Gary Nylander Photography

Donald Cemetery #5

2012-01-27T07:42:00.000-08:00

Donald Cemetery, September 2011.

Donald Cemetery #4

2012-01-26T07:18:00.001-08:00

Donald Cemetery, September, 2011.

Donald Cemetery #4

2012-01-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

Donald Cemetery, September, 2011.

Donald Cemetery #3

2012-01-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

Donald Cemetery, September 2011.

Donald Cemetery #2

2012-01-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

Donald Cemetery, September, 2011.

Donald Cemetery #1

2012-01-23T20:22:00.000-08:00

Donald cemetery is very quiet place. The only exception is when the silence is broken by the frequent passing of the freight trains which rumble past the historic 120-year-old cemetery in Southern British Columbia on a regular basis. There are many children some mere infants who were buried in this cemetery. The town of Donald was established in the late 1880's as a divisional point on the Canadian Pacific Railway, in 1897 the CPR abandoned Donald in favour of Revelstoke, BC. Donald became a host town and disappeared into obscurity, today all that remains are a few overgrown foundations and the cemetery.

Alberta Badlands #1

2012-01-22T10:13:00.000-08:00

Near Three Hills, Alberta, September 2011.

Horse Thief Canyon #2

2012-01-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Horse Thief Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta, September 2011.

Horse Thief Canyon #1

2012-01-19T22:12:00.000-08:00

Horse Thief Canyon, near Drumheller, Alberta, Sept, 2011.

White Lake Area

2012-01-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

White Lake area near Penticton, BC, Sept 2011

Thompson River

2012-01-17T22:23:00.000-08:00

The Thonpson River area, July 2011.

Grain Elevator #3

2012-01-16T20:00:00.000-08:00

Grain elevator, Three Hills, Alberta, Sept, 2011.

Grain Elevator #2

2012-01-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Grain Elevator, Three Hills, Alberta, September 2011.

Grain Elevator #1

2012-01-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

Grain Elevator, Three Hills, Alberta, September 2011

Historic Alberta Farmland #4

2012-01-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

Near Three Hills, Alberta, September, 2011.

Historic Alberta Farmland #3

2012-01-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

Near Three Hills, Alberta, Sept 2011.

Historic Alberta Farmland #2

2012-01-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

Near Three Hills, Alberta, September, 2011.

Historic Alberta Farmland #1

2012-01-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

Near Three Hills, Alberta, September, 2011.

Ford's Cove #2

2012-01-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June , 2011

Ford's Cove #1

2012-01-08T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is a view of Ford's Cove, Hornby Island, late in the evening, June, 2011.

Boat Wreck, Beach on Hornby Island

2012-01-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Lower Joffre Lake #3

2012-01-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

Lower Joffre Lake, July 2011

Lower Joffre Lake #2

2012-01-05T23:23:00.000-08:00

Lower Joffre Lake, July 2011

Lower Joffre Lake #1

2012-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

Lower Joffre Lake, July 2011

Upper Joffre Lake #2

2012-01-03T20:40:00.000-08:00

Upper Joffre Lake, July 2011

The Lost Roll of Kodak Film

2012-01-02T21:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, I actually lost a roll of 35mm film while out photographing recently. Its not often that I have lost a roll of exposed film in all my years of shooting pictures. On the last day of 2011 I decided that I would go for a walk at Devonian Regional Park nestled amongst the picturesque farmland in Metchosin, BC. I was testing out my newly refurbished 1936 Leica III which uses 35mm film. I finished shooting the last couple of frames of some T-Max 400 film, then switched to a roll of T-Max 100 film, which is what I ended up losing. I shot mostly scenics, oak trees and the beach where the park trail exits onto Taylor beach. After finishing the T-Max 100 film, I had inadvertently put the 100 ISO film into the 400 ISO plastic film canister, it was at this point as I walked along the gravelly and seaweed strewn beach that the 100 ISO film ( without the plastic canister ) somehow slipped out of my hands and I presume landed somewhere on the beach, I couldn't have walked more than 20 feet before I realized that the roll of film was missing and no longer in my right hand, I though it must be somewhere just just behind me, so I retraced my steps and do you think that I could find it ? not a chance, its as if a hole opened up in the ground just as the film was falling from my hand and down it went, into the hole, never to be seen again.

Now you are probably thinking while reading this, what a boring post, who shoots film these days anyways ?, here is some photographer, not very well organized , I might add, that lost a roll of film, big deal. I did learn something from this rather amusing episode, aside from keeping a tighter grip on my film in the future, and that is I went back on two different occasions to see if the film might have "popped" back up somewhere along the beach, nothing, nada, gone, vanished. Each time I went back I took my camera , the second time my 4 x 5 view camera, it was a really a reason for me to go back and have a better look at the park under the premise to look for my "film", I also wanted to see what else was there beside a roll of film. Although I may have lost a roll of film, which after all was just a bunch of "test shots" nothing really significant to begin with, I did find something else, and that was a few "lost" pictures which I might not have seen had I not gone back to visit the park.

