Photography

Smoke and Mirrors

Category: Manitoba

  • Assiniboine Park Conservancy

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    Xerxes

    We spent part of an afternoon together,
    in quiet companionship
    enjoying the heat
    and noting the cold would come soon.

    The lioness was unimpressed.
    Not Esther, but Kaya this time.

    She gave me warning looks —
    a reminder of who was in charge.

    I think she had a recipe in mind.

    He nodded and if lions could smile,
    he did. He would enjoy the company
    and eat whatever she served later.

    This time it was not me.
    Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi RAW – African Lion (Xerxes) 2011

    Big cats have always been of particular interest to me. Xerxes and Kaya were there when I visited the Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2011 and I spent a good part of the afternoon with them. He was quiet and content in the sun, except when the man on the small tractor drove up. Then Xerxes was alert. Perhaps they had crossed paths before in a way Xerxes didn’t like. Perhaps it was the engine sound. I don’t know, but every time the man drove near the enclosure, Xerxes was tense.

    In May 2012, the two lions, along with their newborn cub, returned to a private facility in Ontario. Because it’s private, there is no information about the name of the facility, nor anything about Kaya or the newborn. Xerxes went on to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle in 2014 as part of the Species Survival Plan breeding program and fathered three more cubs. I’m glad we met.

    NOTE: Xerxes and Kaya were a South African lion subspecies Panthera leo krugeri, known as the Transvaal lion. In 2017, the lion taxonomy was updated and this group is now included in the broader Southern Lion subspecies, Panthera leo melanochaita.

  • Captain William Kennedy House

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    High Tea

    North of Winnipeg lies the rural municipality of St. Andrew’s,
     an historic area with beautiful old buildings from Manitoba’s
     early days. Tea in the Maple Grove Tea Room at the 
    Captain Kennedy House was a lavish affair, replete with ghost
     stories and the best desserts this side of heaven. After a decade and extensive renovations, it has reopened as The Heritage Tea Room.
    Captain William Kennedy House

    While I haven’t been back to try The Heritage Tea Room offerings, its predecessor, Maple Grove Tea Room, did not disappoint. It was a lovely in every way. After a leisurely sojourn on the veranda eating Strawberry rhubarb pie while overlooking the Red River, we took a tour through the museum and gardens.

    Afterwards, we walked across to St. Andrew’s Anglican Church and cemetery to take some photos. St. Andrew’s on the Red was built in 1849 and is the oldest surviving stone church in western Canada. We’ve visited the area in every season and it’s beautiful. Next time I’m in Manitoba, I would like to go back again and see what work has been done to preserve this magnificent home. And definitely I’ll have tea.

    St. Andrew’s Anglican Church cemetery in spring

  • Reflections in Water

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    Minnedosa

    Minnedosa is a little town nestled on the banks of the Little Saskatchewan River in southwest Manitoba.

    It means 'flowing water' in the Dakota language.

    We found the bison park and a beach. And there are some sizeable hills, too.

    You never know what lies around the bend, like this little gem of a spot.
    Canon Digital Rebel XTi – ISO 400, shutter 1/500 sec, f/18, 28 mm lens

    This is not the optimal time of day for a shot like this, but I was there and the cloud was there. Some things just take your breath away. They appear out of nowhere, around a bend and over a hill. Yes, believe it or not there are hills in Manitoba and the closer you get to Minnedosa, the steeper they get. It’s beautiful country.

    We were on a road trip and I had been taking shots from the window hence the higher ISO. I wish I had taken the time to make some better adjustments. This was shot in RAW, cropped and levels adjusted in Aperture. Then I sharpened with the High Pass filter in Photoshop and then masked to fine tune the adjustments before final sizing and converting to sRGB color space for web.

    Writer’s note: The same thing happens in writing. You are on a bus, waiting in a doctor’s office, having coffee somewhere and people-watching when the words come flooding. Be prepared to write them down or record them. Take a shot of the general atmosphere with your cellphone to trigger memory later. The best things happen when we least expect them!

  • Assiniboine Park Conservancy

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    Flamingo

    Stepping inside the darkness
    hoping for a shaft of light
    to bring colour into the frame
    but instead, a lengthy session
    preening and flirting 
    and arranging feathers
    just so.

    I waited.
    Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi RAW

  • In the Corner Garden

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    Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi 500×800 – Upscaled

    Gates Keeper

    Without a doubt, this was one of life’s more pleasant surprises as we walked back from rather interesting encounters along the side of the Misericordia Hospital in Winnipeg. Approaching The Gates, we walked past a home for sale on the corner with a garden any Englishman would covet. Truly.

    It was a very warm day and the entire garden was humming like a choir finding their respective keys. It was mesmerizing.

