2018-01-07: The Frozen World – Icy Branches

This past week I was pondering my reaction to the weather quite a bit.  I spent the first 8 years of life in Ontario where we had a true winter each year, but then moved to the Vancouver area, which doesn’t get much in the way of winter weather, and then the past 3 years in Prince George where there is a guarantee of significant cold temperatures and snow throughout the winter.

For many years, I said that I hated the snow, but I’ve come to realize what I really meant was I hate the snow that gets delivered occasionally in the Vancouver area; heavy, wet snow with temperatures hovering near freezing.  The area essentially gets paralyzed by the weather, roads turn into skating rinks, and getting to and from work, which would normally be an easy 15 minute drive, could turn into a 2 hour nightmare.  It was the inconvenience of it, and living in a place ill equipped to deal with it.  I never believed people when they said winter was so much nicer further north.  The thought of the cold and all that snow filled me with dread.

But, I must say, all those people were right.  The colder temperatures and generally brighter, sunnier days are much more pleasant than the continual fog and grey skies at the coast.  The colder, drier air here often feels less cold than the chilly damp that seeps into your bones further south.  I’d still prefer plus 30C, but I now realize that for me, dealing with -15C is much easier than dealing with 0C in Vancouver.  Know thyself, right?

Now to this monthly project.  Last weekend I jotted down ideas with gusto.  I planned and prepared, and then mother nature decided to turn up the thermostat for a couple of days and deliver rain one evening, and constant grey skies for the last couple of days.  It was like being transported to the coast, without having to go anywhere.  So much for all my photo plans.

But the freezing rain did leave some lovely frozen droplets on branches, and a light dusting of snow yesterday coated the branches once again.  So I went out on a short walk to see what I could find.

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Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

 

2018-01-01: A New Year Begins

Another year has drawn to a close, and I have welcomed 2018 with open arms. I’ve taken a little break from posting over the past week; it has given me a chance to reflect on my blog, and come up with some plans for the future.

I feel like I lost focus with my blog in 2017; at times posts were rushed or forgotten about altogether; shoved to the bottom of a to-do list that never seemed to get any shorter. I’m sure that is something that everyone struggles with from time to time, and I am very grateful for everyone that continued to view my posts and photos, despite the lack of focus.

For 2018, I have decided that I need to add some structure to my photographic life; in terms of continuing education, time out in the field and with my editing. I have a couple of year long photo projects that I am finalizing, but I am also planning to explore a different topic each month, and use that to guide my reading, shooting and editing. I really thrive when I have schedules and plans of action, so I am hoping that this will ensure that I am getting out to shoot regularly, and be able to post some interesting content each month.

For January, I am going to focus on the frozen world. With the cold temperatures we have been having, it is a timely starting point. I’ll be posting on the topic each Sunday in January, and then move onto something new for February.

I’ll be working to participate more regularly in the WordPress topic of the week, and will still be posting my usual Monochrome Monday and Wordless Wednesday posts.  I still have lots of images from my last trip that I am working on as well, so I should have lots of content to share over the year ahead.

Below are a few photos from out and about over the last couple of weeks; its not much, but it gets the ball rolling.

Here’s to a fantastic year ahead.

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This is why I love getting up early.  A beautiful sunrise greeted me while out for a morning walk with Spencer a few weeks ago.
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A few of the 7 deer that stopped by the yard late yesterday afternoon.
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Right now, the time between sunrise and sunset is rather brief.  We do get a beautiful long twilight period though, which looks even prettier with some snow on the ground and in the trees.  A quick snap while out for an afternoon walk, it was too cold to stop and do much more!

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

2017-12-18: Monochrome Monday

A few old boys at a water hole near Nxai Pan in Botswana.  The one spraying mud was the first one there, and when seeing him we thought he was an absolutely enormous bull.  But then these other individuals came along and he was forced to make way for them, deferring to their larger size.

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Nxai Pan, Botswana.  April 2017.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

2017-11-30: WPC Experimental

I am a few days delayed in posting for this topic, but I wanted to play along anyways.  The photo prompt last week was experimental, and it gives me an opportunity to share some of the images I call my Artistic Impressions.

It’s timely, as I was just listening to a wildlife photography podcast that I really enjoy, discussing photographic art as opposed to straight “documentary style” wildlife photography.  I thought the comments of the host, Gerry Vanderwalt, were absolutely spot on.  His take on it was use your wildlife images in whatever way you choose to create the art you want to make, but just be very clear when presenting it to let people know that what they are seeing is not reality.

Now, I don’t think anyone would mistake any of these images for reality, and the comment was more aimed towards compositing work, but, I really do feel that people should create whatever moves them.  If reality didn’t match how the moment made you feel, then turn your images into something that does invoke the feeling of the moment.  Just don’t try to claim it is something that it’s not.

Anyways, on to the images 🙂

 

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A watercolour style take on a ground hornbill at sunset.  I loved the posture of the bird and the shadow on the termite mound, but found the image to be less sharp than I would have liked.  Turning it into one of my artistic impression images allow me to play up what I liked most about the image.
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If an elephant visited one of my dreams, I think it would look something like this.
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A cormorant perched on the edge of the Atlantic, with seals frolicking amongst the waves.  
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A small part of a large seal colony in Namibia.  The weather along the coast was dull and blustery, and many of my images left me flat.  This take on the scene reminds me of surveying the area through the fogged and misty windows of our vehicle.

 

Please visit:
www.jennifersawickyphotography.com for wildlife, landscape and nature inspired artwork.

and

https://shopvida.com/collections/jennifer-sawicky for textiles inspired by my photography.

 

WPC: Experimental

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