The picture posted is from my Fuji X10 which I used as a light meter while out with the Leica III, the oak trees are near Taylor Beach, a image similar to this was on the 35mm film.

Upper Joffre Lake #1

2012-01-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Upper Joffre Lake, July 2011

Middle Joffre Lake

2012-01-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

Trees surround middle Joffre Lake, July, 2011

Joffre Lakes Trail #2

2011-12-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

Another view of the creek that exits Upper Joffre Lake, July 2011

Joffre Lakes Trail #1

2011-12-30T07:40:00.000-08:00

On the trail between the second and third Joffre Lakes, July 2011.

Nairn Falls #2

2011-12-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

Nairn Falls, July 2011

Nairn Falls #1

2011-12-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Nairn Falls, July 2011.

Along the trail to Nairn Falls

2011-12-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

Nairn Falls area, July, 2011

Hornby Island #21

2011-12-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011, I think this is the last of my Hornby Island images.

Hornby Island #20

2011-12-25T08:26:00.000-08:00

I made this picture of reflective pools of water on Hornby Island this past June not far from where I was camping at Ford's Cove, located on the south-east side of the Island along Lambert channel. I took advantage of the low tide which happen to occur during the early morning, even thought it was somewhat cloudy, I didn't mind the clouds at all for my style of work. The reflections remind me of this time of year when I hope everyone has quiet and peaceful holiday season.

Leica III gets a Thumbs Up ( Part 3 )

2011-12-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the completed project, I got my nickel plated CSEP-2 Thumbs Up back from Specialty Plating yesterday and I must say that they did a great job, people that I have shown it to say it looks like it's an orginal part of the camera, if you like what you see please send an email to Tim of Match Technical Services and let him know.

Leica III gets a Thumbs Up ( Part 2 )

2011-12-18T08:46:00.001-08:00

Here is the Thumbs Up ( model CSEP-2 ) that has been stripped of paint and is all "brassy" I am now waiting to get it nickel plated. The platers tell me that it should be ready by January 16th, 2011.

Leica III gets a Thumbs Up ( Part 1 )

2011-12-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

My Thumbs Up ( model TU-CSEP-2 ) arrived in the mail today. This model is made for the Leica X1 but I am planning to use it on my 1936 Leica III film camera, it fits just fine and I feel it really adds to the handling of the camera, I wouldn't want to be with out it. Although it looks nice in the black finish ( and comes in gray too ) I have a special little project for this one, as I am going to have it nickel plated, when I get it done I will post some more pictures. First IN have to get the paint stripped off…..

Hornby Island #19

2011-12-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

I am back to posting my black and white images for the next while, this is Hornby Island, I visited the island for a couple days earlier this year in June, I felt I made a lot of good images while there. Now I have a large back log of scanning to do, my scanner needed repairs as it was not focusing properly, that has now been fixed and I will chip away at my stack of 4 x 5 negatives that need scanning, I am looking forward to seeing them, I will post here and on my facebook page, the website will be updated early next year.

1936 Leica III: Shelf Queen or User ?

2011-12-01T21:18:00.001-08:00

So what would you do with this camera ?

Although its not a particularly rare camera in anyway, it's just your usual run of the mill 1930's Leica, no gold plating on this one ! it's also not "brand new" like out of the box nor do I have the original box, but others have said it is in beautiful shape for its age, comments I have have received are "It looks like it came out of a time capsule". it shows some very minor wear here and there. I have had it recently CLA'd so it operates as good as it looks.

I recently picked up the little Leica III with nickel finish including the 50mm Summar lens and leather case, also included was a import card with serial numbers for both the lens and camera body from E. Leitz, London England dated 1936. I don't know a whole lot about the history of the camera, I bought it at a used camera store and was told that the camera had been brought in by the granddaughter of the original owner. I am intrigued to know who owned it and how did he keep in such good condition all these years? I was not looking for a shelf queen when I bought it, as I would rather put it to good use and make pictures with it but it was just so enticing and beautiful so I bought it. The little Leica is really a joy to use, despite using 1930's technology, I have had fun using it.

A good friend commented, that life is too short, that I should just use it and enjoy it. In my mind cameras are made to be used, although I can see why people want to collect them and put them behind a glass case or on the shelf, especially a beautifully built camera like the Leica or other well engineered cameras of the 20th century. Before I got the camera serviced I asked if I should have it worked on as some might think that it would have diminished value, in its "original" condition. The answer was pretty clear, get the camera serviced and use it. Someone suggested though that I should use it sparingly, do not use it daily because wearing off the finish does diminish "value". I thought that was an interesting answer, but then the question arises, so just how much do I use it ?, I would like to carry it around with me on a regular basis but then there is more of a chance of wearing off the nice finish.

