I put some of my top images there for you to gaze upon monthly. The calendar is 20% off right now and ground shipping is guaranteed to arrive before christmas until December 7th!
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From the holiday collection http://www.kylefoto.comB.C. Canada
Wheeler hut is one of the most accessible alpine huts in B.C. Canada. That being said it was covered enough of the legendary marshmallowy winter powder to get me to sink to my chest. There was no hope of me getting far enough outside the hut to get a photo without my skis on. Setting up my tripod to get this 30 second exposure was also a challenge, as my poles kept sinking in the snow. The warm glow of the hut windows are welcoming as the final minutes of the "blue hour" past sunset wained into darkness.
Canon 5D Mark II 30s f/2.8 ISO800 50mm
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Canadian high arcticfrom the blog http://www.kylefoto.com
Later in august the sun will start setting below the horizon only to pop up a few hours later. The land of the midnight sun is no longer that and darkness begins to take hold again. The moon was a poignant highlight in the sky this night as we looked across the desolate arctic landscape.
Photographic details: Being so dark out I had to use a slow shutter speed of 1/30th of a second. The expanse of this landscape called for a wide angle lens, making the slow shutter speed easier to handle as a tripod was out of the question standing above the vibrating engine room of the ship.
1/30s f/5.6 ISO200 35mm
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Qaanaaq (Thule), Greenland Up in one of the farthest north settlements in Greenland lies the small town of Qaanaaq. Here there is no shortage of bright colours. In addition to the bright housing as seen in the background there is the delicious sight of fresh arctic char hanging to dry. At first I was turned off by this, but when I was invited to try a piece I peeled a cube off and to my delight it was like the most fresh fatty sashimi I had ever had. The look of glee that shone on the wrinkled face of the local man was returned by me as I exclaimed “mmmmm” with a big smile to ensure my gratitude wasn’t lost in translation.
Photographic Details: Shot at f3.2 at a close range with my 50mm prime lens this image had a very shallow depth of field, ensuring the viewer focuses mainly on the texture of the cut pieces of meat. 1/125s f/3.2 ISO50 100mm
Canadian Arctic from a glacier the ice steals away the warmth yet I feel comfort
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West coast of Greenland, 77° North Under way along the calm seas of the arctic, the fractal resonance of the ship’s wake created this beautiful pattern as we made a turn. As an artist would say, this image has “movement”. Your eyes have a lot to do in this image as they start at the bottom left of the image then curve around to the right and up towards the poignant icebergs floating merrily on the surreal horizon off the calm shores of Greenland.
Photographic details: I used an aperture of f7 to have a higher depth of field. But I still needed a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second in order to prevent the water from being blurred in too much motion, as I wanted to preserve the texture of the waves.
Canon 5D 1/250s f/7.1 ISO50 170mm
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Coburg island, Canadian Arctic The arctic can be one of the most desolate environments. The landscapes have a way of amplifying loneliness and introspection while still keeping you in awe of the harsh reality of this cold northern desert.
The cool arctic doesn’t hold much moisture, therefore it doesn’t snow very often, giving many places in the north the same amount of precipitation of the sahara desert. So when the fog rolls in I was sure to relish this sight as this dramatic island is shrouded in a blanked of mist.
These cliffs are homes to many species of birds who depend on the steepness and hostility of these cliffs to protect their eggs from land dwelling predators. Many birds lay pear shaped eggs ensuring that if an egg was to roll, it would roll back into the nest instead of the cliff. Being one of the most important sites in the arctic it’s home to over 220,000 pairs of nesting birds.
Photographic Details: Taken in the early morning it was somewhat dim out, I had to use a relatively low shutterspeed of 1/160th of a second, handheld from a ship that was bobbing in the ocean, where a tripod wouldn’t be much of an aid. Canon 5D 1/160s f/7.1 ISO100 100mm
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Canadian Arctic The deep blues in this ice is a result of the light travelling through the dense ice long enough for the red and warm tones to be absorbed by the ice, leaving behind only the cool colours for our eyes to see. There is still quite a lot of white being reflected by the ice, and they act like big reflectors. This white ice extends under the water allowing the light to bounce back out of the water to be coloured even more blue by the water, as water is much more dense it’s power to change the colour of light is much more intense.
Kittiwakes rest on the top of this berg, peppering it with character. If I had to choose I would always have some animal on these things, it visually proves to me that as hostile as these places are every corner of our big beautiful world harbours life.
Photographic details: This overcast light was quite dim, having to use a slow shutterspeed of 1/100th of a second and f5.6 to let in as much light as possible. Driving the zodiac it’s difficult to manoeuvre, as boats don’t have brakes a steady hand on both the tiller and camera is required.
