Sketching the Winter Landscape

February 22, 2015February 24, 2015 | drawandshoot

The Snowshoer

Today felt downright balmy as the temperature briefly climbed all the way to -4c ~ we have been locked in the deep cold for so long, and it’s not over yet. It’s hard to believe spring is (officially) just under a month away. This day was for perfect for playing in the fresh snow, though, so I took my camera along while I was cross-country skiing on the escarpment and attempted to make use of the dull light (which can be suitable for longer exposures). Each of these images was made in-camera using multiple exposures and/or camera movement.

A Bird (or two) in the Hand…

February 18, 2015 | drawandshoot

1&2 nuthatch

3,4 &5 female downy woodpecker

6&7 chickadee

8,9 &10 male downy woodpecker

Finding the sweetness of winter. It’s a cold one…

The Tree Swing

February 12, 2015 | drawandshoot

An early winter photograph made from a moving car (subtly layered with a similar drive-by image). I didn’t notice the swing at first but it now seems rather fitting for the dizzy ‘merry-go-round’ feel of the image.
~A placeholder for summer~

Winter Light (Abstracted Landscapes)

February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 | drawandshoot

I made the above series of photographs a while ago and had decided that they were pretty much failures. Except.

Except there is something about that luminous winter light and those subtle tones. And perhaps I am reconsidering these images because I recently saw the visually sumptuous movie ‘Mr. Turner’ and these sort of ‘landscape sketches’ have taken on a slightly different meaning. Or perhaps they are still failures, I haven’t quite decided. Either way they are an interesting part of the image making process (for me) so here they are.

Different light on a different day.

[Each one of these images is a ‘drive-by’ photograph, made from the passenger seat of a moving car]

Seed Pearls

January 26, 2015January 27, 2015 | drawandshoot

[Another Winter Garden with fresh growth from the self-seeding frost on the cold window ~ the glow of the frozen water drops made me think of seed pearls.]

déjà vu

January 24, 2015January 24, 2015 | drawandshoot

Self portraits with light and shadow, held together with fragments of landscape.

Winter Garden 2

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 | drawandshoot

Every winter I find myself pressed up against this window holding my breath while I turn my lens on the forming frost. A tiny new garden grows during each cold spell and it’s never the same. You can find last January’s ‘Winter Garden’ here .

(spirit of ) Evergreens at Dusk

January 18, 2015January 19, 2015 | drawandshoot

during snowfall…

[Layered exposures, made with camera movement]

Karen McRae, 2015

Winter Field ~ Sunflowers

January 13, 2015 | drawandshoot

I meant to come here in the summer (and the autumn) to study this field of sunflowers in full bloom but here I am only managing to photograph them in January while their dark heads are bowed with the weight of winter.