Paterson Photography Photo Shoots

Morning Frost

December 10, 2019December 6, 2019 by Mike

Morning Frost

I love frost on just about anything. When I went out for my late night walk last night the fog was slowly rolling into town. I figured that the next day would bring some morning frost and I was right. On my morning walk it was amazing. As soon as I got home I grabbed a camera and headed out to my front yard.

Just as I was starting to shoot the winds started to come up and the frost was starting to blow off the trees and plants. It stayed around long enough fr me to get my pictures. Four hundred pictures later and I am happy 🙂 Here are a few of the pictures. Has been a while since the weather and my schedule worked out.

Camera – Canon 5D MkIV, 100 2.8 Macro, 400 ISO – various shutter speeds and aperture

The morning frost was accenting these Wild Rose plants

Paterson Photography Changes

December 10, 2019December 6, 2019 by Mike

People have been asking why the changes here at Paterson Photography? Well it is simple, I am trying to stay organized and that is a HUGE project in itself. Over the past years several of my businesses and hobbies have merged into one HUGE mess.

People that are looking for my nature prints find my woodworking or my teaching information but cannot find my nature prints. People that want to follow the happenings with my van find my nature prints, etc, etc.

So I have been slowly separating things to make it easier for me and for my friends and clients. Well to be blunt it is like separating an omelette, it has not been easy. I am glad that I am doing it but it will take a lot of work to clean things up.

So be patient and someday I may have things all organized. You may see posts overlapping for a while but slowly things will split completely, or at least that is how I plan it 🙂

So some of my sites if you are interested are below…

Harvest moon

September 18, 2019September 14, 2019 by Mike Paterson

Shine on Harvest moon……

The harvest moon is one of my least favorite full moons, it means that the warm weather is coming to an end. But with the nice weather I still went out and did some pictures of it last night. I first planned my shoot using The Photographer’s Ephemeris to see where the moon would rise. For some reason it was way off and I ended up in an area that did not work. Not a big deal as the clouds were covering the first part of the rise so I relocated to get the moon as it was coming out of the low clouds.

I have shot a lot of full moons and I get bored with the same old shots. So I knew that I wanted to play with this moon in a different way.

The first shot that I wanted to do would not work without some help from editing. I wanted to do a shot of the moon rising over a local grain terminal. I also wanted it to be a grainy shot, more like a painting then a photograph. So I shot the elevators 10 minutes before the moon rise. Then I shot the moon as it came up and put them together. I use to do this type of shot years ago with film and it was a pain!! With digital it is so much easier.

The next set of shots I did not plan out. I wanted something out of the ordinary with the moon. After relocating to a second location I found what I wanted. I call these shots building a full moon as the moon was not completely full at this time. Plus it looks like a construction site.

Fog on our walk

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019 by Mike Paterson

Walking the dog this morning and the fog was amazing! Did not have a camera with me but a snap from my cell does okay. Like I tell my photography students it is as much being there as anything.

They say you never have a second chance to make a first impression. Well in photography you seldom have a second chance to get a image. Today I got a second chance. When I got home from walking the dog the fog was all gone. About an hour later my son says “wow is it foggy”, I looked out and sure enough the fog was back. Had to go out with a good camera and retake the playground image.

I like both images for different reasons. The good thing is that I at least had something to shoot the first one!

Learn about my photography courses here

Photography courses can cut through all the confusion and help you get on the right path. Photography can be an enjoyable hobby or even a business if you have the correct knowledge. I will teach you all the functions and features of your camera.

I also offer location courses and workshops for individuals or groups. All the courses may be customized to meet your learning requirements. Whether it is a point and shoot camera that you need help understanding, a new DSLR camera or a new piece of gear you want to get the most out of.

One of the first questions that I get from new students is what course should I take to start, and my response is always the same. If you have never taken a photography course and you are interested in building your photography skills you should start with the Digital Introductory Course. Only by starting with the basics will you be sure that you have a good base to build on in the future. Once you have a good understanding of the basics of photography you may take other courses that you are interested in.

On the hunt

September 18, 2019August 12, 2019 by Mike

The hunt!

