Chasing Tech or integration with analogue?

Good Friday from Prospect.

I want to start this post by saying one thing. I am and always will be a student of photography.

With that said I choose what I post as a statement that is always IMHO but built of the facts and experiences I compile.

Set-up for the shoot. I'm shooting Ilford PanF50. Gotta get it quick with those rain clouds looming.
Canon 580IIx through 36 inch umbrella as main light

So, todays piece. Allot has been said about the death of film and the wonders of digital photography. Without the maturity of digital photography I would not be where I am today in my craft. The cost associated with photography has always been high but until recently you needed a ton of money to move forward. You still need cash just some of it is far more affordable. Good glass and cameras come at a cost and if you aren't wealthy or a busy full time photographer it seems, at times, unjustifiable to invest that much money.

But with the growth of digital photography and the price reductions, due to that popularity, practically everyone can have decent gear. Especially with the resurgence of the range finder design of cameras (mirror-less they call it) . That's what a range finder always was, it has no mirror. ( A mirror is used in a SLR to reflect the image in the lens through a viewfinder. A range finder has  it's viewfinder separate from the lens plane so you don't see exactly what the camera will capture.)

What I want to point out is with all the available gear, we've found ourselves chasing the latest and greatest.  Which IMHO has pushed photographers into tech geeks and pixel pushers.

Mind you I love chasing tech. I am a geek when it comes to electronic toys and I can't get enough info about them. Doesn't mean I want what I see, I just appreciate the technologies themselves. 

Using a digital camera as the polaroid
to test exposure and comp (Canon G1x set to 6x6 format)
Manually set with hand held meter
(BW conversion with Silver FX 2 as Ilford PanF50)

(Side note: did you know that medicine is exploring the use of our new sensor technologies to correct many effects of macular degeneration. Yup, they are experimenting with transplant surgery to replace/enhance the human retina with the sensor technologies we use to capture images with our cameras…cool!)

Today, everyone needs that next new toy to be a great artist. Yes, great gear makes life easier and in many ways allows us to explore more creative avenues. But, and here it is, I believe it has watered down the true expression that is photography. Images express stories not pixels and sensors. I do believe the megapixel race is over. The sensor itself, how it processes the images we capture, has a bit more to go. But that's all about fine tuning. A 35mm DSLR at 12MP is more than enough for the average photographer. 21+MP is plenty for a professional full frame DSLR. Now don't get me wrong, higher MPs are great for HUGE reproductions, but as a whole we don't need them to resolve DMax and fidelity (larger sensors do that). Available B&W sensors don't need to deal with moire along with the new crop of Fuji sensors with the new pixel arrangements that eliminate pattern caused moiré. Funny, just like the ability of film. BTW, offset printing resolved the same patterning/moiré issues with line screens many years ago with the use of stochastic screening (random patterning of variable sized dots to generate a printed image) similar to Fuji's solution.

The photography industry has found a way to get us in this chase. Prior to digital photography you found a great camera that shot film. You saved for that great glass and used it until you wore it out. When you wanted the advantage of a new sensor, you switched out one film for another. And although the resolution was the same through the lens you picked a different ISO film for both sensitivity, grain size as well as colour balance (manipulated with on lens filters and tweaked in the darkroom). In case you don't see it, that drove the manufactures crazy. How could they sell you more stuff if that stuff just lasted? The only money making part was the consumable end…chemistry and film.

I am going to take a step forward and offer an opinion here. Film is not dead but in fact is the next great MEGA PIXEL sensor. Oh wait, it always was. I guess that's a step backward? I'm confused.

Here it is. All forms of photographic media can express the story telling I mentioned. If you've read any of my recent posts you'll already know that I've gone back to film. Not tossed out digital, but reintroduced film into my work flow. I feel that the love of photography for me has always been about the taking of images and telling my story with those pics.

The camera, for me, is my inspiration. The process of picking it up, studying my surroundings, observing the light, thinking of the subject matter and expressing the story with my camera in hand. It seems to make me a part of the moment. The act of taking the picture is just as important as processing and viewing the image I was after. Having that result appear before me only completes the experience. Hell, lets be honest, I just dig the sound of mirror slap and shutter action.

I guess my point is this. Stop chasing gear and bashing other mediums you don't use, I drive myself crazy when I chase new stuff. Just find what inspires you. That thing that drove you to a camera in the first place. Get your hands on that and go capture those stories.