No sense in leaving it at home I say, where it would get the most amount of protection, I may as well use and see what kind of pictures I can create with, as the saying goes your best pictures are the ones that come from the camera that you have with you.

A Thumbs Up for the Fuji X10

2011-11-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

I have given my Fuji X10 a Thumbs Up, literally, a Thumbs Up device from Match Technical Services that fits in the hot shoe of the camera. The Thumbs Up ( model EP-5S ) a unique little device that adds an extra grip where one's thumb rests on the back of the camera. The device is beautifully made of machined brass and comes in black or silver. I really like it on the Fuji X10 I think it works really well and gives the camera a "sure" grip, I wouldn't be without it.

Vancouver, through the lens of a Fuji X10

2011-11-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

The Fuji X10 camera is a great walk about companion while I was visiting Vancouver, B.C. for a couple days while visiting friends, I had break from the rain and had some glorious sunshine mixed with a few clouds and I took that weather advantage to get out and see the city walking around the downtown area to the waterfront. I have to say that the little Fuji is a great camera for exactly this purpose, I'm not bogged down with a lot of camera gear and the camera is light and easy to carry, did I mention that the camera is capable of producing fantastic high quality images? in the right hands and with a good eye, a photographer can really make this camera produce some outstanding images, here is a selection of a few of my "snaps"…..

Herb Capozzi: 1925 - 2011

2011-11-23T13:29:00.000-08:00

I made this image of Herb Capozzi five year ago. I made the picture with my 4 x 5 view camera. Herb was a great subject to photograph, I think my picture reflects his character, he was a great all around man. He will be missed.

Fuji X10: A Photographer's Impressions

2011-11-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

***Disclaimer, I am not a camera reviewer, I am a photographer who likes to take pictures, this my impressions of the Fuji X10 ***
I have had my eye on this camera ever since it was announced recently. Surprise, surprise, when I stopped by my local London Drugs store where I live in West Kelowna, BC the clerk had never even heard of the camera, but she went to one of the computers at the till and looked it up and told me that a Fuji X10 was on a delivery truck for expected ETA of later that day, "Great"! I said, put my name on, and later that evening I got a call to come and pick the camera up.

A bit of back ground, I am a fine art photographer that shoots landscapes, I enjoy shooting 4 x 5 black and white film ( large format ) and I have been looking for something to integrate into various my hiking trips or just as a camera to take with me on walks or when I am with family and friends. I don't want to lug around a lot of gear, so this camera is perfect.I love the retro look to it, its simple clean and has not big lettering on the front. What really sold me on the camera was the manual zoom, I like it, simple easy to use and set at just the right focal length.

So far I have been very impressed with the little Fuji X10, it's well built and has a solid feel to it, the outside casing is all metal, the lens looks superb and the photographs made from the lens including the sensor is very good, for what it does it's great, although I have only just started using it and the images posted were taken with the "EXR" setting, coming from a Nikon background I need to get my self up to speed in terms of the various menus. It handles very well, but I should mention that I have customized it somewhat by making a small wood grip, using Ebony wood, I know some people might be saying "Huh?", as I made a small compact camera bigger by adding a extra 15mm to the bottom, but I like it. I am also using a leather strap that I made, as the strap that came with it seemed a bit cheap, the only other item I would like to add down the road is one of those Thumbs Up devices, I believe that they make one for the X100, so maybe they will make one for the X10.

I'm not sure what else to mention about the camera, other than its fun to use, there are plenty of technical reviews with far more in-depth technical talk than I would ever post on my blog here, I am hoping to go out a create some great photographs with it which is the name of the game !

Update November 13, 2011:

If you really want to go retro you can set the camera to ERX "auto" mode then you can turn off the rear LCD screen using the "display/back" button its the only mode that I could find where the LCD can be completely turned off, one can be very stealth like with the sound tuned off too if doing street photography or in a concert setting, plus I would think it would save on battery power, not having the LCD on all the time. Although I don't mind using the EXR mode, the camera is about as automatic as one can get, in working practice I would probably prefer to use a combination of manual, shutter or aperture priority and use the the exposure compensation dial on the top of the camera to adjust exposure.

I have never really cared for using an LCD viewing screen on the back of theses point and shoot cameras, although the optical view finder is adequate on the X10, it has no parallel correction and only shows about 85% of the frame, I think in time I will could get used to it, I like the fact of having a camera up to my eye, much easier to hold steady ( I am old school ). As I use this camera I will use a combination of the LCD and the OVF.

