Update: Facebook Photography Page

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know about my photography page I have on facebook.  It would be nice to know if people like my photography.  If you do like my photography leave a comment or like my Facebook page if you want.  It is nice to see support.

Tom Houston Photography (Link to Facebook Page)

Hope all is well,

Tom

Update: New Shoots & East Coast Trip

Hello everyone,

I am lucky and have two shoots planned before I go on my work trip.  The shoots should be great and I am really excited for the shoots with the ideas I have.  Next week I will be leaving for the east coast hopefully which will give me some very nice landscapes I hope.  Just thought I would update everyone on what is to come!

Tom

Update: New Shoot

Hello,

I did a shoot today and it went really well.  The rain held off which allowed us to take photos outside which was nice.  It was the first time I have used my flash outside and it was great.  It was a cloudy day so that was nice and it was great to have the extra fill light of my SB-600.

The shoot went well I thought and I am pleased with the photos.

Portrait - SB-600 - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - SB-600 - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - SB-600 - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - SB-600 - 50mm f/1.4 D

More photos are on my Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomjbh/sets/

Hope you enjoy the photos,

Tom

Destination Review: Fort Simpson, NWT

Thoughts and Opinions:

The Northwest Territories was a interesting place to visit.  Fort Simpson is at the junction of the Liard and Mackenzie rivers and is a fairly small town.  The rivers were massive up there.  Very very wide rivers especially at where the two rivers met.  The river banks were the largest I’ve seen personally.  

I was there in the beginning of July and it was nice weather.  Not many bugs however there were very large flies, none of them bit me however they just followed you around.  More annoying than anything else.  Some stray dogs but I have seen worse.  Nice community.  

 The day length up there was fairly remarkable because the sun was already quite high by the time I rolled out of bed at between 7-8:00am and set around 11.  Once the sun set, it stayed relatively bright outside for being in the middle of the night.  It was a really long sunset to dusk.  And then probably stayed fairly light till the sun popped back up over the horizon.

There was a 6-8 hour gravel road form the Alaskan Highway up to Fort Simpson.  When I drove up it was right after almost 2 weeks of solid rain I was told.  So the condition of that road was the worst I have ever seen for a gravel road.  It was quite the nightmare.  The potholes were massive in areas and there was plenty of washboard gravel.  So you may or may not run into that if you choose to drive up to Fort Simpson but I am assuming it is usually better than what I experienced.

The lodging there where I was wasn’t the Rtiz but it wasn’t too terrible.  It is definitely remote so its slim pickings for most things up there.  The grocery store was fine but expensive.  

Photo Opportunities:

While I was there I mostly took photos of the sunsets and the rivers.  There was fireweed was well that blew around lots in the wind.  I am sure you could find wildlife on the way up to take pictures of for sure.  I saw some Bison and a moose on the gravel road.  The forests up there are small due to the small growing season however they are very dense and they are undisturbed which I like in photos.   

Pros:

Remote

Great rivers

Long sunsets in the summer

Always have light in summer

Some wildlife

Cons:

Isolated by distance

Small town so some things are limited like lodging 

Doesn’t get dark could make it hard to sleep for some people

Sample Images:

Junction of Liard and Mackenzie Rivers,  Fort Simpson, NWT - 18-105mm

Fireweed, Fort Simpson, NWT - 18-105mm

Sunset, Fort Simpson, NWT -18-105mm

Conclusions: 

Personally I would not drive all the way up there for kicks and giggles.  I was there for work which makes it easy for a reason to be there however it was nice taking pictures of the rivers.  Also just seeing the vastness of the Liard and Mackenzie Rivers was a good experience.  As well, it was interesting to see the day length be that long.  I don’t know if a very long drive to somewhere is worth seeing a long day length but it was neat to witness.  During the winter, they would have very cold days, however they would have the northern lights.  The locals I talked to up there didn’t think the lights were all that special however I personally would love to see them again.

I know of many people who have canoed up in the territories and have loved it so if that is what you are planning it would be cool to some how mange to go through Fort Simpson.  

So Fort Simpson for me personally, I would not go up there solely to take photos.  I think it was a cool place to see however you need other reasons to go up there to make the trip worthwhile.  

Destination Reviews:

Hello,

I am going to start doing some reviews of the places I have been where I have taken nice photos.

I hope you enjoy them.

Tom

Update: Back From Northern Quebec

Hello,

I am now back from northern Quebec so I have a couple of weeks to take some photos before I go off again.  Hopefully I will be going to out east but we shall see.  So I might have a chance to take some portraits before I travel again which would be nice.

Stay posted for more photos and posts,

Tom

A Traditional Experience

I was invited to see how geese are cooked in the traditional way over a fire in a teepee.  It was a great honour to be invited.  I got to see the geese being prepped for the fire and them being hung over the fire.  I could not stay the whole time however I was there long enough to see what happens and experience it.  The hosts were fine with me taking photos so I was able to get some photos and they turned out very well I think.

I thought I would post these up because not many people I think get to see something like this.  Hope you enjoy:

Sun beam - Eastmain, QC - 17-55mm

Geese cooking - Eastmain, QC - 17-55mm

Northern Quebec & The 17-55mm

So, I have now been up in northern Quebec for about a month now and it has some very nice scenery.  I have been very busy during the day so I usually only have time to take photos at night.  Personally I love the sunsets in the north.  I don't know what it is about them but they are very nice.


I have been mostly using my 17-55mm since it is new and I want to see what it can do still.  So far I am very impressed with it.  I love my Tokina 11-16mm but I am learning it is nice to not see everything in front of you sometimes.  Usually there isn't too much framing you have to do at 11mm cause it sees so much however the 17-55mm is nice because you can be a little more picky.  The Tokina at 16mm is good but it is nice to have the more versatility with the 17-55mm in a place where you never know what you will see.  I also really like the colour rendition of the 17-55mm.


Personally, I think up here I have shot some of my the best sunset photos I have.  So the 17-55mm has been very good up here.  I can be taking photos of a sunset and then look down and then take photos of shot gun shells laying on the beach.  It was nice not having to switch between lenses to take photos of the sunset and the shells.

Eastmain, QC - 17-55mm

Eastmain & James Bay - Quebec - 17-55mm

Shot Gun Shells - Eastmain, QC - 17-55mm

James Bay Sunset - Quebec - 17-55mm

So all and all I am impressed with this lens and the scenery up here in northern Quebec.  And for the record I really like the first and last photo of the ones above.  So I made them a little larger than the other two.  That's all for now.  


More on my Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomjbh/sets/72157626903574952/