My hands got so cold

Couple more ice shots from this past weekend and my early morning of laying on a frozen lake.


It's hard to make it through a winter around here without managing a few of these kind of ice shots. Now that it's getting warmer I might have to go out specifically in search of these before everything melts.

And on the eighth day, god created ice.

This morning I got out early in search of something. Wasn't sure what it was or where I would find it but I went out in search none the less. Ended up at my first stop but found the conditions were shit and frankly, boring. Found another spot but the rather large and conspicuous "No Trespassing" signage turned me off that location; didn't feel like running into some moron who might attempt to ruin my otherwise good mood.

I ended up taking a quick jaunt down to the waterfront to check out any possible nice sunrise action. I wasn't disappointed. The sunrise itself kind of sucked; I've seen better. When I was about ready to head back to the car, just as the sun was coming up, I noticed a natural ice formation sticking out of the snow about 100 yards out from shore. Seeing as how the ice is still thick enough I took the walk and was able to come up with this...

I wasn't in search of ice shots; this one kind of found me. I could have just gone home but instead I decided to come to this spot and lucked out.
Had to lay prone on the ice for about 10 minutes to get a series of shots.
It's hard to get a good exposure doing these and I don't practice them enough to nail it right away.
I'm happy as long as I get a couple that I like, maybe one I can print.
Like this one...


These type of shots are always fun to play around with when the opportunity presents itself.
For a real good look at some fantastical icescapes, why don't you quit reading this and go check out the wonderful world of ice brought to you by Mr. Jay Arpin.

Peas.

Old shots revisited

No time to actually shoot new material drives me to revisit older shots from way back when.

Trowbridge falls cascades lower end

Trowbridge Falls upper river

Sleeping Giant sunrise, Pool 6

Silhouetted fishermen, Dog Lake, Ontario

Images © Ian Benninghaus 2010. All rights reserved
Not to be used without permission.

Ribbed for her Desktop Background

Found myself out early last week in search of some sunrise shooting and although the sunrise wasn't spectacular, I was able to come up with this one of the local marina which makes for a decent desktop background.

It's full size so have at her.

My Anti-Drug is Deer

For a change of pace I went out on the weekend with hopes of capturing a few shots of some local residents. The sun had just come up and I was able to capture the attention of this fellow while he and about 30 to 40 of his pals were feeding along the side of the road.

Spot metering is usually something I don't dabble in all that much. I usually shoot Matrix metering (Nikon) and let the camera do the work for me.
In this case, I had gone out to practice spot metering on a subject that rarely sits still for more than a few seconds and was quite happy with the results.

For those that don't know, spot metering is more of an art form and takes some practice and know how before you get it right. If you do get it right, by spot metering a subject you are able to capture colors that are more true to what your eyes are seeing because the camera's meter only reads a small portion of the scene being shot. It helps if you have an understanding of the zone system as well. You can read up on it here.

For this shot, I knew it was a perfect chance to try out spot metering because of the contrasts between the deer and the white background of all of the snow.
I metered directly off of his neck, locked the exposure, recomposed the shot and just as if I was hunting, pulled the trigger.

As usual, this print and others are available for sale on RedBubble.com

(also, when I can't think of a title for a post, I use the Advertising Slogan Generator)

Weekend Sunrise Shooting

It's been almost all summer and I've hardly shot any sunrise or sunset shots. Hard to believe seeing as how they've always been a perennial favorite of mine. Had a few days off work the past week and decided to go out to a favorite spot for some long exposure shots of the river and do some landscapes.
On the way there I noticed that the sky to the east was already becoming a brilliant shade of pink and red and I immediately pulled a U turn and headed east towards the lake.
Landscapes can wait; it was going to be a sunrise morning.

I ended up at a familiar spot that I'd shot earlier the same week...




- 3 second exposure
- f/22
- ISO 200
- -1/3EV
- cloudy white balance









- 4 sec exposure
- f/22
- ISO 200
- -1/3EV





I don't always shoot sunrise/sunset shots looking directly into the sun. Usually I don't even shoot the actual sunrise/set, but about 20 minutes before and after the sun has cleared the horizon. That's when you get the best colours and run less risk of blowing highlights.

When I find a great sunrise I shoot as much of it as I can but I always try to remember to turn around and catch what is behind me. Sometimes (most of the time) you get spectacular scenes bathed in all of that "magic hour" light and you wouldn't have even know had you not turned around. Although this isn't the best example, this is what was behind me on the day (the sun had risen to the far right hand side.