One thing that I have found, which perhaps other owners may have found is that when in EXR mode one can not shoot in "Raw" mode, even though on page 129 of the manual its says it possible , it does say that Raw is automatically turned off, but even when it's turned back on in the menu , one can still not shoot in a combination of EXR and Raw.

I have finally loaded the Silkypix Raw converter on to my Mac, I have an older Mac laptop and I am running OS 10.6.8, well the Silkypix is okay….barely , its not something I care for much to be honest, I will look forward ( hopefully ) when Adobe and Apple will include the Fuji X10 in their support of Lightroom and Aperture and also Adobe's DNG converter.

The little battery get exhausted quite quickly, a wise idea to have at least a spare or two.

***Plus a couple new pictures from the Powers Creek area near my home***

Update November 14, 2011:

I have been playing around with the focus modes, in Manual Focus and Auto Focus Single one can turn the rear LCD completely off no matter what exposure modes one is in, I guess it would have some interesting uses. Manual focus I think has some useful applications, one can use the AEL-AFL button on the back to lock focus on anything inside the highlighted rectangle on the LCD the highlighted rectangle can be moved around using AF button on the rear left of the camera.

Update November 15, 2011:

I received a reply from Fuji Digital Camera Support in regards to shooting RAW with EXR Auto, here is what they wrote…."Dear Customer,Thank you for your inquiry.There may be a typo in the manual but when the camera is set to EXR Auto shooting in RAW is not possible."

Update November 20, 2011:

While out for a walk earlier today with the Fuji X10, I made some images of the snow covered ground a this beautifully coloured bush, the picture combo shows a 100% cropped area ( bottom image ) from the full frame top image, I applied a bit of un-sharp mask in PS.

Gellatly Bay Nut Farm, West Kelowna , BC

Old Barn, West Kelowna, BC

Powers Creek, West Kelowna, BC

Powers Creek, West Kelowna, BC

Hornby Island #18

2011-11-10T23:21:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011.

Hornby Island #17

2011-11-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #16

2011-11-08T22:07:00.001-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #15

2011-11-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #14

2011-11-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #13

2011-11-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011.

Shades of Gray

2011-11-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

1936 Leica III

2011-11-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

This an article I am posting in response to a post on the The Online Photographer, about collecting cameras ( click here ), the article raises some interesting points and questions , recently I bought my own little collectable camera, I would appreciate your thoughts…..

A few weeks ago I was in Victoria, B.C. and I bought a black-paint 1936 Leica III ( see picture above ) from a local camera dealer, it was owned by a local man, it doesn't seem to have been used much, just stored in it's leather case, or perhaps it was brought out for when the Queen visited ! as the camera was purchased in Great Britain. Right now it sits in repair shop in Toronto ( Kindermann Canada) as it needs a CLA ( clean, lube and adjust ) it would appear that the camera is all 100 % original, but its possible that it could be a "re-paint" its hard to to tell, it looks very clean, with no brassing, it doesn't ever seem to have been taken apart, the slow shutter speeds don't work, and film advance knob is a bit stiff and squeaky…… so do I have it stripped down and taken apart so it can be cleaned , lubed and adjusted or do I leave it as is ? in terms of a collectable, it's not a particularly rare model, but its kinda rare in the sense that the camera has hardly had any use for the past 75 years, I have been told by some people that it would be worth more in it's original condition and that taking it apart would de-value it. So I'm not sure, all though I am leaning towards getting it tuned up and operating properly, I have already run a couple of rolls of film through it and its a lovely camera to use ( see image below ) I have always felt that a camera should be used and not sit inside of a glass display case. Thanks for reading and again I welcome your thoughts, especially any Leica aficionados I will keep you posted as to what I will do with the old camera.

Royal Roads, Japanese Split Leaf Maple, Oct, 2011

Hornby Island #12

2011-11-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June, 2011

Hornby Island #11

2011-11-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #10B

2011-10-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #10A

2011-10-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #9

2011-10-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #8

2011-10-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011

Hornby Island #7

2011-10-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011.

Hornby Island #6

2011-10-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, Tribune Bay Provincial Park, June 2011.

Hornby Island #5

2011-10-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hornby Island, June 2011.

Tree Roots, Hornby Island

2011-10-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Tree roots growing on the side of a sandstone cliff at Tribune Bay, Hornby Island, June 2011.

Driftwood, Hornby Island

2011-10-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

A chunk of bleached driftwood at Tribune Bay, Hornby Island, June 2011.

Hornby Island #4

2011-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

A view of Hornby Island from my June 2011 trip, I see in a news article today that ferry service will be shut down to the island for the next two weeks, while extensive work is done to the docks, for those on the Island enjoy the scenery !

Hornby Island #3

2011-10-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Rocks at low tide, Tribune Bay, Hornby Island, June 2011.

Hornby Island #2

2011-10-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

A view from Tribune Bay on Hornby Island, June 2011.

