Train – heath ofee dot com

Antix Caboose

Heath OFee — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:59:49 +0000

This is another shot from my trip to Invermere back in August. Brei’s family has a place there, so we try to get out as often as possible during the summer and fall months. In the summer, water sports dominate the local lake and there are plenty of fantastic golf courses in and around the Invermere area for those of us who don’t enjoy the water as much. When out there, I’m usually in full relaxation mode and don’t often get out to shoot many brackets, but the weather was less than ideal back in August so I felt the need to fill up a bit of my weekend with some shooting. Most of the decent shots I got were from along the train tracks along one edge of the lake, so I thought I’d share another one with you today.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 12mm, F 11, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

Switch?

Heath OFee — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:45:30 +0000

To switch or not to switch? A question that I’ve been asking myself for a couple of years now. What am I thinking about switching, you ask? Well, currently I’m running a Windows PC that is about 3 or 4 years old and I’ve been considering making the switch to a Mac for quite some time. I predominantly use my machine for editing photos and I’ve heard nothing but great things about Macs from other photogs. I think it’s really only a matter of time before I make the switch…although it’s a little bit scary thinking about moving all my photos and Lightroom catalogues over to a new computer. I guess the next big question is what Mac do I go for? I definitely don’t have the cash for a Mac Pro and I don’t think a Mac Mini will have enough power to keep me working away for the next several years, so I guess that leaves me with the iMac. Thoughts? Dual-core vs. quad-core? Processor speed and RAM? Refurbished to save some $$? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and here’s a pretty picture of a train track switch.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 12mm, F 11, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

Building Blocks

Heath OFee — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:11:34 +0000

On the way back into town from our company golf tournament this past Thursday, I saw what is probably the coolest and largest piece of construction equipment I have ever seen. This giant contraption is currently being used to build the elevated track structure for the west LRT extension that will see our public train system make it’s way out to 69th St West.

I knew as soon as I saw this monster that I would have to come back to capture it, so on Friday night Brei and I made our way downtown to get a few brackets. Although I don’t think there’s anything outta-this-world about the shot, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Mostly I just wanted to get a shot of this thing while it was right over 9th Ave!

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 12mm, F 7.1, ISO 100, 5 Exposures

Wheelset 046

Heath OFee — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:51:16 +0000

Have you ever felt completely uninspired by the shots you were able to get after a day out shooting? That’s mostly how I felt after the afternoon I spent hunting brackets in Invermere, BC this past weekend. The light was kinda flat all afternoon and there didn’t seem to be very much drama in the grey, overcast sky…so I had some trouble finding inspiration. I find in these situations it helps to distance yourself from the photos for a day or two before you go back to process them all. This way you can attack the photos with a fresh attitude that isn’t tainted with the crummy feeling you had while you were out shooting.

One of the places I knew I wanted to hit was the train tracks on the west side of Windermere Lake. There’s always at least one train just hanging out there and I’ve always found trains a little bit fascinating even though I know next to nothing about them. I shoot most of my HDR with a wide angle lens and try to take in as much of a scene as possible so this detail shot of a train is a bit of a departure from the norm for me. I have no idea if the wheels on a train are actually called a ‘wheelset’ or if the number painted on these wheels has any kind of significance, but I thought it would make a cool title anyway.

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 10mm, F 11, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

Iconic Reflection in Palliser South

Heath OFee — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:45:49 +0000

Anyone who has been to Calgary knows that the most iconic building (to date) is, of course, the Calgary Tower. Although not the tallest tower in the city, its distinctive shape and red cap make it instantly recognizable. While walking back to my car from work a few weeks ago I noticed that on a clear day the Calgary Tower produces an almost full reflection of itself in the new Palliser South building…I instantly knew that I had to come back with my camera to capture the scene. Conveniently, the deadline for the 2010 Buildex Calgary Photo Competition was swiftly approaching and I wanted a couple extra photos to enter. So on my downtown photowalk a couple weeks ago I made sure to capture this really cool scene…hope you like it!

Canon EOS 50D, Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5, 13mm, F 9.0, ISO 100, 3 Exposures

The details: 3 exposure HDR tonemapped in Photomatix, Lightroom for catalogue, color, contrast, clarity, Noiseware for noise control.