Manitoba Prairies

Off-Kilter

Sometimes when I feel off-kilter my images will show it. Though there is a strong structure in this shot, the ground feels like it is shifting, moving.

The moon's presence reminds me that though things seem chaotic, busy, crazy even, there is Someone much bigger who hasn't lost control, who is not off-kilter no matter what.

When I can see that by training my eye to look for it, then I can begin to see beauty in scenes like this while in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.

I took this image in a moving vehicle, which is why the foreground shows blur and movement. Making sure to focus on the poles and wires while essentially panning my camera by way of movement in my vehicle, I was able to keep the rest of the scene in acceptable focus.

I shot at a faster speed of 1/500 and used a greater depth of field at f/11.

Once on my computer, it is obvious that I played with layers in processing, adding texture and a little chaos to the feeling of this shot. This also deepened the colours and brought out the moon.

Summer Stacked...

...and ready to be stowed.

Rural Storage

Autumn's Canvas

Winnipeg's skies and fields are painted by Autumn.

I shot at f/5 and 1/640 with a focal length of 190. Once in Lightroom I used a preset but then increased contrast in the buildings and changed the hue of the golds from there.

Presets can be a great starting point. When I use them I'll continue to play and tweak until the image looks as it does in my mind.

Showing Heat

Yesterday it was a blazing hot thirty four degrees celsius on the prairies! By 9:00 in the evening the temperature was still high as we drove over the dusty roads. We pulled over as the sun briefly found its way behind a tree. The sun's flare and evening's haze were brilliant alongside this weathered home and tree's lattice.

Sometimes it is difficult to show temperature in an image but it wasn't yesterday. The haze and flare both lent themselves beautifully to speak of the heat. Making sure that the sun wasn't 'full on' was important. The tree's leaves gave just enough of a filter without shielding too much of the light.

For the Beauty of the Earth

My  God

For the beauty of the Earth
For the glory of the skies...

Thank you.

Italicized by Folliott S. Pierpoint

Golden Sea

Like a golden sea, the fields rolled and swelled. Not static but moving, surely moving...I could see it...I could feel it. The clouds, also moving,  cast their shadows, burnishing the gold as they passed over.

Autumn's Dance

The prairie winds are blowing through the fields today, clearing the way for winter I imagine. Each season has its own charm to be sure. Autumn dances between summertime temperatures and winter's chill but the colours of autumn are hers alone.

In this image, colour is not what speaks about the season. Rather the wind, the dry grasses and wheat along with the few bullrushes reveal summer's leave and winter's coming.

Me? I'm going to stay in autumn for now. Winter will have her day.

The Space Between

Looking at the cityscape, I saw a space between land and clouds where the corporate offices sat, but also between urban and urban. In between my residential neighborhood, where I stood to get this shot,  and the downtown highrises was this rural patch of land, a farmer's field.

I like looking for these types of exceptions to the landscape. What is unique? What makes this interesting? How does this present in the viewfinder? All of these questions that run through my mind help me with composition.

Autumn in Black and White

Autumn is such a beautiful time of the year. The sights and sounds are its own, not shared with another season.

Though we tend to immediately think in reds and yellows, autumn is not always captured in colour. Sometimes the crispness of the dried grasses is better shown in black and white. Though void of colour, these two images still successfully convey the fact that the growing season has gone and the transition between summer and winter has come.

 

To Discover

The world is hers to discover. There is much to learn, even here, especially here, where now visits.

Amber Fields

Driving through the prairies, the flat land eventually gave way to rolling hills. Rising up to greet the sky, the amber fields shone and sparkled beneath summer's sky. The fence rode the hilltops, going on as far as my eyes could see.  The fields and sky echoed the notion of an endless summer day.

Spotlight - Field of Diamonds

They attached themselves to the blades of dried grass. Everywhere I looked they sparkled with brilliance.   Winter had done a number on the berries but it left something else behind, something beautiful. All around was dead grass, barren trees, winter's remains but on closer inspection, each weathered blade bore an incredible beauty, a beauty that wasn't there before. Winter left behind a field of diamonds.

Spotlight - It's a Nice Day for a Walk on Water

Spotlight - Summer on the Prairies

I've been going through my archives and have pulled out some shots to share with you. These last few Spotlight pictures I've posted say summer. They are not recent photos but somehow immediately allow me back to experience the scene with all of my senses, not sight alone. I feel the hot summer sun on my face. My nose twitches as I smell the clover in the fields. I hear the loon's call over the still water and even taste the salt air of the sea.

Though not my best work, these images engage me in ways some of my other work cannot.

Summer on the Prairies

Prairie Offering

Prairie Offering

Fenced In

Fenced In

Abide

Abide

Prairie's Tide

Prairie's Tide