at least -50 (before the windchill) as that is the temperature at which ice crystals start to merge together and I am really dying to photograph this rare event.  Yeah, not so much

Okay... once again I have found myself getting a little bit off course... sorry... so, what has been happening photographically speaking in the past couple of weeks?  Well, we have been as busy as ever teaching photo workshops.  We have a post processing workshop coming up and we have also been gearing up getting ready for our Winterscapes 2009 fieldtrip which as long as the weather holds out should be a blast.  Rob has also been busy with the University of Regina and is shooting wrestling as we speak.  Other than that I do believe that Rob is planning to shoot both Brad Paisley and the Eagles in the near future... am I jealous??  Come on...seriously, everyone knows that the Eagles were only a one hit wonder anyway Okay... I might just be a weeee bit envious.

I did head out once again to the Floral Conservatory to shoot their orchid display. I must admit that I am starting to love it there as there is nothing like walking down paths of flowers in a tropical environment when it is about -40 outside.

And with that we will move onto some pictures.  Rob has in fact finally found a bit of time to send me some more of his Costa Rican trip so I will be posting some here in hopes that Rob will add some comments after the fact as I could make some but they most likely would have nothing to do with the actual images... hmmm... now that I think of it maybe I will do just that and then he can add on if necessary I will also once again point out that Rob did not take an SLR on his trip as all photo were shot with a Canon Powershot G10.

This blog is also going to be split up into at least 2 if not 3 seperate entries as this time we have a lot of images to post and we have realized that some of our blog buddies are on dial up and it takes them upwards of half an hour on occasion to load the blog if there are a pile of images in it.

{Hello blog reading people - Being that Devona was kind enough to do all this work for us and publish these blog entries all that is left to me is to add some comments and explanations which I will do througout these postings and use these funny little bracketsf or which I have never previously found a use for.}

{Your eyes do not deceive you. The above image has been seriously tweaked in PS. At full size it looks very much like an oil painting and will ultimately be printed on a canvas or cotton stock.}

ISO - 80, F - 8.0, SHUTTER SPEED - 1/30TH SEC. {Poas Volcano in Costa Rica - The clouds parted for just long enough for me to shoot this. Most visitors during the week we were there were not lucky enough to see anything other than clouds (Don't worry, the tour guides still took their $60US per person) Can someone please remind me to change the typo on the print... or perhaps not, those tend to be the things that people buy and glom onto for decades... other people's screwups.}

ISO - 80, F - 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/80th sec, Exp Comp - +0.7 {Yes, that says ISO 80 as all these Costa Rica images were shot with a Canon G10 which has a maximum aperature of F8.0 and quite often meeter readings not terribly relevant to the SLR world due to the size of the sensor and the close proximity of it to the lens opening etc.}

ISO - 200, F - 8.0, Shutter Speed - 1/500th, Exp Comp -0.7

ISO - 80, F - 8.0, Shutter Speed - .5 sec, Exp Comp - -0.3

ISO - 80, F - 8.0, Shutter Speed - 1.5 sec {Somehow the results I obtained from this little camera at F8.0 were suprisingly similar to the results I would see from my DSLR at about F16 or higher - I am generally very pleased with how well this camera performed especially considering how many Cervezas I had consumed by the time the sun set daily}

ISO - 400, F - 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/200th sec {handheld}

ISO - 400, F - 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/400th sec, Exp Comp - -0.3 {handheld}

ISO - 400, F - 4.5, Shutter Speed - 1/250th sec, Exp Comp - -0.3 {handheld}

So, I would have made some comments on Rob's photos above as I think that they are all stunning but the problem lies in the fact that looking at them makes me just a wee bit envious as I was sitting here working with the temperatures hovering around minus a zillion while he was galavanting all over Costa Rica taking amazing pictures and I didn't want to come across in my comments like I was bitter or anything

Okay everyone... this is where I say "to be continued" as after I post this I am going to start working on part II ....