Today’s plan was to walk to Kinsmen Park in downtown Strathmore, Alberta, during my lunch break and to exercise my 30D and take monochrome pictures of tree bark. I’m a texture freak and I can look at pictures of tree bark all day long. This was exactly what I did.
I did not plan to come back with any colour shots, however. The problem is that you see what you see and then you can’t help but to start shooting other things as well, such as local graffiti.
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
I did fulfill my main objective, however. I got pics aplenty of tree bark. I also got some strange lewks from a seven or eight-year-old girl who was blowing bubbles nearby and who had the common sense not to ask what was wrong with me.
AB, 2024-04-01
AB, 2024-04-01
Not all of my bark images were black and white, I did come away with some colour images of tree trunks as well.
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
As to the other colour shots, there was some local artwork I had overlooked until I looked more closely and realized just how detailed the artist’s brushwork was. You could almost think the painting on the side of a utility box was a photograph if you didn’t know better. The texture on two large rocks in the park really stood out to me as well.
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
Park, Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
If you live in Strathmore and you walk up to these rocks and look closely, the colours aren’t as pronounced in real-life as they are here. That is the magic of digital photo editing – it is possible to amplify and bring out details that aren’t visible to the naked eye.
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
Strathmore, AB, 2024-04-01
I rounded out my walk around the lake with some shots of shadows on the frozen lake, an isolated twig in the bushes along the shore, and a closeup of some repeating elements on the Municipal Building’s pillars on the way past. The warmth in the air, the singing of the birds, and my photographic “sight” coming back to life made it a wonderful outing for me. Things are only going to get better as spring eases back in.
Today’s images were made using a Canon EOS 30D. Ironically, I bumped into a camera enthusiast who couldn’t believe I was shooting with a nearly two decade old camera and recommended that I consider something newer. He really talked up the Canon EOS R5 and told me it would change my life. I thanked him without telling him I had left my R5 sitting on the kitchen table at home.
