Ah, Jasper

Okay, I know it's not Sunday yet and you all still have time to put your votes in on the last post. But, I really wanted to share with everyone some cool shots I took while in Jasper. You know you're an avid photobug type person when you manage to take more than the equivilent of 6 rolls of film in aproximately a 24 hour period. You guessed it - I managed to do just that. Now I am still in the editting stage of things, however here are some of my favorites. Hope you like...

Some Elk crossing the river just outside of Jasper.

Took a little time to expose this one at Maligne Canyon's 5th bridge...I just like this one, because the water lines looked cool

Hendrick really likes this one I did at Pyramid Lake... and finally my altimate favorite from Athabasca Falls

What's Your Point of View?

Today I was reminded that like all art photography is subject to point of view or personal likes and dislikes if you will. This came about when my husband and I had some friends and family over for lunch after church and some of our guests were looking at one of my table books of photos that I had made last year. I had asked "which photo was it that you liked best?" I was surprised with his answer as I personally didn't think it was the best picture I had submitted for this book. So I decided to get a broader point of view from you the reader. So here are your choices:

Choice #1

Mountain Ash Tree berries with frost

Choice #2

A unique view of Athabasca Falls, Jasper National Park, Alberta in late winter.

And Finally Choice #3

A tamarack branch in sepia tones

So, today I am asking for you the reader to cast your vote via posting a comment. I also suggest that you would give a reason why you chose the photo that you did. Next week we will go into more details in this area. I will also tell you which choice my young friend chose as part of our discussion.

Happy snapping.

What's Your Favorite Position?

Now before you get all excited let me let you down easy. I'm still talking about the world of photography. My question though is this: Do I as a photographer always use the same stance in all of my photo taking? Do I always stand with my feet at shoulder width apart? Do I mix it up a bit? Well if you were to look over the photos that you've taken over the last year what would your answer be?

For myself and quite a few others we have learned to vary our positions to get better angles on our plain (the photographers canvas). For example the picture to the right I took while standing on a bridge at Rundle Park. The next picture you see will be a similar spot a bit further down the bridge with the added exception of taking the exposure while laying on my stomach. Can you see any difference in how the horizon is placed in these two photos? Some may not with most nature photography, but the trained eye can probably tell more easily.

Basically I would encourage all photo bugs out there to mix up how they take even the most everyday type of photograph. For example experiment with views like a birds eye (looking down), worms eye view (laying on the ground) or a child's eye (on your knees). I should mention with the worms eye view that you actually have a choice in your view stance. You could lay flat on your stomach and look out in front of you; or you could lay on your back and look up. The latter is great for getting a unique look at some trees with the sky. Again if you mix things up a bit you will add to your photography in ways that you possibly may not have imagined . Pictured to the right is an example of a worms eye view looking up.

So what images have you missed out on because you didn't allow yourself the possibilities of where your imagination could lead you as well as to get a little dirty to change your point of view of the world around you?

More food for thought :)

Where do You get Your Inspiration From?

Have you ever wondered what it was about something you saw that made you want to take a piece of it home with you? It usually comes with many emotions all rolled into one. For example when my husband and I went to Waterton National Park we found ourselves quite awe struck to say the least.

This area is one of a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as a Peace park as it shares the border with Glacier National Park in Montana. So you can see what a special place it is on its own. For us however these accreditation's meant nothing to us until we went there. We now long to go back and enjoy this wonderful area. The above picture is of Upper Waterton Lake meeting with Middle Waterton Lake. I could give you a lot of information on this area because we love it so much, unfortunately I would be straying from my intended point.

I recently read an article from a photographer talking about what had inspired him to pursue photography. It got me thinking about what was it that inspired me to take some of the photos I've taken in the past. I have to say that Waterton and area is one of many areas that has inspired me. I often think of it as Alberta's most precious but hidden jewel when it comes to our National Park system. Coming here was like getting a new breath of life like I never new before. (I must say that getting a new breath here is not that difficult as it is also one of the most windiest places around).

I get my inspiration from here because of it's majesty and diversity. It is often said that this area "is where the prairies meet the mountains". I didn't know what was meant by that until we travelled there. You literally could see where the changes begin. While traveling from the town site to an area called Red Rock Canyon (pictured right) we did see this in plain site. One minute you have prairie grass with black-eyed Susan's swaying in the wind and the next was mountain rock coming out of the hills. Don't get me wrong I love visiting all of our mountain parks as I seem to come more alive and attuned to things when there. But this area I will always keep close to me inside and remember how I felt when taking my first look around. Where else can you find a waterfall smack in the middle of town or get a good close look at a glacier going into a lake. Truly this is an inspirational area.

Do you have a special place that inspires you? If not I would encourage you to search your heart and memories to find what makes you come alive and pursue that area. I am desperately passionate about nature photography I think the most. And I think it is because it brings me closer to the one who created it all in the first place. You see when I look at all this splendor I know in my deepest part of me that their is no way these areas just happened by accident.

Let me leave you with one last photo of this extraordinary area and may you be able to come alive with your passions as well.

Are We Counting the Days Until Vacation Time?

So, how many days until your next vacation? For myself and my husband it is approximately 19 days until we head off to Jasper for our 16th Anniversary. Now some of you may not think a weekend in Jasper counts as a vacation. I guess it all depends on what your definition is. According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary vacation is defined as follows; "a period of several days or weeks spent away from work or school etc. used especially for recreation and travel; a holiday." I would go further in my definition to include any time away from the regular routine of life. So even though we are only gone for a couple of days it is very much out of our regular routine and away from work and home. I know some of you may be thinking - how does this go with my theme of photography? Well I'll tell you. No matter where I go I almost always have my camera with me. You never know when an opportune moment will arise. Also when going away I will always make time for photos and Jasper is no different.

The idea that I wanted to share with vacations and photography though is this: Never just take one picture of an idea unless the subject moves or you are just passing through and there is no time for more than one. If you look at some of the examples I've included this time you'll begin to understand my statement a bit more clearly. Take this scene on the right here. This was taken at Athabasca Falls just out side of Jasper with a 300 mm lense. It looks nice and I was able to get nice and close safely. (Safety will be another topic down the road). But what if I just left it at that? Would another angle have been better? Should I have zoomed out and alowed more of the scene? Without exploring these possibilities you really don't know what you are going to like when you get your photos into post production (after all there will have been so many by the end of your vacation). So I looked around after taking this exposure, which I do like and have put into a special book that I had made through Snapfish.com., and look what I found for another scene very close to this area... (picture to the left). If I had just snapped and ran so to speak I would have only had one picture of a area that is continously changing by natures erosion. I now have more than one to look at and to choose from when I put together a nature scene portfolio. Or in my holiday scrapbook I can now choose more or less of what I want to show of the area.

This brings me to another point with vacation photographs. Take a travel journal with you and take the time to journal things like locations, dates, history of the area, the weather, and for the avid photographer - camera settings so you can document your photos more acuately later. Why would I want to document my photos with camera settings? The reasoning is simple. What if you were in a creative mood and tried a few things out to see what they would look like? Then discover that you like the affect you created but now can not recall how you created that exposure to duplicate it again down the road. Learning to document your work early will save time in experimentation later. This also helps you encourage other budding photographers if you know what you did incase they would like to try something similar with you as their inspiration.

I could go on about more vacation photography tips and ideas, but I'll save that for another time. For now this food for thought has enough to mull over.

See you next time :)