I have a love hate relationship with 4am wake up calls. It means going to bed at 9pm if I can and I still need to drag myself out into the darkness in the morning. But when the sun comes up on the beach it makes it all worth while. It was beautiful and quiet in Port Stanley, summer is definitely in the air. Surprisingly lots of people out getting the town ready for summer.
Here’s how my day looked:
4:00 am – wake up call
4:40 am – load car and leave for Port Stanley, gear was packed the night before
5:30 am – arrive at the beach in Port Stanley, set up and begin photographing in pre-sunrise light
6:00 am – sunrise, keep shooting
6:30 am – wrap shoot and head back to the studio
7:20 am – arrive back at the studio and unpack the car
7:30 am – begin downloading and backing up files
8:45 am – breakfast
8:00 am – choose selects, tweak images for colour, contrast, lightness, and darkness, process raw files
10:30 am – caught up on client orders and emails
1:00 pm – retouch
1:30 pm - send test prints to the lab and archive final image
Oh and I just about forgot! A little video from my morning on the beach {if you’re reading via email or RSS you’ll likely need to click through to our blog to see it}:
Where do you dream about spending your spring mornings?
Eeeek! I can’t believe I haven’t officially shared this photograph with you yet! It’s one I made last summer, I guess things got a little crazy with my artist in residency at Beausoleil Island that it slipped through the blogging cracks. You probably recognize it from our May desktop calendar plus it was the cover image for both our 2013 wall calendar and 5×7 calendar.
I just wanted to share with you a few details from this early morning session in Bayfield. I’d seen these rocks during my location scout, and as you can see, they’re in the water. I remember the water level was up and down that week with rain and hot dry spells so I had no idea what I’d be in for when I showed up at the beach. Luckily the rock in the foreground was just at the water’s edge so I was still able to get some of the coarse beach sand in the bottom left, then a band of foggy water fading out into the smoothness of the lake. For those of you just tuning in you can click through to read all about how I create the look of calm water in my seascape photographs, hint – it’s done entirely in camera.
Here’s how my schedule looked that day:
2:50 am – wake up call
3:20 am – load car and leave for Bayfield, gear was packed the night before
4:45 am – arrive at the beach in Bayfield, set up and begin photographing in pre-sunrise light
5:48 am – sunrise, keep shooting
6:00 am – wrap shoot and head back to the studio
7:30 am – arrive back at the studio and unpack the car
7:45 am – begin downloading and backing up files
8:00 am – breakfast
~ Spent the morning tending to client orders ~
1:45 pm - choose selects, tweak images for colour, contrast, lightness, and darkness, process raw files
2:15 pm – retouch
3:00 pm – send test prints to the lab and archive final image
And here’s a little video so you can get a sense of how beautiful it was out on the beach {if you’re reading via email or RSS you’ll likely need to click through to our blog to see it}:
Days like these can be busy and long but they’re oh so rewarding I’d never trade them in. Plus, it’s awesome to start my day on the beach!
We’re delighted to share with you the third piece from my recent Hell Week filled with 2:55am alarms and dawn photographs on Lake Huron.
Wednesday of Hell Week took me to Kettle Point, another one of my favourite places to photograph. I’ve been there many times in the past and it always proves to be a nice balance of challenging and inspiring.
It was a very CHILLY morning. I’ll admit it, I had my winter coat on. It’s the two layer style, a wind/rain barrier that I wear over fleece. I often take the raincoat part with me because it can get quite windy out there on the water’s edge and it keeps it from whipping right through me. That morning I had the fleece layer on because the temperature had dipped so low over night. And I didn’t regret it. People always say I’m wimpy for so easily putting on my winter coat, but something about the design of it rarely makes me sweat.
I brought one of my newest editions to my arsenal with me – rubber boots. And I love ‘em! I wear them every time I’m photographing on the beach. Even when I’m photographing in a garden or a grassy lawn early in the morning, they keep my feet dry, and it really breaks down any sort of barrier with regards to where I’m going to go during a shoot. Though this particular morning I could have used hip waders, I came home with a wet bottom from squatting so low in the water.
