The Quiet Picture

Sometimes there is particular irony that photography is called “shooting”.

So I drove to my favourite creek again. No rain, but very slippery rocks. As I was making my way through the bushes, I suddenly heard a gunshot. Very close by! I stopped to have a look around, but I was fairly well hidden among the branches so no way a hunter could mistake my blue jacket for a moose. It got my heart racing though, and then there was another shot. And another. I stopped counting after 10 shots and I had some trouble concentrating on my own shooting. I kept thinking, what should I be most afraid of? A trigger happy hunter or a wounded moose? Then I thought of wounded bears and decided that I should definitely be most afraid of wounded bears. I really had to breathe deep for a moment to convince myself to continue. I kept stopping to have a look around me and shouting some “haloo”s at frequent intervals though, just in case. The key is to make them know that you’re there! But after a while when the ridge got between me and the gunshots, I calmed down and just had a great time again, discovering new detail in the creek.

I don’t know if I was in any danger while I was there. I don’t know if it was someone just doing target practice or someone in need of it (how many shots does it take to kill a moose?). But maybe the shooting did frighten the local wildlife so there wasn’t any risk of running into a bull moose again. Other than maybe a wounded one. Anyone who thinks that photography is boring? Join me on my next excursion to an almost inaccessible creek during the moose and bear hunting season!

I have been looking forward to this weekend ever since the first weather forecasts had started coming in earlier in the week. The forecast said rain - and I couldn’t have been happier! I might have gotten a bit fed up with shooting water all winter last year, but time heals all wounds and now I’ve been missing it again. Overcast weather is just what you need, and a touch of rain on the rocks. I’m not too keen on dry rocks, they usually just look very dull in the pictures.

The morning started clear and cold and I got out already at dawn to catch the sunrise at Loossjön. It got overcast very soon after that, so I got home and started waiting for the rain. When the cloud cover got ever lower and I could smell the rain in the air, I drove to my favourite creek. In fact, I reckon this is my favourite photography spot in all of Loos! I figured it should be at its best now, with autumn leaves covering the rocks and low water to reveal some interesting detail. I was right about both and I was having an absolute blast, I couldn’t imagine anything better to do with my weekend! One thing that was missing though was the rain, so I had to make do with some dull rocks in the images. But I was too happy to mind that.

Because I had been so sure that it would be raining, I had taken the old 20D with me - you know, my bad weather camera? Getting the camera wet was not an issue though, but at least I proved the fact that the 20D didn’t go all bad with a new camera in the house.

The rain finally started in the evening. Since it should stay overcast until tomorrow afternoon (I hope anyway), I will make another visit to my favourite creek. I just want to see if those wet rocks make any difference… or the new camera, for that matter!

I will never be a wildlife photographer. Guaranteed. Before I start the story, I should mention the camera settings I was using before the following takes place (why this is important, will become obvious a bit later): mirror lock-up, ISO 100, f16 and 0.8 sec, IS switched off.

When I was walking back to my car, I followed the ridge above the creek (just because it’s a lot easier to walk there, instead of the treacherous rocks and thicket down at the creek). At one point I got a good view down to the water and I stopped to consider if I could frame a picture. When suddenly I saw some movement down below - a bull moose! So I pulled out the camera, the moose unaware of me, when the animal moved behind a bush so I couldn’t see it. I moved sideways to get a clear view again, simultaneously trying to change the settings in the camera (I hit the wrong button twice before I finally found the ISO button and changed to 400) when the moose spotted me and started to run up the opposite bank. I take a picture… with the freaking MLU, f16, 0.8 sec and no IS! But the moose was still working up the hill, so I switched on IS, changed to aperture priority so the camera can figure out the rest and take another picture. With mirror lock-up still on! Not that it made any difference. I was in a dark forest on a dark day, so I would’ve struggled to get a fast enough shutter speed even with ISO 800, f4 and appropriate exposure compensation (-1 stop, at least). Those two pictures I had taken, they were stunningly blurry and over-exposed and not a moose in sight. Not that you could tell anyway.