I was in Waterton on the hunt for some birds. So far the day was pretty productive but there was still a lot of daylight remaining and I wanted to get some more pictures. I decided that I would stop at one of my favorite spots. Maskinonge is located just outside the Waterton Park gates and I find a lot of birds pass through here. I parked my van the White Turtle II in my favorite spot. I came across the usual birds as soon as I arrived, a mix of song birds, a Heron, a couple Trumpeter swans and a number of ducks.

I cam e across a couple Trumpeter Swans on my bird hunt — Trumpeter Swans

The hunter becomes the hunted

I was enjoying taking their pictures but the birds seemed nervous. I spotted a couple hawks and an eagle across the lake and even they seemed nervous. Then the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I heard a noise a ways away, but close enough that I turned towards the noise. It was like I was being watched. I reached down to make sure that the pepper spray was still on my belt and wondered if I needed it if it would still work. I looked around but could not see anything but I felt it, then I spotted it.

Hidden on the ground behind some trees it could survey the entire lake. It was not close enough to pounce on me but it wasn’t that far away. I tried to get a better angle to get a picture but it was well hidden in the trees. I did not want to approach to close as the closer I got the worse the angle would be to get a picture. Also the closer I got the more chance that I would get injured should it get spooked.

A good perch for the hunt!

I finally found a spot that I was in the open but a ways away. I watched it for a while but it did not seem like it was in any hurry. By its size I could only imagine what it was like when dinosaurs roamed this area. It was HUGE!!!! I also realized what it must have been like to be hunted by a Pterodactyl.

After watching it for several minutes I figured that it must be asleep as it had not moved since i spotted it. I then took some pictures of the birds in the area that were also confused by this massive invader in their wetlands. They would go about their routine but they were keeping a close eye on it.

It moves!!

After about 20 minutes of photographing the birds I heard another noise. It was getting ready to move. Before I could turn my body it was starting to rise behind the trees. Then without warning it put it’s nose down and started coming towards me. I had fortunately left enough space so that I had time to react. I swung my camera around and grabbed a few shots, not even thinking about the bear spay on my belt.

Before I knew it it was looming over me. As it went past I noticed that all the birds in the area were taking off and seeking cover. It headed west towards the river then it turned to the north. As fast as all that happened it was again quiet. The lake was now empty of birds but it would only be a short time till they came out from hiding and flew back from their hiding places.

I survived

Well they say that any time you survive an adventure it is a good one. I had survived!! I realized that I was now getting hungry and it was getting late so I decided that I would head to the campground for supper. A good day it was, a number of great images and an experience that I have not had in Waterton before!!

Preparing for the hunt

Stay up to date on the White Turtle III

What print size won’t crop your image

April 24, 2019August 7, 2019 by Mike

Why does that print size crop my image?

So what print size will I be able to print without loosing any of the image? The question is almost daily. “Why is it when I get a 5×7, 8×10, 11×14 or 16×20 print made of my digital file I have some of the image cut off”?

The answer

A digital camera sensor is NOT the same proportions as the print sizes mentioned above.

Why are those print sizes so popular? According to history the sizes that we have come to know as normal where used by photographers that shot 645 medium format. These sizes fit this format perfectly. 35mm Film and most sensors in digital cameras are proportioned to 4×6, 8×12, 11×16, 12×18, 16×24. Only these sizes will give you the full image file without cropping any of your image.

Cropping can be a good thing if you plan for it. It can allow you to get closer to the subject and eliminate “extra” parts of the picture. For some pictures it is a killer. Imagine a picture of a large family and the people are from one edge of the image to the other. Then the client asks for a 16×20. Well you now have to choose who in the family that you are going to cut out. Or you will have to do a lot of editing to add sky or foreground to the image.

Full print size — The full digital image

Cropped print size — When you ask for a cropped print size

So what should you do?

When shooting images imagine that you have crop lines in your viewfinder. Or do like many did in years past and draw the crop lines in – if you so dare or are crazy enough to try. Then leave space around your images for the cropping to the common sizes.

If you want to do something artistic like shooting a image to print to 24″x8″ make sure that you let your client know first. That way they won’t try and order a 8×10 from that image. Or maybe do one that is more artistic in posing then do some that will fit the common format sizes.

If you do mess up and crop too tight for the print size, add some space using Photoshop. Unsure of how to add space ask when ordering and I will help you with it.