Natural landscapes: the serene spring dawn
ME AND THE OTTAWA RIVER, PETAWAWA, ONTARIO
Whenever I’m in the eastern part of this Canadian province, I make it a point to visit Petawawa. Two rivers flow through this army town and make for many nature photography opportunities.
I didn’t mind this cloudy sunrise, since the sky was interesting and I could add a splash of red by wearing my Calgary Stampeders hoody.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Urban landscapes: the foggy spring morning
PRINGLE CREEK, WHITBY, ONTARIO
This place, east of Toronto (Canada’s largest city) is always a good place to make pictures, especially before dawn. This scene required a 25-second exposure to capture. Look carefully and you can see the blurred images of Canada geese paddling around.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density filter on the sky
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Wander through my coffeetable photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Natural landscapes: the beautiful spring flow
SHERMAN FALLS,
HAMILTON, ONTARIO
I visited this gorgeous place many years ago and wanted to check it out again, so on a recent wet morning, me and my photography equipment spent a wonderful hour here.
The two steps of the waterfall make for an interesting composition and the surrounding valley is equally picturesque.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density filter
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Wander through my coffeetable photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Wildlife: the birds of spring
BLUEBIRD, ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOOTHILLS SOUTH OF CALGARY, ALBERTA
I rummaged through the archives and discovered this photo, made in 2011, and loved the sharp bird, sort-of sharp fence wire, and wash of warm colours in the soft, subtle background. Bluebirds are common in this western Canadian province and often allow people like me get close enough to make decent photos.
Nikon D90, tripod, 70-300 mm. zoom lens
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Natural landscapes: from the stream to the river
NIAGARA RIVER, ONTARIO
This watercourse looks like a separate creek, but it’s actually an offshoot of the Niagara River, which serves as a border between Canada and the United States.
I stood on a pedestrian bridge and made a long-exposure picture of the offshoot returning to the rest of the river.
I really like all the ripples, made easier to see because of the silky effect of the long exposure.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Urban landscapes: the lights of early morning
HIGHWAY 401 NEAR WHITES ROAD, PICKERING-TORONTO BORDER, ONTARIO
I stood on the Whites Road overpass and made a series of long-exposure pictures before dawn, capturing a highway that’s busy 24-7 in Canada’s largest city (Toronto). Love the light trails that guide you through this scene.
Nikon D90, tripod.
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Wander through my photography book “Special Places: A Landscape Photographer’s Vision of Southern Ontario”: http://bit.ly/yNU06F
Natural landscapes: escaping the spring snow
THE LAST OF WINTER SNOW AT BOWNESS PARK, CALGARY, ALBERTA
Hardened, old snow hanging on along the shores of the Bow River made for some great creative opportunities, especially when rocks like this poked through the the surface.
I like the full-colour picture, but decided to try a version where just the rock is in colour. If you like this view, check out a very different perspective of the same rock, enhanced with a flashlight: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1Of
Nikon D7100, tripod.
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Rural landscapes: the scenic delay of spring
APRIL SNOWFALL NEAR BIG HILL SPRINGS PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA
This beautiful view surprises people as they drive along a fairly ordinary prairie road. On this late-April morning, another surprise–a spring snowfall–created a pretty gorgeous landscape upon which to feast my eyes and camera. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Check out my coffeetable book, “Frank King’s Southern Alberta“: http://bit.ly/1oUzd4A
Urban landscapes: where the train goes
LRT TRACK AND STATION, CALGARY, ALBERTA
In this western Canadian city, the light rapid transit system is called the “C-Train”. This raised section goes through the Sunalta station and I found a very useful high viewpoint to capture it at night. Look carefully and you’ll see the 25-second exposure of a train’s light trail as it travels the track.
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Natural landscapes: the cold April dawn
SPRING SUNRISE, TORONTO, ONTARIO
It was a cold and cloudy daybreak along the shore of Lake Ontario, but I managed to record the few moments of meaningful light in a variety of formats. This viewpoint highlights the still-bare trees on Cherry Beach, east of the city’s downtown.
Nikon D7100, tripod, probably a graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky.
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Rural landscapes: the threatening spring sky
ANCIENT BARN NEAR RAGLAN, ONTARIO
There’s a story behind this picture. I was photographing along the road beside this farm when the owner came out and started berating me, claiming I was working on behalf of someone trying to harass him into selling.
When I finally made it clear I was just there as an enthusiastic amateur appreciating the landscape, his entire demeaner changed and we had a great conversation. He invited me onto his property and even pointed me to a pond in a nearby valley.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
Check out my coffeetable book, “MOMENTS OF LIGHT: Thirty Years of Photography”: http://bit.ly/JTNnMX
Urban landscapes: waiting for the planes
SEAPLANE DOCKS, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
It was pitch-dark when I found this high viewpoint – not the ideal lighting for this subject – so it took a lot of Photoshop processing work to achieve what you’re seeing here. Living on the prairies, it’s downright exotic to think of a city having seaplanes!
