Matt Greer Photo Essays

Catching Up - Part 1 (of many)

2009-11-18T08:03:00.000-08:00

I have much catching up to do with my photo editing (and posting). Here's the first of many installments as I try to get back on track.

This is a grey squirrel shot in Calgary's Fish Creek Park, taken with a Sigma 100-300 f/4 (and Nikon D300). I do like this lens a lot, though I'm struggling to get the most out of it. It's been a good teacher for me; I've learned better monopod techniques, I've learned to not just blindly trust my autofocus, and I've learned to breathe more calmly and trip the shutter more gently. A sharp lens and a narrow depth of field requires that I pay attention to every little detail.

I was house (and cat) sitting for a friend recently, and while cat pictures are by now a cliché, I wanted to have a go at it myself. Strobist - Nikon SB-600 triggered by CLS, camera right, with a small soft-box on the front. Evening sun is giving the rest of the soft light.

My friend, Janet, at Waterton Lakes National Park (in Alberta, Canada - it's connected to Glacier National Park in the USA). Janet's gorgeous smile and big, beautiful eyes make my work easy. Strobist - Nikon SB-600 triggered by CLS, high and camera left (just barely out of frame).

A small waterfall near the Lake Agnes Tea House, at Lake Louise, Alberta. The tea house is worth a trip, but I recommend you call ahead for the hours, and get there early. The tea house fills up quickly, but it's a lovely treat.

Fall colours along the Bow Valley Parkway, connecting Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta. I believe this was the old highway, but it rarely gets much traffic anymore. This is one of the most scenic portions of road in Banff National Park I've seen yet.

This is a smaller portion of the same scene above.

Halifax & Newfoundland - Part 6

2009-10-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Inside an old cabin on Western Brook beach (I'm back in Gros Morne National Park, here). Every time I come back, this small building has deteriorated more and more - this time the entire front (ocean-facing) wall was gone. I'm not sure if this is sad or pretty, but as I'm here being a photographer, I'll stick with pretty.

Mom and Dad on Western Brook beach. Newfoundland has a few beautiful sandy beaches, and even on the sunniest of days, they're all but deserted. I think that if there were long, beautiful sandy beaches (as this one is) just a 45 minute drive from any other fairly major centre in the world, they'd be packed all the time. I don't understand why this one isn't, but the peace and quiet is just how I like it.

This is part of the view out the front window of the house I grew up in. It's been cloudy and raining almost the entire time I've been home (not complaining - I love cloudy days!), but every now and then the sun has appeared and made everything glow. I could hardly ask for anything more.

Another view out the front window. A large transmission line runs through the farm, and on the right is an old sheep barn (and before that, it was a poultry barn). More beautiful colours.

A blurry view over Corner Brook (the neighbouring "city"). The brightest lights in the lower left part of the frame are from a pulp and paper mill. Apologies for the shakiness - this was an eight second exposure on a windy night with no tripod (I know, it's no excuse).

Mom atop a cliff near the Bay of Islands (less than an hour from Corner Brook). There were beautiful waves and lots of wind today. This is the same place I took this photo.

A wave crashing in at Bottle Cove. You can see a bit of a cave behind the wave. The tide was too high to walk in there today (and the waves to big to want to!), but you can often easily walk to the cave and explore it. I took this shot of Mom a few years ago.

(Probably) the last shot of this trip, just one bay over from Bottle Cove. I don't remember the name of this bay, but I remember the place well from being a kid. There is something surprising cosy and busy about being there that it has always remained vivid in my memory.

Halifax & Newfoundland - Part 5

2009-10-09T17:49:00.001-07:00

A view over Trout River, Newfoundland, within Gros Morne National Park. The entrance into Gros Morne is just 45 minutes from where I grew up, and is easily the most beautiful place I've ever been. The landscape changes from one twist in the road to the next, and this is the only place I've been that is made even more beautiful by foul weather. Heavy contrast and desaturation applied to this image.

Mom and Dad in front of a waterfall on the Tablelands. The Tablelands consist of rock from the earth's mantle (several kilometres below the earth's surface) and are (I believe) one of only a half dozen or so places on earth where the mantle is actually exposed. The red is from iron in the rock (I've also heard references to there being sulphur in the rock), and is right next to areas of lush foliage. Mom and Dad lit by flash bounced into an umbrella, camera right.

Exploring the farm that I "grew up" on (I didn't have what most would call a true farm life, but our house and yard backed onto my uncle's [once my grandfather's] farm, and I did work there most summers as a child). I've shot similar grass with a cold-blue snowy background in Radium, BC before, and I liked the similar mood to the photo, despite the 45 degree temperature difference.