Remember whats new is old and whats old is new. It's all good.

Thanks and enjoy, Derek

Accurate Metering for the right exposure.

Good Thursday from Prospect.

Today I want to extend a bit I touched on two posts ago. I'm referring to using an exterior meter to gain correct exposure.

You can see here what the correct exposure should be here.
All shots, except this one were shot with Canon EOS 5D mk1
with a Sigma 50mm f1.4 (best 50mm ever)

As I hinted, rather openly, incident light meters are the only way to accurately measure the light hitting your subject. Reflective meters, which reside inside todays cameras,  measure the light that has bounced back from your subject and assumes the brightest area is 18% grey. This is just the way these meters are engineered. Don't ask me why.

What then happens it compensates for that and setting that to white and usually over exposes the shot making it look like midday bright. When in fact the shot was taken late afternoon and overcast. The result may look pleasing but it's wrong.

So let me show you the difference between reflective meter readings and incident readings and their results. I have included a shot of my Sekonic L-398 studio meter with the resulting reading.

The camera gave me a reading of 2 stops brighter. I set the aperture and ISO in cement so the only change would be shutter speed. Film rules here.

Now my habit has always been to over expose by 1/2 to 1 stop for reversal film (I said usually, it goes back to film days when you couldn't chimp the shot and had to rely on your experience to get it right).

The shot of the meter shows my reading 20 feet away from the scene but is reading the available light reaching the subject.

Accurately exposed based on the environment
and time of day

You'll notice at ISO 50 we should be set at 1/3 stop open from 5.6 and 1/500th. The reflective meter gave me a setting of 1/125th for shutter.

Quick note here I've deliberately cemented the ISO at 50 to demonstrate the changes on a level playing field. ISO 50 is the slowest sensitivity I have ever shot film. As well my Hasselblad only has a max shutter speed of 1/500th which dictates I use slow film to stay inside the limitations of that shutter for outdoors. (It's great in the studio since, being a leaf shutter it syncs at all speeds).

The point here is, you may think the reflective meter shot seems okay but it's over exposed in relation to the true lighting of the scene. That shot left our grey in the foreground completely blown while the sekonic gave us a better balanced exposure we can use.

If you think this just isn't so then here's a challenge for you. Turn off your preview, stop chimpping, and just set your exposures manually by the built in meter in your camera and check them after you have shot all day. If you aren't upset with the results then let me know. Heck, even if you're unhappy with the days results let me know that too.

May look right but way too bright
for the time of day and lighting conditions.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Note: all the shots are as shot in camera as RAW, opened in photoshop camera raw, tags added and saved for web at 1920 px, long edge.

I hope this helps you make better shots. Enjoy, Derek

Aperture at f5.6,
underexposed but still usable.
It's easier to lighten the shadows then
recover blown high lights.

Letting Your Work Breath

Good Monday from Prospect.

My favourite of the set. Processed through Nik Silver Efex.

This one comes out of a long and frustrating winter for me. I'm not a fan of winter shooting so I tend to shoot indoors and spend time going back over the years work.

I also take the time to update myself on new gear and software. Honing the skill set is always a good thing.

What I want to address is all those images we keep that don't make our first cuts. 

As all photographers know we hold onto, no, protect, every image we ever shoot, unless of course they are pure black or white.

It's not that they totally suck but are rather just over looked in comparison to what we had in mind when shooting. Sometimes we just over look a few gems.

There is a value in allowing your work breath. Taking a moment to go back and search for those images you may have passed over.

For instance here's one that, although I thought was okay but not great, turned out to be a wonderful image. When I went back to the RAW files, yup the Raw ones, I realized how good and interesting it is.

If this had been just a jpeg and fully processed I never would have had the opportunity to reprocess and bring out what truly makes it good.

This is the original (as shot). (ISO 100, f6.7, 1/180sec at 35mm)

I thought it was okay but I was more interested in everything else

I shot that day to put it up front

I regularly shoot RAW + JPEG. The Jpeg allows me to quickly and effectively meet short deliveries (especially when I need an image for social sharing) or to discuss the final goal with my client. I can even set my jpeg small enough to email, right out of the box, then go to the RAW and process for high res delivery. Yes this may take a bit more space but compared to duplicating files for back-up it's minimal.

Learned my lesson in 2010 following the New7Wonders of Nature campaign, for the Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership, advisory week events. Fortunately we made wifi stops on the road so I could process in the car until we arrived at an access point. But now I can shoot the jpeg, upload it to my ipad, attach a description and email from anywhere I have 3G. 