My hands were shaking, seriously. To be honest, I was worried that the bull would come up on my side of the creek because when I saw it, it was sure heading directly at me. The best scenario would’ve been that I got the picture and then made myself known so the moose would run away. It wasn’t a big bull, just a 4-pointer I think, but I didn’t feel like going head to head with it.

Nope, I think I will stick to shooting flowers. And a favourite creek every once in a while.

Just another average quiet Saturday in Loos.

Found a toad sunning itself on the trail. At first I thought it was dead, but then I saw the throat pulsing ever so little. I don’t know if it was cold and was trying to warm itself, or if the sun caught it in mid-stride and it was now suffering from the light, in fact I know almost nothing about the secret life of toads… but that doesn’t stop me from photographing them of course. When I was done with the pictures, I saw a group of people approaching with a dog. I stayed with the toad to make sure that the people wouldn’t trample on it, but I failed miserably with the dog - instead of running to me like you’d normally expect with a dog, this one decided to charge right past me and stepped smack in the middle of the toad. When the people caught up, they were wondering what I was looking at and I pointed out the toad. One of the women picked it up and commented that it looked a bit flat. Yeah… the dog stepped on it, I said. While undeniably true, it was probably not a very diplomatic comment and when the group continued their walk, I heard them say something about “dog stepping on the toad”. I wonder if they thought I was criticising them… which was of course not the case. I was the one to blame, for having failed to protect the toad. When I put it down (the lady had dumped it in my hands), I was pretty sure that if it wasn’t dead before, it was now. It wasn’t a small dog.

Some time later I found big butterfly fluttering around on the road. It didn’t seem as skittish as butterflies normally are, and I was able to get close. Since it didn’t seem to mind me, I stretched out my hand to see if it would climb on so I could move it to a late blooming flower and maybe get a picture. There it was… happily resting on my finger and refusing any attempt on my part to release it on the flower. It didn’t budge until a car drove past and scared it to fly away.

Reaching my street, a neighbour suddenly ran out of the house and wanted to speak with me. Now what, I thought… I hardly ever speak with her. I shouldn’t have worried, because she just wanted to tell me that she loved my exhibition and that they are the best pictures she has even seen! Completely thrown off my guard, I stuttered a thank you and smiled the rest of the way home.

Sitting in the living room, I saw some movement outside my window. A deer buck… with a doe. I sneaked to the window and looked at the deer gracing on my lawn. I have seen deer here many times, but this is the closest so far.

A bit later, the jays were back. They dominated my bird feeder last winter, forcing me to come up with jay-proof feeders (I didn’t fully succeed, but the jays had to work a lot harder after that) and I’m sure it’s the same birds now, because I haven’t put out the food yet - they just came to have a look. (Note to self: put out bird food)

So life goes on, quietly, quietly… with chance encounters brightening up the days.

I couldn’t wait anymore and ordered my Canon 40D, which arrived even earlier than I expected! I haven’t gone all trigger happy and tested it just for the sake of testing, rather I’m just taking the pictures I would anyway. I will leave the reviewing and pixel peeping to others (and there are plenty of them around), but will just briefly give my first impressions:

• the 40D is slightly bigger than the 20D (meaning that the L-bracket doesn’t fit the new camera, so I’m in for a wait until the 40D L-bracket becomes available)
• the LCD screen is massive! The thumbnail in the info display is almost the same size as the full screen picture in the 20D
• the shutter seems to behave a bit differently from what I’m used to. It’s quieter for one thing, and it feels like it’s a bit more sensitive than the 20D. So far anyway, it seems like the picture is taken just a fraction before I would expect the shutter button to be fully depressed. No biggie, just a matter of getting used to.
• focus point selection can be assigned to the joystick - a boon for someone like me who keeps frequently changing it
• the ISO button has been moved - I keep pressing the wrong button every time I change the ISO now. I’ll get used to it.

All in all, I really don’t think there’s any major thing that is better than my 20D. It’s just the number of the small improvements which add up, but to be honest, I think the biggest reason I got the 40D is because… well, because I wanted it. I’ve had the 20D for three years and it’s the longest time I’ve ever gone with the same camera, so I just felt that I needed a new toy. Now I have to decide what to do with the old camera… keep it as a bad weather body or sell it while it’s still in perfect condition?

