This was the first holiday I’ve ever tried using an SLR in snowy conditions. The temptation for the camera to over expose was really compounded by the fact I was wearing sunglasses a lot and so when reviewing pictures they always looked dark.

One of the interesting challenges on this trip was definitely shooting pictures from inside a dogsled while rattling along a really bumpy trail.

Here’s one example

(Oh, and for reference. These dogs don’t stop when they need to piddle or poop – they just kind of go on the run. So, if you’re ever in this position, make sure you watch out for flying poop!)

Yesterday I mentioned the animals in Elk Island being happy to pose. Well, none more so than this little chap.

When we spotted him in the tree, we all jumped on cameras thinking it would be the shot of a second. But, I kid you not, this little guy was still hanging around and posing 5 minutes later.

In fact, I’d swear when we turned away he started complaining!

Here’s a few other shots.

Oh, the little white flecks on his coat aren’t issues with the camera, they’re little snowflakes – there was still a lot around. I may clone them out if I print one of these though as out of context they are a little detracting.

And no, I don’t think he would have let me brush him down…

(Oh, I was told this was a Red Squirrel. In the absence of other contradictory evidence I am assuming this to be correct)

Whilst in Canada we had an opportunity to visit Elk Island National Park to look for Bison.

Sadly the Bison decided it was too damn cold and snowy to hang out near the places where humanity might catch a glimpse, though we did see them in the distance.*

Still, the other locals were happy to pose.

In an effort to be prepared when leaving the house, I’d lifted out my 10-22mm and my 55-250mm lenses from my camera bag. By habit, I’d mounted the wide angle lens. It was only as we entered the park and I looked at my friends camera I began to get a niggling feeling I’d made a mistake.

Yup, animals tend to be skittish, landscapes less so – so if you’re in the same situation, mount your zoom lens in case an animal pops up. They probably won’t hang around while you change lenses and reset the camera.

*I’m kind of glad they were in the distance. Having partook in the eating of some of their friends in the preceding days, I felt guilty enough without having to look one in the eye. Funny thing, I’ve never felt that way when encountering a cow or a pig.

Sorry for the recent bout of silence. I was off to Canada to visit friends and get in a bit of skiing.

Rumours of Yeti sightings in Banff and Lake Louise can probably be explained away by me covered in snow.

Pictures and such will follow, but for now…

It’s absolutely amazing the difference 10 minutes can make. 10 minutes earlier and the sun would have been much nicer.

Mind you 10 minutes before that it was chucking it down.

And 10 minutes after I took this it was pitch black and chucking it down.

The Irish Marine Institute, Galway Bay.

One thing that constantly catches me out id the depth of field (DOF) on a Macro lens. When shooting a normal photograph, an aperture of F/13 will probably keep most everything in focus.

In a macro world, that is sadly not the case.

(f/13, 1/125, 100mm, ISO-100. Light from strobes to right and left through diffusing materials)

I mean, I know when it’s close the DOF is tight. But I mean, this tight? If you look at the blown up version, you can see that some of the tacks lose focus between the bottom and the point.

I actually like the photo. I’m just amazed at how shallow the DOF is.

It’s been about a month since I started dabbling in stock photography, so I thought it was time to look at how things are going.

The thing that constantly surprises me is the quality of photographs people are putting up. If stock was ever a way “to make money from family snaps”, it’s well past that now. The discipline the more serious photographers show is amazing – to take multiple pictures of the same object and turn each out perfectly is a skill that’s beyond me and to take new and unusual photographs is a credit to their creativity and talent.

I still haven’t decided if it’s for me in the long term, but for now I guess if it keeps me using my camera and developing my skills, I’ll keep putting some of my pictures up for sale.

Anyway, here’s some interesting (to me) figures.

I’ve alternated between being amused and bemused over the last month.

I’ve grown fond of shutterstock and  I guess it shows in that I’ve uploaded more images there than anywhere else – that’s not really to do with the fact people are buying my stuff from there, more because their forums are friendly and their upload process is painless.

Meanwhile, I’ve considered stopping with the others a few times. Indeed, I told someone in work I was fed up with having no sales and so many rejections from Istockphoto and logged in to prove my point – only to have my first sale sitting waiting on me…

My current feeling is that’ll I’ll try to list on shutterstock and istock and the other sites will get submissions if I have time. Especially since there are yet more sites to consider!

If you’re giving it a go, let me know how you’re getting on and if you have any tips, please share.

I’d always wanted to see how hard it is to catch a clay pigeon exploding in mid flight.

(f/10, 1/250sec, 135mm, ISO-400)

Bloody difficult. That’s how hard it is.

Reckon my failings here were the low shutter speed, possibly compounded by poor aperture choice.

Sadly the day I tried it, the weather was pretty dull and grey. Added to that, the lens was never going to be able to track and focus on the clay. I ended up pre-focusing at roughly the range I thought the clay would get hit, then tracking it from the launcher and zooming in on it as I went.

I think I maybe fired 30 or 40 shots trying to get something like this. Out of the set I have 3 where the clay is obviously hit.

Needless to say, it helps if the guys shooting at the clays is competent and hits them more often than not.