Slight HDR processing makes this a great colour shot,
but I think the B&W is best. Comment and tell me your choice.

Wish I had that when we were covering the event. To meet the on road demand I had to quickly update my laptop so I had enough power to process on the road and connect to the hotspots. I had a G4 Powerbook that just wasn't up to the task and ended up buying the last MacBook Pro available in Halifax and prep it over night to hit the road the next day (one of those last minute things).

I know it seems a bit much but you have to be prepared to meet the clients requests. Fortunately I was prepared for an upgrade, just not that one. I had just added an iMac (planned to process the images when I got back not on the road) and wanted to hold off on the laptop upgrade until I figured out what would fit best. Don't get me wrong, this macbook is great, just a little over kill. A mac air would have done as great a job beefed up to my needs and smaller to carry. Oh well, next one.

Any way, to get back on topic, here's what the original looked like. Not a wonder but has potential. I recently opened this up in Nik Silver Efex Pro and did a BW conversion. I don't know if you agree with me but what a difference. Diamond in the rough for sure.

So let your work breath. Go back over them during times of the year you're not shooting, like the dead of winter, and don't be afraid to experiment. Above all shhot those in RAW and you'll find you have a lot more to work with than you thought you did.

Enjoy, Derek

Calibrate Your Gear

Good Saturday from Prospect.

Today I'm going a little geeky. I'd like to share a little calibration exercise every photographer should do wether you are shooting film or digital. It's about knowing your gear.

A fitting layout for these guys. Remember them?

Recently I decided to put film back into my work flow, if for no other reason than self gratification.

Film has and always will have it's place. I'm not getting into all the reasons here in this post. It's been argued to death and this is purely a personal decision on my part to increase the quality of my work and make me a better photographer and designer.

To quote Zack Arias, I just want to suck-less every day.

Shooting film is about taking your time not shooting away and hoping you get a good shot. I will be the first to admit I fell into that digital trap early on and learned my lesson quickly. The trick to getting your work right starts with knowing your gear and planning your out comes.

The exercise before you is about aperture, shutter speed and multiple lenses in your kit, no matter what you shoot with.

Fortunately I have some great glass but every piece can have it's own little nuances that change the resulting final image. It's important to know what that is.

Here I'm setting up some interesting subjects in studio (a controlled environment) to judge those variances.

By taking the time to set-up (including using a proper light meter) a test environment like this we can judge on a common ground (good basis so to speak). 

I use Sekonic 398 and 358s depending if I'm inside or out. Although we have built in meters I have never truly trusted reflective variation in camera. I don't care what light is bouncing off a subject, I want to know what is lighting my subject. Incident meters do that. In camera meters don't, never have and never will.

Shot of my set-up

Anyway, as I said, I need to know what my gear does so I simply set-up and shoot adjusting aperture and shutter to simply see what the camera does compared to what my meters say. Then process the film and compare with the results I have for my digital gear. I've done this before with my digital gear but it was time to do it again, with everything.

My basic set-up was with two strobes. Main at 1/4 power (what you set your camera to) and the second at 1/8 power for fill (one stop difference f8 for main and f5.6 for fill). I usually shoot this way in studio or on location depending on the goal. Sometimes two umbrellas, sometimes, as you can see here, a softbox and an umbrella. Sometimes I go just for the one light (undetermined modifier) with an open strobe on the seamless to blow it out (one stop brighter).

The set-up is something that always changes and grows depending on the desired result. This one is my basic 45s so I know what it does.

This set-up let me start at my ISO, which is 100 (using Provia F100 in the Hassy and Velvia in the EOS 1V 35mm), sync at 1/200th and fstop at 8.0 shooting 1/3 increments to determine which suits my taste and accuracy on exposure. I chose 1/200 to kill the ambient and it's the fastest my Canon will sync, the Hassy goes to 1/500th but I want them as close as possible.

I've posted the digital resulting image, tweaked , to show what I've used to set the calibration, and a shot of my set-up in this post. I slowed my sync/shutter speed down to show you the overall set-up. 

Note: the test image contains all of what I want to test. Bright whites, deep blacks, shin tone, wood tone with grain, my calibration fan and background texture with primaries. I'll get everything from exposure, depth of field to detail and colour accuracy from this set-up. I don't need to pixel peep this to death, just understand the basic differences between my gear so I can compensate for it on set.

