Orchidophelia - the Ottawa Orchid Society's Show

I attended the Ottawa Orchid Society's show this weekend.  They thoughtfully invite photographers to bring their tripods on Sunday morning to photograph the show, and so I came prepared with my tripod and cable release.  Here are some of my favourite images.

Still Life with Orchids

All of these photographs were made without a flash.  The lighting was quite good this year.  It has been quite hard in the past to find a good background, but there were a number of good opportunites at this year's show.

A "Monster" Orchid

I couldn't shake the image of an alien monster when I saw this colourful orchid.

White Orchid

I love the variety of shapes and colours in the orchid family.  I have photographed a number of native orchids to this area -- Showy Ladyslipper, Yellow Ladyslipper, Pink Ladyslipper, Rose Pogonia, Grass Pink and Bog Candle, and it's fascinating to see some of their more exotic cousins.

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

"Tilt Shift" photographs and photographer Tristan Greszko

I've been seeing a number of photographers using a technique that people are calling "tilt-shift", or "miniature".  Simply put, you narrow your depth-of-field dramatically to a narrow band in the photograph, putting both foreground and background strongly out of focus.  The effect makes the scene in the photograph look like a miniature model (like photographs of a model train set).

To be honest, I'm not a big fan.  Occasionally I see an interesting photograph, but most often, these photographs look more like a gimmick than a serious photograph.  I also dislike the term "tilt-shift" for this technique.  Yes, tilt-shift lenses can create this effect, but that's not why photographers use it. 

However, photographer Tristan Greszko has created a video called A Tiny Day in the Jackson Hole Backcountry, that is really fun to watch (use full-screen!).  Moreover, he has some great skiing, mountain and nature photography on his website.  It's really worth a visit.

So, maybe the gimmick works after all.

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Ice Patterns

This weekend was one of the few weekends where we had predominantly clear skys for the past several months, and since I was awake early in the morning (well fairly early), I went out to a local conservation area to see how many Canada Geese I could see.  There were a number of geese and ducks, but I guess I was too late in the day to see larger numbers.

Instead, along the banks of the Rideau River, there was a layer of melting chunks of ice along the shore, along with sheets of flat ice with crystalline patterns and frozen bubbles.  Here are some if the photographs from my visit.  More photographs can be found on my website.

Fantastic forms and shapes

Ice melting along stalks of grass

Frozen Bubbles

Mountains of ice crystals (actually about 6-7 cm high)

. . . Rob Williams
http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Datamining last year's photos

Back Harbour, Twillingate Newfoundland,  July 2010

Recently, I found myself looking through some of last summer's photographs, and I came across a couple of photographs that I had overlooked when I originally processed them.  This image posed a number of difficulties during processing (for example, how to keep the foreground bright enough without blowing out the background), so I guess I passed it by in favour of some easier images.  

Although it's not the best image from Twillingate, it was fun going through the photographs, and pulling out some photographs that I had forgotten about.


. . . Rob Williams http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Blakeney Rapids in Winter

Winter can be very grey -- many days are overcast, with snow on the ground, and forests without leaves.  When the weather clears, it is often very cold, thanks to arctic air moving south.  So, when a bright sunny day comes around with tolerable temperatures, it's great to see some colour return.

The top of Blakeney Rapids in Winter

The Blakeney Rapids are well hidden on the Mississippi River outside of Ottawa (Canada -- not the US).  You can't see them from the highway, or from the local regional roads.  However, if you drive between Pakenham and Arnprior, and turn onto Blakeney Road, you will find a small parking lot where the road crosses the Mississippi River.  Walk down the path a bit, and you will find the rapids.

Pines on the Blakeney Rapids

It's a spectacular place in summer, and just as great in winter.  The path can be quite slippery, and the rocks at the edge can be get covered with ice, so great care is needed.


. . . Rob Williams http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca

Daily Shoot #ds454: Tell the story of a subject today in a photograph by photographing one specific detail of it.

                                                                            Guitar Strings

The daily shoot topic yesterday was to tell the story of a subject by shooting a specific detail of it.  I decided to use my son's guitar, sitting directly in the sunshine in our kitchen.  I liked the combination of the strings, their shadows and the curves of the sounding hole.  This photograph was shot handheld with my 105mm macro lens.

. . . Rob Williams http://www.robertwilliamsphotography.ca