Storm Rocks with Tidepools
A few weeks ago I posted a series of shots from a single tripod set up of stormy waves at different exposures. This views includes that same rock on the same day, but it is in many ways my favourite of the pictures that I took that day. I especially like th two little tide pools lower right which help draw the eye around the photograph, and which provide a textural contrast to everything else, but which do balance with the brighter reflection on the upper surface of the more distant rock.
This map shows the location of the bay where I took the shot from below the west end of Repulse Street on Harling Point. The view is to the west – the distant point would be near Race Rocks and the adjacent land in Metchosin on Vancouver Island.
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Sahsima Monochrome I
Sahsima is the Songhees First Nation name for this rock, which in their histories is a man that was harpooning seals who was turned to stone for rebuking Hayls the Transformer. I have previously posted about it here, with some of the information that is publically available about this story. Sahsima has many personalities throughout the year and at different tides – a very different mood is evident in this post.
Gonzales Hill Cloud
After I had finished experimenting with my ND filter (some results shown yesterday) I returned home through the Chinese Cemetery. The scene was dominated by this cloud that appeared to be rising from behind the Gonzales Hill Observatory. I still had not discovered my white balance setting was incorrect, so I have done my best to return these to a natural colour, though they are bluer than I would like.
Tide Pool Filtered
More long exposures of the water’s edge on Harling Point, but this time taken early afternoon with the aid of a neutral density filter. Two views of the same tide pool with Trial Island in the background. Once again I was ambushed by a left over white balance from the night before, tungsten I think (you would think I would learn, eh?) I did not notice it until well into the session mostly because I was thinking very hard about the filter and how to use it and so on. Anyway, it left me with blue images that, with my software, I am not able to correct back to something that looks normal (though I did arrive at a colour that is very much like a faded print or slide from the 60’s which had its own attractions). I settled on a black and white treatment of these images as the least distracting.
The ocean was very calm for this time of the year – sunny patches with small ripples on the ocean and bit of a stirring of the surface of the tide pool. Not ideal for getting a silky water appearance I don’t think, or else I need an even longer exposure for that. The light made a big difference to both Trial Island and the rock in the foreground, and over a long exposure it was a bit of a gamble as to which shots would be well lit. To my eye the top picture is better in that respect than the bottom one. But, I like the faint ripples on the surface of the tide pool in the lower picture. And the way the clouds, which were moving, are a little bit blurred, but in a way that is expected of clouds. (more…)
Cat Macro
Today the Cat was sleeping on a brightly coloured quilt that is on our bed – it is made from orange, red and yellow Provençal fabrics with some colours that match well with those in the Cat’s fur. She was also partly on a hand-woven small yellow and brown wool blanket that is one of Her favourite places to lie. She was rewarded in Her choice by a beam of warm sunlight spotlighting Her nap. You can meet more of Her through the cat tab at the top of this post, or here. A lovely feline with lots of personality, and a prodigious ability to sleep.
These shots are mostly crops from the pictures I took. This was really an exercise in testing the focus confirm in the new adapters I have for my Takumar lenses and these images are a happy byproduct.
Lava Stripe
I took this picture of a short length of what is surely Red Alder when I was taking long exposures on the Harling Point foreshore a few weeks ago. I did not know what to do with it until I saw The Lantern Room’s Lichen Stripe post – what a great shot that is. Anyway, it gave me the idea to crop the red into a contrasting stripe against the bark and rock and misty water in this long exposure. Its not nearly as good a photo as Lichen Stripe, nor even all that similar in composition. But I find it interesting, and I expect I will build on the idea as opportunity arises.
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Johnson Street Bridge
Yesterday I posted about the control shack for the Blue Bridge, otherwise known as the Johnson Street Bridge. The bridge joins downtown Victoria with Vic-West and points beyond such as Esquimalt (map here). Today I document the bridge with pictures that I took just before Christmas. I was in a rush and thought I might go back and take some more, but now realise that is unlikely to happen any time soon. So, you get to share my rather hurried group from 20 minutes of spare time.
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