The farm is not really in use any more. My uncle rents the land to a nearby farming operation, and the buildings are all abandoned and neglected. It's sad to see the farm no longer active, but I do enjoy photographing derelict buildings.

The hay loft inside the tallest barn on the property. I remember loading hay bales into this barn, filling the barn front to back, and several layers above my head. I also remember sitting in this barn and listening to heavy rain roar above me as it beat down on the high tin roof. My photography isn't doing the barn justice, and I hope I get more opportunities to capture just how amazing this barn feels to me.

Halifax & Newfoundland - Part 4

2009-10-07T17:16:00.001-07:00

Two swans in Glynmill pond, Corner Brook, Newfoundland. Corner Brook is just a 15 minute drive from where I grew up (Pasadena) and the city is covered in the colours of fall.

The swans weren't shy, but perhaps they were hoping I'd have some lunch to share with them. (I didn't.)

It wouldn't be home without rain! It's been raining on and off ever since I got home, but it's making for beautiful soft light and saturated colours.

At the end of my walk around Glynmill pond, gulls were perched in the reflection of the reds, oranges, yellows and greens. I do love the fall.

The hills are just covered with the fall colours. They make even the cloudiest days bright, and I'm so glad I chose this time of year to come home.

It's Dad's birthday, and we drove down to Burgeo, a small town on the south coast of Newfoundland, together. Beautiful sandy beaches, sunny skies, and not another person in sight! Lit with a flash on a light stand, camera right.

More of Burgeo beach. I'm sure the water was cold today, but I've swum in this water in late August and it can be quite warm, and is always crystal clear. Treatment of this image involves a heavy red-channel monochrome conversion, then that layer reduced to 75% opacity (letting some colour back through) then a strong curves layer increasing contrast but just holding on to the lights/darks. It was actually a beautiful, breezy day. I just like this image this way.

Halifax & Newfoundland - Part 3

2009-10-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

My sister, Jenny, with her husband, David, and her two boys, Robbie (left) and Dawson at their home just outside of Truro, Nova Scotia. Lit with two flashes (one bare, camera right, one bounced into an umbrella, camera left) and some desaturation/tint/sharpening applied. My nephews are so grown up! I miss you all.

A very small, lower portion of a larger (800 foot!) waterfall called Rattling Brook Falls, near Kings Point, Newfoundland. A beatiful, grey fall day in Newfoundland, and we were back in the car before the rain began.

Rocks and mist from higher up on the falls. I love the light from a cloud day!

A view of Rattling Brook, the town. Ah, I missed the winding roads and beautiful colours of Newfoundland.

Mom, with a bit of the waterfall showing behind her. Lit with a flash through a small softbox, camera left.

Mom putting finishing touches on one of her artist's books. (Okay, the finishing touches were put on ages ago, but she posed and pretended for me.) Diffused flash bounced off the white table.

Halifax & Newfoundland - Part 2

2009-10-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Up early in Halifax to catch the sunrise. I waited for the sun with the clouds and the lightbulbs.

Hanging with my good buddy Matthew Hollett getting sunrise pictures in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park. Hollett is lit with a flash, bounced into an umbrella.

It's great to be near water, the curves of ships, and the beautiful light of a maritime (small 'm') region.

Lighthouse through double wire fencing, still in Point Pleasant Park. So many great memories. Photo walks and sunrise shoots with my friend Hollett (along with constant attempts to come close to matching his photographic/artistic vision). I do miss Halifax and Point Pleasant Park, but this was a great way to revisit this beautiful city.

More great memories; this time of Halifax's Public Gardens. I used to walk through this park to and from work, play chess with my friend Joey, and have secluded photo sessions on (frequent) rainy days.

My beautiful niece again. This time with her mom (Gailyn) and dad (my brother, Jim). Lit with a flash bounced into an umbrella. Jeez she's cute!

Halifax and Newfoundland - Part 1

2009-10-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Heading home for the first time in over two years! Not a single thrown guitar - good start, right?

Goodbye to flat ground and brown grass. Twisting, hilly, lush landscape lays ahead!

In the very back of the plane, in the corner. Keeping an eye on the shenanigans in front of me. (There were none.)

Cloudy skies ahead of me, the whole way home. I like the sunsets from up here.

Elayna smiling at me from her car seat. She's taken a liking to me already!

Sampling a fresh tomato she'd harvested from the garden just minutes before. She chewed into that tomato over a dozen times, but she never really liked it. Just another reason I love her!