African Wildlife Photography Seminar

Calgary, Alberta Canada, November 18th 2014

Hey guys! I'm super excited about my photography seminar next week with +The Camera Store. I'll be talking about my most favourite stories of wildlife encounters and photography techniques while I was in east Africa. I really like energizing other photographers and had a pretty fantastic time last time I did this. If you know of anyone who lives in Calgary who would like to come to something like this, please share, there are a few spots left!

P.S. The photo below is real and elephants are the most incredible creatures to watch, I'll go into detail on this photo and more in my talk!

You can find out more here: http://www.thecamerastore.com/7554-African-Wildlife-Seminar.aspx

Rachel and Cassiar

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

We had a fantastic photo shoot this morning with Rachel of R.G Equine Therapy. Incredible morning light and sky east of Calgary. Cassiar the horse was so eager to please it made everything such a breeze! ...And I'm a poet and didn't know it!

As a side note, I've noticed sometimes on facebook there is a bit more interesting discussion. People seem to be  a bit more inquisitive there, so I thought I'd forward you a link where we talk about the lighting in this photo here: http://klou.tt/1m2ycetyybi81

#equinephotography   #horses   #photography   #strobist  

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+Rachel Gedaliya of R.G #equine Therapy treating a horse in preparation for...

+Rachel Gedaliya of R.G #equine  Therapy treating a horse in preparation for our Muskwa-Kechika Adventures trip with +Wayne Sawchuk  this horse is actually enjoying it, she's so relaxed. Any horse people out there who can spot what's up with this horse just by looking? What do you see?

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Oh look! In support of the +Nature Conservancy of Canada Albertaviews magazine has...

Oh look! In support of the +Nature Conservancy of Canada Albertaviews magazine has published a great story, along with my photos of the Waldron with a very interesting discussion about the politics and state of #conservation   in Alberta and Canada right now. You can find a preview of it here: https://albertaviews.ab.ca/2014/06/24/living-with-the-land/

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The Golden Hours

Waldron Conservation Area, Alberta, Canada

I'm a little bit amazed at how many different looking photos of cows I got in one place. All the other photos I posted in the last few days were all taken in the same place, just a few hours apart footsteps from each other. The time before sunset can be incredibly magical, then there is sunset itself, and the afterglow and twilight after that. All of which combined with weather can create a huge variety of looks and colours.

Photographic Details
The original image of this is about 100 megapixels in size, this is just a small crop of the original. I shot this with my telephoto lens in a portrait orientation and stitched together multiple photographs to create a behemoth of an image.

If you like my techniques and also love the wilderness, check out these horseback expeditions I'll be on with +Wayne Sawchuk at http://www.go2mk.ca/

Canon 5D Mark III, 70-200mm f2.8 Iso 100 f8 1/100th of a sec.
#canada   #alberta   #natureconservancy   #cows   #conservation  +Nature Conservancy of Canada 

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Creating useful images for clients

Keeping space for copy

One of the things you do as a commercial photographer is just anticipate images that could be useful for a client. This one was also done for the +Nature Conservancy of Canada . Normal or appropriate workflow when working with someone before a photo shoot is to establish a "shot list". Basically list out the kinds of photos you think you can achieve in a photo shoot combined with the wish list of the client. One of the things I consider is that it's important to keep some photos with "negative space". This is blank space where a graphic designer can have enough room to put in a block of text (or copy) without touching other subjects in the photos. While I try to get photographs that are beautiful on their own, full of subjects, textures and colour, it's often good to get a simple image with a lot of blank space, and a sky can do just wonderfully for such purposes. Next time you look at an advertisement with heavy text over a photo, notice how it might look without the text and you will see how simple a commercial photo might need to be. Sometimes you will be hired to create a body of work that your client doesn't even know it's going to need yet, hence thinking ahead to photos they might need in the future, before they even ask for it.

Photographic Details
These are the same cows in my previous photos from the Waldron, but by now they had started getting used to me and my strange behaviour of squatting by a tripod and even laying down. And because I wasn't chasing them or antagonizing them, they developed a curiosity and started walking towards me. After which their courage would run out and they would run away again. I was laying down in the grass to get more of that dark stormy sky that had passed over us, I made sure that I was focused on them and shot with a huge emphasis of the blank sky.

