In the Field

Reflecting on a June Morning. Findlay Creek vicinity, East Kootenays, BC, Canada. June 23, 2010.

I just re-discovered this image sitting on my hard-drive in raw, unprocessed form while searching it for another image. Always nice when that happens...

I captured this scene while photographing waterfowl from a blind sitting literally in a pond back in June of 2010. I was waiting for a bufflehead to approach when the scene literally "popped" into my awareness - I honestly can't say how long it was "sitting there" in the water ready to be seen. Anyway, it's simply a reflection of the far shoreline as seen in the water of the pond. I recall thinking at the time how simple - yet beautiful - it was. What I particularly liked is that the blurring of the ripples removed enough detail that the scene was still recognizable as a nice "country scene" but still leaves a lot to the viewer's imagination (and allows them to turn the scene into almost exactly what their eyes WANT it to be).

I often hear comments along the lines of "Your photos only look good because you're a Photoshop guru...". Well, while I'm definitely competent in Photoshop (and image-editing in general), I can assure you I'm no guru! But I like to have my images speak for me - here's the sum total of "adjustments" made to this image: global exposure reduction of 1/3 stop and flipped upside down. That's it. Cropped? Nope - full frame.

Behind the Camera

Reflecting on a June Morning. Findlay Creek vicinity, East Kootenays, BC, Canada. June 23, 2010.

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 14-bit format; ISO 800.

Nikon D3s with Nikkor 600mm f4 VRII lens - supported on carbon fibre Gitzo 1348 tripod with Wimberley head. VR on and in "Normal" mode.

1/125s @ f5; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Reflecting on a June Morning. Findlay Creek vicinity, East Kootenays, BC, Canada. June 23, 2010.

RAW Conversion to 16-bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening using Phase One's Capture One Pro 6.

Photoshop adjustments: 1/3 stop in exposure to entire image, and flipped vertically.

Conservation

Reflecting on a June Morning. Findlay Creek vicinity, East Kootenays, BC, Canada. June 23, 2010.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Wildsight.

This shot was taken in the East Kootenays of British Columbia. While much of the East Kootenays seems quite pristine at first glance, many ecosystems within this region face development pressure, including pressure from logging operations. Wildsight is an effective conservation organization that protects biodiversity and promotes sustainable communities in Canada's Columbia and Rocky Mountains. Support for Wildsight, through donation or becoming a member, will help ensure that they remain effective in their efforts to conserve threatened or endangered species and ecosystems.