Below are Earl’s favorite six photos from his time on the Fire and Ice Photo Tour. Earl decided to ‘stretch’ himself and shoot most of the time in black-n-white.
©Earl Merrimen
©Earl Merrimen
©Earl Merrimen
©Earl Merrimen
©Earl Merrimen
©Earl Merrimen
© Amanda Large
Nikon D90, 16-85 mm f/3.5-5.6, ISO 250, f/3.5, 1/25 seconds
Sometimes the images that say the most about people don’t literally show much of them at all. This portrait of my odd-socks-wearing friend was taken on the spur of the moment; hand-held, no premeditation, no set up. We were getting ready to go out, I think – or rather, he was sitting on the couch waiting for me to get ready – and I grabbed my camera in the hopes of nabbing a shot of him. Being a modest soul, he didn’t want to show his face and grabbed a conveniently located painting to hide behind. I directed him to move it slightly so that his scarf aligned with the tie in the painting and took a shot using the available light before he lost patience with me. For me, a big part being a photographer is being able to go with the flow and seize the moment. I originally set out to take a simple picture of my friend on the couch, and ended up with what I find a far more interesting portrait.
As a side note: it was pointed out to me that the painting is based on a photo (of 20th century political philosopher John Rawls), so this is actually a photograph of a painting based on a photograph. ~ Amanda Large
© Thomas Sivilay
1/320s, f/4.0, ISO 160 – with a CANON 50D and SIGMA 10-20mm
This shot was taken at the World Exposition in Shanghai in 2010. It’s one of the many structures at the Exposition, but it’s maybe the first one you will see if you take the subway. So it was my first shot for this long day, and I was at the bottom of the structure. I used an ultra-wide angle, but I’ve re-sized it to have this Fibonacci number composition. There is also a contrast between lines/triangle and curves. ~ Thomas Sivilay
Below are Roger Raepple’s favorites form the Fire and Ice Tour:
©Roger Raepple
©Roger Raepple
©Roger Raepple
©Roger Raepple
©Roger Raepple
©Roger Raepple
© Olga and Boris
Everything that is created on the Earth–fine, unique and surprising–is created by nature. Or God. It seems to us that when the potter molds an amphora from clay, he sees before himself such image. We have tried to “mold” an amphora by means of a photo. And it seems to us that it has turned out. ~ Olga and Boris
Below are Mike Blanchette’s six favorite images from the Fire and Ice Tour.
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Athabasca River Bend: Jasper National Park, Alberta
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Fallen Tree in Talbot Lake: Jasper National Park, Alberta
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Bend in the North Saskatchewan River
Banff National Park
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Sun Hitting the Peaks: Abraham Lake, Alberta
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Aspen Trees in Snow: Kootenay Plains, Alberta
Photo by Mike Blanchette
Cracks in the Ice: Abraham Lake, Alberta
I just got back from the final Fire and Ice Photo Tour this year. We were ‘blessed’ with cold temps (-25 degrees over night) and therefore some nice ice and even a little bit of fire (sunrises and sunsets). The gang of shooters were a blast and everyone was open to the amazing possibilities nature tossed our way.
Part of each tour is a safety meeting about ice conditions. You can see here what happens when someone does not listen to the safety spiel! The good news is with my super long exposure of the scene (5 minutes using a Lee Big Stopper ND filter), the waves and bubbles of the struggling participant did not even register in the image. So let this be a lesson, always listen to your instructor….
This one is dedicated to Joe (thanks for leaving the camera gear on shore) 😉
©Darwin Wiggett
The colour version – Canon EOS-1ds Mark III, Canon 24 TSE, 5 minutes at f11, Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer, Singh-Ray 3-stop soft-edge grad, Lee 10-stop Big Stopper ND filter.
©Darwin Wiggett
The B+W version (conversion done in Nik Silver Efex Pro) – which version do you prefer?
Below are Greg Bukoski’s six favorite images from the Fire and Ice Tour.
Photo by Greg Bukoski
Photo by Greg Bukoski
Photo by Greg Bukoski
Photo by Greg Bukoski
Photo by Greg Bukoski
Photo by Greg Bukoski
© Stefano Ronchi
I had never managed to photograph a fox. I have always been fascinated by his being cunning and reserved. I had met her sometimes, a look, a noise, an escape. Just enough time to take up the camera and the fox was already gone to safer places. So I decided to start a photographic safari, I only wanted to take her a picture with her “winter coat” in order to capture the wonderful figure with her most beautiful colors, when the harsh winter weather increases her hair and makes her look like a teddy bear. Early in the morning I put on her trail in the park of the Gran Paradiso. Finally, after six hours of walking, I can see her in the valley that goes back at her lair. I followed her, trying not to scare her. She sees me, but It seems not to have fears and she let me go with her. It was really exciting to share with her two hours, standing three meters away in complete harmony and with deep respect. As a used model lent herself to the objective of the camera and I could photograph her in all possible ways. Unfortunately the light was too direct, with the sun that drew her silhouette, making silver her features. This is why I chose to underexpose the photograph so that the features were the only visible part. When I returned home I only exacerbated the part in “black” in post-production getting this result. ~ Stefano Ronchi
Below are Alan’s six favorites from the Fire and Ice photo tour. We had ‘interesting’ weather that forced participants to dig deep to come up with creative images. As you can see from Alan’s images below, there is always something to shoot no matter what kind of light and weather nature throws at you.
©Alan Ernst
Cline River Canyon
Lumix GH2, Zuiko 11-22mm lens at 22mm (44mm equiv.), ISO 160, f8 at 1/60s, + 1.33 EV
©Alan Ernst
Fairyland Gate
Lumix GH1, Lumix 100-300mm lens at 200mm (400mm equiv.), ISO 100, f16, 1/10s, +0.7 EV
©Alan Ernst
Morning Sun on Vision Quest
Lumix GH1, Lumx 100-300mm lens at 170mm (340mm equiv.), ISO 100, f9, 1/40s, +0.7 EV
©Alan Ernst
Panther Claws
Lumix GH2, Zuiko 11-22mm lens at 21mm (42mm equiv.), ISO 160, f16, 0.6s, +1 EV, solid ND filter
©Alan Ernst
Sunwapta Falls
Lumix GH2, Zuiko 12-60mm lens at 21mm (42mm equiv.), ISO 160, f16, 1/5s, + 0.66 EV
©Alan Ernst
The Drain at Whirlpool Point
Lumix GH2, Zuiko 11-22mm lens at 11mm (22mm equiv.), ISO 160, f14, 0.8s, +0.66 EV
Photographer's Guide to the Canadian Rockies now available
Darwin Wiggett 