A pretty drive to the valley

One of the many benefits of having my DSLR stuff with me wherever I go is the opportunity travel, such as it is for me in humble circumstances, but I get the chance to see the world outside my community. On Sundays, I usually take my two VR zooms with me as that dynamic duo covers all the bases for scenics.

The Annapolis Valley is always splendid and even moreso in the winter with a blanket of heavy snow and some ice on the trees, I had no trouble finding and capturing these files.

Winter imaging odds and ends

It seems that there have been some wonderful opportunities to capture great winter image files since the new year began, as winter truly commenced in January. I find myself shooting a lot of photographs but seem to be not overly impressed with the way snow is rendered in the digital medium. I have compared some of my old film file scans to what I am now getting with my Nikons, and, honestly, the film captures look nicer to my eye.

What is the issue? It could be something as simple as software; it could also very well be that digital does not render true blacks, whites and gray tones, I can't think it's Nikon's processors in their cameras.

I still get some very nice image captures and I accept them for what they are as my friends enjoy them. I will keep trying to find a way to improve and satisfy myself.

These images are a compendium of what I have been able to record the last couple weeks.

Now, for something completely different....

I arrived in Mahone Bay to do desk duty on Thursday morning and there was some almost surreal light as the sun peeked out among storm-type clouds. The light was very fleeting but I successfully captured it with the D60 and 16-85mm VR zoom. I did mess around with the density, contrast, and color balance to add to the mood.

Moving and solid water - interesting combo in the winter

Although the phenomena of global warming is very real, we still occasionally get very frigid temperatures in the winter. Today was welcomed with -25 degrees in some places in Lunenburg County, the only people smiling over that are the oil companies. As a photographer, I have learned to roll with it and take advantage of the opportunity when presented.

At these bone-chilling temperatures, I know I only have a few minutes of reasonably comfortable shooting. I managed to squeeze off about 40 files before the cold was too much for my fingers, even dressed in gloves.

D80 and 70-300mm VR @ f/16. I prefer the bluish tint of the NORMAL color setting as it adds the coldness factor feel to the moment.

The magic of winter - light, composition, it's all there!

Our luck finally gave out as we got nailed with a huge Nor'easter, yesterday, dumpiong about 20 cm of heavy snow on us. Of course, I looked at this weather event as a possibility to get some nice winter image files, it's no different when the fasll colors start popping out - I still get excited although I have recorded thousands of photos just like these over the past 25 years or so.

I tried to get something worthwhile, yesterday,, in the height of the storm but was somewhat disappointed in the results. Although I generally prefer b/w over color for this kind of subject, I find shooting in color then applying the b/w conversion work-flow with NX2 allows me to get it just right, as opposed to simply shooting b/w on the camera's menu.

D60 and 12-24mm.