Nikon D90, tripod
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Rural landscapes: under the Caribbean sky
OCEAN CAY, BAHAMAS
During our recent Caribbean cruise, we were blessed to have a day on this private island about 100 kilometres east of Florida. I had a chance to wander around with my photography equipment and loved this scene. It just needed a little work, because there were almost a dozen swimmers distracting your eyes just off the nearby beach. So I used Photoshop’s cloning tool to remove them.
Ocean Cay is an island that was man-made created originally for the mining of aragonite sand. The total size of the island is 42 hectares and the original owners also dredged the area to allow for deep vessels to dock for the exportation of the sand.
When Dillingham Construction abandoned the island, the cay fell into decay. In 2015, the executive chairman of MSC Cruise line, Pierfrancesco Vago, signed a 100-year lease with the Bahamian government to redevelop the island into a resort for the cruise line. MSC is spending a gobsmacking $200 million for the total project.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: the reluctance of spring
PRAIRIE FARM BUILDINGS, SHARPLES, ALBERTA
Late March and early April is a climate tussle between winter, which doesn’t want to leave, and spring, which is eager to take over. This is the result, photographed on the beautiful western Canadian prairies on a cold “spring” morning.
Nikon D7100, tripod, graduated density (darkening) filter on the sky
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Want to buy this picture? Email me and I’ll make it happen! (fdking@hotmail.com).
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Urban landscapes: the welcoming lights
CASINO CEILING, MSC SEASCAPE
During our recent week-long vacation on a gigantic, 20-storey cruise ship, I was blown away by the ceiling illumination in the casino. The key was photographing it when no one was around the get into the shot. So I returned at 5:30 a.m. to make a series of long exposures.
This scene didn’t have much colour, so it was an easy decision to create and show you a dramatic black-and-white version.
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Rural landscapes: the colours of Caribbean
FLOWERS AT OCEAN CAY, BAHAMAS
During our recent cruise ship vacation, our ship (the MSC Seascape, a 20-storey behemoth) stopped for a day at this coral island 100 kilometres east of Miami. MSC has a 100-year lease on the island and is spending $200 million to rehabilitate the former mining operation and turn it into a destination for its cruises.
Ocean Cay is a lovely place with beaches, a lighthouse, walking paths, quaint shops and more. Just a few minutes after walking onto the island, I was taken with this glorious colour mix. After we settled down on our beach, I wandered back with my photography equipment and found what I think is a pretty nice composition. Do you agree?
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Natural landscapes: Just him and the epic sunrise
A NEW DAY ON THE MSC SEASCAPE, CARIBBEAN
Our recent cruise ship vacation gave me plenty of creative opportunities including ones like this, where I captured a solitary figure appreciating the start of a warm new day. I was far enough away to ensure he never knew he was being photographed.
The Seascape is a 20-storey vacation behemoth with 5,600 passengers and 1,500 crew. We went for a week with three couples from our church in Ontario and had a great time. 🙂
Nikon D7100, tripod
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Natural landscapes: still in the grip of winter
BOW LAKE AND BOW SUMMIT,
BANFF NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA
At this high elevation, winter continues long after the official start of spring. In fact, the lake probably won’t be ice-free until June.
Whatever the season, this is one of the most spectacular parts of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I was blessed to visit on an absolutely frigid day — it was -27c when I made this late-afternoon picture — that was so stunningly gorgeous that the temperature didn’t bother me.
Nikon D7100, tripod, polarizing filter
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Rural landscapes: Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
FOGGY DAY ON THE FARMLAND, DINGLE, IRISH REPUBLIC
I went back into the archives and found this beauty from my 1993 trip to Ireland. This island is my spiritual home and I’ve become a student of the republic’s 1916-23 revolutionary period that led to the Ireland we know today.
Dingle Peninsula is one of the many spectacular places on this ancient island. It’s known for rugged scenery, trails and sandy beaches. Here’s some evidence, from the same trip: https://wp.me/p2ccTX-1uV. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Nikon D90 film camera, tripod
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Urban landscapes: me and the snowy dawn
PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE OVER THE BOW RIVER, CALGARY, ALBERTA
I knew this former railroad bridge was beautifully illuminate at night; it was just a matter of getting there at the right time. A foot of snow the previous day provided the conditions I was looking for.
This was a cold morning at -21c, but as you can see, the effort was worth it for a long exposure where I turned on the camera timer, then raced to get into the picture. Did this about six times until I liked my placement.
Nikon D7100, tripod
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