But, one more word about the 40D - the bottom line. Are the 40D pictures better than 20D? Only if I can make them so!

I owe an apology to SMHI. Lately I have been laughing at their forecasts but today they got it right, as unlikely as it seemed in the morning. At 1pm today, it was 5°C and snowing (see the forecast in my previous post). Wow!

I had planned another mountain hike for yesterday, this time just a day hike in Idre. The weather forecast kept warning about storm force winds though, so I decided that it’s best to stay at home. The wind was bad enough here as well, as my tripod so painfully discovered - it crashed down on the rocks while I was fiddling with the camera in my hands. I picked up the tripod with some trepidation and found out that the tripod head is worth every penny I invested in it - the only damage was a deep scratch in the dovetail but there was nothing broken. If you’re in the market for a good quality lightweight ballhead, then I should definitely recommend the Acratech Ultimate Ballhead! It will outlast every other piece of equipment in your camera bag…

Later in the afternoon, although the wind had not quieted down at all, I went for a drive to Hållberget which is the best viewpoint around here. In clear weather, you can see all the way to the Sånfjället mountain and that’s the closest I got to the mountains this weekend. Sånfjället is faintly visible in the picture below, although it’s almost impossible to make out in this small version. The distance? Almost 100 km as the crow flies. I’m impressed.

I heard in the news that the highest wind speed had reached 31 m/s in the mountains. The place were this speed was recorded? Idre. I don’t regret staying at home!

I love planning but only a fraction of anything I plan ever becomes a reality. This weekend was one of those rare occasions of action, but even now the plan would never have left the drawing board had I not had a friend to come along. We were determined that even the bad weather wasn’t going to stop us, just pack in rain coats, rain trousers, rain ponchos and rain guards and we were all set to meet the elements. When we got to the mountains and parked at Kläppen in Ljungdalen, the rain was more of a drizzle so it was already looking better than we expected. In fact, it just kept improving and we even got to see a glimmer of sunshine in between the showers. The variable weather carries with it the bonus of the occasional light show in the form of rainbows, so we were definitely not complaining that SMHI got their forecast wrong once again. After 12 km of hiking - half of it above the tree line - we finally got to the Helags Fjällstation (mountain station), tired but happy.

It wasn’t all good though, it turned out that they had misplaced my reservation (I swear I booked the right place and date) so they only had beds in the old cabin at the station, it was kind of like those wilderness hostels I stayed at in Canada - no electricity! It was no biggie though, we’re not so spoiled that we couldn’t survive without all the mod cons.

After a half slept night (the cabin was overheated and were were 8 people in the same small room!), we enjoyed a hearty breakfast and wondered if SMHI got their forecast wrong again, because we were seeing a lot of sunshine instead of the snow (!) they had promised. We even got a quick look at the peak of Helags (which at 1796 metres is the highest mountain in Sweden south of the Arctic Circle), it lasted about 2 seconds but enough for me to grab the camera for a quick shot!

When we set out again, the good weather was holding with sunshine decorating the mountains with splashes of colour and light. Gradually the cloud cover took over, but there was no rain bar a few drops, and certainly no snow. We couldn’t believe our luck… this was definitely far beyond our expectations!

Another positive surprise for me was that my poor hips were holding up well. I had expected my hips to start displaying the usual stinging pain by halftime and my shoulders to start aching from the backpack. But nix, I got neither, so I’m counting my blessings. I wasn’t even dead beat when we got back to the car!

All I can say is that I hope that I can make many more of my hiking plans become reality in the future. Planning is fun, but nowhere near as good as the actual hike!

What did I say about September? This is much more like it… Although to be honest, the forest is still pretty much just shades of green except for these occasional spots of colour. I found this rosebay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium) that was bent on the ground so that the radiance of the leaves was unmissable as I walked towards the flower. Rosebay willowherb is known as fireweed in the US and the autumn reveals why, because the reds and yellows stand out in any weather but catch them backlit by the sun and you realise that some flowers are even more beautiful in the off-season!

August started warm and ended cold with morning frost. Otherwise, a pretty boring month that I’m happy to put behind me. Give me September anytime!

I was on holiday in the beginning of August so there’s three days of data missing.

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