June 15, 2008
I love this time of year for photography, particularly since developing a taste for macro and insect photography.
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Canon EOS 20D with Sigma 150mm f/2.8 lens
1/200s, f/8, ISO 200
Gitzo G2220 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead, cable release
As you probably know, I’ve been doing photography for a little less than four years. Until last year, my main spring and summer subjects were birds. The problem, for me, with bird photography is that:
- You need to get up really early at this time of year in order to be in position before sunrise… The first two hours after sunrise are typically the most productive, and the light is gorgeous. At this time of year, the sun is up at 5:00AM, which means that, at the latest, I’d need to be up by 4:00AM. On a Saturday or Sunday. Yuck.
- Now, point 1 would not be so bad if I always came back with good shots - except that I’ve been finding that bird photography is less and less predictable, partially due to the changing weather patterns in the last few years. Last spring, I did that “get up early, and be at the marsh at sunrise” thing for four consecutive weekends, and the results were disappointing almost every time.
Read more…
Posted by Rob under L'Ile Bizard (Quebec), Lenses, Technique | Comments (1)
June 9, 2008
Wow, what a wonderful time I had at the 2008 Green Mountain Nature Photography Workshop, where I was co-instructor of the workshop with my good friend Gustav W. Verderber. This is my 2nd year at the workshop, and I just love the experience. The workshop is held in the Eden Mills area in northern Vermont, just east of the Jay Peak ski area.
Johanne and I got to Gustav & Cheryl’s house on Friday (May 30th) in the early afternoon. After relaxing for a couple of hours, Gustav and I headed to the Lakeview Campground, on the shore of picturesque Lake Eden in Eden Mills, Vermont. Lakeview Campground was once again the home base of our nature photography workshop. We went to meet our two workshop participants (Bob and Owen) and have dinner with them. As usual, Lakeview owner Deb Godin treated us like kings, with wonderful meals and a warm welcome. On the menu tonight: Chicken Cordon Bleu with gravy, broccoli with pine nuts, baked potatoes, fresh salad, and a brownie with chocolate sauce and ice cream for dessert.
After dinner, the four of us head off to the Belvidere Pond area, locally known as “moose alley”. On a given day, at dawn and dusk, there’s about a 30% chance of seeing a moose. As luck would have it, this was such a day:
Smiling Moose
Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens
1/200s., f/5.6, ISO 400
Tripod mounted
Manual exposure (spot metering at -1EV on the chocolate brown fur)
This was the first time I got to see a moose in the wild! What a great start to the workshop…
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Posted by Rob under Filters, Vermont, Workshops | Comments (1)
June 9, 2008
Hi!
I’m Rob Servranckx, 1/2 of the Sojourns In Nature team, and the web master of the site.
I’ve decided to start a small blog to talk about photography…
I am currently employed as the Systems Analyst Team Lead with Cactus Commerce, an e-commerce/e-business solutions provider
I live in a quiet suburb of Montreal with my wife, Johanne, and Labrador Retriever, Gryphon.
Having had a life-long passion for nature and wildlife, and being the Web Master of noted nature photographers Gustav W. Verderber and Roy Toft, it’s of little surprise that I’ve developed a true passion for nature and wildlife photography
My photographic journey started in September 2004, with the acquisition of a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR camera, a number of quality Canon lenses, and other photographic equipment. Despite being a late bloomer, I’ve won numerous photography contests and prizes in a very short time behind the lens. My images have been published in Yankee Magazine, Nature’s Best Magazine, National Wildlife Magazine and others. My photographs are available for licensing via Oxford Scientific and Visuals Unlimited (my stock agencies) - type “servranckx” in the search box.
If you are interested in my photography, or in Web design or photo retouching services, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I hope you enjoy your visit…
Rob
Posted by Rob under About | Comments (0)