Another view with the shutter speed slowed down to let the ambient light in to show the set-up a bit better

You can make up what ever interests you just include the basics of what you shoot day to day.

Once I get the processed film back and can scan them I'll share those results.

Next post is about Letting your work breath (on Tuesday).

Enjoy. Derek

Halifax Public Gardens visit

Good Wednesday from Prospect.

At the front gates. Corner Spring Garden and South Park

This is the live band Gazebo in the centre of the park.
Live music is usually held on the weekends.

Last year you may recall, if you've been keeping up with this blog, I posted a piece on the Rock Camp here in Halifax

One of the many statues and floral arrangements you'll find in the Park

[LINK to previous post].

Well what I didn't mention is that we arrived a little early and went for a stroll through the Halifax Public Gardens. This is a space dedicated by the city as a Victorian era garden green space in the heart of the Halifax peninsula. It was founded in 1867 the year of Canadian Confederation and has been designated a National Historic site.

With the onslaught of Hurricane Juan in September 2003 it was all but completely decimated. But with the strength and determination, that the people of Halifax are known for, the Gardens once again blossom in the heart of this fair city.

Unfortunately the day was a wet one and just finished up a July shower when we arrived so the grounds were wet and still over cast. Colours were muted and a bit dark, not the best lighting for a garden shoot, hence the black & whites. 

Note: my favourite medium has always been b&w. 

As a favourite of tourists and newly wed couples on their wedding day, I can just imagine how many photos have been shot in this park over the last 146 years.

If you ever stop by Halifax take the time to stroll through these beautiful gardens. Here's hoping for good weather when you visit.

Enjoy, Derek

Boat Show is HERE and an old pic to start the season off!

Good Friday from Prospect.

Me at the helm in Lake Louise 1963

The boat show has finally arrived here in Halifax. It rings in the short time we have to wait until we are back on the water. It also reminds us of the chores we have ahead of us before that can happen, including the Honey-do lists. Ouch.

I hope to see allot of friends at the show and some great deals. Look out, here I come. Wish the photo vendors here in Halifax would put on something like this. Now that I would go to.

Kodak Bullet

BTW, just incase you thought I was pulling your leg about how long I've had the boating bug. That's me in 1963, first time at the helm. Go cat go!

Kodak Hawkeye with flash

This would have been taken by my Mother with her Kodak Brownie, like one of the two pics at the bottom. I have a Hawkeye (pictured with a flash attached) here but I think that's my wife's. Still trying to track down my Mom's Bullet with flash. She thought she gave it to me along with here 8mm but as I discovered after she passed away that my Dad had stashed the 8mm so the bullet is still missing. I'll find it.

Hope to see you at the show, enjoy Derek

From the Past

Good Monday from Prospect. 

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been struggling with what I want to add to the blog. I keep coming up with stupid rants. Thinking they may be interesting but all I get out of them is negative so I drop them. It's a winter thing for me. 

Well here's some positive I can share and build on.

I was rummaging through my old negatives and came across this gem. I have to apologize for my scanner. The HP scanner I have sucks at transparency scanning. It's okay for prints, but that's about it.  But Now I can't wait to get a good scan of this and make a good print.

Ambrose as an aspiring young designer and musician

The time, 1979 or 1980. The subject, Ambrose Pottie. We were class mates at NSCAD back then and shared a love of Design, Photography and Music. Our hang group consisted of Jerry (Ambrose) Jim Mantle, Elaine Frampton and myself.

I'm not sure what project this is connected to but it really doesn't matter. It is however, one of my first "one light" shots (with some available to fill the background and side). Crude but effective desk lamp. Incandescent overhead with daylight to the right and back. Well, since it is black and white who cares about colour temp right?

This would have been shot with a Yashica, medium format, TLR (two lens reflex) on KODAK PLUS-X Pan 6057 b&w negative film.

I would have shot with something like this (photo courtesy wikipedia) 

I'll post the good version once I find a decent scanning source. Wish I had found this in one of my previous lives.

Enjoy, Derek

So where have I been lately

Good Tuesday from Prospect.

7:00 AM in Prospect. The fog doing it's down the river dance.

The geometry is beautiful

Now this is a September morning

Okay so here's the thing. Been a little busy working again. It's that eating thing I can't shake.

I haven't posted since August and I said I'd stay on it. I certainly have been thinking about it and I've been nagged to get it moving let me tell you.

