Harley (I will miss you my friend)

 Without knowing it this was my last image and time spent with  Harley my special friend and therapist.    In 2019 I was diagnosed with meningoencephalitis which is a virus that causes inflammation of the brain.  The summer of 2021 was an incredibly tough year living with all the post encephalitis craziness.   Then at the end of that summer I was given the gift of being able to photograph and hang out with the Sandy Ridge Herd by the owners  The herd grew on me fast, especially Harley.  I would be dealing with all these different symptoms one of them being anxiety and I would grab my camera and head out to the horses.  They were so wonderful to be with at these times and I would totally forget about the symptoms.  Photographing the herd was such a special treat and it alloyed me to be creative which I think is so important for anyone dealing with brain trauma of any kind.  

I would show up under any weather condition, whether it was -30C or 30C, raining or snowing it made no difference as I wanted to get those special moments. If they were outside I had no excuse but to be out there with them.  Sometimes I would bring them treats of baby carrots which they absolutely loved.  When I did step out into the pasture I would whistle or call them, Harley was usually the first one who would take notice and would walk over to me.  If I didn't have carrots he would still stick around with me.  Harley was a bit of a outcast of the herd and would often have to fight some of the other horses too get a position in the herd.  He was often by himself when I got there and I was often feeling alone in my journey and so we gelled.  

Harley was slowly becoming a pasture horse though, as two bouts of lime disease and an old injury were taking their toll.  I knew this days was coming I just didn't know when.  I remember going out to visit the herd and not seeing Harley out there.  I just had that bad feeling that something had happened but I wasn't sure what.  I text the owner of the stable and inquired about Harley.  She informed me that he had been gifted to a lady in another community.  He would be allowed to just be a pasture horse, that he was in a good home.  I was happy to hear this but I will miss him a lot!  Lord please allow me to ride Harley one day in Heaven.

Running Wild! (A prayer answered)

 

It was snowing out, so I sat in the sunroom and watched it come down as I worked in my grateful journal.  I'm so grateful for the snow, as it somehow makes the world seem so peaceful.  It was so beautiful out there.  As I was considering making myself a coffee I thought of the horses.  I know they love the snow too.  I'm grateful for the horses. So I packed up and headed south to see what they were up to.  As I drove I prayed for my safety as I most always do.  This particular time I also prayed that I would get a galloping image of one of the horses, that it would be in focus and that I would not need to crop it.  It says in The Bible if you don't ask you won't get, so I asked.   

When I got to the stables I was encouraged to see the horses at the back of the pasture instead of up by the barn eating.  They were standing there in front of the oak woods resting and it looked so peaceful.  As I watched from the car I thought that would make a wonderful image, so I headed out.  I was still hoping for some action from the herd so my camera was set for that, high ISO and fast shutter speed.  I walked out to and area that was close enough to capture a shot of them in front of the snow laden woods, but far enough back that if the woke they would run and not walk to me.  I took a few shots then sat and waited.  I had a feeling that something special was going to happen this morning.  After what seemed about 30 minutes but probably was less, I was feeling a little cold and impatient.  I headed back to the car to warmed up.  

Again, I sat there and watched them.  I was feeling a little impatient, should I go?  No!  They are going to run for me today!  So I got out of car and headed back to the spot where I had been and sat there and waited.  I shot off a few more shots more so to get the right exposure.  I watched Badger and Nevaeh to see if there was any communication going on between them.  There was none and again I was getting impatient, so I headed back to the car.  I sat there debating with myself, should I stay or should I go now.  The snow was subsiding and that was good because it would make it easier to focus. Then it happened I saw movement from Badger and Nevaeh.  I jumped out of the car and got out to my spot and then they came like a starter gun had gone off.  They did not stay close together but spread out and I would not be able to get them all in to my image.  I focused in on Cash and followed him in at some point he took a left turn in front of me and I panned him as he galloped by.  It was so exciting!

Just like that they were by me and it was over.  Later as I drove home I was so happy for what I had captured and hoped it was in focus.  If not it still was so amazing, as seeing horses run is something special.  

Well after a simple edit this is what I came up with.  A galloping horse, in focus, no cropping was needed and I was safe.  This image was a year and a half in the making as these kind of opportunities do not present themselves often.  Looking at this image now I'm grateful for this wonderful capture.  Thank you Lord for being mindful of the small things in life.