Here’s how things went down that morning:
2:50 am – wake up call
3:20 am – load car and leave for Kettle Point, gear was packed the night before
4:45 am – arrive at Kettle Point, set up and begin photographing in pre-sunrise light
5:50 am – sunrise, keep shooting
6:00 am – wrap shoot and head back to the studio
7:15 am – arrive back at the studio and unpack the car
7:30 am – begin downloading and backing up files
8:00 am – breakfast
8:30 am - choose selects, tweak images for colour, contrast, lightness, and darkness, process raw files
9:00 am – retouch
9:45 am – send test prints to the lab and archive final image
And I made a little video so you could see how beautiful it was out on Lake Huron that morning. See all those happy little bugs zipping around?
The title for Awake My Soul came from a Mumford & Sons song (aren’t they great?), though the meaning differs – their song is about love while my photograph makes me think of meditation and creativity.
Meditation is extremely difficult because it forces you to focus on one thought, letting all others drift past your mind. Once all aspects of that one thought have been thoroughly considered, only then are you allowed to move on to the next. For me this is like single tasking, and it leaves lots of room in my brain and soul for creativity.
So, what are your questions about how this photograph was made? Do you have some place you love to visit because it sparks creativity? What does this image make you think of? How much do you love Mumford & Sons? Do you have a music recommendation of a similar style?
We have just had a crazy week of making seascape photographs in the wee hours of the morning. With the alarm set for 2:55 am we trekked out every day to capture the quiet of Lake Huron at dawn. Getting up that early was painful but being on the beach for first light was magical and well worth it!
We did a location scout the week before, spending a full twelve hours driving up the west coast of Lake Huron from Kettle Point to Kincardine. From there we chose locations for our four days of dawn photography and built our schedule for the week.
Bayfield was one of my favourite locations from the scout. We’ve photographed there before and with the water level a bit lower than it was last time there were a few more interesting spots unveiled.
Darren checked the weather the evening before our scheduled shoot and everything looked good, only a few clouds, lots of sun, and no rain.
Here’s a look at our schedule that morning:
2:55 am – wake up call
3:20 am – load car and leave for Bayfield, gear was packed the night before
4:45 am – arrive in Bayfield, set up and begin photographing in pre-sunrise light
5:47 am – sunrise, keep shooting
6:30 am – wrap up shooting and head back to the studio
8:00 am – arrive back at the studio and unpack car
8:15 am – download and backup files
8:45 am – choose selects, tweak images for colour, contrast, lightness, and darkness, process raw files
11:00 am – retouch
11:15 am – archive final image
And that’s how Emerge was made. I love the blur where the beach ends and the pebbles begin, and the way the water lapping up over the stones during the long exposure has created a ghosting effect.
While I was there I created another 30 Seconds of Peace video with the sights and sounds of my morning in Bayfield. If you can’t see it because you’re reading this post in your email or via RSS you’ll need to click through to our blog.
This is the first image from my self-imposed Hell Week, get on our Sneak Peek List to see upcoming photographs before they are posted here, and be sure to visit our blog in the coming weeks to read all the production details.
After whiling away the day at the Royal Botanical Gardens we spent the peaceful sunset on the beach near Fifty Point Conservation area just outside Grimsby.
This is an area I know lots of photographers flock to. In fact we were supposed to be part of a photo group that was going to the beach that very morning. At the last minute we opted out for two reasons:
The forecast for the morning wasn’t ideal.
But more importantly, after further research I discovered that the angle of light would make for a much better evening photograph.
So here’s how our day ended up going:
10:45 am – pack gear and car
11:30 am – early lunch
Noon – leave home
1:45 pm – explore Royal Botanical Gardens
5:00 pm – dinner
6:15 pm – leave for Fifty Point Conservation Area
7:15 pm – arrive at location, set up and begin photographing
8:00 pm – sunset
8:30 pm – wrap up shooting and head home
10:30 pm – arrive home and unpack the car
10:45 pm – download memory cards and backup files
Raw camera files were processed and retouched for dust the following day.