On top of that, working on private projects automatically invokes an unspoken non-disclosure. At least until the project is done.

So, while I'm waiting to be able to share what I've been up to with you I'll fire in some photos from Prospect Bay.

I love the geometry of our little bay here in Nova Scotia along with the ever changing weather conditions.

Couldn't resist throwing this one in from August
What can I say, I love em

This summer has been amazing. Wonderful weather and lots of photo ops. Even the fog has been entertaining and co-operative.

Hopefully I'll be sharing some cool stuff shortly. It's all about clearance on ongoing projects.

Well I hope you enjoy these.

Derek

More Sky

Good Thursday from Prospect. 

In case you haven't noticed, I have a small fixation on cloud formations. 

Looking Northeast from Prospec

They tell us so much about our planet and without them, well, no rain. They also help cool us and protect us from the sun.

Here are a couple I found fascinating this evening and thought I would share. Yes I fiddled a bit.

Looking Straight up

Enjoy, Derek.

After the Storm continued OR Timing, timing, timing!

May 11 Teaser

Good Friday from Prospect. Hey, got another chance at prospect. Not sure if this shoot will top the last one. I'll just have to go through them and see.

In the meantime, here are some teasers. 

The one thing about shooting these is "TIMING". The fog started to lift, at 11:00 am, so I grabbed my gear (always packed to run), got in the car and flew to the village, It's about 4 miles (6.5k) from my house and that may give me enough time to catch the light and clearing.

You see, one thing you need to be aware of about eastern coastal landscape photography, you may get 15 or even 20 minutes for the shot (just like sunset and sunrise). If you're not there you don't get the pic.

13 minutes later

I arrived at 11:22am this morning. Grabbed my camera and through lens one on (50mm f1.4). Set the filter, placed it on the monopod, (no time for tripods today), got to my favourite knoll and started shooting. Between 11:22 and 11:35 the available shooting view went from great to socked in. See the teasers I posted. I did get through two lens changes to grab everything I could.

Note, I left my house at 11:19 where it was just clearing. By the time I got back to my place (11:48) the fog had already moved inland 4 miles.

By the time I got back home

The point here is simple. Landscape photography takes patience and timing. You can either sit and wait or be prepared to run to the spot to get that pic. For these I could: A: Sit and wait for the midday sun to burn enough off to get that shot. B: Move there and set up a permanent tripod or C: Just be aware of when the change will occur and run when it's ready.

But ultimately, the successful photographer is the one that's there.

Have a great weekend.

Enjoy, Derek.

Shooting Architecture

National Library, Ottawa, Canada

f11  1/20  ISO100  27mm

Good Monday from Prospect.

National Library, Ottawa

f13  1/60  ISO 100  94mm

Okay so here's the thing. Been a little busy working for the last few days. We all need to put bread on the table right?

Well Friday afternoon found me in Truro NS. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do a photo walk but did get a quick chance to scout it out. Now I know Mahone Bay is known for it's three churches, but wow, Truro has what must be the highest concentration of church architecture of anywhere in the Nova Scotia at least.

I quickly counted at least 6 in a 2 block radius. I'm not sure of the denominations but it seemed pretty diverse to me, at first glance anyway. I plan to make at least one trip to solely walk the area and shoot the architecture.

2007 Rib Fest, Ottawa

f4.5 1/30 ISO 200 at 36mm

But in the meantime, maybe that can lead into a topic. What glass to use when shooting those churches?

Hmm, I could use an ultra wide to grab more up close detail or maybe a good middle prime and focus on the details. Hey what about a fisheye? 180 degrees can be pretty cool if it's composed right.

Hmm, maybe I could get some comments on this one from some of you out there. Maybe votes?

Woodlawn Library, Dartmouth NS

f5.6 1/45 ISO 400 at 18mm

1 - 16-35mm or 24mm ultra wide

2 - 50 or 85mm prime for some detail work

3 - 135 0r 200 for even closer work

4 - fisheye like a 15mm (180 degrees of stuff packed into the frame)

Maybe the fisheye could be the discussion.

If you've never shot with a fisheye lens then you should watch 
Gene Ho on BandH's YouTube page: LINK.

f5.6 1/60 ISO 100 at 15mm

The Art of the fisheye. His is a wedding photographer and is almost covert in his approach and technique. Almost fits into the street photography with a G1X story (which by the way uses a 15.1 - 60mm f2.8 - 5.8 piece of glass). Sorry, I had to stick that in. I was going to go on about that camera again, but I realized, who wants to hear about that.