My Crazy Headspace! (I'm so overwhelmed again)

Summer 2021 was so crazy.  I was trying to get back to work during Covid and all the protocol made it so tough.  My mother had passed and I was one of the executor and that was difficult.  I was living with post encephalitis symptoms one of them being anxiety and that made it overwhelming.  The evenings were difficult but with the encouragement from Julie I would head out into the country with my camera.

As I drove I would try to pray but I didn't know what to pray for.  I'm so grateful that God's Spirit intercedes for me when I can't pray.  I ended up in the Friedensfeld area on this particular outing just south of town.  I somehow needed to calm my brain. My emotions were all over the place and I felt like crying.  I'm such a mess at times, and that is the closest I can come to ever describing my bad headspace that I so often will get.  

I drove around but nothing was getting my attention.  I was so frustrated with myself.  My creativity was just not there.  As I was considering going home I came upon this cornfield that was close beside  the road as there was very little ditch.  I looked back at it and decided I should get at least one shot on this outing.  I told my brain as I often did that he had no choice he was getting out.  Getting out of the car was always the toughest part for me. I picked up my D90 with the 10-20mm Sigma lens on along with my tripod and made my way to the corn.  I looked up and saw there was clouds in the sky and there was a little colour showing as the sun was starting to get low behind me.  Now how should I approach this field of corn?  Hmm I decided I'd get right into the corn and angle my camera down just enough so that my image would not be cut totally in half.  I wanted the clouds and just a little different perspective of the corn than I normally would shoot.  I shot off a few images at a few different exposure than went back to the car.  

When I got home Julie asked me if I had gotten anything good?  I said I don't know yet.  Well did you have fun she asked?  I wasn't sure of that either on this particular outing.  There wasn't many images to look at on this particular outing but I zeroed in on this particular exposer.  I think I liked it and so did a quick edit.  I have come back to this image many times and it has really grown on me.  Having said that it still brings back vivid memories of my emotional and mental state at that time.

As I make my way through this journey I'm on, I realize how sensitive I am to noise and those who make the noise.  I'm finding I need to forgive those that do, as they don't realize how they are affecting people around them.  This world is all together too loud for me.  More and more I find a need to get away from all this and that is when I head into the country with my camera.  I'm so grateful that I can do this, I'm so blessed.

I'm Afraid! (This Story Remembered )

 

I woke up early, I was afraid.  I was alone for the night, as Julie and Tamera were on their annual tenting excursion at West Hawk Lake.  I decided since I couldn't sleep I'd get up and head out with my camera.  

The sun was not up yet and this would allow me to get out and capture it coming up.  I headed southwest and ended up down some narrow country road that was not in the greatest of shape, but I kept going. My thinking was that this road was probably just used by farmers to get onto to their fields.  

I passed along side a farmyard and in the back he had this huge scarecrow in his cornfield.  I stop and looked at it for awhile, then decided I'd get out and capture an image of it.  As I was setting up I felt creeped out, I was scared.  This felt like an area I wasn't supposed to be in.  I took a couple of quick shots then moved on.  A mile or so down the road I found what I was looking for, a field of round bales.

The sun would be coming up soon so I would have to hurry and get set up before it did.  I grabbed my tripod and camera and headed a little ways across the field. It was quiet with just me and the birds out there.  I was feeling a little paranoid and kept looking at the road I had come down, never the less I needed to work out this fear thing so I put my Nikon D90 with a 10-20 Sigma lens on my tripod.  I looked up and saw that there were clouds in front of the sun and there was light streaming through a separation in the clouds. I was also noticing some cool colours showing.  I focused on the front bale and put my f stop to 14 and I adjusted my shutter speed accordingly.  I shot a few shots off adjusting my shutter speed on each to get different exposures, then I moved my camera to get a different point of view. I kept doing this for about 30 minutes or so.  My creativity was used up as my brain seems to get tired so easily.  My fear had subsided some and my brain space was a little better.  I was hungry so I decided to head home for a coffee and some breakfast.  After I had eaten I checked out what I had.  I really liked this one, and since taking this image back in 2021, I have re-edited it a number of times as I have just not been happy with any of my edits.  While getting images together for a book idea I did this edit and I'm happy with this one.  I hope you like it too!

