And once more, the palette changes... the yellows, golds, and earthy browns of fall have vanished beneath the first layer of winter white... as they must. When I saw the snow coming down shortly before midnight, I quickly threw on my winter clothes, grabbed my tripod and a single lens, and went for a walkabout. So different!
I made this shot outside the Seniors Centre on Railway Avenue. Clean fresh snow. Sleeping village in the background. I hoped no one was awake, watching, perhaps thinking I was creepy. I'm not even slightly creepy. Just chasing the light, trying for a different look.
From a 1970 song:
"Now you know what they say about snowflakes
How there ain't no two the same
Well all them flakes look alike to me
Every one is a dirty shame
My ears are cold, my feet are cold
Bermuda stays on my mind
And I'm here to say that if winter comes
Spring is way behind"
- Jesse Winchester, "Snow"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EEnfFe9qn0&list=PLB0A8CF23C4...
More to come. Of course there's more.
Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: snow night square sidewalk bench village seniors centre prairie first snow Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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Meet Panda (foreground) and Prince (background). They belong to my friends Maurice and Pat, and always welcome a visit when I drop by.
They are used to being photographed, of course, and are not afraid of my camera. I'm grateful to have friends, and doubly grateful to have friends with horses. I read somewhere that horses can recognize several distinct human facial expressions - how cool is that?
In winter, a lot of light bounces up from snow on the ground, softening shadows that in summer would be very black, resulting in a contrasty image. Winter on the northern prairie comes with its challenges, but I do like the light.
On this particular day I was testing a new lens, Tamron's 24-70mm f/2.8 - which so far I love. I read all the test reports, which rated it as good as or better than the equivalent Nikon, and significantly cheaper. Build quality is surprisingly good. Handling is smooth. This replaces the mediocre Nikon 24-85 that was even cheaper, and didn't perform well in some situations.
Photographed one pasture south of Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: horse Gypsy Vanner animal livestock pet friendly winter light square snow not cold prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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An abandoned house sits in profound silence as an early winter snowfall swirls down from the featureless sky. A gravel road runs past the property. It is a couple miles to a wider, better-maintained gravel road, and many more miles to the nearest village and supply centre.
Imagine living here in the 1930s. I can't.
The people who settled here were tough, but that didn't matter to the forces of nature and society. In the Great Depression, a lot of farms failed; a lot of good people lost their homes. They are mostly forgotten now. Sometimes it seems to me there is a deep sadness embedded in these fields and disintegrating structures.
Photographed at Rosefield, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: abandoned house farm house winter snow snowfall snowy snowing square minimalism white empty sky space prairie Rosefield Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 4tografie
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As December arrived, and a snowfall swept across the prairie to remind us that winter was just getting underway, I stopped here to photograph my favourite old car. Or wreck. Anyone who has been following this photostream for a while knows how much I love this derelict 1939 Pontiac. I know some people look at it and see junk, but I see art.
Special thanks to my friend Sandra Herber, who via her extraordinary work rekindled my interest in square format. My very first camera, going back to 1960 (when I was 12), shot square negatives. Seeing the potential to compose square again - after many years of shooting standard rectangular 35mm - added a new (and old) dimension to my photo options.
I took Sandra to this very spot during her visit last spring, but unfortunately the sun was shining and gentle breezes wafted across the awakening prairie landscape. It was sweet. But - for some subject matter - we both prefer something a little more minimalist. Stark, even. She would have loved the look of it this day. I certainly did. And yeah, my fingers were burning from the cold when I finally returned to my car to head home.
Photographed at Rosefield, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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"Dark and stormy" doesn't tell the story. Shooting the tail end of sunset while a massive storm moved in, I drove to four different locations, of which this was the last. By then the storm had overtaken me. The lightning strikes were farther away, and big raindrops were beginning to spatter my windshield. I had no idea that in a few minutes I would be creeping home along the rural two-lane highway, barely able to see beyond my car's hood through the sheets of rain.
I managed only two shots from this spot before the skies opened up. This wasn't the image I was hoping for, but it's chock-full of atmosphere - literally and figuratively.
This marks the start of a short set of square images. Sometimes square is the best choice. I don't always know that in the field, and so I always shoot full frame horizontal or vertical, but often I am envisioning a square crop. Truthfully, though, that wasn't the case here. I could barely see to frame my shot; I have processed it much, much lighter than it appeared in real life.
Tech data: 24mm manual focus lens (from 1981), tripod set up inside car, cable release, f/8 or thereabouts, shutter on "B". Focus, if possible, open the shutter, wait for a lightning strike. Give up.
Photographed off Hwy 18, near the turnoff to Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
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