The Canadian North Atlantic Coast and Newfoundland

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

Trinity, Newfoundland

uring the summer of 2004 we went on a ten-day photo trip up the Canadian North Atlantic Coast to Newfoundland. For us this has been an adventure of a lifetime. Ironically, this was a trip we almost didn’t take.

Prior to the trip, during the planning stages our hopes for photo opportunities were high but our expectations were low. We weren’t able to find much in the way of published photographs of the area. Still, we had heard from those that had been to Newfoundland of a land of wonder and enchantment. Stories were told of quaint fishing villages virtually untouched since the turn of the 19th century, surrounded by landscapes from seemingly lost worlds.

We originally chose four locations; Peggy’s Cove and Cape Breton Highlands NP in Nova Scotia, and Gros Morne and Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland. That’s a lot of driving for only four known locations, was it going to be worth it? Our fascination with the stories we had heard made our decision, we scheduled the trip. We were not disappointed.

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Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia. Enhanced in Photoshop to portray our feelings of being lost world explorers.

Nova Scotia

The first major day of shooting was Peggy’s Cove on the eastern shoreline of Nova Scotia. We arrived early morning; the sky was overcast with storm clouds, a perfect backdrop to set the mood. A local photographer came up and started a conversation. He recommended we spend most of our time that day at Peggy’s Cove, as it was the quintessential fishing village in that area. We were able to photograph for about an hour before it started raining. Despite the good advice, we packed up and drove on.

Continuing down the coast we photographed between the raindrops, looking for that elusive combination of good subjects and the right light. By mid afternoon the rain stopped. Remembering our local photographers advice, we headed back to Peggy’s Cove. This time we still had the drama of the storm clouds, but we also had the warm glow of the late afternoon sun. We photographed until we lost the light. What a great way to end our first day

The second day we drove through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park as we made our way towards Newfoundland. What a surprise, the coastline vistas with their rich green highlands and beautiful blue waters made us feel more like we were on a tropical island than on the far North Atlantic Coast. Photographic opportunities were not great due to the clear skies, but still very much worth the visit.

That night we took the ferry to Newfoundland. We slept through the seven hour ride awakened by the sound of the captains voice over the cabins speaker. As we drove off the ferry we were greeted by brooding vistas of mountaintops lost in the dark storm clouds. Although the light and mood were magical, the rain was too intense to take photos. Onward to Gros Morne we went.

Gros Morne

The combination of ominous skies and gloomy light on Gros Morne was in a word; enchanting. The image here although originally shot in color, was converted to black and white to better capture the lost world look.

Photo trips like this are a lot of find and seek, find a local map and seek out the landmarks on it. One such find was The Arches. A polarizer was used to reduce light and the lens was stopped down to f 22 with a corresponding shutter speed of approximately 30 seconds to show movement in the water. By the way The Arch as viewed from the parking area does not look like our image. The impact comes from placing the camera inside and under the arch, and using a 24mm lens with the camera just 18 inches above the water. My wife Tammy had to kneel in the cold ocean water to take the picture.

Unnamed cove in Nova Scotia. This reminded us of a scene from an old Technicolor movie, so we altered the light and color to give it the vintage look.

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Changing the weather

“ the nik Color Efex Sunshine filter was used to convert the scene from a dull overcast day to a bright sunny one”
Converting a Color Image to Black and White

“The magic in this technique is the use of two separate black and white conversions, one for the sky, and one for the trees.”
Creative Controls F-stops & Depth of Field

Another factor that affects depth of field is distance from the camera to the subject. Depth of field decreases as the camera moves closer to the subject.
Digital Film Tools 55mm; Photoshop plug-in review

“The bragging rights for Digital Film Tools is that the means of producing the masks is more intuitive, flexible, and powerful than Photoshop CS.”
Grain Surgery for Photoshop - Review

“the noise is removed, yet the details remain”
How to Improve the Image Quality of your Camera

By using a tripod, slower shutter speeds can be utilized allowing the aperture of the lens to be stopped down increasing depth of field
Lens choices for landscape photography

“The wide-angle perspective ... gives the viewer the impression they could walk into the photo”
Becoming a student of Light and Color- Part 1 - Quaility of Light

“I changed, from a photographer that photographs what he finds, to one that starts with a vision and then goes out to produce an image that matches the vision.”
Becoming a student of Light and Color- Part 2- Light , Color, and Composition

“a color only takes on importance when considered relative to the other colors surrounding it."
Long Lens Landscapes

“I am always willing to try for that image with the “wow factor”, and long lenses are definitely an unordinary if not extraordinary way to capture grand landscapes.”

Canadian North Atlantic Coast

“Stories were told of quaint fishing villages virtually untouched since the turn of the 19th century, surrounded by landscapes from seemingly lost worlds.”

Nik Color efect Pro - Photoshop Plug-in Review

“Unlike so many other plug-ins for Photoshop, the nik Multimedia Color Efex Pro filters are truly useful.”
Nikon Capture nx-first look

"What is needed is a raw converter with an extensive enough set of imaging tools that a second program like Photoshop is not required."
Photoshop tips and techniques -An introduction to 5 great plug-ins

“It’s all about color...What caught her eye was the contrast between the yellow tree, the glowing red rocks, and the cool blue base.”
Photoshop tips and techniques -A watercolor effect from the unlikely pairing of two third party plug-ins

“I look for subjects that move me emotionally...When I got the slides back however, the magic was missing”

Painting with Light -A Photoshop tutorial

“most images need at least one of their elements to be pure black, meaning black with no detail, and need at least one of their elements to be pure white meaning white with no detail”
Basic Photoshop for photographers - Part 1

"Today we are making images that we could not even have dreamed of making before"
Basic Photoshop for photographers -Part 2

"Always use a separate layer this allows mistakes to be erased at any time"
Segmentis Fo2PiX buZZ review

"The user has control over how much detail is removed. One can choose to remove detail in the highlights, shadows, or both"
The Filters we use and why

"The question I often hear is “do you still use lens filters”. The answer is yes, because there still is no substitute for capturing the image properly."
The Gas Station- The story behind a picture

“I wanted the picture to interact with the viewer, to encourage the viewer to explore”
Waiting for the right light

"Planning for the light means selecting the time of year and the time of day"
Tutorials and Reviews Index

Peggy’s Cove

“Stories were told of quaint fishing villages virtually untouched since the turn of the 19th century, surrounded by landscapes from seemingly lost worlds.”

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Cape Breton

“What a surprise, the coastline vistas with their rich green highlands and beautiful blue waters made us feel more like we were on a tropical island than on the far North Atlantic.”

Cape Breton

Gros Morne, Newfoundland

Gros Morne, Newfoundland