    It’s fair to say that while I love to listen to the hum and watch bees at work, I have a terror of them getting caught in my hair. Distance is my friend, but I really wanted a photo of this one on top of the echinacea. For a wild moment, I thought maybe the telephoto lens would be a good idea, but then sanity took hold.

    The moment I looked through the viewfinder, I forgot about everything except how lovely it all was and how easily she balanced herself on top of the flower. I was hooked and I’ve never looked back.

    Honeybee (Apis mellifera) – iPhone 14 Pro Max

    Wildlife photography isn’t only the larger animals, though they are amazing to find. It’s also the chipmunks and squirrels, the insects, snakes and amphibians you later have to look up in reverse photo search to identify.

    This little bee was found along Baille Ard trail in Sydney, Cape Breton.

    You don’t always have to leave home either. I had tiny salamanders in my basement by the sump pump a few years ago and while I was investigating, found a carrot growing down there, too.

    Honestly, I’ve learned more about so many little creatures since photographing them and now it’s only the thought of hornets in my hair that tends to give me nightmares.

  • Gull Harbor at Dusk

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    Evening Light

    When the deep purple falls
    over sleepy garden walls, 
    and the stars begin 
    to twinkle in the sky—
    in the mist of a memory 
    you wander back to me,
    breathing my name with a sigh.
    Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi RAW ISO 100 95mm f/4.5 -0.4s

    The old song suits the island. It’s a magical place.

    What is the one thing that we need for a successful shoot at dusk on a summer night in even the most magical places?

    Bug repellent! You can hardly tell there were a million mosquitoes biting like mad when this was shot but the light made it all worthwhile.

    The photo was taken at Gull Harbour on Hecla Island, Manitoba, Canada. I set up a tripod on the bank and waited for just the right moment. This was taken at the changing of the guard, when the sun sets and the moon rises. The sky had a very pronounced purple cast that deepened quickly.

    Writer’s note: I know what you are thinking. Being eaten alive by bugs has nothing to do with writing and, with the possible exception of Leiningen Versus the Ants, you would be right.

    What does have to do with writing is the color I found and continued to capture when the sun was completely down. For the first time in my life, I watched as deep purple fell over the landscape. No, not purplish or somewhat shadowy violet. Deep purple. And it fell.

    The lyrics to the song were written in 1938 or I might have been compelled to write them that evening, mosquitoes and all.

    Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi RAW ISO 100 f/11 130mm 0.5s

  • High Noon Light

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    Breakwater

    I wanted to see if there would be any exposure problems or color shifts with the sun shining directly on the light rocks and the sky in the background.

    This was shot in RAW format in the harsh light of early afternoon against an almost cloudless sky – ISO 100, f/14 at 1/400 sec. No filter used.

    The image was then imported to Aperture and simple adjustments made in RAW before exporting to Photoshop for resizing and sharpening for web.

    The image was exported as a 16-bit TIFF in ProPhoto color space to preserve the oranges and reds at the upper end of the tonal range. Then, after applying a slight curve and sharpening, it was converted to sRGB IEC61966 and resized for web and saved as an 8-bit JPG.

    Normally, this type of image should look terrible on the web, but this process managed to maintain the detail and texture in the rock, with no clipping in the orange areas and blue tones that stayed true to the original. Update 2026: Displays have improved immeasurably since this post.

    Writer’s note: Is there a benefit to writer’s block? Does exploring it have the same result as shooting this kind of photograph? I think it does. Exploring that which blocks us and looking for the overall balance with the rest of our creative life is what makes breakthroughs. Blocked? Fine. What does it feel like? Is the texture different? Describe it without ‘clipping’ and make it work!

    Canon Digital Rebel – ISO 100, f/14 at 1/400s

  • Sunset on Glass

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    Reflections

    This photo was taken by my daughter on a snowy evening just as the sun was setting.

    Unfortunately, the camera did not fully capture the drama in the colours reflected on the windshield. It was taken as a high quality JPEG with a Fujifilm F-10 and it’s not a bad shot for a simple point-and-shoot camera. I am constantly surprised by how well this camera handles low light.

    However, the most important part of how well this camera works is the batteries seem to last forever! It’s the perfect camera to have in your pocket for all those moments when we usually say, “Oh, I wish I had my camera!”

    Update on this great little camera: As of summer 2009, it is at the bottom of Lake Winnipeg.

    Writer’s note: So what on earth would this have to do with writing? Remember the old saying that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’? It can be. Take snaps like these and use them as a visual notepad. It brings back the moment and you will be able to describe it vividly.

    Fujifilm Finepix F10 – Photo by Elle Brunet