Quispamsis Arts & Culture Park

This is the first time the Arts & Culture Park has been decorated for Christmas. Here are a few pictures I took earlier this evening. There is a great outdoor skating rink too.

More pictures from Passekeag

Here are three more pictures I took yesterday in Passekeag.

Image #1 is a backlit Cat Tail. There were dozens of them on the side of the road blowing around in the wind. The sun shining on them from behind is what caught my eye. The wind was blowing so hard it was difficult to get a sharp picture. Since there was very little color in the image I converted it to black and white. I think it looks much better in black and white.

Tonight's Sunset

On the way home from visiting my son, I stopped in Hampton to take this sunset picture. It is actually a composite of three images exposed 1 stop apart. Image 1 over exposed 1 stop (5 seconds), Image 2 normal exposure (10 seconds), and Image 3 under exposed 1 stop (20 seconds). I think it turned out okay. Too bad about the street light in the foreground. The only problem with long exposures is anything that moves looks soft. There was a breeze that caused some tree movement but the most problem I had was movement of the moon. The total length of time from the start of the first image until the last image was taken was 50 seconds. This permitted the moon to move a noticable amount.

Oh, you did the math and I made a mistake? I forgot to mention I had noise reduction turned. That doubles the time the moon has to move across the sky. The first image was exposed for 5 seconds and then noise reduction took another 5 seconds before I could take the second image, and so-on. The time of the last image is not doubled is it?

Renforth Wharf

Here is a rather unusual November picture. The water in the Kennebecasis is quite high for this time of the year and the Renforth Wharf is showing just how high it is.

Moss Glen Falls

Here are a few more water pictures taken during our camera's club field trip to the Kingston Peninsula last Sunday.

This Morning's Mood

While driving to the Village this morning I stopped on the side of the road to capture this scene. There was virtually no color in it so I converted it to black and white.

More Field Trip Pictures

#1 is a picture I took at a marsh on the Kingston Peninsula yesterday. It is what I call a semi -montage. That means I blended an in-focus picture with a out-of-focus picture to boost the colors but I also reduced the opacity to retain some of the detail in the shadows. The colors and saturation have not been altered other than what the blending does to them.

#2 was taken last evening a couple of minutes before the setting sun exploded into a large vivid red glow. When I realized that was happening I was not able to get to a loaction where I could capture it. I call it the one that got away....again...

Today's Field Trip

Our camera club had a field trip planned for today called a Harbour Hop. Since only four of us showed up we changed the field trip to a quest for flowing water and old houses. Here are seven of my pictures taken on the Kingston Peninsula. Six of the pictures were taken in a dilapidated old farmhouse. Somehow my picture of the the stairs also captured a rather colorful ghost.

Just Too Cute

I know I probably have too many squirrel pictures posted already but I just couldn't resist taking this picture of Hector chowing down on supper.

Running Water

Today is sunny and unseasonably warm. After breakfast at Sessions, thanks Gill, I decided to take a couple of pictures even though I wasn't feeling particularly inspired to do so. I saw a deer in the field along the Hammond River Road so I parked my car at St Andrews Kirk United Church and walked back with my camera and tripod. On the way I heard running water and decided to investigate. This is what I found. I never saw the deer again.

When being tall is bad

Every time I drive past this spot I have wanted to stop and take a picture. For sure it is not because it is an award winning scene or anything like that. I see humour in this photo. I clearly understand it definitely wasn't humorous for the poor souls that became wedged under the 'load levellers'.

I recall several 'accidents' that occurred in this spot. From large tractor trailers that got their exhaust stacks stuck to a brand new Pop Shop truck that sped through here on its way back to Moncton. The chap I understand used to have a smaller truck and went under this overpass hundreds of times without incident. His new truck was a bit taller and in his haste to get to his next drop-off he forgot this most important fact. In no time at all there was a multitude of truck parts and pop bottles strewn all over the road. I bet he was late for supper that day.

The most recent event I know of was a new travel trailer that had most of its roof peeled off and became firmly wedged under the overpass. That is definitely not my idea of the best way to start a holiday trip travelling across Canada.

You know I never took the time to actually measure the height. How cruel it would be if the sign were wrong....

And no the picture is not crooked. I was very careful to stand still and keep the camera level as cars zipped past me on either side. Thankfully there were no large trucks speeding past or I would have had a few more pictures to post.

Last of the fall colors???

This afternoon I went looking for what little remaining fall color there was and found some just down the road. You should have seen the strange looks I got as people drove past me. I bet they were wondering what I could possibly find to photograph in a messy old ditch.

Picture #3 and #4 are of the same bush. Picture #4 is a combination of three images I took at the same time. The first is the same as #3, the other two were taken out of focus by varying amounts. Obviously I used a tripod and had to wait for a moment when the wind was really calm. The three images were then blended and adjusted in Photoshop. Color saturation in #4 was reduced just a little. I felt it was necessary because the blending action has made the colors to be super saturated. Some people like the effect others don't.

Some of my camera club friends call me an old Phart (Photo Artist). I take it as a compliment.

Rothesday Town Hall at Night

Here are three pictures of the Rothesay Town Hall from last Tuesday night. Sorry that the clock is not visible in #3 but that is the way the picture was taken. These pictures were taken in raw and the color temperature adjusted in ACR. The origonals had a pronounced orange cast from the different lights. I believe there are three different types of lights in these scenes.

KV Camera Club Night Shoot

A small group of us from the KV Camera Club went out for an evening shoot Tuesday evening. Here are a few of the people pictures I took. It was so dark in some of these pictures I had a difficult time focusing the camera. In camera noise reduction was turned on.

#1 - 20 seconds F 4.5.
#2 - 5 seconds F 5.6.
#3 - 2.5 seconds F 5.6
#4 and 5 - .8 seconds F8.

Picture 4 and 5 are from the same raw image. In #5 I increased the exposure to show just how much detail there is in the dark. This detail has been captured even though there is none visible in image #4. Cropping is different between the two images because all exposure adjustments were made in raw before the image was cropped. I could have cropped in raw but when I first cropped the image I had intended on using it as a silhouette.

First Snow of 2006

It started snowing this morning around 7 Am. I took these pictures around between 9 and 10 Am in a couple of places you should recognize. The duck in picture #1 came in for a pretty fast landing, almost a crash landing. I stayed in my car to keep my camera dry because the snow was heavy and very wet.