Travel, Landscape, Nature Photography

Ottawa street photographer Rick Carroll is this week’s guest blogger. I have known Rick for many years and I am constantly looking forward to seeing the new work that he produces. I think he’s out on the streets of Ottawa shooting every day, so I don’t have to wait long to see that new work!  His sense of visual design is incredible and he really understands light.

I always hesitate quite a bit when it comes to writing anything on photography. Then again I hesitate about writing most things because I have this awful tendency of being brutally honest. Oddly enough, that is not always a popular way to go.

About twenty years ago I had the pleasure of assisting Anthony Scullion, a commercial photographer located here in Ottawa.

Working for Anthony was without question, working. With his headband on we’d often put together some elaborate shoots for clients such as the N.R.C. as well as other government departments. Also included in Anthony’s bag of magic was catalogue work with the odd portrait thrown in for good measure.

Anthony was always patient and fair but he was also a good listener. In hindsight I realize just how rare a good boss actually is. Needless to say my time with him was an enjoyable experience. Hard work but worth it.

The reason I brought Anthony up has to do with something that we disagreed on years ago. At that time, I was quite convinced that the most important required element in creating a photograph was it’s composition. Anthony on the other hand believed that light with all of it’s properties was what mattered most. Anthony was right.

The photograph of Queen Street was exhibited a few months back and the curator of the exhibit pulled me aside one day and told me a little story about a photographer from Argentina.

It seems that the photographer was looking at the print and he couldn’t figure out how I did it. Thinking to myself I thought “How I did it?”, “Well it was easy”, “I saw something and photographed it”. I guess I can be pretty cocky. Looking at the print the Argentinian photographer thought that there must have been some sort of manipulation done to it. The fact is there wasn’t. The only thing critical in getting this shot was getting the right exposure.

I’m out on the streets quite a bit and I do still sometimes forget to really look at the quality of light, where it is placed and it’s colours. Often even in the brightest whites, one can see the blueish colourcast of daylight. When I first stepped on to Queen Street that morning the light struck me instantly much like a slap in the face. It’s qualities were obvious and from there I simply added the subjects. Within a couple of minutes I knew that “I got it”. I love when that happens.

What remains key in images that are successful is the quality of light that is captured and how it impacts the elements within the composition. It’s easy to forget though. We get distracted by events and the things all around us. That’s why I enjoy life through a lens. With a camera to my face my view gets restricted much like putting blinders on a horse. Paradoxically I often see more when in reality I see less.

This article is really just a reminder. Remember light, go to it, get to know it and try to find compositions in areas where the light is excellent.

Light is key. Happy shooting.

Thanks for reading,

Rick Carroll

To see more of Rick’s work please visit his website and blog.

Sharing one of his photos and a story this week is Michael Orton. Michael is the photographer who back in the 80’s invented the technique of sandwiching 2 pieces of overexposed slide film together to create an impressionistic, soft dreamy image. These artistic images are called Orton Imagery or Dreamscapes. This technique can also be created using layers in Photoshop. Michael is an incredibly talented and creative photographer and I’m very happy that for his photo/story he has chosen a visually stunning composition which isn’t an “Orton”. He and his wife Mary live on Vancouver Island, they enjoying travelling and photography but they especially enjoy visits from their children and grandchildren.  I highly recommend his book  Photographing Creative Landscapes it is number one on my list of “must have” books.

Like most photographers, I have a list of those places that were a unique experience, filed away in my head. It only takes a short while looking at past images to bring back vivid memories and visions, and often prompt me to want to revisit an area. This image is from my top 20 list of places every landscape photographer should see at least once. Why, well it is simply unlike any other place. The time I enjoy here is the spring, and then the fall as a second time. In late spring the rolling fields  appear as huge rolling waves of vibrant varying hues of green. As far as the eye can see they undulate to the horizons. And if you are lucky enough to be there for the Canola bloom (I think that is what it is called) in June, the blend of blue skies, white clouds, vibrant yellows and greens doesn’t get any better. I use a warming polarizer under full sun skies, with a medium wide angle for large vistas and a telephoto for selecting abstracts, like the one shown here. Small roads intersect the landscape so it is easy to find a quiet moment standing amidst this truly inspiring landscape. For those that haven’t guessed, this is the Palouse region of Eastern Washington State. When will Mary and I be revisiting? This spring, and this time we will take our bikes and do some rides through the backroads. Go see this place!

by Michael Orton

For something a little different, I’ve asked a friend of mine to write the first article of the new year for my blog. This is the first time that I’ve asked anyone to write a guest posting, and hopefully I’ll be able to persuade some of my other friends to share some of their stories for future posts. The reason that Richard was the first person that I asked, is because, probably more than anyone else Richard is responsible for me starting to think outside of the box. About 40 years ago, he was my grade 11 English teacher and wow did he ever have a different way of teaching! It opened my eyes and mind to a new world. Funny, I can’t remember any of the novels that we studied in his classes – But I do remember he taught us to question just about everything and not to take anything at face value. As destiny would have it, it would be another 25 years before I would see Richard again. This time I was the teacher, by “chance” (Richard always motioned quotation marks with his raised hands and extended fingers) he had signed up for one of my workshops. In the years since then, he has taken a few of my workshops, shared ideas and thoughts about photography and life.

PICTURE THIS by Richard Smith

Sunrise. Prince Edward Island. I`m on a country road and the light is great. I`m composing away when this farmer comes out of the house ,crosses the road and fetches the newspaper out of his mail box. As he heads back to the house he turns and says that the scenery is far more beautiful from his back yard. Would I care to see for myself?

Well , yes I would. Camera bag in one hand and tripod and camera in the other I follow him into his backyard. Of course there are several fences to climb over but I managed to get over them despite the fact that he said with a grin that I should mind the bull.

With my back to the last fence we climbed over I start to scout the scenery. He said he`d leave me to it and went back to the house. I was so involved in setting up that I was not aware of my immediate surroundings. When I did look up over the tripod I was suddenly aware that I was surrounded by twelve young calves who were very curious about me and what I was doing. While some seemed skittish one was licking the sleeve of my jacket and another was licking the leg of my tripod. It was such a wonderful scene. City slicker photographer surrounded by young calves. But no one was there to take the picture. I felt a certain sadness at the loss of such an image. Thank goodness for a visual memory.

Now, I was not as impressed with the scenery as was this farmer. I made my way over the fences and decided that I must thank him. As I made my way to his back porch I saw the scene you now see that accompanies this story. It stopped me in my tracks. I made several images and kept shutting down the f stops to get more depth of field. I made other compositions of the area but none stand out like this one. Even landscape photographers can have decisive moments. I prefer to call them epiphanies. Those great Ah Hah moments when everything falls into place.

I pack up once more and then knocked on the back door. He invited me in and we sat at the kitchen table. He asked me where I was from. Ottawa, I said. Where abouts? Off Richmond Road near Churchill. He smiled. We lived in Westboro near Churchill he said but after the war we decided to take up farming so we moved here in 1946. And so we traded stories for a little while.

I left his farm house somewhat amazed and bewildered. What were the possibilities that this meeting could ever take place? And what were the chances that I would ever be able to make an image like this one?

I regret one thing. I misplaced his address and as such I`ve never been able to send him a copy of this image. I have friends in PEI who search out the area to determine where he lives and I feel we are getting closer to being able to track him down.