Storm chasin'
I did a lot of wandering last month, roaming back roads, and trying to listen to my gut more. The latter is actually really useful: just close your eyes and ask yourself where to go, and just do the first thing that comes to mind. Sometimes it makes little sense at the time, but I find it’s almost always rewarding. This is probably because I have no idea where I’m going, have little expectations, and my mind is more open. It helps avoid revisiting the same old haunts.
I was also “lens-deficient”: my Pentax wide-angle was in the shop again after refusing to focus, so I had to rely on my Olympus for wide-angle shots. This isn’t a bad thing: I know I’m not going to get the same level of detail as the Pentax, but it forces me to think more about the composition. I think the quest for detail can sometimes get in the way of making a pleasing shot.
First weekend was a tour of gravel roads and farmland in southern Manitoba:
The sun was quickly sliding towards the horizon when I came across this scene. Have to admit I really like this shot: the colours, the tones, the low-lying mist in the distance, all lend to sense of peace…but maybe that’s influenced by actually having been there:
After that weekend the weather just turned hot and sultry. In an effort to get out of the mental heat-lag, I tried a technique I’d seen a video of, called ICM, or intentional camera movement. In this case, the camera is twisted as the shutter is pressed. I actually kind of like the results, kind of fresh and “arty”, and it was enough to get me going again:
The next weekend I drove northwest into our “Interlake” area, between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba, and found a gorgeous gravel road running through farmland and some expansive wetlands. In the farmland was a small tractor with a rake-trailer attached. It was very much the wrong time of day to take this photo, but I loved the patterns. If I come across this again I hope to be able to better separate the background from the rakes:
The wetlands were filled with birds, but most were too far away, these pelicans came closest:
I’ll be back to explore that region more. Next weekend I went back to Birds Hill (failing my rule of following my gut) and the sky was roiling above me:
Soon it threatened to rain, and the mosquitoes were becoming an irritant, so I fled back to my car and decided to try and chase the storm cells, following random side roads as best as I could (thus un-failing my gut rule…). This turned out to be extremely rewarding, here are a couple of initial shots:
Okay, so I found that tree, and decided to stick with it, so you’ll see it a lot in the next few shots. It was the only thing on the horizon with an appealing shape of its own, and separated enough from the rest of the scene to make a nice subject. They say you should “work the shot”, and I worked that scene every which way with all lenses and camera orientations I could think of. The sky was in constant change, the clouds growing and fading and changing colour constantly. I had a good vantage point on a train track, so that helped separate the foreground from the background. Occasionally I got soaked from a quick squall, or had to move for frequent trains, but it all added to the fun.
In addition I tried to break a few rules of composition. Everybody says they’re more like guidelines than rules, but I can’t say I know yet when I should break them or stick with them, so I played around with it. Jury’s out on which are more successful. Anyway, feel free to skim if that tree bores you :)
Pretty standard rule of thirds-ish…
Similar, but moved over to put the grain elevator behind…
What the heck, let’s see what B&W is like…
Horizon way low…breaks rules, but gives the sky total dominance, which is how the scene felt…
It was raining, so the scene looks “soft”. The rule of composition here is diagonals…
A train came by, so I had to move, and I thought to try and take a long exposure and see if the tree was still visible, exposed by the gap between the freight cars. It’s a bit weird, and would be better if I could have gotten higher, but still, it was fun to try:
We’ll end the storm day with a couple of non-”that damn tree” shots:
Train tracks make a great convergence lines, especially parallel tracks:
Another train coming…
The month ended with a quick 3 day canoe trip with my son. It was a lot of fun and a great trip. I didn’t bring a tripod though (too much weight) so my good shots were limited because of movement:
We were also treated to a fantastic sunset, which lit up the high clouds with an amazing pink which nicely complemented the pink in the granite:
That’s it for storm chasin’ this month. In a couple of weeks I’ll be driving over Lake Superior to Montreal and back as I help my daughter move. The nest is emptying, which is a weird feeling, but I’m terrifically proud of my kids and what they are doing.
Cheers!
