Scott Zielke Photography-The Blog

Another Pano!

2011-06-13T19:23:00.001-07:00

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Panorama!

2011-06-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

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© copyright 2011 all rights reserved

Sandy and Brad get Married!

2010-07-22T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well, for starters I must say this has been one of the most interesting photography experiences I have ever had. The day started off much like any other typical Saturday morning, other than the fact that it was ridiculously humid and there was no running water in our house. I had to be let into a neighbors house who wasn't home by another neighbor while she was there to take care of a litter of seven black lab puppies while I used the shower, like I said, just a typical morning.
And so Sierra (my trusty assistant) and I arrived at the property in Steinbach where the wedding would take place. Struggling to keep cool on this hot and humid day we waited for the horse and carriage to arrive so we could snap some shots of them getting ready. And so the day went about like many other weddings I had been to. A lovely ceremony, followed by a horse and carriage ride, then group shots and formals, and then to the reception. This was a complete outdoor wedding, and the reception of course was under a big tent. The reception started off great, with a bar loaded with any drink imaginable, and some of the best wedding food I must say I have ever tasted. Then as the speeches finished and we were all waiting for the cutting of the cake and the first dance everything changed. The rain began to pick up. And I watched through the opening of the large tent towards the house as a bunch of people began to brace the poles of a smaller tent. The wind began to roar and suddenly there was someone on each pole trying to hold this tent down. Then a huge gust of wind blew and the next thing you saw was the smaller tent go flying, people still holding on to the poles and all. I looked at my assistant with a slight feeling of concern and said lets get our gear, which was sitting under our table. As I turned around to start walking back, paper lantern's which were hung above in the tent began to fall and the tent started to rock wildly. I broke into a jog and turned around to see the tent lifting up from the corner. Now I was sprinting towards the table, looking back only to see that the tent was lifting up behind me as I ran. It was like a Hollywood film, I could picture myself running in slow motion, dramatic music playing in the background. There was no time to grab the gear I continued to run straight to the other side of the tent where I saw an exit. I was about 5 feet away and thought I was going to make it out when the corner pole came flying up in front of me. I made a last effort to jump out, again picturing myself in slow motion as a massive explosion was set off behind me, but next thing I knew I was clobbered on the side of the head by the pole and was knocked to the ground. It took me a couple seconds to get my bearings straight as I realized I was now outside of the tent lying face first getting completely drenched by torrential rains. The end of my lenses sunk into the now soaked grass, I look over to see my flash had broken off the camera. I grab the flash and get up in shock, not sure what to do, but realizing I have about $6000 worth of gear in my hands. I panic and begin to run, attempting to cover my gear from the rain (which did not work). I find my self running through trees in an attempt to find shelter when I get to the driveway and see the garage where everyone is running to. Once inside everyone begins to congregate into the garage, with a lot of expressions of shock and awe on everyone's faces. My assistant makes it in carrying my bag of gear, which was the biggest relief of the night for me. And then everyone is hit with the realization of, what do we do now? Being around some of the most easy going and fun people I have ever met, the situation was handled like nothing even happened. The bar was brought back into the tent, the cake managed to be saved, music started to play and suddenly the bridesmaids where decorating the garage with undamaged lanterns and candles. We all enjoyed a splash in the puddles in the yard as most of us were all drenched head to toe already anyways. And the first dance and cutting of the cake still happened. Although it seemed like everything had gone so horribly wrong, the atmosphere was still a happy one. Mostly everyone stayed, and the party continued and I must say I had a ton of fun. So much excitement and adrenaline surging through my body, I may never find another wedding as fun as this one. Definitely a wedding I will never forget.

Make sure to check out all the publicity this got in the links below!!!

The video that aired on CBC!
http://www.mts.net/~smolin/062610.MPG

The CBC Information 990 Interview
http://www.mts.net/~smolin/Sandy.m4a

The CBC Information 990 Weather Interview
http://www.mts.net/~smolin/JohnSauder.m4a

The Free Press Online Article
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/the-hail-you-say-bad-weather-hits-97254879.html

The Free Press Front Page Article!
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/nuptials-survive-violent-storm-97288489.html

The Stienbach Online Article
http://www.steinbachonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17902&Itemid=232

Family Photos

2010-03-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday afternoon ended up being a great day for a family photo shoot. The sun was out, weather was balmy and the fresh smell of spring was in the air. We covered a lot of ground on this one from shooting in a large industrial elevator for a very different look, to shooting in the studio then heading off into The Exchange to do some exploring. The Exchange proved to be a very interesting place that afternoon as we stumbled across many a scene that had my clients burst out laughing! Talk to me in person if you want the details. The shoot was amazing and we all had some great laughs. Charis tells me that even now almost two weeks after the shoot, her and her family are still talking and joking about the wonderful day.

