wild prairie man's photostream  

Today I need a hit of summer, so I've gone back through my files to find some overlooked images worth sharing. Here's a shot made along the Rosefield Grid road, near my home in Val Marie, Saskatchewan. July. Towering cumulus clouds. Warm breezes. Midsummer. Ahh...

Note: Those who follow my photostream will know that I straighten my horizons, either in camera or in Photoshop. I didn't do so here because the land really does slope up to the left toward the hills of Grasslands National Park. Not all prairie is flat.

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

An extreme macro shot of a cactus bloom, Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Another midsummer shot made along the Newton Lake Road. Two whitetail bucks, antlers in velvet, not overly concerned about the car that stopped on the dusty roadside. They didn't run off, but rather melted into the trees...

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

This is a reprocessed photo. Shot as a horizontal, my subject flying so low that one wing was clipped, the proportions did not comfortably fit a horizontal frame. It works better as a vertical. These guys really zip through the sky; how I ever got it in focus is a mystery. Photographed about half a block from my home in Val Marie, Saskatchewan.

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Another reworked image. The problem with a creature so well camouflaged as the Short-horned Lizard is somehow separating it visually from its background. In a previous encounter with this rare resident of Grasslands National Park, I shot with a fairly wide f-stop to keep the background out of focus. This worked, but I also lost some critical detail on its legs, scales, etc. So this time I used smaller apertures, and the predictable occurred: too much resolution of background details. Now, I could alter the background digitally, but I just don't want to do that. All I did to improve this image was crop it square. I think this draws the viewer's eye to the subject's eye - which luckily has a catch-light - and to its raised head. Cute, isn't he? In a reptilian sort of way...

Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.