I have so much to talk about – new glass out of the kiln, Alpaca shearing day up at Alpaca Acres, WIP shots of my TFA KAL…. but none of that photography is processed. So I leave you with a photo of… the beast. My parents ferret has quintupled in size since we got him a few weeks ago. He’s huge, covered in baby fat, soft as anything and very affectionate :) I love him!
The Boston Common, or Boston Public Garden, dates from 1634. It’s a large, beautiful park right in the middle of the city. I spent much time knitting, reading, walking and thinking there.
Thank you to everyone who viewed my photos and left comments, and a special thanks to those who signed up as followers on WP or Facebook!
A great photo usually has a little story that goes along with it. I thought it might be nice today to share some of the stories associated with a few of those photos :)
Barn Owl – her name is Chloe and she was such a treat for us! We were driving north on Vancouver Island when we saw the signs for the ‘Pacific Northwest Raptor Society’. We decided to check it out – and I’m so glad we did! The PNWRS is a rescue for birds of prey – all of their ‘residents’ are animals who have been injured and cannot fend for themselves.
We had the added pleasure of taking Chloe on an ‘owl prowl’ through the woods – wearing protective gloves and holding up dead mice for her – she would fly away into the trees and come back to our gloves for her ‘treat’. She was magical – her flight is soundless due to serrated wings to allow her to sneak up on prey, and she weighs less than a pound. What a beautiful experience.
Budgies – This is maybe the most ‘successful’ shot I’ve ever taken – I submitted this one to Your Shot at National Geographic and it was selected as part of the daily dozen, and later on selected for print in an actual issue by NGM. I was over the moon, as a photographer that’s the holy grail.
A girlfriend and I were walking through the side streets of Rome when I saw this gypsy lady with her birds. She was handing out fortunes on little slips of paper in exchange for coins. I still have mine – it says ‘You have had a dream, but not the means to achieve it until now’ – I like to think the fortune was referring to being published in National Geographic Magazine – something that was not possible until I photographed her :)
Emerald Hummingbird – This little nest is the size of my fist! It was located just off the path in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica. What a magical forest that was – full of the sounds of myriad creatures calling, the sound of wings large and tiny – I didn’t see 1/100th of what that forest had to offer, but I did see this little lady’s nest. I crouched in a pretty uncomfortable position so as not to disturb her from her baby until I got this shot and snuck away.
Spectacle Owl – This is Elton! He’s a real snobby fellow, and he also lives at the PNWRS. When I tried to photograph him he would close his eyes and face haughtily away from me. When I went to shoot him from the other side he would raise his head and look the other way again.
When I pretended I didn’t care and tried to walk away he started cooing and flapping and putting on a little show for me…. only to turn away again when I got the camera ready. He was totally playing with me!
When I asked the guide whether we could take Elton on an owl prowl she said he wasn’t a good candidate for a flight through the woods because, I quote, “All he ever wants to do is cuddle.“.
One of the most satisfying things to photograph are birds. They’re beautiful and graceful, colourful and elusive, sometimes also fast and camouflaged… all of which combines to make them that much more challenging and rewarding. Here are some of my faves, and where I took them. Every shot in this collection was the same lens; the Canon 100mm Prime f2.8.
Barn Owl, Vancouver Island BC
Budgies, Rome, Italy
Anhinga, Caño Negro, Costa Rica
Green Parrots - Agra, India
Brown Pelican, St Maartan
Emerald Hummingbirds, Quepos, Costa Rica
Emerald Hummingbird, Monte Verde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
Spectacle Owl, Vancouver Island, BC
Jabiru, Caño Negro, Costa Rica
Kingfisher, Caño Negro, Costa Rica
Blue Heron, Victoria BC
Green Heron, St Maartan
A little while ago I posted about our friends, the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra. While they were in Toronto we had the opportunity to do another shoot, and for this one we chose a place that’s very special to us; the carillon tower of the Metropolitan United Church here in downtown Toronto.
Tito and I were first up in this church 4 years ago. The church is a large neo-gothic style building at Queen and Church streets. The first construction was in 1872 but a fire in 1928 destroyed almost the entire building. The tower however, dates from the original structure. There are a total of 54 bells in the carillon, the earliest dating to 1922. The tower, though it predates the bells, was specifically designed to accommodate the weight of the carillon; over 44 thousand pounds.
We became good friends with the Rev. John Joseph and the administrator at the time, Anna. They generously opened their church to us for shooting, allowing us a peek into the beautiful carillon itself. It’s a tough, dirty climb, but worth it at the top. We scratched our names into the wall, in 2008, alongside other names, some of which date back to the early 1900′s.
This was a challenging shoot – my favourite kind ;) I shot in natural light only – I didn’t want to compromise that beautiful light coming in from the windows. We’re all balanced more precariously than we look – I’ve got my tripod balanced across 2 rafters and I’m standing on a third.
The guys managed to look quite natural, considering they had to hold still for longer shutter speeds than one would normally use.
I love this shot of Kurt – had to show it off here!
We completed the climb to the roof – a great climb inside of a tight, twisting staircase. It was a really overcast day at that point so I went to monochrome.
The last room was the practice carillon – I love the distortion that my wide angle gave me here!
Before they left TMO did something really special. One of their new songs includes a choir of voices in the background. They invited 20 of their closest friends over to a recording studio and we all got to sing our hearts out for an hour. 20 folks standing in a small, colourful room, in a circle around a mic. It was beautiful and uplifting. As a bonus, Tito and I now get to say that we’ve sung on an actual recorded album ;) Off the bucket list!
Today I wanted to share a technique I learned from the fantastic blog at Kevin & Amanda, on how to create custom bokeh effects.
For the actual technique I defer to their tutorial; they do a fantastic job explaining this cute, easy technique for creating unique photos.
The photos in this post are some of my experiments with this technique, from having fun with my Christmas tree….
… to using it in photography of my jewellery. This photo, and the one below it were created using cut-up ropes of mardi gras beads in place of lights, to allow me to place them around my jewellery more precisely.
It’s fun, easy and cheap to try. I used construction paper and my 50mm f1.8 Canon lens. You can extend it to fun portrait photography as well – imagine the sunlight through the trees, or the lights of the city at night… the possibilities are endless!
This weekend Tito and I drove up to Coboconk Ontario to see a friend. We were looking forward to seeing him but didn’t expect the incredible weekend that was in store for us!
Heaven
It turns out that his family lives in a winterized cottage, right on the lake. Their home is filled with art, pianos and pottery. They are also the most loving people imaginable, fascinating to talk to and, to boot, great cooks. We celebrated Earth hour with a feast by candlelight in a glassed-in patio facing the lake. They’ve got a dog – and everyone knows nothing was ever so perfect that it wasn’t made ten times better by the presence of a dog! Absolute heaven.
In the morning we discovered that something very special had happened.
So after an entire snow-free winter I got to take some of the pics I had been waiting for – serene mornings with a white coating on every single tree branch.
Thank you Annie, Jane and Ben for a wonderful weekend!