I left myself a bit of extra time since I’d never been to this location before and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
Be sure to watch the accompanying video, if you’re reading by email or RSS you’ll need to click through to our blog to see it.
How do you make time for peace and quiet? Do you schedule specific time for yourself? What do you do when you’re looking to relax and meditate? Do you go for a drive? Head to a favourite spot? Or just close the door to the world for a few minutes?
Evening Slumber, Lake Huron Seascape Photograph, Kettle Point, Ontario, Canada 2012
Yoga certainly pays off as a photographer.
He made it! You were worried weren’t you? A few minutes later he did end up falling in the water.
I know I’ve said it before, but I love evenings at Kettle Point. Especially when the weather is mild, the sunset perfect, and I can share all the beauty and magic with Darren.
Spring Seduction, Lake Erie Landscape Photograph, Blenheim, Ontario, Canada, 2012
The evening of Easter Sunday found us standing out on the shore of Lake Erie, at Burn’s Beach making photographs with full bellies. We ate so much we could hardly walk. I still can’t believe we were able to carry our gear and march down the steep lane to the water’s edge and back.
Burn’s Beach is a spot that’s been on my list for a while now. We originally did a preliminary location scout there over a year and a half ago, in August 2010. The beach is a few minutes southwest of Blenheim, Ontario, about 1 hour and 40 minutes from London. We’d decided that since we were taking a four day weekend for Easter (Friday to Monday) that Sunday would be a great opportunity for an evening on the beach. Especially since we hosted Easter dinner at our house on Saturday, filling our fridge with lots of leftovers and making it easy for our escape to the lake.
The weather was looking pretty good and getting even better as the evening progressed. Initially we were expecting drizzle but the sky broke around mid afternoon and by the time we got on location there was barely a cloud in the sky.
Our initial location scout and online research showed that there were a few rows of old wood posts running perpendicular to the beach, these were to be our subject. I figured this was going to be an evening shot because the beach is a little slightly secluded and down a fairly steep road so I’d definitely be needing Darren to come with me. Plus the angle of the sun promised a more flattering light at dusk rather than dawn.
Here’s a peek at our schedule that evening…
4:30 pm – pack gear and car
5:15 pm – dinner
5:50 pm – leave home
7:30 pm – arrive at location, set up and begin photographing
8:02 pm – sunset
8:45 pm – wrap up shooting and head home
10:30 pm – arrive home and unpack the car
10:45 pm – download cards and backup files
It’s pretty tight timing, but I’ve done this kind of photograph many times before and I’d done my research. I knew what to expect in terms of direction of light, and we had a good idea of what the weather was going to be like.
As you can see, we travel pretty light. Typically just one camera bag with the basics, a tripod, and a backpack that I like to call my bag of tricks. It sounds exciting but it’s really just flashlights, bug spray, and snacks.
Twilight Breeze, Lake Erie Landscape Photograph, Blenheim, Ontario, Canada, 2012
Feel free to ask any questions you have about the photographs, and definitely watch the video below for a better taste of how our evening was.
{If you’re reading this post by RSS then be sure to click through to our blog to see the accompanying video}
Exhale, Lake Huron Seascape Photograph, Ipperwash, Ontario, Canada, 2012
This mild spring has me on the beach more evenings that usual. Listening to the tinkle of the itty bitty shells each time a wave laps up on shore. Oh to spend a lifetime on the beach…
{If you’re reading this post by RSS then be sure to click through to our blog to see the accompanying video}
What are your favourite beach sounds? Laughter? Waves lapping up on the shore? Birds? The crunch of sand under your feet? The plop of a skipping stone? The splash as you frolic in the lake?
Back in November I made Ipperwash #2, while I was waiting for the light to be perfect I was lucky enough to make this photograph as well. There’s definitely a Mark Rothko influence in there, can you see it?
This photograph has me longing for the warmth of summer. What do you hope to do in the coming warmer months? Are you counting down the days to summer or are you happy to have a few more weeks of winter? What are your favourite things to do at the beach when you find you have a few minutes to spare?