Take a close look at this image. We stumbled upon a little sign saying free gift of coffee. Where did the coffee come from? Three stories up, out of a window from a small tube!!! Just ring the bell!

New Post? About Time!

2010-02-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

Its been ages, I know, but since the new launch of my website I figured I would maybe start updating the blog. So since I am not flowing with creativity in the writing category at the moment I shall just stick to posting a bunch of images for your viewing pleasure.

New Website!

2010-02-27T10:51:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since a new post on this blog, but here is a link to check out my new website!

http://www.scottzielke.com/

RE-EDIT!

2009-04-13T17:39:00.001-07:00

Here is a shot that I posted on my blog a while ago, I posted it a bit to soon and wasn't finished with the post processing. So here are the results of the final edit.

Winter Wonderland

2009-03-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple shots just to remind everyone that winter can be beautiful, but for god sakes summer hurry up!

Enduring The Storm

2009-03-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

While going over the bridge on the Floodway by Springhill the other day I noticed a bunch of geese sitting out on the thin layer of ice that was covering the raised waters of the Floodway. Small flocks all hunkered down with their heads appearing to be tucked into their body. I knew right away it could be a good opportunity to get some shots, but first things first, I needed something to eat. I knew they wouldn't be moving anywhere anyways, at least until sunset. So after a satisfying meal I headed out. I was prepared to do some tactical sneaking on these birds but was surprised that they could care less that I was there. So I began to snap away. Suddenly, about 8 feet in front of me a beaver pops out of the water! There were two of them. I was even more surprised that these two guys were even less timid of me then the geese were. I spent the next two hours observing and photographing these guys, they sure were entertaining.

This guy spent quite a while trying to get the chunks of ice off his fur. It was pretty hysterical to watch.

My Best Friends: The Pocket Wizards!

2009-03-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, its true I have Pocket Wizards. Handy little fellows they are. It's amazing the things they can do. They have an abundance of knowledge and I learn something from them everyday. Some people don't like these little guys, I think its a shame, they really can give you a hand.....OK, I know, enough with the jokes. So if you haven't clued in already, when I'm referring to pocket wizards I'm not actually referring to little wizard people that can fit in your pocket. No, I am actually referring to my "Pocket Wizard Plus II", the digital wireless radio transceiver. Try saying that five times fast. So what is it? It's quite simple actually, its a wireless transceiver allowing you to operate a strobe (flash) off camera at sync speed. Meaning when I push the shutter button on my camera, as long as one pocket wizard is in the hot shoe of my camera and one is attached to my flash, the flash will fire simultaneously with the camera no matter where I am with my camera or where my flash is (within a 1600 foot range). This brings a whole new world of opportunity for me in lighting and off camera flash. How exciting...I sound like a mad geeky technician scientist. So anyways, here are some shots taken with the use of Pocket Wizards.

Canon 580 EX II- Bounced off white board back lighting the glass. I have been wanting to get a shot like this for some time but my household lamps would simply not get me the fast enough shutter speeds to "freeze time."
Messin round
A triptych of smoke back lit by my 580 EX II flash
More back lighting
Just remembered this wasn't done with a flash, just my household lamps. So just ignore it.

This is Howie do it

2009-02-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

So just like every other sport I do (motocross, dirtjumps on bikes, wakeboarding, BMX etc...) snowboarding comes with the cost of eating it (aka: wiping out, crashing, getting hurt etc...). And thank god it was my friend that reminded me and not myself. Although his name is not Howie, I did think the title for this blog post was appropriate. Any one who does any extreme sports knows it takes a bit of guts, or what us young kids like to call "balls," to be any good at it. So as you can tell by my photo narrative I got going on below, my friend Shaun ate it pretty good. He was trying a backside 180 over the truck. However he didn't manage to "pop" off the face of the little jump we had built enough, resulting in the nose of his board slamming into the rusted pile of metal that might have been a vehicle at one point. The rest was a bit of a blur looking through the viewfinder, which I am extremely mad I didn't keep shooting to capture this epic crash. It ended in a loud thud, with a brief pause, and then a moan. Of course me and my other buddies burst out laughing, until he began coughing up blood! But like the trooper Shaun is, he simply busted out the Tylenol (thank god we come prepared). He kept on coughing up blood for a bit but then he stopped and seemed to be OK and remarked that he could breathe better. Nothing like a good crash to loosen up those blood clots in your lungs. In the end it was all good though. And everyone lived happily ever after.