Canon 5D 1/100s f/5.6 ISO50 100mm
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Taken in my back yard when I was a 17 year old kid in high school, year 2000See the before shots at http://www.kylefoto.com
In high school I had the absolute privilege of receiving a whopping 3 megapixel Olympus camera with a 16 megabyte memory card as a christmas gift. My parents saw that I loved photography and sprung for this little gem of a camera. Little did I know this little bundle of glass and circuitry would inspire and take me on such great journeys as it has.
Photographic Details: I didn’t have any fancy equipment so I did the very best with what I could. I knew I needed a black background for the look I wanted. I took one of my moms nice black jackets and set it up outside as the background and floor of the shoot.
I had no flashes, bounces, fancy lenses or anything else besides my camera. Instead of lights I used the bright overcast sky outside and a wide open aperture of f1.8. This let in enough light for me to shoot at the fastest shutter speed available on this camera, 1/800th of a second. I then poured water into the martini glass and shot as many photos as possible, freezing the action. In addition I took photos of a toothpick olive, and various streams of water.
After selecting my favourite photos of each stream of water I brought the images into paint shop pro. I don’t think it had any masking features but I used the eraser tool to delete the background. I then replaced the background with solid black and added a touch of highlights, combining each item on a layer to get the final image!
I want to prove to you that fancy equipment wasn’t necessary 11 years ago and isn’t now. Even though this image does have many flaws and isn’t fully up to my standards, my brother used the image in one of his marketing assignments and got an A!
#Foodfriday
Cayman Islands, Caribbean This is a wild sting ray in it’s natural environment, which is distinctly different from the other photos I’ve been showing you.
Stingrays feed in many areas of the oceanic environment, but sometimes they bury themselves in the sand. Although they can’t see well when they do this, they use their sensitive smell and electro receptors just like sharks do to locate mollusks and suck them up. Adequately crushing them with their strong jaws and teeth, protruding their mouth if they need to.
That’s what this stingray seemed to be doing, all the activity grabs the attention of nearby fish and scavengers, hoping to get some scraps or find something that’s dug up in the sand.
Photographic Details:Canon 20D Shutter Priority 1/200s f/16.0 ISO200 22mm (35mm eq:35.2mm)
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Cayman Islands, Caribbean I can’t get over how awesome this little underwater world is! The sun rays are beautiful, the colourful fish help anchor the shot, but what speaks to me about this photo is the inclusion of these people here: If you can snorkle, you can get these shots, just like I did. You can invest in an underwater housing from $300 up to some onholy amount, but I want you to know a shot like this is not beyond your reach!
Photographic Details:Ewa Marine housing, Shutter priority mode Canon 20D 1/250s f/5.6 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm)
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Cayman Islands, Caribbean Being surrounded by a school of fish feels like nature is personifying your wonder with the colourful shapes and graceful movements of each fish as they move around you in a synchronized spectacle.
Photographic Details: A shot like this could very well be possible with one of those underwater disposable cameras. The major difference here is that I used a graduated yellow filter on the top left of the image to give this photo a more etherial feel. Next time you go on vacation, bring an underwater housing!
Ewa Marine housing, Shutter Priority mode Canon 20D 1/250s f/5.0 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm)
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Cayman Islands, Caribbean Stingray city was such a joy to swim in, after realizing that these animals were safe to be among, pure elation sets in as we come in contact with these creatures.
My brother and I were floating happily here when this lazy stingray comes up from behind him while brushing him with his fin. My brother jumped with surprise and amazingly enough this stingray was not afraid at all after this reaction.
As feared as these creatures are for having killed one of the most famous naturalists in the world, they are extremely docile. You can see the the much talked about poisonous barb used for defence barely sticking out of the base of the tail.
Photographic Details: As outlined in previous posts I used my trusty ewa-marine camera bag for this shot on shutter priority mode for 1/250 of a second. This was still fast enough to capture the gliding stingray as it swam into my face, their bellies are so soft it made me laugh!
1/250s f/6.3 ISO100 22mm (35mm eq:35.2mm)
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Cayman Islands, Caribbean The pure joy of swimming through the colourful world below the ocean is as palpable as the ocean currents that sway the corals and creatures under the sea. Fancy diving gear and scuba training isn’t necessary for a photo like this. Just a snorkel, mask and fins can get you to beautiful places like this (after the plane ticket that is).