Hornby Island #1

2011-10-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am moving on to Hornby Island, this was the second stop on my Island cruise holiday, I camped there for two nights this past June.

Gabriol Island #4

2011-10-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Arbutus tree, Gabriola Island, June 2011.....I like photographing these Arbutus trees, which seem to be only found on the southern end of Vancouver Island.

Gabriola Island #3

2011-10-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

A view of Gabriola Island, June 2011.

Gabriola Island #2

2011-10-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

A view of Gabriola Island taken at low tide this past June.

Gabriola Island #1

2011-10-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

A another view of Gabriola Island from my last visit to the Island in June, I spend a couple nights there, camping and of course photographing, I love the sandstone formations that can be found on the Island, lots to keep me busy.

Gabriola Light

2011-10-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Gabriola Island, this past June, late evening light.

Gabriola Shadows

2011-10-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Late evening shadows on a June evening, earlier this year on Gabriola Island, BC.

Old Truck #3

2011-10-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Another view of my old truck subject on Gabriola Island.

Old Truck #2

2011-10-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Another view of the old Chevy truck from the 1950's on Gabriola Island.

Old Truck #1

2011-10-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

I found this old truck rusting away in the bush on Gabriola Island, I thought it made for an interesting series of images.

Old Boat Shed #2

2011-10-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

A wider view of the old boat shed on Gabriola Island, the previous post showed the support beams of the old building.

Old Boat Shed #1

2011-10-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

I photographed this old boat shed on Gabriola Island during a visit there this past June.

Gabriola Island

2011-08-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting sandstone formations I found on Gabriola Island, while visiting a photographing there this past June.

Upper Joffre Lake

2011-08-07T22:36:00.000-07:00

I finally made it up to upper Joffre Lake, one of three lakes in a chain which is part of Joffre Lakes Provincial Park in the south western section of British Columbia, Canada. Last year I visited this area in July, but it was very hot weather so I didn't end up doing the hike, this year I recreated the trip, this past July, weather was cooler and a few clouds, so I struck out on the 5.5 km long trail with my camera gear on my back. I would describe the trail as quite difficult, a scramble over large boulder field, then it gets quite steep climbing up over tree roots and oh yes lots of mud, but the challenge is worth it, upper Joffre Lake is very beautiful, I shot this image with my Ebony 4 x 5 and a 120mm Schneider lens.

The Old Car

2011-07-31T20:00:00.000-07:00

I found this old 1939 Plymouth Mayflower car while visiting my uncle recently in Metchosin, BC on Vancouver Island, my uncle was chatting with a neighbour who owns the old Plymouth when I dropped by this past June, I though wow, what a cool old car !, its was mostly original with only 46,000 miles on the odometer, the car had been repainted sometime in the 1960's but was garage kept for many decades, any way since I happen to have my camera with me, I asked the owner if it was all right if I could photograph the car, in which he was more than happy to let me do so. There are more pictures on my Facebook Photography page. All the images were taken with my 4 x 5 Ebony view camera and a 120mm Schneider lens.

Classic Lake Louise

2011-05-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a classic view of Lake Louise, Banff National Park that I made in September of 1998. Image made with a 4 x 5 view camera, 120mm lens.

China Beach Park ( From the Archives )

2011-05-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here is an image I made in December of 1997 at China Beach Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, just north of Jordan River, as I recall it was one of those wonderful days as the weather was clearing after a storm. One of my never ending tasks is to scan all of my best images that I have made over the years with my various view cameras, this one was made with a Tachihara 4 x 5 and a 120mm lens, basically the same lens I have been using for 25 years.

Port Renfrew, B.C.

2011-05-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

An image I made last month in the Port Renfrew area of Vancouver Island.

Fallen Oak Tree

2011-05-16T21:53:00.001-07:00

I like the idea of these two pictures being together, or side by side in a portfolio, I was out photographing on Vancouver Island last month, and I was visiting on of my favourite places, Tower Point, part of Witty's Lagoon Regional Park and saw this rather large section of oak tree that had simply broken off from the main trunk that was on a steep rocky overhang above the ocean, the broke off section landed very nicely on the small pebble beach below, I though it presented interesting photo possibilities. Images were made with a 4 x 5 View Camera and a 270mm lens (medium telephoto).

Tower Point Trees

2011-05-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Trees are one of my favourite subjects to photograph, these Oak trees are in Witty's Lagoon Regional Park on Vancouver Island, the Tower Point end of the park, the tree on the bottom right is a large section that broke off and ended up on the beach below the trees on the hillside. 4 x 5 view camera, 120mm lens.

