It was an overcast kind of day

It was finally and overcast and gloomy day, and I was so thankful for it. Don't get me wrong, I like sun as next as the next person, but my absolute type of weather for walking around taking photos it definitely cloudy, overcast days. I just love the lighting and the tones. 

The next step was to decide where to take photos. My first destination was Hillcrest Park. It's usually a good starting point. After I dropped of Anne at work, I parked there and ate my breakfast sandwich and sipping on my coffee. Once I was fed, I walked around the park for about 15 minutes. Obviously, I have photographed this location many many times, so I always challenge myself to find new angles and perspectives. Even though, I got a few good shots of the view, I don't really post those any more unless it's something spectacular. 

Now that I was warmed up, and had my creative eye fully awake, I made my way down to Fishermans Wharf. Upon arriving there, I did notice a lot more spray paint and graffiti on all the boats and signs. It's always sad to see, and I'm still not sure why people feel need to vandalize like that. I know they are old boats down there, but it's still disheartening to see. In any case, I was able to come away with some really good photos of the view some of the finer details.

I also decided to walk around the general area this time, something I hadn't done in previous visits. I snuck a few shots of the grain elevators in, as well as some abandoned parking lots and of course the tunnel leading into the area. 

Before I headed home, I decided to go to the Marina to see what I could find. Well, instead of going into the actual marina, I decided to head down Marina Park Drive. I was so happy I did because, surprisingly, this was an area I hadn't yet explored. All these years, and I have never gone down that street. Let's just say, it was my favourite part of the day. If I had more time I would have spend another hour down there but I will just have to go for another walk sometime soon. 

It was just so refreshing seeing Thunder Bay an the waterfront from a different perspective. Plus, from what I could tell, most of the factories down that way are closed so it was neat seeing all that. I still wasn't sure if an angry security guard was going to berate me at some point, but it seemed as though no one really cared or was even around the entire area. 

For all the photos below I had my new Fuji X-Pro2 and 16-55mm 2.8. It allowed me to get some great wide angle shots and also in close. I still like my primes the most, but it's nice to have the zoom, and it's a great walk around lens. As for the X-Pro2, I love it. I do miss the flip screen from my old X-T1 but I've learned to adapt.

Thanks for viewing!

Kam Park

I finally bit the bullet and got myself the Nikon d750 and I couldn't be happier. The main reason why I purchased it was for wedding season which is fast approaching. That's not to say I won't be using it a lot on my photo walks which is exactly what I did for my exploration of Kam Park this past week. If you have seen any of my previous posts, you will see I have been at this location a couple times before. So my challenge this time was to see if I could capture different perspectives and scenes. I think it accomplished that and more this time around. 

Admittedly, the first few photos of this series are from the downtown area in Fort William while I was waiting for Anne during lunch. After that, I headed on over to Kam Park and spent the next hour seeing what captures my eye. Luckily for me, the weather was awesome and there were plenty of birds out as well. It allowed me to put the d750 to the test somewhat which I had paired with the good old 50mm 1.8 lens. This still ranks as one of my favourite lenses ever. I don't think there is a better value out there for $200. Paired with a full frame camera such as the 750 and you can really achieve some great bokeh and depth of field. 

The colours coming out of the d750 raw files our outstanding and the focusing is instantaneous. Almost to the point where I'm not even sure if it focused since it happened so fast. I can't wait to put it to the test this wedding season. While at Kam Park I explored both tunnels, the VIA train along with the boardwalk. I also finally go the chance to head on over to the grain elevator to the point where I was right up against the no trespassing sign. Even with the the 50mm lens, I was able to get some great landscape shots. I'll definitely have to go back in the summer to get some sunset photos where the light is a bit better. 

As usual, all the photos were processed in Lightroom using the RAW files and my usual presets. Thanks for viewing!

Fisherman's Wharf + Thunder Bay Marina

It was one of those great foggy mornings yesterday and, for me personally, that's probably my favourite type of weather to take photos in. So, I grabbed my Fuji XT-1 and my zoom lens, the 55-150mm, and drove down to Fisherman's Wharf. I figured that would be a good spot to take advantage of the gloomy weather. The problem with fog though this time of year is that it can go away pretty fast as it warms up. That is exactly what started to happen, but luckily I was still able to come away with some good shots. If anything, the overcast weather provided nice even lighting. 