Anyway, the only problem with fisheyes are you need to get UP CLOSE as in Macro distance, like this beetle. I was probably only 6 inches from the fender. Bridge only gives me "close view" for the distance. That gets a little tough if you want to be covert.

Anyway, hope I left you with some food for thought today. What would you pick?

Not sure where I want to go tomorrow, I'll figure that out then.




So, till tomorrow remember, the successful photographer is the one that's there. So go take some pics. Enjoy, Derek

Parliment Hill, Ottawa, Canada  f5.6  1/180  ISO 100 27mm

Note: This is what to avoid when shooting with ultra wides. Notice how the light pole looks like it's falling over?  Oops.

In Anticipation of an After Storm Shoot

Good Monday from Prospect. Okay, so I was psyched to shoot Prospect after the storm on Saturday. Unfortunately as any photographer knows, if you are shooting the great outdoors you are at mother natures mercy. 

Stormy Clouds overhead 5D markII  f11, 1/15, ISO 50

Well Saturday's weather was no exception. Wind blew alright, straight out of the North West and brought with it solid cloud cover and chilly temps. Not much coming with that sky, just white and grey and not much contrast either.

5D mark II f11, 1/30, ISO 50

But, since I was in anticipation I had shot a few cloud backgrounds for my stock the evening before. The light was great with the cloud cover trying to break with the 35 knot breezes from the south east. Wonder where these will end up. Maybe on their own.

Anyway, as time will have it, that opportunity will present itself again and who knows what I'll find once again on the Great East Coast of Canada.

Tomorrow I may put my 2 cents worth in on where photographic technology may be headed.

Until then, Enjoy, Derek.

And the WINNER is!

Part 2 of todays shoot. You saw the out of camera originals, now here are the final shots I was looking for the day. Which is your favourite?

Click on the LINK to see it LARGER. Check out the ducks flying in on the right.

Hope you like them. Derek

A Village between storms

Prospect NS 5D MK II, Canon 70-200f2.8 -  f11, 1/50, ISO 50

Good Wednesday from Prospect. Today I thought I'd share the mix of weather here.

I planned to sneak down to Prospect Village in the morning between two weather systems we are experiencing here.

The day started completely enveloped in fog. Could barely see the end of the yard.

Around 9:30a the fog rolled back with clear sky's at the studio.  I happened to be on the deck with coffee in hand and could hear the roar of the surf 4 miles away. It's quite common after a big windy storm. That got me itching to head down to the village to see what it was looking like.

So off I trekked with gear stowed in the back of the car for the 4 mile trip. The scene didn't disappoint in the least. From the top of the hill looking into Prospect village you could see how far the fog had rolled back to reveal the tranquillity of a 258 year old Irish Catholic fishing village. Founded after Halifax in 1754 by the British, used as a fishing stop over and safe anchorage since before 1612 by the French, and inhabited by the local native Mi'kmaq* for longer than we know. 

Anyway, as you can see I had to get to work on the scene since I didn't know how long the weather would hold. The day presented me with good overcast sky for lighting. Since I was breaking rule one, morning and evening light for landscape, I thought I could use the next best thing in over cast conditions.

5D MK II, Canon 70-200f2.8 -  f5.0, 1/320, ISO 50

5D MK II, Canon 16-35 f2.8
f2.8, 1/500, ISO 50

The sound I heard was definitely the surf just outside the village but I'd have to leave those shots for another time. With the fog position it kept the surf in a haze so I'd do more of those some other time. Trust me, lots of opportunities here to get shots of surf and breakers on the shore.

As well, I only came prepared to shoot what I could get close to by car (short waking distances anyway). I've ordered a new sling bag to let me trek off to get closer to that stuff but it hasn't arrived yet. I'll show you that when I get it. All my gear was still in the pelican case for now.

Here are a few shots of the morning. I mean I couldn't come back empty now could I.

BTW, by the time I post this it should be raining again with the fog back in.

Enjoy and we'll see you tomorrow. Derek

The full scene taken from the cemetery when I arrived. 5D MK II, Sigma 50 f 1.4 -  f11, 1/50, ISO 50 

*Note: There are still references to the reserve in the mid 1950s on government maps. As a matter of fact there is an ancient Mi'kmaq burial site just north of my studio. If you're interested in finding out more about Prospect you can go HERE.