First camera walk in a while

There are lots of times when I'll take a camera, or cameras off the desk, and use them to take photos. Sometimes they get packed to go on a trip, like the recent Jasper trip. Sometimes it's over to the community centre for one of our events. Sometimes it's around the house to capture something in the garden, typically flowers or bees, or one of Linda's decorations.

Lots of times I like to say I'm taking a camera for a walk. It might be a walk from the house, or a drive to a place I haven't been in a while to see what photos I might find. Usually I try to go with an open mind, hoping to find something interesting, and surprisingly often it happens. 

The hard part is deciding what to take, if I'm not aiming for a particular image that drives the gear choice. I could take a full pack of gear, 3 camera bodies, lenses ranging from 14mm to 200mm, a tripod, and  accessories like ND filters, so that I'm ready to capture whatever I might come across. In the meantime I'm dragging my butt because all that weighs 15 Kg at least. Then I'm in the game of seeing something, and wondering if it's worth the time to change gear for it.

Generally I pick one camera, one lens, and live with the choice. Oddly enough, when I have one camera and lens, I usually only "see" photos I can take with it. There's been a few "oh crap" moments when I miss out on a wonderful photo. But mostly I enjoy being out and looking at the world. I've spoken of looking at the world differently when I'm carrying a camera. I'm thinking about what might make a good image rather than passively taking in the view.

So there I was on Monday, feeling the desire to take a camera for a walk for the first time in more than a month, which is very unusual for me. Then again, October was a big photo month, and I'm not done with it yet. A private client is mulling over photos, so I'll be making another editing pass soon. Plus I wasn't feeling well for the end of the month and beginning of this month. I actually used one of our COVID test kits, and was negative. I didn't feel especially sick, but I spent a lot of time sleeping, and feeling mentally face down in the bean dip.

My go to location when I don't have something specific in mind is often Fish Creek park. It's huge, there's a creek running through it with 15 bridges, there's a huge variety of landscapes and views, all of which can be viewed in all hours of the day, any day of the year. If you can't find something interesting to photograph there, you aren't really trying. 

I went over to Glennfield with the idea of exploring near bridge 8 on the south side of the creek. I got sidetracked by the light on the water rippling over the rocks under the highway bridges. I had fun standing or kneeling on rocks in the river, while working on composition and exposure settings. All these are hand held, many at 1/10 second to play with water texture.

Once again, Blogger has put them backwards to the order taken. 

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8. This one ended up on VERO.

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Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (BC)

Driftwood (Jasper)

Flower

Yukon

Film (new)

Film (old)

More of a trip through Glacier National Park.