The Shape of Trees

2011-04-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

I was driving along the road to White Lake observatory near Penticton, BC, Canada, when I spotted this cluster of trees, I had hunch that it might make for an interesting picture, I parked a ways down the road and walked back along the shoulder of the road and set up my camera and tripod , I liked the various shapes, very feminine….. its always nice when I can find pictures right along the road, I had no real plan just to drive some of my favourite local back roads and see what I could see.

Stillness #2

2011-04-05T18:48:00.001-07:00

Here is another image of the same scene in Peachland, BC with a little bit different perspective, photo was taken with a 4 x 5 view camera and a 270mm lens.

The Dream of Stillness #1

2011-04-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

This is an image I made of a reflective and still Okanagan Lake in the morning last week, I decided to head out for a day trip with Penticton in mind ( south of where I live ), on the way there not too far from where I live I got side tracked when I noticed how still and calm the lake was, its not something I see every day with a lake of this size, I felt the docks in Peachland would an a little extra to the image, I have posted the wide shot here first, taken with the 120mm lens with my 4 x 5 view camera, in a later post I will post the image I made with the medium telephoto lens ( 270mm ).

Two of a Kind

2011-04-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

I paired these two images I made recently at Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park, near Kelowna, the pictures were made from small patches of snow that had not melted creating an island of snow in the shadows of the rocky hillside. I was attracted to the unusual shapes of the snow. The images were made with my 4 x 5 view camera and a 270mm lens.

Winter Images In Review

2011-03-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks,

This more or less concludes my winter landscape series as I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of spring and looking forward to getting out with my camera to explore the natural landscape around me in the springtime.

Here are some interesting stats, I shot 136 sheets of 4 x 5 film ( I used Ilford HP5 and Kodak T-Max 400 films ) , I scanned 95 of those negatives, I have featured 56 images that have been posted on this Facebook page. I photographed during the months of January and February and was on my snow shoes for 12 outings, pretty well every weekend , the trail length was from 3 to 5 ams and my hiking time with photography varied from 2 to 5 hours, all totalled I probably hiked ( with snow shoes ) about 45 kilometres, my lowest elevation was 654 meters ( not far from my home ) and the highest elevation was 1661 meters in the Silver Star Provincial Park area near Vernon, BC., Temperatures ranged from a balmy plus 1 or 2 C to minus 17 C. I shot everything with a Ebony 4 x 5 view camera, film only , I used a tripod for all photos, with ski baskets attached on the tips of the legs so the legs wouldn't disappear into the snow.

In conclusion I must say its been a lot of fun and great exercise, photographing snow can be a bit challenging at times, especially when the days were cloudy and the light flat, but I feel snow is perfectly suited for black and white, hopefully I will get out later this year when Winter rolls around once again in my art of the world or early next year, I'm not done yet !

Gary

The Winter Landscape

2011-02-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas I was making up some new art cards of winter scenes, as I was looking through my collection of work in order to make up the new cards it dawned on me that in comparison to other landscapes I have made in the spring, summer and fall I really didn't have huge number of winter images to select from. So I though okay one of my challenges to myself this winter and hopefully in winters to come was to get out and try and build up my collection of winter scenics. Even though I live here in Canada, and where some from other countries think of us Canadians as living in igloos, one still has to find the "right" area to make snow pictures, I found the best locations are higher up in elevation where its colder and there is more snow, the snow that falls in the valley bottom doesn't stick around long enough, tends to be warmer on average , not long enough to keep that pristine snow around long enough, or it turns into a half thawed slushy mess. I have found quite a few local ski areas that have snow shoe trails and I think the snow shoe is a great way to get around, kinda like four wheel drive for the feet and it a great work out too, for me I usually take my 4 x 5 view camera and for my tripod I attach ski pole baskets to the bottom of the tripod legs ( my Gitzo has removable feet ) it works quite well and the legs don't sink too deeply into the ground.

I think snow is a great subject for black and white film and for someone like myself it seems like a natural fit as all of my landscapes are shot in black and white. During my snow shoe hikes I tried to get out on one or both of my days off which are Sunday and Monday and my trips were usually around 4 to 5 km in length, not all that long, but when one factors in the time to take pictures it would take me from anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete a hike, keep in mind my use of a 4 x 5 view camera slows me down quite a bit, first I find a suitable area to photograph, then pack down the snow with my snow shoes, set up the tripod, mount the camera and lens , compose my image, calculate my exposure, insert the film holder, pull the slide and make that glorious click of the shutter. The air temperature has not been too bad for most of my hikes, usually from -5C to -10C the coldest I was out in was -17C at Sovereign Lake Ski area near Vernon, BC, part of Silver Star Provincial Park. The -17C was not all that cold compared to other areas of the country and the world, and I didn't have any real problems with the camera freezing up, I usually dress in layers so even while standing around for periods of a half hour I never really felt cold, although I had quite a bit of trouble keeping my ground glass screen free of frost from my breath while I was composing my image with the view camera. I have found that I shoot anywhere from 10 to 20 images per hike.