Once I arrived at Fisherman's Wharf I walked straight to the dock where they have the old boats stationed. I could easily spend hours in there, even though there are only a few boats, but just tons of deals to shoot. I also made sure to get some photos of the Lake and grain elevators among other things. After a quick walk around the trail, and some slight freezing of the fingers, I warmed up in the car and headed to the Marina for a quick walk around.

As I was approaching the Marina I saw that the fog on the lake was still in full effect so I knew that I had to get some photos of the boats out on the water as well as the grain elevators off in the distance. Once I started walking around the outer trail, I also noticed some geese. The few photos I captured of them were some of my favourites that morning. All in all, it was about a 25 minute walk but I was please with some of the photos I made. It ended up being a great day for taking photos as I also made my way to Kam Park later that afternoon and then back again to the Marina with Anne in the evening. 

I'll be saving those for a different post tomorrow but for now, thanks for viewing these photos!

Snowy Spring Day at Boulevard Lake

It looks as though Spring is just not ready to arrive yet, seeing as how we got dumped on with snow briefly yesterday morning. As soon as I saw it snowing that much I knew I had to go somewhere to take photos before it all melted away. My location this time around was Boulevard Lake and the old LPH building. By the time I got to Boulevard the wind was basically blowing the snow horizontally which made for some pretty cool shots. So, after parking my car, grabbing me Fuji X-T1 and the 50-140mm lens, I set out to explore and see what I could find.

It was no more then 2 minutes into my walk where I wiped out hard. Little did I know that underneath that fresh coat of snow was a sheet of ice, essentially through the park. It caught me off guard and just as I was falling I was able to land on my side with my right hand outstretched saving my camera and lens. The price I paid was a pretty badly strained neck and back. But the show must go on and I shook it off and continued on my way, grumbling and moaning the rest of the walk of course.

The sad thing was that I wasn't the only one wiping out. About 2 minutes after my intimate session with the pavement, I heard some loud swearing coming from the parking lot. It seemed as though, a construction worker met the same fate as I. I didn't check, but he seemed to brush himself off and as I moved along I heard his faint swears echo in the distance.

Now, back to the photography part of my excursion. As always, I had no specific goal other then to shoot whatever caught my eye. Perhaps I should starting setting goals for myself during these walks, but until that happens, this is what you get. Randomness. 

In a way, I did have a goal, and it was to capture just how much snow was falling. I still find it amazing that all this snow was gone by 3:00pm. Once I finished walking around the Boulevard area I made my way to the LPH building, which I never really got the chance to explore before. The whole time I was taking photos, I was giving myself constant reminders not to fall. There were a few more close calls but I managed to stay upright the rest of the walk. I think the fact that my face was going numb kept me more alert then usual. One of these days, I'll actually dress appropriately for one of these walks. 

In the end, the fact that both my camera and lens were waterproof made this whole walk possible and they both performed flawlessly. I've really been digging taking the zoom lens on my walks lately as it has allowed me to get some completely different perspectives as well as shots I wouldn't have been able to get with my usual prime setup. Until next time!

It's almost spring!

I had the chance to get for a little bit this past weekend and enjoy the brisk spring weather. It was mid afternoon which meant bright sunny conditions. Instead of looking for low contrast and subtle photos I focused on finding nice shadows and strong bold images. 

My combo of choice this time around was my D610 and 85mm 1.8. The 85mm might be my new favourite lens. I love how light it is and the colours it produces are just amazing. Plus, for me, it's a great focal length, at least when walking around. 

The ultimate destination for this walk was to meet up with my Fiance Anne at our friend Raven's house. It was to be our first bon fire of the year. It was still a pretty chilly day but sitting on the deck in the backyard with the fire blazing and the sun beating down was really nice. It reminded us how much we are looking forward to camping this year.

It was a pretty relaxing afternoon and evening but that didn't mean I put the camera way. While hanging out on the deck I decided to practice and explore the continuous focusing abilities on the D610. I have always known how to use them but I really wanted hone my skills. What better way to do so then to follow and track to hyper dogs, Daisy and Jack. The camera locked on very well and almost always held focus. I was often using a very large aperture as well. Suffice it to say I was very impressed. 

In the end I had to leave the fire around 10:00pm. I'm just not as tough as the girls, I was freezing by then. With that being said, I can't wait for warmer evenings around the fire. I will of course have my camera by my side the entire summer capturing every moment.