Speed skate carved out of snow

Saturday morning I took in the 25 km Speed Skating Marathon at the 2012 Silver Skate Festival at Hawrelak Park in Edmonton, Alberta.

I wanted to get some tight action shots so I put on the 70-300mm telephoto.

I expected the skaters to be going much faster, but being a marathon on a lake with less than even ice, the pace was fairly slow. This was just as well because zoomed out to 300mm it was a challenge to capture the action.

Welcome

A photographer across the lake captures the start of the race

Coming around the corner at the Silver Skate 25km Marathon

The leaders in the race formed a pack and took turns taking the lead so others could draft.

Fan

The ice on the lake at Hawrelak Park

Ice Pack

Skating under the sun at Hawrelak Park

Skater silhouette

Skate in the City

Duo

Skate with a smile

Time

Ice Crack

Outside the Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton.

I spent Saturday morning at the Alberta Aviation Museum with Images Alberta Camera Club. Despite knowing very little about them I’ve always enjoyed looking at air crafts so I was really looking forward to this outing.

Hanger in Hdr. This would've been a great place to put a single air craft.

In the end I focused mostly on details and HDR. Getting a close look at the engines with a fisheye lens also makes some of the geometric shapes just a little weird.

Hope you enjoy.

Reflecting on an iPhone inspiration

Easier said than done, I’ve taken many pictures of myself over the years for various reasons, but have never be particularly interested in capturing my “essence”.

In ruminating on the theme I focused on what makes people not want to have their picture taken; judgement.

In the age of social media many engage verbally or post images of the world through their eyes, but seem reluctant to post images of themselves, especially when it comes to avatars.

The inspiration for my eventual submission came after seeing my reflection in the laminate surface of stove. My head aligned with the temperature gauge and concept of “hotness” jumped into my brain. I only had my iPhone handy and didn’t have time to explore the subject to my satisfaction on site.

As soon as I got home I took a closer look at the thermostat in my condo and the theme found its home. Ultimately I went through several iterations and the final piece didn’t make the top three in the competition, but I’m happy with my results.

Hot or Not?

In the spirit of transparency and giving you a glimpse into the me that was I decided to presented a history of my photographic self portraits. I won’t be offended if you run away now.

Homey on a Balcony. Shot made with my first digital camera. I had a tripod and a self timer and a balcony.

Sculpted Self Portrait. This is one of my favourites. The plastacine captures the prominence of my brow!

Self Blurred. Because holding the camera in front of you and spinning around is fun!

I'm bad! I took this after a long bike ride. I can't remember how I felt other than exhausted, but the processing makes me look hard to the core!

Me and my pencil. This was a "professional" shot for an ad. Sometimes I still wish I spent more time with a pencil

I got new glasses and lighting myself from behind and looking up made me appear modern and forward thinking!

My all time favourite video game "Oblivion" allowed me to make a character that exults my geeky goodness!

That's me in the shadow. Deep, eh?

Self portrait with a 35mm at F1.8 I really like this picture, but I've heard it described as "Will Ferrell" and "Why are you angry?" so I stopped using it.

Bad Hair Day. This has the most likes on Instagram for the tag self portrati!

Hello Weekend! Using a triptych to tell a story or a cry for help?

What Happened? More fun with iPhone apps.

Getting off the topic of self and focusing on the topic of me I thought I’d post some shots of me taken by others featuring some of my more famous exploits.

Me and Walt. My career started with Disney. I don't know what he was thinking.

Me and the Ratpack. Frank was way off base.

Wrong end of the fight. Sinatra dared me to challenge Ali. That was a mistake.

Happy Days? I was cast as Potsy in the pilot, but my differences with Ron Howard resulted in an early exit.

Touring with Rush. I was a Roadie on the Hemispheres tour!

A flock of memories. I left Rush to join "A Flock of Seagulls". It seemed like a good idea at the time.

On the set of Pulp Fiction. In the early 90's I got into the movie industry. Unfortunately me and Quentin didn't see eye to eye.

