It was downtown kind of morning
Instead of going to the gym as usual and hitting the treadmill, I decided to grab my trusty camera and brave the cold winter morning in downtown Port Arthur. Luckily, the weather warmed up slightly so it wasn't as bad as it has been all week. So I parked the car, bundled up and headed out into the unknown. Well, in this case, it ended up being Cumberland Street at first.
Instead of going to the gym as usual and hitting the treadmill, I decided to grab my trusty camera and brave the cold winter morning in downtown Port Arthur. Luckily, the weather warmed up slightly so it wasn't as bad as it has been all week. So I parked the car, bundled up and headed out into the unknown. Well, in this case, it ended up being Cumberland Street at first.
My first stop was the old Cineplex Theatre, which is just an old abandoned building for the most part. I am still amazed that they haven't torn down the signage. My camera of choice was the Fuji X-T1 and the 16-55mm lens. It's a great combo, and even though it's a bit of a bigger lens, I still don't really notice the weight. I usually shoot with my prime lens but I must admit, it's nice to have a bit of zoom. It allowed me to get some perspectives I wouldn't normally have been able to get.
The next stop along the way was the Shoreline Motel. For some reason, I'm always drawn to this building, for photos that is. It's not really my cup of tea as an establishment, but to each their own. I think I'm just a sucker for slightly run down and old buildings.
Seeing as how I was right across the street from the Marina, I crossed the street and walked around the west end. There were some interesting cloud formations hovering around the Sleeping Giant so I waited a bit for the sun to be right and snapped a couple photos. I really need to start bring my tripod with me more often but I think I got a good enough shot hand held.
I was starting to get a bit colder, especially once the sun went away so I took the overpass back downtown and finished up by exploring some other streets and back alleys, before heading back to my car. The last shot of my walk was my favourite. I noticed that a whole bunch of pigeons were perched on the building so I gently approached, and because I had my zoom, I was able to stand a bit back and get a good shot.
Thanks for viewing!
Thunder Bay Marina
When I woke up a few days ago and noticed that it was really foggy I wanted to go take photos right away but it just wasn't possible. Instead, I ended up getting out about an hour later and I decided to head down to the Thunder Bay Marina. The sun was just a bit up in the sky and the ground had a fresh coat of frost and there was actually quite a bit of ice on most of the trails. On the way to the Marina I saw a few people on the side of the road due to black ice. So I began my walk around the Marina watching my step along the way.
When I woke up a few days ago and noticed that it was really foggy I wanted to go take photos right away but it just wasn't possible. Instead, I ended up getting out about an hour later and I decided to head down to the Thunder Bay Marina. The sun was just a bit up in the sky and the ground had a fresh coat of frost and there was actually quite a bit of ice on most of the trails. On the way to the Marina I saw a few people on the side of the road due to black ice. So I began my walk around the Marina watching my step along the way.
Some days when I'm taking photos I feel more inspired and see things I might not normally see. Perhaps this is just in my head, and I'm not sure if other photographer's feel this way, but I don't think I am imagining it. Perhaps it was the brisk morning weather but it was a very fun photo walk. I spent about an hour around the Marina, taking my time, looking for different perspectives and just generally picking out things and moments that caught my eye.
All in all, this was one of my favourite sessions in a while. In my mind, I came away with a wide variety of photos. I always tend to focus on close up details but this time around I got a lot of great landscape shots as well. My camera of choice this morning was the Fuji X-T1 and the 35mm.
Sunday Afternoon at Chippewa Park
It was a busy weekend with portrait shoots but I actually managed to find about 20 minutes to take some personal photos. One of my sessions took place at Chippewa Park so I decided to get there a bit early and walk around. With me I had my Nikon D610 and the 70-200mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.8. I usually don't walk around with these lenses as they are a bit on the heavier side. Anyone who has seen some of my previous posts know that I tend to favour the Fuji X-T1.
It was a busy weekend with portrait shoots but I actually managed to find about 20 minutes to take some personal photos. One of my sessions took place at Chippewa Park so I decided to get there a bit early and walk around. With me I had my Nikon D610 and the 70-200mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.8. I usually don't walk around with these lenses as they are a bit on the heavier side. Anyone who has seen some of my previous posts know that I tend to favour the Fuji X-T1.
For the photos of the sleeping giant I pulled out my trusty 70-200 2.8. I obviously use this lens a lot for all my weddings and portrait sessions but it has been a while since I used it for personal photos like landscapes. The Nikon D610 isn't the highest end full frame camera by Nikon but it did an amazing job with sharpness and detail as well as retaining the highlights and shadows. One of these days I'm going to upgrade to the D750 and use the D700 solely as a backup camera but for now I'm more then fine with the D610.
For all the other photos I used the 50mm 1.8. To be honest I just started using this lens again and I have forgotten how much I truly love it, especially when paired with the D610. I used it for the first time on portrait session this past weekend and I came away with some fantastic photos. The bokeh produced by this lens along with the rich colours are amazing.
As with most of my photography I rarely set the lens past it's 1.8 setting unless I'm taking photos of groups of people. But when I am just walking around taking abstract photos I always try and pick out small details as you can see from the photos below.
As for procession, I worked with the native RAW files converted to DNG in Lightroom 6. From there I always start by using my favourite preset. Then I play with the contrast and clarity and colour enhancements. To be honest, the files don't need much work. Then I'll usually sharpen the images using NIK Effects along with a few tweaks in Viveza. It seems like a lot of post processing but I'm usually only spending about 1-2 minutes per final image tops.
Thanks for viewing!
Walking the East End with the Fuji XE-1 + 16mm 1.4
It was starting to get late last night when I got the urge to just get out and walk around and take some photos. Although it may not be generally known as the nicest part of town, I'm usually drawn to the East Side when taking photos. I guess I just love the atmosphere. The rain was slowly creeping in but luckily it held off long enough for me to really put the Fuji 16mm lens to the test. My camera of choice was a simple one, since it is currently the only once I can mount the lens to, the Fuji XE-1. For a while I was trying to sell it but I figured I would give pull it out of hibernation and start using it again. It may not be the fastest camera but over the past week of using it, it has taken some of my favourite photos of the year.
It was starting to get late last night when I got the urge to just get out and walk around and take some photos. Although it may not be generally known as the nicest part of town, I'm usually drawn to the East Side when taking photos. I guess I just love the atmosphere. The rain was slowly creeping in but luckily it held off long enough for me to really put the Fuji 16mm lens to the test. My camera of choice was a simple one, since it is currently the only once I can mount the lens to, the Fuji XE-1. For a while I was trying to sell it but I figured I would give pull it out of hibernation and start using it again. It may not be the fastest camera but over the past week of using it, it has taken some of my favourite photos of the year.
So I set off into the East End with that combo and wandered around aimlessly, like I usually do. The first stop was the East End bridge to get a few expansive shots of the neighbourhood. The 16mm is probably becoming one of my favourite lenses, not only for landscapes, but just for general use. It is sharp all the way through, focuses extremely fast (even on the XE-1) and produces great tones. With a lens this wide, it's hard not to play with the angles a bit as you can see from the first image.
After walking in and out of some of the streets I decided to drive on over to the long path that overlooks the Sleeping Giant. With the clouds rolling in and a hint of the sunset it made for some nice dramatic photos. All in all it was a fun walk around. It goes to show you that even if it is raining out, there are always opportunities to just get out there and create some good photos. Of course, make sure your camera is waterproof.
(The last image is of our dog Willow. I couldn't help but take a photo of her all curled up outside in the rain when I got home... such a hard life.)
All images shot with the XE-1 and 16mm 1.4. Enjoy!
