There are no bad days for pictures

It was pissing rain all day, it did let up later on in the afternoon. I had the Coolpix 8400 with me, had no intentions of recording anything of value - I am sometimes wrong. A little drizzle doesn't hurt a camera.

It's time for spring!

Hopefully these ice floes will be soon all gone, they do look like crystallized cement blocks along the LaHave River. I prefer using manual exposure when shooting any kind of bright subjects, my 25 years of experience always works.

You have to love rural Nova Scotia

It seems I was on fire, today, photos came very easily. I shot about 40 files with the D80, and only discarded a few. The light was sweet, I caught the warmth of the early morning and the overcast skies in the afternoon was what I needed when I left the Bridgewater LDS meetinghouse.

I truly appreciate my roots, that is, rural Nova Scotia and there is much to see right in in Lunenburg County. Farm structures are a way of life around here; sadly, many are leaving the family businesses, and, eventually, many will simply be left to fall down.

Tranquility

You can get a great feeling after reading a good book - the feelings I get about ANYTHING can be expressed by photographs. I have this feeling of inner peace, at least for the moment..........This image seems to be representative of that sentiment. The reflections are almost superimposed, it was the favorite out of a bunch of image files recorded on the Port Medway road in Queens County, which, as are most roads in Nova Scotia, in desperate need of repairs.

Nothing too technical, I used the Coolpix 8400 compact - the metering on this little camera is usually more correct than its bigger uncle, the D80 - the only post-processing done here is to create a JPEG from the NEF.

Bridges

There are a few bridges that span the LaHave, one being originally for trains - now, it's part of the Centennial Trail. Of course, the "new" bridge is the first one as you enter Bridgewater. If you are in the right spot, you can see the bridges in town and the one that crosses with the 101, just stand on the old train bridge!

Another one from the Carding Mills

I gave the D80 the day off, used the trusty Coolpix 8400 to record some neat image files. I find the water doesn't look right unless it has that flow effect to it. Seems I had to mess with this more than I wanted to, the bane of digital imaging.

The wonders of water

It's been a few days since I last blogged (is that a word?), I have been busy taking photographs for other people, rendering service. Now that spring is here, I plan to get back on track.

We tend to think of water as a moving entity, there is an instant when we see droplets frozen in our minds and time tends to stop still. However, a more artistic and impressionalistic view is seeing water moving, flowing and ebbing, it is an eternal cycle, very moody.

This effect is simple - use a slow shutter speed (1 second) and a good tripod, image faithfully captured with the 70-300mm VR.

Should I carry my DSLR system with me, today?

I had decided about 9am that I would head for Liverpool, maybe visit the Hunts Point wharf, but I wasn't sure if I should just take the little compact (Coolpix 8400) or the D80 stuff; I chose the latter. I soon know why - I stumbled on a group of ice gliders from the HRM getting ready to go on Wentzells Lake, I really needed the reach of the 70-300mm VR zoom.

I did end up at the government wharf and found this fisherman working on his nets - he said the "plain Jane" ones made in PEI are the preferred type of trap, instead of the more colorful and brighter ones I am used to seeing. The SB-800 flash makes the scenes look so natural and is not an uninvited light source.

Rocks ablaze

It seems I only exist in the early hours of the day, at least with the D80 . I recorded this behind the Bridgewater Mall around 8am, using the 70-300mm zoom. Where was Vibration Reduction 20 years ago?

Nobody is open

At 8:15am, there isn't much life on King Street in Bridgewater. It was rather cold and windy, not many walkers, either. Spring is supposed to be in week and a half, bring it on! I used my Coolpix 8400 for this with some PP in NX2.

Fire in the sky

OK, OK, I said I wouldn't do this for a bit, I could not resist as I drove by, the colors almost took me off the road. The Nikon AF-S 70-300mm VR zoom is a cult favorite for a good reason, very sharp, wonderful reach and makes this lazy shooter who can't be bothered using a tripod when he should look like a genius=)

Doing your own dirty work

There is a car wash right across the street at MIG, this driver had to do his own job. The lighting was kind of neat at this time of the morning, the back-lit water spray added to the atmosphere. On a cropped-body DSLR like the D80, a telephoto zoom can get extraordinarily close.

A change of pace - a shot with a digicam

Now that I have sold all of my Canon EOS film system, I feel I should "save" my D80 stuff and utilize my excellent Coolpix 8400 compact more often. This little 8 Megapxiel Nikon has an unusually wide lens for a PS-style camera, and, as you can see, it's very sharp - I enhanced the color a bit.

King Street looks pretty nice at the right time of the day.

Another sunrise

Following yesterday's theme, I stumbled across this shot as I drove to work, this morning. I could see the orange glow in my rear-view mirror as I sped towards Hemford, I promptly slammed by brakes on, and turned into a driveway - just in time to see the orb of the sun peeking out.

I quickly attached the 70-300mm VR zoom, manually set the exposure, and fired off about a dozen shots; the sun soon was up too high to be as colorful. It turned out the dawn glory soon dissipated, clouds ensued, followed by snow/rain later in the morning.

I did not do a smidgen of post-processing, this was straight from the RAW file using the MORE VIVID setting on the D80.

We get all the weather types in one day in Nova Scotia.

Sunrise

Yes, we all love our sunsets, but I prefer the early-morning time for images and sunrises intrigue me; they are both beautiful. This is unique to today, there won't be another March 5, 2009 dawn ever again.

Colors are nice with this (after some messing), but I can never match the saturation and warmth of Fujichrome Velvia. Oh well.

The good Samaritan

One of the advantages of dragging a camera with you on your lunch break is you can come across almost anything - such as stalled or dead vehicles. This man was kind enough to try to give the Ford truck a boost, but the old pickup ended up being pushed down King Street.

The owner of the truck said something to me as I tripped the shutter, but I can't publish the comment.

Dreary day

Well, the weather was about as drab as you can get in early March - after an icy start, the rains came. When I came home, it was almost 10 degrees, let's hope the snow goes away. Since getting my Nikon DSLR system, the D80 is close at hand - even at stop lights and intersections.

A couple more Ross Farm shots from last weekend

I am still learning about creating posts, this is good practice - I found a couple more images that look pretty nice.

Up until I bought my Nikon D80 and zooms, I used compact digicams - I find them very sluggish and not very reactive. A DSLR is lightning-quick, the camera is on, instantly, the AF locks on target like a bullet. I was never one to acknowledge how good the modern digital single-lens reflex camera has become while advocating film, but the digital medium is tailor-made for sharing files.

My favourite place

This is my first attempt at blogging in awhile, I tried a few years ago but promptly gave up.

I have been visiting Ross Farm for over 20 years - I have recorded 40,000 to 50,000 images, on various mediums - slides, negs and, now, digital files. Good thing there is a recycle bin in the laptop and a large waste basket at my disposal at home.

Last weekend was the Farm's "Tasty Treats" activity, the ladies in the Rosebank Cottage made lots of candy for the kids - and a few adults (not me, I don't eat candy). There was plenty to photograph, children frolicking in the snow, horse-drawn sleigh rides, and I had no trouble to keep my usually keen eye focused on opportunities.