Toy Story. Despite getting fired from the roll of Woody in the Pixar classic, Toy Story really sparked my interest in computer graphics.

My time in hockey. Before starting my current career I got a cup of coffee in the NHL.

I must admit my inspiration was a tad challenged the second go round. The brisk -15 weather was likely a contributing factor. When we got to the Alberta Legislature Grounds and discovered little change in the art I decided to pull out the tripod (hadn’t brought it the previous week), put on the Fisheye lens and bracket.

I don’t know if my shots are particularly inspired, but they’re really wide angle and really bright!

While I set up the shot on the left, Heather Kuchma of Images Alberta Camera Club documented the process.

“Ice on Whyte” is an annual winter festival in Edmonton celebrating Ice and Snow Carving. I’d been before, but this was the first time I went with a photo assignment in mind. I arrived with two major goals:

1. Shoot through the ice
2. Document the Festival/Tell a Story

The latter was fairly lofty, but is my major photography resolution for 2012. I want to take an editorial approach to my picture making and, especially, incorporate people into my scenes.

Tiger

After getting our fill of snow and ice at the ledge we boarded the High Level Street Car and made our way to Whyte Avenue. Despite living in Edmonton most of my life, I’d never taken the ride above the bridge so that was a treat.

Wo, not so fast

Initially I was a little disappointed with the setting. The intimate environment and scope of the sculptures north of the river was more appealing. That all Changed when we spotted the carving area.

What a treat it was to get to watch the Artists at work. Maybe it was my own passion for wood burning and carving that drew me to my frozen contemporaries, but it was here that I really started to focus on capturing people.

Despite the relatively mild temperature, by mid afternoon we were in need for a warm up. The plan at the time was to warm up in the Farmer’s Market, then head home, perhaps to return in the evening. Fortunately the market made us hungry and after a quick meal the highlight of the day made its entrance.

Snow!

Breaking the Ice

By the time we got back to the site the entire seen had changed. The dimming day light was replaced by area spotlights and gels to illuminate the scene. This combined with the falling snow made for some magical moments. It was hard NOT to find a shot to make!

See through the Ice

By the time we made it home it had been a 12 hour day (I sure felt it the next day), but the memories will, hopefully, last a lifetime.

Hope you enjoy!

Bean Machine: Taking a moment to capture my morning ritual has become, at the time of writing, my most liked photo on Instagram.

Instagram is an app and online community designed for sharing photos made on mobile phones. Some choose to show DSLR shots, but it is pretty much frowned upon. The idea is to share your view of the world instantly. Shoot on your phone, process on your phone, upload from your phone. Boom, the world see’s the world as you see it!

I’ve known of the app for quite a while, actually had it installed, but I hadn’t signed up because I didn’t want to worry about yet another online community to keep track of. After hearing a couple of my favorite Pro Photographers, Jeremy Cowart and Zack Arias, talk about it I decided to give it a try. I uploaded some images and followed a few people.

PearlJamAgram: my view from Pearl Jam's Edmonton show captured with the iPhone

My Can’t Put Down The Camera! site will remain my main chronological photo stream (most of the images came from my DSLR after all), but if you have an iPhone, Instagram is well worth checking out.

Below is a gallery of my most recent uploades. The full feed can be found on gramfeed or you can find me in the app by searching for @uberdoodles.

Festive Blur Eqiuipment

Tilting the angle of the glass, adjusting focal point and aperture produces some pretty whacky results. I’m already looking forward to next year (minus the cold)!

Not to be left out of the fun, my Lensbaby Composer got a little action using Creative Aperture and keeping nothing in focus!

Lensbaby Xmas Blur

Earlier in the day, the Eternal flame at the Alberta Legislature provided a some fiery abstract forms when frozen in time with a high shutter speed.

Laughing Flames

Watching the Fire

And finally I decided to have a little HDR fun and through myself into the frame for good measure!

Christmas self portrait

I know I have a sour look on my face. I could blame my cold, but the truth is I had to hold the position for a long exposure and that’s just my neutral expression. I’ll make my resolution for the new year to try not look annoyed especially when I’m not!

Happy New Year