Hello again everyone!  Well... I realize that this is a wee bit later than most blogs but there is a very legitimate reason behind it which we will let you in on at the end of this blog :)  What have we been up to as of late?  Well, we went up to Anglin lake with some friends for a photo retreat and had a blast.  The weather left a little bit to be desired as right after we left P.A we ran into a mixture of rain, hail, snow and if you can believe it...lightning!  No, I'm not kidding... needless to say we ended up driving the rest of the way at about 70K and it made for some challenging driving throughout the rest of the trip.  [As with always, I (Rob) will be inserting my two cents worth in these little brackets. Upon our arrival after traversing the treacherous roads we were greeted with the sound of thunder. We figured that we had seen a couple of lightning strikes while we were driving but were not sure as seeing through the hail was a little difficult. The thunder served to confirm what we saw. Yes, a thunder storm with snow, hail and rain in mid march in Northern Saskatchewan]

Rob this is where you can input what else we have been doing as I am suddenly suffering from writer's block :( [Hopefully I can do us justice]

Onto some trip pics...
[The first morning was essentially a free-for-all with Devona heading out with Jim, apparently they found some open water. Myself and Gil hung back and shot around the community we based ourselves from]

ISO - 100, F 16, Shutter Speed - 1/3 sec, Focal length - 21mm

[I found the "Lonesome Dove Saloon - Damn place was closed :o( 1/15th @ F11 +1.0 ISO 10]

Our buddy Jim is my "all things wildlife and plant related" educator so he took it upon himself to walk through waist deep snow to grab part of a tree to show me the difference between them... yep, he takes his job very seriously :) [By the looks of the left side of this frame it appears you were once again shooting from inside the vehicle

[Over lunch a bit of a challenge was issued. "One Camera, One Lens, One Afternoon.". I've yet to receive submissions from the other participants. My images are below - Lens of choice was a 105mm F2.8 Macro.
A circular polarizer was used to add detail and reduce reflection from ice crystals etc.]

0.6 sec. @ F14 +1.7 ISO100

1/8th @ F13 +1.3 - ISO 100

1/5th @ F10 +2 - ISO 100

Still the same lens. No one said anything about photoshop. :o)

Resort Sign

Not exactly the Joshua Tree - 1/20th @ F10 - ISO 100

This has got me a little confused in that the following two photos were shot by Devona during our One Lens challenge but she has referred to them as part of the next days activities which encompassed a self portrait and a photo of seeds. There were other categories as well which I'll get to. I just wanted to point out the importance of (even with your friends) ensuring submission accuracy by checking the EXIF data. You see these photos were both taken during the One Lens challenge and not the next day when she was supposed to shoot these categories... sneeky dog.]

Here is my entry for self portrait.  I found this axe along my travels so it was really hard to resist the temptation to play the role of axe murderer ... [yeah right, "the role". Glad Mildred from next door did not witness this madness, we would have been trying to break Devona out of an institution the next day... or on second thought perhaps we would have preferred some quiet]



ISO - 100, F 4, Shutter Speed - 1/100th sec, Focal Length - 100mm
One of the categories was "seeds" so this is what I decided to shoot with my macro lens.

We stayed at the Land of the Loon resort and when we were walking by the sign I had to get Rob to stop and point at it.  For those of you who know Rob you will know that he is anal...scratch that...meticulous.  Whenever we go shooting I have shot everything that I can fathom to shoot and he is on photo number 5...  


Here is a shot of the cabin... this would be a great location in the summer as it overlooks Anglin Lake ...

Yes... if you look closely enough you will see that Rob is indeed posing on the deck ...
[So are you saying the guns don't show up unless a person looks close? :o( - Fact is people I am straightening my hat]

Here is another one of the many bogs that we passed along the way..

ISO - 100, F 14, Shutter Speed - 1/50th sec, Focal Length - 70mm

[After a long day shooting Gil put together a scrumptious Rib dinner for Jim, Devona and Haida (aka the K-9 vaccuum pictured below]

1/5th @ F1.4 -0.3 ISO 400 - Yes, it was handheld and yes it was sharp... do as I say, not as I do Grasshopper :o)

[Part two will follow shortly as soon as I can sort out Devona's stuff - She said she was tired when she sent me her files but I think she meant that she had just drank two bottles of Deserona]