As we approached the the colossal structure known as Abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, near Magog, Quebec, I felt the thrill of excitement that accompanies every photographer upon entering a particularly photogenic location. However, the opposition was clearly exhibited: a stone building, bleak against a gray sky, overlaid with a thick blanket of white snow is not exactly a colorful subject. Hence, I determined to rely heavily on pattern and perspective.

I was grateful for the inclement weather; I knew most folks never saw this place under these conditions, so any attractive extractions would be prized beyond any typical post-card picture.

Full Moon in January

It’s fun to go though pictures of the past month as I sit in my cozy little office looking outside at the blowing snow and thinking about the blizzard warnings here in Chicago. There was snow on the ground for most of January, and it appears as though there will be for the beginning of February, at least.

Can you guess what time of night this picture was taken? Believe it or not, it is 6:02 in the morning. When the moon is full, it travels almost exactly opposite as the sun and sets at about the same time the sun rises. Morning is usually a better time to shoot the moon.

I was walking to work early that morning as I gazed up at the surreal beauty in the heavens. Normally, I do not have all my equipment with me when I walk, but for some reason, this morning I did. “How coincidental” I thought. It hadn’t been clear for the past few days either.

As I was setting everything up, I began to realize how cold it was. They said it would get down to 9 degrees; but never mind, this was a rare opportunity. Just before taking the picture, I set the aperture to f/16 so that I it would create starbursts of each light source. To keep the shutter speed no longer than 30sec. I bumped the ISO up to 800.

As the camera took the picture, I stood off to the side doing jumping jacks to keep warm. When the picture had been taken, I only had time to set up one more composition before my fingers really became painfully cold. Finally I picked up the tripod and trotted to a warmer climate.

When I got inside, I checked the temperature: it was –1, but felt like –23. It sure felt that cold to me!

It’s not often that I get to go on a photoshoot with someone else. But when a friend called me last night to ask if I would like to accompany him on a night photography venture, I readily jumped at the chance.

It wasn’t anything fancy; just a stroll down to where a small bridge crosses a creek. You see, that was the only place where we could find enough light to take pictures. The moon was almost full, but clouds prohibited it from shedding much light on the landscape.

Despite the fact that it was in the single digits, and that we weren’t exactly dressed properly for those temperatures, and that twice we had to retreat to a nearby building to warm ourselves up . . . it was actually quite enjoyable! Perhaps more memorable than profitable, but still, quite enjoyable. 

You might say I received an early Christmas gift the other day.

A fellow from church drove me into the backwoods to a place that a photographer like myself considered to be, almost literally, a treasure cove. Obviously traveling off the highway, and then down a two-lane for awhile, and then on a typical, one-lane back road for a few miles, and then on foot where no vehicle had been for a long time, we finally arrived at our destination.

No, it wasn’t the perfect time of day, it wasn’t good lighting, and the melting, snow-covered surroundings weren’t that appealing, but the location and subjects were like very few left in America. I was told that a 90 year old man (still living today) said that his grandfather had built this farm. It is known that the place was deeded back in 1875. But when it was actually built, no one really knows. The best estimate we could come to was 1865.

This opportunity to photograph a piece of West Virginia heritage, accented with the stories and tales of bygone years by my tour guide, was a blissful experience that neither words nor pictures can accurately express.

An Uninhabited Farm

Woodchip Insulation

Wooden Latch on a Wooden Door Hung on Wooden Hinges

Deserted for Over 30 Years

Scaling House

Remnants of the Past

Lamppost Soliloquy

What you can do in Photoshop is just out of this world! I knew this picture was useless unless I could somehow add some light inside the lamp. Once this was accomplished using another picture taken back in January, I darkened up the background using blending modes, cloned in some extra branches to fill in the distracting white sky, and added a small, circular gradient around the light to make it look like it was glowing. This particular picture has 9 layers, but it was very simple to put together, the edits make a world of difference.

Very seldom do I actually go to this extreme with my pictures. It’s just fun to see how a picture can be transformed every-once-in-a-while.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to break away from the stuffy office, magnetic computers, and a demanding schedule to just roam around the great outdoors with a camera! No, it wasn’t for long, just a few strolls from one building to another. But it was great fun experimenting with snowscape exposures (+2/3 I found was best for the extremely cloudy conditions) and working on making nice straight horizons. (Do other people have trouble with this too?)

Path of Whiteness

Reflecting the Snow

Homeless

Snowy Patterns