Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Year, New Light

New Year's Day 4
Canon S95 Point and Shoot

This winter has not been easy for me. I'm used to some escape, and while I did spend nearly two weeks in Mexico in late November, I was so pre-occupied by preparing for, racing and recovering from the Ironman Triathlon, it hardly seemed to be an escape. In fact, this holiday season is the first I've ever spent in Alaska. Strange eh? I've lived here for 12 years and this was the first time I spent Christmas here. Basically, this means that I'm seeing this darkest time of year, in its entirety, for the first time. 

Now that we are past the solstice we are gaining back the sun in the range of 3 minutes a day, and that is enough to feel. Each day feels a bit brighter than the one before, the light lingers on the southern horizon for hours after sunset. But when the sun is up, it sheds wonderful, low-angle light across the landscape. Yesterday, New Year's Day 2011, was one such day. It is days like yesterday, when the the world no longer seems so black and white, so gray on gray, but rather an explosion of color. 

New Year's Day 2
Canon S95 Point and Shoot

The 2 images here are mostly grab-shots, made with my new Canon S95 point and shoot. Got to say I'm impressed by this little machine. With a little work in Lightroom, the images are nearly perfect. I'm curious to see if my stock agency will accept a couple. I may try that this week.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Dave! Nice shots! Good to see you posting again.
    I bought the Canon S90 this time last year and I love it! I have been really impressed. It was highly recommended on all the food blog forums. At one point they posted the same photo taken with the S90 and another taken with a far more expensive DSLR and had people guess which was which. I was sold at that point.
    Hope you guys are enjoying the beautiful weather over there! Happy New Year.

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  2. Ben says:

    Wonderful. Full, warm light! Some day I may experience Alaska at its darkest, but generally will take que from the birds and stay south until longer days return. I think they are on to something...enjoy winter and shop for cheap flights if you need a break...

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