2019-03-04: Monochrome Monday
This is one of a few images that I took while playing around with an infrared filter that I bought during my trip to California last October. I only spent a brief amount of time reading about shooting with one of these filters before getting out and trying it, and as such, forgot about a few things, such as setting a custom white balance before starting shooting. Even though I didn’t follow through with all the steps that you should be doing, I am still happy with the results; editing just took a bit longer than it would have otherwise.
I am excited for spring to arrive and have the chance to get the filter out and work with it some more. I don’t think infrared images of snowy fields and trees would have much impact!
Wishing everyone a great week ahead.
2019-03-03: Topic of the month – Signs of Spring
This week I have really been trying to look for signs of spring. Honest, I have. But waking up today, the temperature was -29C with a high of -12C for the day, and it really does feel like spring is far away. I have noticed a few things though. I can see about a 6″ band of shingles on the roof of my house, from the days when it has been warm enough for a bit of melt to happen. I noticed one lone willow tree, buried in about 4 feet of snow drift at the side of the road, starting to bud (despite the cold in was enveloped in). But mostly, I have noticed the trees.
It has been stark white for a very long time in my back yard, and over the past two weeks, between the strong winds and the the (slightly) warming days, the evergreens have shed the huge cloaks of snow from their branches. There are still bits of snow tucked into the crook of branches here and there, but finally when I look out my windows, I see a bit of green, rather than just white.
Pictures of bare branches in my backyard seemed a bit boring, but frankly, getting all bundled up to do a photo walk this weekend also didn’t hold much appeal. So I went out for a short time to photograph some of the birds feasting on the sunflower seeds. Today, only the chickadees were around, though usually there is a pair of red-breasted nuthatches plus the woodpeckers that pass through. The chickadees made a steady stream from branch to feeder and back again; I couldn’t count them all as they were constantly coming in from every direction.
As a bird lover, one of the sad parts about the temperature warming is soon the birds will have to fend for themselves, once it warms enough for there to be a threat of bears visiting the feeders. I think we have a ways to go before that is an issue though.
Here are a few chickadees for today; fingers crossed next weekend there are more signs of spring around.
2019-02-28: February in Review
I know it is a short month, but February sped by very, very quickly. And very coldly as well, despite my picking the topic of warm to focus on for the month. We still aren’t out of the cold, wintery weather up here, but I keep telling myself that it’ll happen any day now.
February’s topic of the month
I chose the topic of warm because looking at the near and long term forecast through February, I just couldn’t see myself getting out to shoot too often. So instead I went through my unedited image archive and found images from warm places, and warm scenes that made my heart happy. Perhaps not the most imaginative topic for the month, but at least it got me working through some of my archive.
What’s new this month
All work and no play has made this a pretty dull month! Hopefully March will be a bit more interesting.
As promised back in January, my calendar pages for March and April are available if you would like to download them to use either in a freestanding calendar holder, or something like a clipboard wall calendar. I’ll be posting the pages for May and June in the April Month in Review post.
Click here to download the March and April full page calendar
Click here to download the March and April half page calendar
5 favourites of the month
What’s coming up next?
For March, I have decided that my topic will be Signs of Spring. I’m going to do my best with this one, and may need to use my creativity, especially since -28C is showing on the forecast for Saturday overnight. Eeek!
2019-02-27: Wordless Wednesday
2019-02-25: Monochrome Monday
The amazing Okavango Delta, from the air, is the image I have selected for my monochrome Monday post this week. It is such an amazing and beautiful location, and one that absolutely needs to be experienced from the land, the air and the water to truly get an appreciation for the magic of the place. Definitely a destination I hope to return to again.
2019-02-24: Topic of the Month – Warm
When I woke up this morning, it was -28C; decidedly not warm here. But the sun is shining, and bundled up, Spencer and I managed a couple of nice walks today. It still doesn’t feel like spring is around the corner; but hopefully that will change soon.
Last week, I flagged several landscape images from my travels for editing throughout the week, and while working on them, I realized that not only do they all fit into the theme of being taken in warm places, but they were all taken on the fly. If I asked guides to stop every time I saw something interesting, we certainly wouldn’t get very far, so I have become rather comfortable with snapping away out of a moving vehicle. Sometimes it works, and sometimes, not so much.
I hope you enjoy my selection of images this week.
2019-02-20: Wordless Wednesday
2019-02-18: Monochrome Monday
I have been incredibly fortunate to see wild dogs on all the trips I have taken to southern Africa. My very first trip, when asked what animal I hoped I would see, it was the wild dog. I knew they were rare, endangered, and can be difficult to find, and when our guide Mike found them during our day trip to Chobe Park, I was beyond thrilled. And I have remained thrilled each time I have had the good fortune of spending time with these amazing animals.
All the images below were from my last trip, when we had wild dogs sightings over 3 days in the Okavango Delta.
2019-02-17: Topic of the Month – Warm
Last week I decided that my Sunday posts for the rest of the month would focus on the topic Warm. It seemed fitting, given how cold it has been and how much I wish it would warm up.
Today, I decided to share images that make my heart feel warm and happy. It should be no surprise to any frequent visitor that this means elephants. Lots and lots of elephants!
I hope you enjoy my selections, and wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
