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Thursday, March 27, 2014

Short Shoots (Over The Past Few Days)

Been doing short shoots here and there. Haven't really had a train of conscious objective focus, however I have been sticking with the photographing nature/wildlife subjects as well as landscapes and trying to develop a portfolio of images. Went to Bear Creek Park around the Bear Creek area of Surrey, BC and photographed the creek today. On the 20th of March, I spent some time in Green Timbers and photographed a group of four cormorants that were hanging out in the lake.

So I have been getting out and getting stuff done and it's enjoyable. And the fun thing is getting the shutter click and seeing the image come out on the viewfinder and finding it to be exactly how you pictured it in your mind. That's the best part of this whole process.

Sometimes the shots are just outside my front door in the case of this texture shot.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Upgrade versus Technique.

The D3200 is a very capable camera in the hands of someone who is able to draw out its photographing technology. Even professionals use it in some genres of photography when they don't want to carry their large cameras around. So I'm wondering why it is that amateurs eschew the camera. The features that this camera has are great; it's perfect for the portrait photographer or the guy who fancies himself a street photographer or taking those every day shots that you want to document. The only person who would not benefit from a camera like this would be the wildlife or sports enthusiast or professional who needs the fast fps that a D300s (6 fps) has; the larger buffer which means more shutter clicks before the buffer tries to catch up.

The D3200 is a workhorse in a small package. Nikon has boosted the ISO on this little DSLR and that has made it a low-light wonder. You can use this thing for night photography on a tripod. You can photograph indoors in low-light settings, whereas my D50 was so grainy when one put it up to 1200 ISO the photos were unusable. One is able to do a lot of things with this camera.

Which goes again to the simple adage that "it isn't the camera that creates the image - it is you" and nine times out of ten, the problem with blurry photos ends up with the person taking the image and not the camera. An upgrade in camera body is not going to help in creating an image. It is your skills that come into play to create an image that is compositionally sound and tack sharp.

I've always been of the attitude that you upgrade when you have the knowledge of what it is that you expect out of the camera and that the original camera is not meeting those expectations. Otherwise you can upgrade all the way up to the D4 and find out that you're still getting blurry shots. No camera will output what it is that you want until you work on your technique.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Other Photos of Boundary Bay (March 7, 2014)

Here's some more pictures from Friday at Boundary Bay. I plan to pick up a Cokin filter at some point this year and start putting up landscapes as I go over to different places. Boundary Bay is one of those places that I want to get some landscape shots of.

"Our Tree...Not Yours..." - two eagles laying claim to the tree located on Kings Links golf grounds.

Boundary Bay is a fascinating Wildlife Management Area and I do want to go back and spend more time there.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Boundary Bay - Walking The Dyke, Ontario Avenue and Bald Eagles

Today was a wonderful day for going out to Boundary Bay despite the cloudy weather. It was enjoyable walking the the dyke from my car parked at two different locations during the course of my time parked there. First at 72nd Street, then at 64th Street. Each time, I had the opportunity to spy a lot of bald eagles. However the numbers were greatly reduced from back when I went there last year in January of 2013. It just means that I will have to - this year - go back earlier in January to get the best shots. I was also hoping to see snowys but unfortunately, it's a little too late in the year to see them. Hopefully I'll try again next year. Because I wrenched my shoulder, I didn't take the big lens (600/4) with me this time, however maybe next time around.

However, today was not all a loss:

Eagles: we grow them on trees up here.

"Are...YOU the schmuck who asked for this kind of weather?!!" This eagle looks pretty perturbed that the wind is cutting straight through to his under-feathers.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Just A Walk In The Woods


The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? ~ J. B. Priestley