Hello again from sunny Florida wintery Regina. Sitting here curled up in two layers of clothing and a fuzzy blanket looking outside at what appears to be an extremely icy mess...ah, gotta hate love winter! On the upside my winter tires are installed, and WOW, what a difference that makes! No idea how living in Saskatchewan my entire life I have managed to make it this long without them... trust me folks, if you are sitting on the fence as to whether or not to make the investment, sit no longer! {Thanks again to Devona for all her hard work on the blog. I will once again leave smart-ass comments in these funky little brackets and at some point create an entry in which will be published some of my photos... just not much time these days - RW}

Okay, once again, enough rambling and onto what has been new and exciting in the lives of ThoseTwoPhotographers. The majority of this blog post will be dedicated to our late October vacation to Fairmont, BC but before we get there, a few other fall photos to post. The images of the trees and leaves were taken at Condie Nature Reserve just north of Regina on an amazing fall day.

Lens (mm): 22
ISO: 125
Aperture: 4.5
Shutter: 1/125
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Program: Aperture Priority

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/1000
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Program: Aperture Priority

Take note one of the largest differences in the two photos above is that the top one was shot at an aperture of 4.5 and the one below it 2.8 creating a much softer background.

Lens (mm): 100
ISO: 100
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/1000
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
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Program: Aperture Priority

Every once in a while it doesn't hurt to try something different. The above photo was created by using a zoom pull technique. Essentially all that is done is that you zoom your lens while the image is being shot thus creating the "artsy fartsy" image above.

Lens (mm): 16
ISO: 125
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/200
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The time of day (evening) coupled with the use of a circular polarizing filter really make the fall colours pop in the image above.

Rob is the photographer for the Tartan Curling Club here in Regina and they recently hosted the Horizon Curling Classic with some really big names in the field. It was interesting to shoot something different... playing around with some effects in the images below....the first one is straight out of the camera with the second one being manipulated in Photoshop. Rob happens to like the original better {although I would at least correct the colour cast in the ice} whereas my choice is number two... I think.

Lens (mm): 126
ISO: 3200
Aperture: 6.3
Shutter: 1/125
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Note that the image was shot with a shutter speed slow enough to render movement in the photo but fast enough to still have the curling rock sharp.

This is no longer current news but nonetheless the Dollarama in South Regina burned down about a month ago. By chance, I was driving by shortly after with only a Canon G9 and no tripod. The only way to get an image that was useable was to shoot at an ISO of 1600 which of course makes the picture grainy as heck but as we say...better than no picture at all.

We left for Fairmont for about a week and a half of nothing but R&R...or so was my thought process. Apparently Rob's differs slightly from mine so we ended up doing a lot of hiking {short walks} and played squash pretty much every day {three times} but overall it was a very relaxing getaway. The best part is that while the "Weather Bomb" was hitting Saskatchewan we were far away where the snow still hadn't made its way! 

Rob taking a picture of his beloved truck with the mountains as a backdrop.

Lens (mm): 47
ISO: 100
Aperture: 4
Shutter: 1/200
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The above picture the view from the condo deck which overlooking Mountainside Golf Course in Fairmont, BC. 

Much easier to get up in time for sunrise when it doesn't happen until about 8:45 AM lol. When shooting sunrise and sunset photos a tripod is an absolute necessity due to the slow shutter speeds required.

Lens (mm): 42
ISO: 100
Aperture: 8
Shutter: 1/8
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Program: Aperture Priority

Does anybody see anything wrong with the photo above??!!

Lens (mm): 17
ISO: 100
Aperture: 16
Shutter: 1.0
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Nothing like crystal clear blue water rushing by...well, as long as I'm nice and dry on the rocks above anyway :)

Lens (mm): 17
ISO: 100
Aperture: 16
Shutter: 1.0
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Tons of scenic places to pull over along the way and shoot some photos.

Did a hike to the top of the Hoodoos one day. One hike that was definitely more than worth the leg burn and sweat to get there as the view from the top was absolutely spectacular! Below we see "speck of Rob". 

The picture below was taken once we got back down and were looking up at where we had been.

Next are a couple of photos that Rob took of me taking some pics. I was testing out this new camera carrying system that was recommended to me called a Cotton Carrier. If you are into hiking around with your gear and want it to be not only easily accessible but have the weight very well distributed so you can still use your neck when you get to be over 50, this system is highly recommend.

What fun is roaming around those scary mountain roads without getting a flat tire! Good thing that this didn't happen the previous day as the roads we were on then were WAY worse tha this one was... so bad that I actually contemplated getting out of the truck and walking back down. The only problem is that the road was so narrow that getting out of the truck would have been impossible as there was about six inches between my side and the sheer drop-off of the side of the mountain!

Look at how fast he can turn that jack!

Lens (mm): 23
ISO: 125
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter: 1/25
Exp. Comp.: -0.3
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A few pictures of our totally uncompetitive games of squash. Yep...for those of you who know me you know that it is pretty much impossible for me to do anything without getting overly competitive but this was a lot of fun ...for the most part :)

Lens (mm): 17
ISO: 2500
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: +2.0
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Lens (mm): 17
ISO: 2500
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/500
Exp. Comp.: +2.0
Flash Comp.:
Program: Aperture Priority

We came across a lot of wildlife while away. Every single evening right before dusk a huge herd of Elk would wander out of the trees and onto the golf course about 50 yards in front of our condo. Ultimately they would end up only a couple of yards off the deck. They would stay there right up until shortly after dawn. The only problem with this is that it was almost impossible to get a photo under these lighting conditions. There is no way we could have them there all week and not try to get at least a couple of photos so the last night there I took a couple of shots with my ISO cranked as high as it would go...once again...grainy as heck but at least we can share what we saw.The photo below was in fact shot at about 7:00 PM and it was way darker outside than it appears in the image.

Lens (mm): 126
ISO: 3200
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/13
Exp. Comp.: 0.0
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So we are sure that you are all wondering what's up with the title of the blog this month?? Well, here you go. We had been driving around in the mountains for the better part of a week in search of the elusive bears. One evening while on the phone with my father out of the blue Rob jumped off the couch and started yelling. Lo and behold there was mama bear and her 2 cubs walking across the gold course literally right in front of the deck...close enough to reach out and touch had we wanted to. Quickly hanging up the phone and running to the table where my camera was I threw open the window and started taking photos only to realize that there was no card in my camera! By the time one was located the best shot I could get was simply "Bear Asses"! 

Well, that's it for another month everyone! We will be trying to post another one prior to the New Year but it may be difficult as I rarely have time to breath in the Christmas Season. We are heading to Glacier National Park early in the New Year so hopefully there will be lots of exciting photo opportunities for us there

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Enjoy the holiday season and remember to take lots of photos!

 
Devona & Rob