Photographic Details: I would hold my breath and dive down with my camera in my $300 Ewa Marine bag, most other underwater solutions start at around $3000. It’s an underwater housing for the casual underwater photographer who wants to bring their SLR. Because it’s a bag type housing I’ve been able to fit three generations of cameras inside it, not having to buy a new one every time I get a camera with different configurations. The only thing you have to be weary of is that you need to fill it up with the correct amount of air for the depth that you will be diving to, I’ve taken this to 70 feet underwater.
Because the buttons are a bit difficult to get to, I just set the camera to shutter priority mode and a decent speed of 1/250s to ensure any movement from the currents wouldn't cause problems for me, I was wiggling around a lot in that water!
Canon 20D Shutter Priority: 1/250s f/4.5 ISO100 12mm (35mm eq:19.2mm) Canon 10-22mm Lens.
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Cayman Islands, Caribbean These stingrays have become quite accustomed to people seeking a close encounter with them. Aware that we would not hurt them, their guard is down and I can tell even by their body language that they are very comfortable around us. Diving around stingrays in unpopulated areas I could see a stark contrast in the distance they keep from me with the way they wearily glide in the water. This tells me they don’t know what I am and don’t want to find out.
However upon arrival in sting ray city a floating gelatinous pancake of a stingray gingerly glides towards me, instantly smooshing into my body with it’s soft underbelly in hopes of sucking a squid out of my hand. Their small poisonous barb used for defence is in the lowered position, where I can even run my hand across it without incident. These stingrays would circle around me, brush up against me and even seemed to enjoy its encounter and free meal.
I used the same techniques that are further outlined in this post: http://www.kylefoto.com/2011/07/antarctic-underwater-iceberg/
Toronto, Ontario Some of the first long exposures I’ve ever taken! I did this while in photography school in 2005.
Photographic Details: Sneaking into a courtyard with these interesting sculptures I tried out the light drawing aspect of light painting. Here I would use an LED light to physically trace the outline of these objects, manually painting every stroke of light that you see on the tree trunk and sparkling structure in the background. I wanted to make it look surreal, as if the structure in the background was overflowing with energy. This is actually multiple 30 second exposures mashed together to combine into one ultra long exposure, with a minimum of image noise. Because I was wearing dark clothes and moving a lot, my body becomes invisible in the long exposure and only the light from the flashlight shows up! Other things like the colour and bubbles were added in photoshop.
Canon 20D 30s f/14.0 ISO100 17mm (35mm eq:27.2mm)
Daily Inspiration: Shot while sitting on a kayak on some of the coolest wetland areas around Waterton lakes. Getting out and into nature with my camera in hand is one of my most favourite past times. And that’s what I’m going to go do now, bye!
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The thing about photos is that they are an edited point of view. The photographer edits the real world by providing a very specific glimpse of one moment in time. In this photo you are seeing a person exploring a jungle. But in reality they are merely walking inside the villiage of Mto Wa Mbu, it’s name meaning “River of Mosquitoes” with a population of over 16,000 people.The only reason we were allowed here as tourists, is that our admission fee goes towards programs that promote energy saving stoves, building water pipelines and schools for these communities. Photographic Details: Walking with a wide angle lens on my 5D and a telephoto lens on my 7D I was prepared for scenes both close and far away. Being swallowed by this lush forest with the sun shining in my eyes was really cool as our group followed our local guides. Snapping this shot was one of those surprise moments when I was going through my photos later in the evening, I was very grateful for my wide angle lens. Canon EOS 5D Mark II 1/125s f/5.6 ISO100 17mm 16-35mm f2.8L lens
Tanzania, Africa On our last morning in Africa we had the privilege of taking a hot air balloon ride above the Serengeti. We head out before the sun rises because the earlier in the morning we go the less turbulent and unpredictable the winds are. Climbing high above the Serengeti we bobbed up and down, while the wildlife below stirred during it’s most active time. The sun began to rise as a gradient of light washed over the land from the east stretching to the west. Seeing the wildlife from this new angle was so different and intriguing. Game paths stretching out like spiderwebs of dirt amidst the parched grasses of the Serengeti. Zebra and wildebeest look like ants as they gallop across the land, their movement reminiscent of a flock of birds: never straying too far and only coming so close if needed.
Photographic Details: With the low morning light I needed a high Iso of 800 to get a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the motion. Not only was the balloon moving, it was wiggling with the movements of the passengers and gusts of the wind. Despite the directionless floating on the balloon we seemed to be moving at a pretty fast clip, making it difficult to decide what to shoot with the rapidly changing scenery. I would look for a point of interest, then zoom in with my telephoto, in hopes of capturing some interesting shapes.
Canon EOS 7D 1/250s f/4.5 ISO800 100mm
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