Steep Rock

Beautiful Steep Rock, Manitoba

On the eastern shores of Lake Manitoba.

Beach

Raindrop or Gemstone?

Wet

Bubbles are the Best

I was working at my computer when the bubbles in my eyeglass cleaning solution caught my eye. I picked up the bottle and played. It was really mesmerizing watching the bubbles change and form with movement.

It didn't take me long to grab my camera and replace my lens with my 60 mm prime and begin shooting. Once on my computer, I played with a couple of presets in Lightroom and then did my own tweaks with the sharpenss and clarity.

I shot at a speed of 1/400 with an aperture of f/2.8.

Stained Glass Ripples

Reflections Ripple

Reflections do ripple; they are not always so clear.

Sun Paints Chicago

Water's Faces

Shooting water never gets old. As the clouds in the sky move, so too does the water, or at least their reflection in the water. As the wind blows, so too does the water. It is ever changing.

In the above image, I shot with a shutter speed of 1/200 and f/10. I chose a little greater depth of field so I would have satisfactory clarity in the reflection, sky, foreground and background, all.

I don't often like to split a picture in half but here I have done almost that. Maybe not quite, but close. Sometimes it just works better. There are "rules" in photographic design but let's be real, photographers are a creative lot who like to colour outside of the lines!

Because of the movement of the geese and relative brightness in this shot, I used a faster shutter speed - 1/640.

Having the reflection of the trees reach the geese by way of point draws attention to their evening playfulness.

Beach Sights - Beach Sounds

Seeing this shot, I immediately hear beach sounds. I hear the loons and geese, children playing in the sand, laughter from the dock, and splashing as the youthful dive into the lake water. Though I see none of that, it is all here.

In composing this shot, I made sure not to split my image in half. For many shots, equal amounts of foreground and background in an image is boring and divides attention enough to lose attention.

Choosing more beach to balance the dominating red posts and less lake to accompany the smaller buoys made for a more interesting image than one where the space is evenly allotted.

I shot with an aperture of f/8, shutter speed of 1/250 and my focal length was 55.

Brereton Lake, Manitoba

After the Storm

A stormy night gives way to morning. Having caressed her face, a raindrop lingers for a moment before dropping to the ground.

The visit to the leaf's surface refreshes. Reaching deep into her soil, it sustains.

I used my 60 mm macro lens to capture this drop. I didn't bother with my tripod. Instead I chose to put my camera on burst-mode. I used a faster shutter speed, hoping at least one of the shots would be sharp. As the wind moved the leaf, the speed of shooting managed to catch a few decent shots.

I'll leave you with one more picture from the same shoot.

Standing Water

Can You Hear the Blue?

Behavior Observed

Cradled in the tulip leaf, these big drops stand in line, neat and orderly. Clustered around them, the baby sprinkles are more scrambled yet remain close. I love how the background echoes the drops' form. Like the youngsters on the leaf, the bokeh is not so orderly and seems to multiply the original shapes with a little chaos.

My macro lens was perfect for drawing close enough to see this most interesting pattern of behavior. Any other lens in my gear bag would not have allowed for this perspective.

Water Falls

Water doesn't just fall straight down. The shortest distance between two points is not its only route.

Sky High

One

Water

I love water. I love being near lakes, rivers, streams and oceans. I love water's changing faces. I love the calm and comforting sound of the gentle lapping at the shore's edge. I love the roar of the ocean waves. I love the rush of water in a river of rapids. I love the trickle over stones and branches in streams.

Water seems to me, a great echo of our own emotions. Sometimes water reveals to me the condition of my heart when I see what I captured on a particular day or during a particular season of life. Sometimes it shows me what I needed.

Here are a couple of shots I took during a chaotic and painful time in my family's life.

Calm Waters

The waters are calm. The sun is warm. The geese relax. No need to call. No need to fly. Floating is all that is required this afternoon.