One of my self imposed challenges was to try and get out no matter what the weather was like, ( well okay maybe I would give a howling blizzard a pass ), I find that I like to photograph quite close to home, one area that I have frequented numerous times these past couple of month is only 8 km from my home is the area that surrounds the Telemark Cross Country Ski area, it has some nice snow shoe trails, but is a bit lower elevation of about 1000 to 1100 meters, there have had some warm winter days so the snow melts off the trees fairly quickly and the snow averages about 100cm in depth on the ground. One of my favourite areas though is the Silver Star area, it's at a much higher elevation of about 1600 meters and and the snow depth is much deeper, around 190 cm in depth, but the drive from my home is about 95 km one way so close to a 200 km round trip, but the trip is well worth it and the scenery is very beautiful with lots of very tall spruce trees.

So far this winter have lots of film to scan, more film to develop and hopefully print one of these days, I will try and post some of the more interesting images on this blog. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy your winter, where ever and what ever that may be.

-Gary

My Updated Website

2011-01-24T22:21:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful blog readers, I have just finished updating my website with images I made in 2010, have a look when you have a chance, some images have been featured here on this blog, others have been featured on my Facebook Photography page. I have also included a new PDF download, these images are from the Cowichan Shipyard on Vancouver Island, Canada. I have been photographing this 100 year old building which is still in use for the past 8 years, the building is now owned by artist, Arthur Vickers.

The image I am posting is from Botanical beach near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island, it was taken on a bright sunny day in October of last year.Equipment was my ever faithful 4 x 5 view camera and 120mm lens.

East Sooke Park

2011-01-04T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a view of East Sooke park on Vancouver Island that I made this past October.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

Here is an image I made at Silver Star cross country ski area near Vernon BC earlier this year, thanks very much to all my readers of my blog, a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011.

The Pesuta Shipwreck #2

2010-11-29T22:51:00.000-08:00

For some reason this seems to get a lot of hits on my blog, I previous posted this back in May of 2009 I made the image in September of 1993. Image was made with a Tachihara 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.So for all of you folks doing searches on the Pesuta shipwreck here is another image, it was a beautiful thing to photograph, I wish I had taken more photos.

The Adventures of an Analog and Digital Photographer

2010-11-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

I have been mulling over the idea of writing a blog post on my recent use of a digital SLR camera ( Nikon D90 ) it has been an interesting journey……

………Should I use film or digital ? I am finding out that each image capture technology, new and old has its own unique characteristics, I have been shooting large format 4 x 5 film, including 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 for quite a while now, about 25 years, and I feel I have gotten to know the use of view cameras quite well, although I am sure there are photographers that are more proficient then me, at the start, back in the 1980's I was not sure if using a view camera was worth the bother and I seriously thought about going back to using 35mm film, but I persevered on. Now today there is digital to ponder, I am no stranger to using a digital camera, I been using one every day at work as a staff newspaper photographer since 2001, I would not want to use anything else and I have no desire to use film for my work as a newspaper shooter, but for my personal work which I do on my days off and holidays, that is a whole different ball game.

I know there are a good many photographers out there who would not hesitate for a second to abandon the ole' film camera especially a clunky view camera, it can be heavy and bulky to carry around, a good day's shooting with the view camera I might shoot 20 sheets of 4 x 5 film, less with the larger formats, there is the developing, scanning and or printing in the darkroom which is a laborious task, so why bother ?, in some ways the view camera seems so outdated and old fashioned, especially when the digital option is so much easier to use. I have to admit that the image quality that I have been able to achieve from my Nikon D90 is very impressive as long and as I keep the print size to around 14 to 16 inches on the long side with out cropping the original file, the pictures are simply fabulous. I also realize that I have much to learn when using the digital camera, especially for my fine art work, although over the past year I have learned a lot about squeezing as much quality as I can from my digital RAW files, I am happy with the progress.

