Refinery Row Edmonton

Last night the IACC (Images Alberta Camera Club) was to have an outing shooting the refineries in Edmonton and Sherwood Park.  The outing had originally been scheduled for last week, but postponed due to a heavy snow fall.  Wouldn't you know it, last night we had rain.  Living in the county I'm fascinated by the lights of the city and luckily for me I have a wonderful photo buddy, who's willing to try anything.  As the club members went home we ventured out with our map in the rain.

Our first stop was at a refinery that has been shut down for a few years and it looked like someone had done a little decorating.

Because there was very little walking I was using my 70-400mm lens but the next few stops proved to be a little too windy for the lens, camera and tripod.  By the time we hit the backside of the Shell refinery the wind calmed down and we could get in a few shots before wiping the rain of the lenses.

By the time we reached the end of the map, it was getting dark and the lights of the refineries lit up but it was raining and cold and we could only get a couple of shots in before we had to go clean the lens.  With the temperature close to freezing getting in the car was a warm, welcome break.

It was raining harder and getting colder, but still time for one more shot.

Would I go out in the rain and cold again? Probably not, but I do look forward to shooting these refineries again on a warmer evening.

Easter Blues

When my children were young, it was a tradition in the house to dye Easter eggs on Good Friday. Now that they're grown with families of their own, I decided I would quickly dye a dozen for the center of the table for Easter dinner. Wanting to keep it simple, I used food coloring from the cupboard and a little vinegar. I'm not sure what I did right or wrong but I really liked the tie dye look that they took on.

In trying to make them look like speckled eggs I spattered on a little acrylic paint.

 

A few yellow tulips from the grocery store and my Easter centerpiece was complete.

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

String, Tulips and Texture Tuesday

Yesterday I was showing you my new string project.  As you can see it's progressed a little. It's also Texture Tuesday at Kim Klassen's and this weeks challenge is the color pink.  I love pink in photograph's so it was an easy choice to add pink tulips to "the project". All photos have had a layer of Kim Klassen's embrace with the blend mode of multiply reduced to 50% - 75%. The texture was slightly removed from the flowers. .

My string project has been winding and gluing string around a jar to create new vases. With the theme of "Modern Cariboo" decorating for the house, these little vases will fit right in. It also brings new life to pickle and other little jars that would have been destined for recycling. 

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Once I finished a few more jars, I'll post new pics to show you the completed project.

String Project

The weather here is still feeling like winter and we had a couple of snow storms last week, so spring projects are still a few weeks away.  A while ago I saw a project on Pinterest with colored wool and thought it would be more suitable for our house using a natural colored string.  Here's a sample of what I was doing today.

Check back tomorrow and I'll have the finished project.

Northern Lights March 12th

Monday morning at 5:30 am we had an incredible display of Northern Lights lasting for about 45 minutes.  Instead of the lights appearing from the north as they usually do, they appeared from above. The lights were so high in the sky, I didn't have to leave the yard to escape the trees. Every direction you looked the lights came down with changing colors.

The is the view looking straight up

Looking west, towards the city, the light pollution from Edmonton changed the colors.

This was the view from the road looking towards the east

For a few minutes the lights appeared a magenta color, even to the eye.

This was the view from the deck, looking northwest.

And to be able to remember this morning and shooting from the deck, I thought I would include a bit of the house.

Northern Lights

For a brief hour last night, the Aurora Borealis aka Northern Lights presented a fabulous light show.  The colours were getting more intense as time went by, then a beautiful, almost full moon came out and lit up the skies light a sunrise.  It was a brief time out last night, but one of the nicest displays of lights I seen in a while.

The scene when we first arrived at the lake.

Looking toward the airport to get a little light pollution. Didn't notice the airplane and snowmobile when I took the photo.

A few minutes later, the lights began to dance.

Tried a landscape with a portrait perspective, throwing all rules of photography out the window.

An hour after arriving, the moon was out and the lights couldn't be seen with the eye, but the camera picked up a little color.

Texture Tuesday

This weeks challenge at Kim Klassen's is to use a layer of her texture "Happy Heart".  I've been saving this photo for just the right texture and this was the one.  The colors were perfect and I really how it lightened the centre showcasing the flower and vase.  Hover over the photo with your mouse and you can see the before.