Exposure : Ron's Ramblings

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Following the Sun

I don’t get too excited about photographing sunrises and sunsets. It can be a bit cliché. However, sometimes it is so beautiful, you just can’t help yourself.

Lake Superior Sunset

Fiery Sunset

However, I do include the sun quite often in my photos. It can be very dramatic if you can catch it at the right time.

Spring Thaw, Bruce Peninsula, ON

Spring Ice Formations

Canoeing the French at Dawn

Of course silhouettes are fun to shoot as well.

Oil Pumpjack at Dawn

Great Sandhills at Sunset

This summer the sun was one the dominant subjects with the solar eclipse visible in much of North American to some degree. I was tempted to try to photograph it here in Toronto. I have a ten stop neutral density filter but that is not quite strong enough to protect my eyes and camera. Lee Filters sells a Solar filter that is 20 stops and a deep blue colour that removes harmful infrared light. I hope to get one of these for the next eclipse:
https://www.dpreview.com/news/8485854753/lee-filters-introduces-solar-eclipse-filter-and-new-filter-wash-fluid
I was also not in the path of the total eclipse. So, what was I to do? I didn’t want to risk my camera or my eyes. The best thing I could come up with was to create an illustration in Photoshop:

Solar Eclipse (digital illustration)

The next solar eclipse will have a path through Ontario. April 8th 2024 will provide an opportunity for many of us here in southern Ontario to witness one first hand. I will have my filters and be ready. Now if we can just get clear skies that day…

Labels: photo illustrations; manipulations;, silhouettes; eclipse, solar eclipse, sunrise, sunset

Sunday, 26 February 2017

The Train Series

A few years ago I created a photo illustration of a train:

Steam Locomotive Illustration

(See Composite for more information on how the train illustration above was created.)

That image has been published several times over the years so I wanted to create some more.

I don’t have many train photos. I take them sporadically as I travel. The one below is from Toronto. It started out very plain. I tried to stylize it to add a bit of drama and interest.

CN Rail Illustration

The smoke was the hardest part. I created a custom brush and just played with multiple layers and blends until I got something I liked. This can be a time consuming process. The image can become quite complicated. Here is the Photoshop document with all layers:

I let this one sit for a while but finally sent it off to my agent at All Canada Photos. Then I started to look for more raw material to continue the series.

In 2013 Lori and I travelled to New Zealand for a 6 - week trip. It is a lovely country. We visited the Kingston Flyer, a steam engine train on the south island. The images are okay but I wanted to bring them closer to the style of my other train images. That was my intent. I ended up with something a little different.