If You like this post, don't forget to check out the horseback expeditions I'm teaming up with +Wayne Sawchuk on! http://www.go2mk.ca/

Canon 5D Mark III, ISO 100 f5 1/100sec

#commercialphotography   #graphicdesign   #photography   #moo  

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Cows in Paradise

Waldron Conservation Area, Alberta, Canada

This shot commissioned by +Nature Conservancy of Canada was one of my favourite moments. A pretty violent thunderstorm was sweeping through as I sought shelter for me and my camera gear. I had previously frightened some cows (by accident) and was looking for a lake I had seen on google earth. Finally I found it and the cows were not happy to see me again. Although this time they realized I wasn't chasing them, and probably noticed I was behaving strangely. Because of this, many of them stuck around to see what I was going to do next. I was sticking around because I was expecting a spectacular sunset, I was not disappointed.

Photographic Details
As sunset was imminent, I knew that I had to be in a good spot for it. Having a tour of the land by local biologists and land owners I knew where a lot of good stuff was, but I could have ignored a lot of that advice. During sunset I wanted something else to add to the image, and reflections in water can give a photo an incredibly heavenly feel. Therefore I ended up on google earth looking for lakes. This seasonal pond was luckily quite full and in the perfect viewpoint for what I was trying to achieve: sunsets, prairies and mountains and hopefully some cows too. My camera is hovering about an inch above the surface of the water, causing the grass and moss growing on the pond surface to blur out and creating a surreal symmetry that most people aren't used to. It takes a bit of effort and trust, especially since I was basically mucking around in mud and cow feces, but it's all worth it!

If you like this, don't forget to check out the horseback expeditions that I'm teaming up with +Wayne Sawchuk on! http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/

For #thirstythursday  curated by +Mark Esguerra and +Giuseppe Basile 
#alberta   #canadaphotography   #canada   #cows   #moo   #conservation   #thenatureconservancy   #googleearth   #horsebackridingvacations  

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Into the landscape

Waldron Conservation Area, Alberta, Canada

I was lucky enough to be part of the +Nature Conservancy of Canada effort to protect a sensitive area known as the Waldron in southern Alberta. I was hired to show off the wonder and beauty of the land, and had the absolute privilege of wandering around here for days looking for photographic ways to inspire others to help protect this area. I still have close ties with the NCC and sometimes donate my time to their promotional events. If you happen to be a part of the "Leaders in Conservation" program you are invited to participate in an exclusive workshop from me this weekend! To find out more about becoming a leader in conservation, check out: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/alberta/get-involved/leaders-in-conservation/lic.html

Photographic Details
Some of the original stakeholders rode to the media event on their horses, it was the perfect opportunity to start posing these riders. I had them walk away into the scenery in classic western style. I laid close to the ground and got a very geometrically simple and gorgeous shots of these riders. The extreme symmetry of this scene allowed me to centre the subject (which is usually a no-no) and mainly focus on the riders. Having them walk away creates a feeling of mystery, engendering the viewer to wonder who these riders are, only going on their attire and cowboy hats for clues.

See Also:
Check out this summers horseback expeditions: http://www.kylefoto.com/horseback-expeditions/
and the LIC tours: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/alberta/get-involved/leaders-in-conservation/2014.html#.U6GcmY1dVPQ

For #waywednesday  curated by +Peter Carroll 
#horsebackriding   #horselovers   #equinephotography #waldron   #ncc   #conservation  

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Riding the trail line

Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada

Every day out in the wilderness here I’m riding behind my fellow #horseback  riders I was thinking that not everyone in the world has experienced this, that something I’m so used to can be so new to someone else. So I’m going to spill the details on such a simple aspect of expedition life with the #horses  . Believe it or not, I’m back of the pack simply because of horse politics. My horse, Peach is somewhat pokey, and doesn’t really feel confidant at the front of the pack, where as the rest of these horses have a strong desire to be a the back of the pack. While a rider can boss their horse around and tell them exactly where to be, these horses are vehemently social animals themselves, and letting them ride next to their best buddies in places they feel comfortable can make the adventure much more pleasant for everyone involved.

Photographic details:
I wanted this photo to have a strong sense of motion. To achieve this I used an extremely slow #shutterspeed   of 1/60th of a second. But the motion on the horse wasn’t enough, we weren’t galloping at full speed so while taking the photo I zoomed in simply by holding my lens and spinning the camera. This created the interesting twisted blur around the edges, but kept the center rider mostly free of blur. Because of the symmetry I kept the rider in the middle of the frame. Canon 5D Mark II ISO 100, f9, 160/sec

#horselovers   #travelphotography  

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