Looking Out My Back Window

Living post Encephalitis life is so tough.  One of my side effects is living with all kind of fears.  Earlier on these fears would keep me at home.  I would still find a need to be creative though, so I would grab my camera and head out into the backyard or if it was cold out would hang out in the sunroom.  I love watching the birds and squirrels from here.  When I see something I like I will try and capture the moment on my camera.  I find that Blue Jays can be a little shy and when they notice me will fly away.  So I will preset everything on my camera as much as I can, and when the opportunity arises will sneak off a shot.  This is one of those opportunities.

Rolling Across The Prairie

 2021 was such a tough years as I was trying to get back to work and was dealing with all kind of protocols etc. at work because of Covid.  It had been two years since I was diagnosed with viral meningitis and encephalitis and I was dealing with a lot of side effects one of them being anxiety. 

 It was late June and the canola was starting to show it's colour.  After a day of work I was in such a bad place and getting out with my camera was a way I would deal with it.  So after I had supper I grabbed my camera gear and just drove. On this particular outing I ended up in Carey MB because of the canola fields and started looking for a field that showed the most colour.  As I was out capturing some images I heard a distant train and I decided that is what I wanted to include in my shot.  I jumped into my car and headed to the next road, took a right and headed about half a mile south down this dirt road.   I did not have a lot of time to set up this shot so I grabbed my D90 with my 70-300mm lens on it and set up for a longer shot using my tripod.  The sun was getting low in the sky and was showing some nice colour and I really liked that, but it was forcing me to shoot a little slower, so I upped my ISO.   As the train showed up into my viewfinder I shot off some three shots or so.  After the train had passed I decided to head back home. 

Over the past few years I keep on coming back to this shot wanting to improve my edit.  Because it was a long shot on a high ISO it was a very noisy image at least in the sky.  Last summer I bought Topaz an AI (artificial intelligence) photo editing program and put it to work on this image.  This is the result and I like it.

Sunrise on West Hawk Lake

 

After having a  few tough months my wife decided and that we could use some R&R.  So she made arrangements for two nights at West Hawk Lake, our favourite vacation spot.  Time at West Hawk means hikes on Hunt Lake Trail, time spent on the beach and in the cold waters, firesides as well as relaxing breakfasts eating breakfast sandwich over a great cup of coffee and spending time in my grateful journal.  Oh I almost forgot, getting up early at least on one of the mornings to do some photography.  That's where this image comes in.  I woke up at around 4:30,  knowing that sunrise was happening around 5 and as tired as I was I got dressed and headed out.  One of the places I'd been thinking about was a 10 minute walk through the camping grounds.  I would have to be quiet so I would not wake any of the campers.  When I got to the spot I noticed the water level was down due to the lack of snow in winter and rains this last spring.  I fished around in my camera bag and got out my Nikon D90 with my wide angle Sigma 10-20mm lens.  I put my camera onto my tripod and stepped out onto one of the bigger rocks that were sticking out of the water.  The set up was difficult as it was very uneven and in fact had to put one of the legs onto a different rock to make it work.  The sun had not as of yet made an appearance but the sky was still bright enough that I keep on blowing out my image on the light side.  Blowing out is not a good thing as it means there is no information in that area that blows out.  I kept on under exposing but that meant my foreground was too dark and probably blowing out on the dark side.  That's no good either and I was getting a little frustrated.  I do not do HDR as I do not have the editing tools that can handle that.  For those who don't know what HDR is, it's taking a few shots at different exposures and than blending them together in the computer to make this perfect image.  So how can I make this work?  I step off of the rocks and went back to my camera bag.  I put my camera with the wide angle lens away and pulled out my other camera with a telephoto Nikon 70-300mm lens on it.  I wasn't sure what I wanted with this lens but I stepped out onto the rocks I had previously been on and started scanning the water.  As I was scanning I saw this cool colour layering thing happening when I went in tight, I loved it.  I hand held a few shots and noticed that I was not blowing out and liked what I was seeing.  So I put my camera on the tripod and set up a really cool vertical image.  I must admit it was something totally different for me but I was getting excited by what I was seeing.  Just to make sure I was covering every angle I set up a few horizontal shots and like them too although I was favoring the verticals.  When I had exhausted this set up I turned my camera around and started shooting wider images with the same lens on the opposite side of the sky.  After a few different set ups I packed up and went back to the cottage.  I briefly looked over what I'd shot at breakfast and liked some of what I'd shot out there.  Unfortunately Tuesday night we headed home.  It had been such a relaxing at West Hawk, my head was in such a good place and I wished we could have spent a month out there instead of just two nights.  When we did get home that evening I put my images on the computer and really liked the tight in images I'd taken out on the water.  I edited one and sent it to my friend Steve to see what he thought, he's an artist so I value his opinion.  He said he like the light but his wife had really liked the image.  I showed the image to my wife and she also really like it.  I than text the image to the family and my daughter loved it and said it would make a great background on her cell and my son agreed.  Well that's it, it's a keeper.

