September Rainshine
Following from my previous entry, the second half of September has been dominated by cloudy weather and quite a bit of moisture. I was simultaneously eager and hesitant to test out my new K-70. It's advertised as weather-sealed, as are my lenses, and I'm glad to say they performed admirably.
First stop though was some urban photography. This is not something I'm comfortable with, mostly because I'm self-conscious about doing photography in public. I actually had someone come up to me and ask what I was doing. "Taking pictures", I said, pointing to the camera. She seemed to not quite get it, or perhaps she thought I was up to no good.
In any case, our Human Rights museum and the nearby bridge has some interesting architecture. I'll admit there's quite a bit of post-processing in this next photo to bring out the cloud formation, as well as correcting for the lens distortion (wide open at 16mm), so I lost some foreground, something to consider for next time:
I was looking for a good complement to the Human Rights building, and noticed a massive dead cottonwood tree on my side of the river, but I couldn't find the right angle to include it with the museum, so I settled for a shot through the branches:
The last shot was after sunset. The wind picked up and it started to drizzle, hence the blurred foreground and right side, but I want to come back and take this frame in a frame shot on a less windy evening, perhaps in Spring, with a long exposure to bring out the reflection:
And thus the rain began. To make the most of the weather, and get home in a reasonable time to dry out, I returned to Bird's Hill Park several times. There are many hidden gems in the park if you're willing to go off the trail and explore a bit.
The foliage had just started to turn:
No, it's not crooked, the ground slopes...
The first excursion was dominated by low hanging clouds and drizzle, very suitable for the marshes, and which to my eyes made the colours pop. I hope I've captured that here:
Given the gloom I wasn't expecting a lot of wildlife, but one of the pond shores was filled with sandpipers, killdeer, and plenty of geese and ducks. This little guy is intent on his search:
If you want something done, close your eyes and get your beak wet...
Near the marshes I startled a green heron. It happened so fast I couldn't track it as well as I'd hoped, but I can't complain:
I met the frog that the heron had been hoping for. From the frog's point of view, he'd just traded one threat for another. Happily for a photographer, frogs are happier to freeze in place for a while:
The pine and poplar forests are also host to a lot of chickadees and nuthatches. They're pretty tame, and people feed them all year round, even in the coldest weather:
A lucky clear shot, even at 1/80th of a second
The birds make their homes in this kind of habitat:
Back to the landscapes, I'm not sure what kind of maple this is, but when it turns it's brilliant:
Valentine's Day isn't for a few months yet, where did this come from?
I circled this bush several times, wading through wet grass higher than my waist, looking for a way to capture it, but finally settled for what is basically a snapshot. By this time I was quite soaked and fingers were getting stiff from the cold wind that was starting up.
A poor composition, but I had to capture the colours.
The next outing I raced to the park after work, and I thought I had arrived in plenty of time for a good golden hour. Turns out I only had a golden minute, as shortly after clicking the shutter this scene was entirely in shadow:
I spent the rest of the evening trying to make the best of the low light and blue hour. I made a few mistakes here, not least of which is the lack of an anchor, and the left side is quite dark. I should also have moved forward, including more of the trees in the reflection. I could have brought up the darkness in post-processing, but it ends up looking very unnatural, so I settled for a more natural look:
The final outing was under less rain, but more dramatic and low clouds. In some places the foliage had really started to change. Perhaps in southern Ontario or the Maritimes this barely qualifies, but out here on the prairie it's a bigger deal :)
Also found a couple of gems closer to hand, hidden in the grasses:
Finally, getting home late at night, I was struck by how the streetlights fell on the Joe Pye in my backyard prairie garden:
That brings September almost to a close. My next goal is to capture the Tamarack trees as they change, possibly with a trip to Spruce Woods Provincial Park, a couple hours drive west.