A few observations between the two systems and I should mention that there is no one perfect camera system, also do not mean for this post to become the all too common digital vs film debate. When I am out shooting with my view camera I tend to be more focused in making my pictures, I tend to concentrate more on what I think will be the best shot, I take my time to carefully compose my subject matter before may lens, I might add that I try to "see" what works best for the view camera and the particular lens I might be using, usually my 120mm lens which is roughly a 28mm lens on a 35mm size full frame digital or film camera, I try to see what view camera lens "sees". I have learned the limitations of my lenses and work around that. I find the view camera much more inspiring to use as a technical piece of equipment, I feel inspired when out in the field using the camera as it's is a beautifully hand crafted piece of equipment. I also realize that there are a number of draw backs to using a view camera, the limited number of photographs that I can make in a day is one, although I must say at the conclusion of the year I am content and happy with the work I have produced even though there are always a few pictures left on the plate that I was not able to make with the camera. There is the bulk and weight of carrying the view camera gear, once my back-pack is loaded up with a the bare minimum amount of gear, a couple of lenses, some film holders, camera body, tripod, light meter, plus extras like food, water and some extra clothing I am carrying a 35 to 40 pound load ( 15 to 18 Kg ) that can feel pretty heavy at the end of a long hike. Then there is the unloading and reloading of the film holders after shooting all day. Next I then have to develop the film, I can process about 16 sheets of 4 x 5 film per hour, on my last two-week holiday this past October I shot 225 sheet of 4 x 5 film, that took me ten days to get it all processed, doing a bit each night after work and on my days off, I then edit that negatives to see which ones I would like to scan ( from this holiday about 140 ).

I'm sure some would think that it seems like a lot of unnecessary work when compared to shooting with digital, with my D90 I can easily shoot 200 pictures in a day and have those all down loaded in about 10 minutes or so on my laptop, I can sit back in my comfy office chair , put my feet up grab a cup of tea and see what I have on my monitor screen and the editing goes pretty quick, like or don't like, delete. Despite all that work that goes into the using the view camera, I like the pace of work and I like being out in the field with it, to me there is nothing quite like framing and composing my soon to be captured picture on the ground glass screen of a view camera ( the 8 x 10 is really amazing! ), that for me is the creative artistic reward, when various elements comes together for what I hope to be a rewarding image. One thing that I run into with shooting digital, and I must admit that perhaps I'm not disciplined enough when out using the camera, is that I tend to take more of a lazy approach to using the camera - pointing it at various subjects with no real intent thought of making a well thought out image, consequently I end up deleting about 90% of my images, although I am getting better at my mindlessness, I need to concentrate on my work ethic with the digital and I feel in the long run I will be able to make some exciting images with the digital camera, I can see how handy it would be to use on longer hiking trips, when I don't want to pack around all of my view camera gear, and the image quality of digital cameras are improving year by year.

My plans for my future fine art work is to continue to learn all I can about using digital capture, and how I can integrate it into my body of work, I plan to keep using my view cameras for the foreseeable future, I hope next year to able to upgrade to Nikon's new D7000 DSLR, it has better dynamic range it will have a few more megapixels plus has a metal internal frame it seems from what I have read that it's better built than the D90 that I currently own also it's reasonably priced. The D7000's improved dynamic range will come in handy for my landscape work too.

Here is the tricky part of this post, the two pictures that I have chosen for this blog post were taken on my recent holiday this past September to the Red Deer River Valley area near Three Hills, Alberta, this is an incredibly beautiful area to photograph, I had some excellent lighting with lots of nice clouds hanging about. The two images are not meant to be a side by side comparison, they were taken within about a hour of one another in roughly the same spot. I have found when I have tried doing side by side tests between the film and digital that its sometimes difficult to come to a conclusion as to what is better, each has its pluses and minuses, I don't feel no one system is better than the other, at the end of the day its the photograph that counts, how it was made doesn't matter.

Technical information for the film image: 4 x 5 Ebony view camera ( RW45 ) 120mm lens, I don't recall the aperture or shutter speed, I think maybe about 1/8 sec at f32, I used Ilford HP5 film rated @ 200 ISO, which I processed in Kodak Xtol developer ( full strength ) the image was scanned with my Microtek M1 scanner at about 560% of the original 4 x 5 negative.

Technical information for the digital image: Nikon D90 DSLR camera, Nikkor 24mm lens, 1/250 sec @ f14, 200 ISO, I shot the image on RAW and used Photoshop CS3 to "develop" the image. I have also provided a 100% crop from the two images, this is not a fair comparison as I had to up size the digital image to match the film scan, if both were printed at around 14 to 16 inches on the long side, it would be hard to tell the difference.

If you have gotten to the end of this post thanks for reading ! I am not a professional writer, and nor did I mean this to be a technical review as to what is the better piece of gear, happy shooting and I hope you enjoy your passion as much I enjoy mine.

My Gary-Nylander-Fine-Art-Photography page on Facebook

2010-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to my Facebook page that features my fine art photography, much of it featured on this blog, also I am posting another version of twisted root from my previous post. I will also add my Facebook link in the list of links on the right hand side of this blog. Thanks for looking.

Twisted Tree Root

2010-11-16T22:41:00.001-08:00

Here is an image of twisted tree roots that I made earlier this year at Bromley Rock, just outside of Princeton BC. Picture was made with a 4 x 5 view camera and a 120mm lens.

East Sooke Park

2010-10-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

Here is an image I made recently with my Nikon D90 and a 24mm lens while hiking around the northern end of East Sooke Park on Vancouver Island.