May's Favourite Photo is...

Morning Splendour. I'm glad that this one got the vast majority of the votes because I really love this shot. Taken from the southern bank of the St. John River looking east, this shot captures how really beautiful this river can be.

March's favourite photo is...

The Colour of Morning.

Thanks to everyone who voted, either by using the Comments section of this blog, via email or in person. Don't forget to vote for April's Photo of the Month, with the candidates for that high honour displayed in my last post. Thanks!

Day 360 - The brilliant blue of the cloudless sky

Morning sun adds warmth and a slightly yellowish-red tone to new-fallen snow in the branches of a tree in our front yard. With another 10 centimetres of snow accumulated since yesterday, we now have our first real, thick blanket of the season. Too bad it won't last through the next couple of days: with temperatures rising and rain on the way, I don't think the white stuff stands a chance.

I took this photograph at about 9 or so this morning, when the sun was well-established in the sky. It's interesting to see the different kinds of light the sun provides, depending on the time of day and its location in the heavens. Here, the early morning's reds are starting to be replaced by the full yellow and white hues of the midday sun. These colours reflect in the snow on the branches but also bring out the brilliant blue of the cloudless sky.

Day 349 - Morning glorious

This photograph has NOT been tampered with. It came directly from the Olympus, with no enhancements, cropping or touch-ups of any kind. This is what the eastern sky looked like at 7:45 this morning.

Absolutely stunning. I can't think of any other words to describe it. What an amazing sky. Right outside our door. I stepped out on my way to work, looked up and saw this.

The challenge, as always, was to find the right camera settings. More light or less light? I placed the camera on the post of our porch railing, and then started fiddling with the aperture and shutter speed settings. I think this one is mid-range for both: probably an f5.6 with a shutter speed at 1/8th of a second or so. I didn't want to slow the shutter too far down for fear that the branches in the foreground would blur out, causing a distraction.

I took about 10 shots at different settings (and almost missed my bus). I have a couple that are lighter but that tends to bleed some of the drama from the colours. So I chose this one. And it's glorious.

Day 345 - Bookshelves and morning sun

A beautiful morning, with the sun streaming into our dining room. I originally starting taking pictures to try to capture the way the bright sun was illuminating the glass beads and green sheer curtains on the window itself. It was this photo of the bookshelves, however, that caught my eye when I transferred the shots onto the computer.

Strong light like this always creates drama. I like the strong contrast it makes these shelves and their contents, with strong lines between shadow and light. I had to play with the exposure a bit to get this right: the light meter kept getting fooled by the differences across the composition of the frame.

Day 343 - Steeple and soft morning light

Early morning sun bathes the steeple of one of Fredericton's downtown churches in a soft, pink light.

I was walking to work this morning when I saw how beautifully that sun was illuminating this steeple, causing its copper skin to glow. I took the photograph from one of the fifth floor windows in my office building and am now worried that the delay in taking the shot might have allowed the light to fade a little bit. The photo certainly doesn't convey the glow that I saw in person, though I think it is still pretty nice.

I wonder as well if I should have closed the aperture down one more stop to try to deepen the colours by reducing the amount of light that entered the lens. Would it have worked? Could such a technique have brought out more of that velvety glow I saw?

I don't know. But, if I get the chance to try it again, I will.