winter shoreline

I'm not a big fan of winter, so I escape whenever I can. Later this week I'm heading to the carribbean for 7 days of shooting and relaxing. It helps get me through the winter!

To make sure I fully appreciate the trip, I've been out shooting a fair bit in the snow. Here are a few from last night - it was frigid!

Singh-Ray gold/blue polarizer used to saturate the two snowshoe images.

icy shoreline

I went snowshoeing out to the Georgian Bay shoreline in Bruce Peninsula National Park this weekend with a group friends. The overcast skies broke with periods of beautiful light -
conditions were about as good as they get!

All photos with EOS 1Dsm2; EF 17-40; Singh-Ray circular polarizer.

Snowy landscapes

A couple shots I've taken this week....

both with EOS 1DSm2; EF 17-40mm lens; Singh-Ray warming circular polarizer
2-stop soft edge ND grad on the wind turbine shot

Saskatchewan photos

I'm finally starting to catch up on editing some of the photos I've shot over the past year, and just posted a small gallery of images from southern Saskatchewan on my website. I found the prairie landscape very inspiring!
Click here to visit the gallery page.

And here's a taste:

Replacement batteries for Canon DSLRs

Canon's batteries for their DSLRs cost a fortune, and it's certainly best to have at least 2-3 on hand for shoots, especially in battery-draining cold weather. I'm pleased to find there are some good aftermarket options now available, at a fraction of the price. I'll be ordering several.

You can get them from NatureScapes.net, a great online forum for nature photographers.

Here's a link to the model for the 1D lineup:

http://www.naturescapes.net/store/product.php?productid=211

And for the 30D/20D/10D, 5D, D30, D60, Rebel, G-series, etc:

http://www.naturescapes.net/store/product.php?productid=212

new photo tip on my website

Just posted a new photo tip on my website, check it out if you get a chance:

"Put Yourself in your Photos"
http://www.ethanmeleg.com/tip18.htm

Winter is definitely here!

The snow is piling up at my place - there's about 2 feet so far, and my ground-level kitchen window is nearly buried. I can't believe how much it's snowing each day. I'm lucky that my neighbour Ken has a snow blower and very kindly keeps my driveway ploughed out - otherwise I would probably end up house-bound.

The snowy landscape is perfect right now for photos. Yesterday we cross-country skied out to the Georgian Bay shoreline in Bruce Peninsula National Park. It was tough breaking trail, but well-worth it. The icicles at Indian Head Cove are dramatic, and it started snowing like mad while we were out there, which added to the winter ambiance. The sky was heavy overcast, so it wasn't the best light... but hey, you take what you get....

all shots Canon EOS 1ds m2, EF 17-40 lens

Whooping Crane catastrophe

UPDATE:
Good news - 1 of the cranes was found alive. Follow the link at the bottom for the updates. They are asking people to consider making an $18 donation ($1 for each crane) to support the recovery work - a most excellent cause.
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ORIGINAL POST:
I called my parents yesterday - they were in Florida not far from the tornado zone and I wanted to make sure they were ok. They're fine, but my stepdad told me that the storm had wiped out a group of 18 Whooping Cranes that are part of the efforts to re-establish a flock in eastern North America. This is a catastophic impact - at last count there were only 81 individuals in the Eastern population. Here's more info:
http://www.operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html