Dark Horse

 The last snow fall of the season and I had the morning off.  After dropping my wife off at work I drove home picked up my camera gear and headed south down highway 12.  As I drove past this particular pasture I notice a couple of horses and thought that could make an interesting image with it snowing.  I love horses and every time I get a chance to photograph them I take advantage of it.  So I did a U turn and pull up onto the shoulder of the road on the side that the horses were on.  I got my Nikon D90 with my 70-300mm lens out and  turned up the ISO to be able to handle any action they may throw my way on this early overcast morning.  The horses were a distance away and I figured I would need to have my lens as close to 300mm so I could to get the images that I wanted.  I got out of the vehicle and proceeded  into the ditch, stopped and took a few shots.  It was at this time that they noticed me and came running towards me.  My lens struggled getting focused on them as they moved towards me at a fairly fast clip, the falling snow was not helping the situation.  I kept on pressing my shutter release button and ever once in a while it was grabbing and would go off.  They came up to the fence where I was and I spent some time talking and petting them.  I took a few portrait shots of them standing there and then decided to move on and get some landscape images.  Later that day when I looked at what I taken in the morning I was disappointed with most of what I was seeing. One of the  shots though did get my attention as I loved the way the dark horse on the right looked. There was so much action, energy and pure wildness in the way the horse looked but the other horse was only partly in the shot and that was a disappointment.  There was no way to clone out that horse as there was just too much to clone out and cloning is not one of my strong point of editing.  Then in occurred to me that I could crop out the horse on the left on this horizontal image and make this a vertical, so that is what I did.  I love it!  This has again taught me, it's more than the crop that makes this image work, although it definitely helped a lot in this case.  It's more than good to be lucky, lucky to be good photographer making this image work but it's more about just being out there that makes this image work.  So get out there and make it happen!

My Monet moment on the Seine River

It was perfect conditions for some great photography.  The autumn colours were starting to show, there was a slight breeze but it was beautiful outside.  As I crawled underneath bridge I could see the wonderful colours reflected in the water, on the north side of the bridge, so that is where I set up.  As I was getting my focus it just didn’t look right, it wasn’t focusing properly.  I looked up from my camera and as I looked at the scene in front of me I realized it wasn’t the camera that was the issue it was me.  I put my prescription sunglasses on and that helped some but things just weren’t clear.  That really scared me and my anxiety started to rise.  I managed to get myself together and decided I was here and I really wanted to get these images.  I had to trust my camera, I had my f-stop set at 14 and that was where I wanted it, as I wanted to shoot slower to soften the water a bit but still wanted all the foliage on the sides to be in focus.  I focus 1/3 way into my scene and pressed my shutter release button on my camera.  I shot off another two shots under and over exposing.  I couldn’t tell if they were in focus but just assumed they were.  I then did a quick set up on the south side of the bridge and did the same thing with my focus and my exposures.  At this point my anxiety started to get the best of me so I went up to my car and slowly drove home.  This eye thing stayed with me for a few days and then it cleared up.  Was this from encephalitis or just simply anxiety which has heightened since meningitis and encephalitis?  Off that topic, it turned out the images I took looked great.  I have had a few people tell me the reflection in the river looks like a Monet painting, one of them being my oldest brother.  So this is my Monet!