Last of the Flowers in the Park

I'm not sure what this type of flower is, but there were only a few left when I went to take pictures recently with a friend. There weren't many flowers left in that park.

I believe I was practicing taking photos with my camera set to manual, as I need to take several photos on that setting to submit for the online photography course I'm taking.

Lonely Old Shed

I took this photo on a recent trip to the "country" to take photos with a friend.  This shed was out in a field, not far from the road. We pulled into a driveway, parked the car and roamed around near the shed to take photos. There was nothing else in the field to photograph, but that was fine.

Unknown Fruit

I'm not entirely sure what these are. I thought maybe they were some type of crab apple (they were about that size, or a little smaller), but I honestly don't know. They were growing on some trees around one of the small parks here, and they captured my interest. So I took a photo.

Red Vine

Vine

This photo was take over the weekend, and I was attempting to use flash fill. I'm not totally sure if it turned out or not, but it was an attempt. I was practicing different techniques to get something to submit to the photography course I'm taking. I still have several categories to submit, and am going through the photos I took this weekend in hopes of getting a few to submit.

Park Bench

A nice place to sit and forget your cares and worries...and your coffee mug!

I went out this afternoon with a phtographer friend of mine and we drove around the city to a few different locations looking for something to photograph.

There wasn't much around, and it was pretty sunny. The trees are all starting to change to their fall colour of yellow...and the fields looked yellow as well.

One thing I miss from the east coast is the beautiful fall foliage - the reds, oranges...and even the yellows (though they seem to be a different vibrancy than here). We don't have maple trees way up here in northern BC, and I definitely don't like that. However, those trees aren't suitable for this type of climate I guess (harsh winters).

This photo is obviously a park bench, and it's in one of the little parks in the middle of the city. Sadly, the flowers from the summer have pretty much disappeared, but there were a few. I wish there had been some in bloom around this bench...would have looked nicer, but I still like this photo.

Just before snapping this shot, I noticed someone had forgot to take their coffee mug with them so I left that in the shot...thought it might add some character to photo.

Barn

Taken late spring of this year on a drive to practice photography. It was quite a sunny day, so unfortunately the colour isn't the best.

Grain Sack



Grain sack in the shadows

 This is a photo from a trip not too long ago to the Peace River area of Alberta. We stopped at a little information place which was in an old train station. It was a small building, but it was also made into a little museum, which was quite nice. There were displays of items used way back when (I'm not sure of the dates, possibly late 1800s), and even a section with a sign telling that it was the ladies waiting room. The sign went on to say that it was an area where single women who were travelling could go and wait for their train and be able to feel safe.

In another room, they had other items on display - an operator's "station", various old items, an old bicycle, sled, snow shoes...and lots more. In a section that was roped off, there was a nice little display and there were grain sacks stacked up.

I liked the way the sun was shining in through the window, dust particles floating in the air, and how only part of this particular grain sack had the shadow of the window frame and the sunlight falling on it.  It might not be a great photo, or anything particularly fascinating, but I liked it. And that's why I took the photo.

The Wonderful Cross

This cross adorns the top of a little country chapel out in the woods. Unfortunately, I only had my zoom lens and I couldn't get a decent photo of the whole church in one shot.

Look Up, Look Way Up

About a month or so ago, I went on a photography excursion with a friend. We went to the Peace River area of Alberta. While there, I liked the way the clouds looked at one particular moment, so I took a quick photo. The result is the one above. All I did in Elements was to do a "quick fix", and I really like the way it turned out.

Distorted Sun?

Sunset

This photo was taken the same evening as the photo from the previous picture.

In all honesty, I have no idea how the sky and the reflection turned out so yellow. There was pink and blue in the sky, as the sun was setting. I'm sure it was probably due to some setting I had on my camera.

I do like the way this turned out though, and I like how the clouds that are crossing the sun give it a distorted look.

In Beaton Park



 Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted any photos on this blog!

Truth be told, I don't get out a lot to take photos because I don't have a vehicle, and it's difficult to get around these parts without one.

Not too long ago, I went with a friend to take some photos. We both joined a free photography course and needed to take some pictures for that. So, we hopped in her car and she drove us to a beautiful park area with a huge lake. We went at "the golden hour" to try to capture photos with the lighting achieved around sunset.  It stays light out quite late now, and I believe this photo was taken around 9:00 in the evening - or there abouts. We came home around 10:00 pm and it was still quite light.

I've gone on a few photography outings with my friend, so I have some more photos to share at other times...and hopefully it won't be so long until my next posting for you to see them!

Sunrise From My Window

View out my window at sunrise

In my previous post I mentioned that I had signed up for an online photography course through the local distance education center.  A week or so ago I submitted my first lesson and I finally heard back. I got 5/5 - but then everyone does, because the lesson is simply going through your photos and trying to determine which element the photo is.

I read over the next lesson this morning and took a short quiz. I hope I did well on it. The quiz was on shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

Right now I'm reading about camera modes and exposure techniques. There's a lot to learn, but it's necessary to help improve my photography. I'm looking forward to being able to go out and practice taking lots of photos (for assignments and for myself).  Unfortunately, I don't have a car here, so it's difficult to get around and go to interesting places to take photos. At least one of my friends here has offered to go with me sometimes (she has a car). She's in the course as well, so it will be nice to have someone along on a photoshoot who isn't impatient and waiting for me to finish taking pictures!

On today's post, I've included a couple of pictures I took from my apartment window this morning at sunrise. The photos are untouched. It was such a beautiful sight to see God's handiwork again this morning.

One thing that always seems to amaze me since moving here, are the way the clouds seem to look - they just seem "different" here than back home, and I can't explain how or why. It might be that I'm closer to the mountains, or maybe the elevation, but I don't know.

And with the cloud formations, are the sunrises and sunsets. I've seen some very beautiful colours in the sky at these times of day - such beauty and majesty - and they always make me thankful for being able to experience them, and of course they make me praise the Lord for His creation!

I'll continue to keep you posted as I journey along in this photography course. And, of course, I am hoping that by the time I finish (I think we have a year to complete the course), I should be able to see differences and improvements in my photos - which I'll  post here.

Yoo Hoo! I'm Over Here!

Dickson Falls, July 2011

Wow, it's sure been awhile since I've posted here! I'm truly sorry. I moved to the other side of the country towards the end of last August, and since then I haven't taken many photos. I've been busy with work, I don't have access to a car to travel to new places to photograph, and then winter set in and it got cold.



One of the ladies at work (I'm a teacher and she works in the office) is also into photography, and we are taking a free - couldn't believe that! - online photography course through distance education. She is into it a couple lessons further than I am. You see, the first lesson is to gather 80 photographs that you've taken (no people in them with a critical eye) and evaluate as to which elements best describe the photos. The elements are: line, shape, form, texture, pattern and colour.



I was going to do this over the Christmas holidays, but I travelled back home and since I didn't have computer access there, I left my laptop at my apartment. When I got back and started teaching again, I just never seemed to find the time to sit down and go through my photos.

Today I finished up doing so, and now I just need to evaluate the photos and fill out the chart (we'll be using the photos again later on in the course) to send off. That is the first assignment. The lady from work who is taking the course said the second lesson is about f-stops.

Anyway, I hope to post here about my course as I go on. I'll also try to keep up to date with photos and maybe explain what I'm doing in each lesson as I go along.

Until the next post (which hopefully won't be too far into the future), happy snapping!