Photography by Sandra Howard
While walking down by the Humber River in West Toronto, I came across these unique animal foot prints captured in the ice. The Humber River is one of two major rivers on either side of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the other being the Don River to the east. The Humber collects from about 750 creeks and tributaries in a fan-shaped area north of the city.
I’ve been practicing various arrangements when it comes to setting up a lighting studio on-location. As I become more comfortable with different setups with various lighting options available, I am discovering many effective techniques. The following series was done at the client’s home.
A friend’s daughter, Alia, celebrated her first year old birthday this past November. Alia’s mom was looking for a series of portraits of her. For the following setup, I had one umbrella positioned on the left side of the subject, alongside an on-camera flash and bright back-lit sun.
Each year when our family gets together, the number of dogs in attendance grows. This year we had five dogs attend the Christmas dinner, each of whom I shot portraits of in front of the Christmas tree.
Below from top to bottom, left to right we have: Indy and Scout, each a mixed breed brother and sister. Next we have Link, a pure white Siberian Husky and Moe, an English Bulldog. Lastly, we have Nala, a tea-cup Chihuahua who remained high on furnitre to avoid being jumped at by the other larger dogs.
Link just loves to mark every bush, tree, and patch of grass as his own. I brought along a camera with me to the dog park so that I could test out the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM in action.
Interested in why dogs mark territory? A dog’s urine has a chemical scent that is completely unique to that dog. Our weak human noses may not be able to smell the difference, but it’s a sure bet that the highly sensitive noses of dogs can. Spraying urine is a dog’s way of communicating with other dogs. A dog who is marking his territory is saying to other dogs that these are his things, his boundaries; that he is the owner of everything that contains the unique scent of his urine.
The following photograph was shot during at noon on December 21, 2009 and gives you an idea of the sun’s position in the sky in Toronto, Ontario. I came across this beautiful shadow of a basketball net cast against a rugged shed.
Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26′. Though the Winter Solstice lasts only an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used as Midwinter or contrastingly the first day of winter to refer to the day on which it occurs. More evident to those in high latitudes, this is the shortest day, and longest night, and the sun’s daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest.
