Newsletter No. 69: April 2011

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CONTENTS

1. Winter is Over!: Massive snow plough at 108 Airport
2. Calling all Aviation Enthusiasts: Start your day on a ‘High’
3. The Toronto Exhibit: We are off to the big city!
4. Toronto Botanical Gardens: Motherstone Presentation

1. Winter is Over! Massive snow plough at 108 Airport

A Snow Plough Like No Other!

© Chris Harris

Photographer’s Notes: When approaching a shoot such as this, it’s important to look at the overall landscape, and take note of any subject matter that might contribute to your story. In this case, to give context to the snow plough, I positioned myself to include a couple of planes in the background. Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII, iso 800; f-8; 1/200 sec; hand held.

After an evening snow storm I drove over to the 108 Airport where I knew airport manager Nick Christianson would be hard at work driving his favourite toy snow plough. Nick had told me all about this monster, but I had never seen it in action.

Look Out!

© Chris Harris

Photographer’s Notes: To further the story, I wanted to express the power of the snow plough and the amount of snow it could push aside. Because the snow fall wasn’t that deep, I dropped to my knees choosing a perspective that would provide meaning to the purpose of the image. Perspective is one of the principal elements of composition, and this is an example of using it to convey a message. Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII, iso 800; f-8; 1/400 sec; lens at 28mm; hand held.

I took this image and then got out of the way! This 27,000 lb. (12,247kg) snow plough was made by the Oshkosh Truck Corporation for the US military’s northern operations. With its 350 horse power turbo charged diesel engine and 22 foot blade bearing down on me, you can understand why I wasn’t going to stick around on my knees photographing!

“Severe-Duty” Truck!

© Chris Harris

Photographer’s Notes: I made several images from within the cab which included the dashboard, but when I noticed the headlight shining on the back of the blade, I opened the window and made my favourite image of the day. Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII, iso 800; f-8; 1/320 sec; lens at 24mm; hand held.

When Nick saw me arrive with my camera he asked me to jump aboard for the ride. Wow…this was a powerful experience, not a smooth one! I just looked up the Oshkosh web site and I see they call their vehicles “severe-duty”. Now I know why! To overcome the truck’s engine vibration, I made sure I used a fast enough shutter speed to make this image while leaning out the window. Even with its 22 ft. blade it takes 4 passes to clear this runway. Think how many passes a tiny highway snow plough would have to make!

Thanks for the experience Nick.

2. Calling all Aviation Enthusiasts: Start your day on a ‘High’!

Start your day off on a “HIGH”

© Chris Harris

Photographer’s Notes: When shooting from the air, I usually use iso 400 as a minimum to provide a fast enough shutter speed to overcome any vibration caused by the plane or the wind passing by the open window. Depending on how much contrast there is in the subject I will choose either auto focus or manual. When shooting at a lake or the ocean, for example, I use manual set at infinity. In the case above I used auto focus with the aperture set small enough to provide sufficient depth of focus. Canon EOS-1Ds MkIII, iso 400; f-16; 1/1000 sec; lens at 70mm; hand held.

 

The new web site that will describe the creation of my next book Fly-Over: The Aviation Legacy of the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast is evolving and the project is getting more and more exciting with every day.

Pilots and others who are connected with flying and patrolling the skies over our vast region are joining in and contributing. The book is expanding in scope and I am beginning to visualize an aviation book like no other! Whether it’s fighting forest fires or insects, flying helicopters, float planes, or model planes, or seeing parts of our province we have never seen before, it’s bound to be a part of this book.

I have decided to post a new “Picture of the Day” on the web site blog, every day I possibly can throughout the year. What a great way to start your day! Forget the usual ‘downer’ news headlines, start your day on a “high” somewhere over the spectacular interior of British Columbia.

Use the RSS Feed, bookmark it, or follow on Facebook or Twitter. Start your day with a continual appreciation of Beautiful British Columbia.

Tell your friends, and if anyone is interested in contributing in some way, we welcome your input or contribution. Please get in touch with co-author Sage Birchwater or me through our Fly-Over web site. We would love to hear from you and have you be a part of the book experience.

This is all very exciting!

3. The Toronto Exhibit: We are off to the big city!

 

 

Within the week, Rita and I are off to Toronto for a few Motherstone book presentations, and most importantly, my solo exhibit titled Magma at the White Wall North Gallery as part of Contact 2011. The opening reception and book launch for Motherstone is on April 27th at 5pm – 9pm. I will be making a presentation at 7pm.

If you or any of your friends live in the Toronto area, please join us for the evening festivities. The exhibit continues until May 28th, so drop by anytime.

 

4. Toronto Botanical Gardens: Motherstone Presentation

If you can’t make it to the Gallery Exhibit opening, join us at the Toronto Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, May 3rd, at 7pm.

For tickets to this event, call 416-397-1341 or go online to www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca

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