Priceless.....unless you actually want to buy this picture.

"Um....that's not normal."- Famous quote by Scott Zielke
Tylenol to the rescue!!! Shaun the paramedic says, "always come prepared kids!"

Shred Time

2009-02-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

Finally I got out to do some snowboarding! Almost every year the first snowfall I would strap on my board and go for a pull behind the quad (usually because there was still not enough snow for a snowmobile.) Except for this year. And for a while I seemed to be getting out of it this year. But finally I got out for some good quality shredding, even though we just went to the gravel pits. Now I remember what I have been missing! I have been making plans every weekend since then to get some snowboarding done. Oh, and I managed to get some shots to.

Movie Week Extravaganza!

2009-02-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

The three movies I decided to watch were, One Hour Photo, Manufactured Landscapes, and Pecker.

Starting with One Hour photo. I thought this was a very creepy movie, but well done. The cinematography was great. The choices made with white balance and composition for different scenes really created the mood for the movie. It was a film that definitely had me spinning through emotions. The choice of music and the acting also kept me on the edge of my seat. This movie also made me realize just how easy it is for people working at a one hour photo shop to see the personal lives of others. All in all it was a pretty good movie but I have to say I didn't really understand the ending.

Moving on to Manufactured Landscapes. I thought this was a very interesting film. I really never knew or seen just how large industries can be. Right off the bat the first scene in the film is a never ending panning shot of manufacturer workers on an assembly line. It goes on for ever, I thought it was never going to stop! Not only was some of the filming interesting but the photographs by Edward Burtynsky were quite amazing. He captured these beautiful images loaded with detail of subject matter that really isn't pleasing to the eye but rather disturbing. His images have this balance between beauty and destruction. Although he said he set out to photograph his subjects simply the way they are I think the film and his photographs show the destructive effects we are creating on our planet and the impact of urbanization. All in all I thought it was a good film.

And last but not least Pecker! I thought this movie was great, not to mention rather funny. The story line was quite humorous and the ending completely comical. The film shows just how powerful an image can be as Peckers images start radically changing his and his family and friends lives. I am curious to find out who they got to take the photos for the movie. I have to say some of them were actually very interesting and looked pretty good as well. I wouldn't mind looking through a gallery of some of those images.

Abstracts

2008-12-21T23:04:00.001-08:00

Some of these shots I think look like the type of graphic design or abstract photo that would come on your computer for your wallpaper. I had some fun shooting these.

Hecla

2008-12-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

Well I was not that impressed with what I brought back from Hecla but I thought I would post some shots anyways. It is very tough shooting in freezing cold weather. I did manage to make my first ever panorama however...even though its pretty sloppy.

A Random Idea

2008-12-07T23:26:00.000-08:00

My buddy called me up and asked if I wanted to hang out and maybe take some pictures. So of course I was down for that. He is really into art and painting with spray paint. Amazingly his parents gave him a room in the house where he could just paint on the walls and do what ever he wants. So we were trying to come up with some ideas for some cool shots. Out of no where I thought of this idea. Paint a picture of a TV on a stand with a play station 2 on the shelf. Then use his PS2 controller and make it look like its plugged into the painted PS2. Besides the fact that I didn't have my tripod with me, was shooting at very "non hand holdable" shutter speeds and needed to shoot at 1000 ISO I was somewhat pleased with the results. At least it was a cool idea, I guess I can always go back and re-shoot it with some proper gear.

WHaTeVEr?

2008-12-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

Self Portraits: The ones that didn't make the cut

2008-12-05T20:51:00.000-08:00

Star Trails

2008-11-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

So I finally got out to shoot some star trails and I have to say I am pretty pleased with my first attempt shot. Here is the one photo I got just two different edits. Feedback on which one you like best please.

My Obsession with The Simlpe

2008-10-22T23:58:00.001-07:00

Ive always appreciated simple but unique photos. I find that a lot of my work reflects my enjoyment for that type of photography. So here are a couple of my own simple photos Ive collected over the last month. (I'm also a black and white fan if you couldn't tell)

Trip to Gimli

2008-10-16T17:04:00.000-07:00

So Mitch had the brilliant idea of heading out to Gimli to shoot for our shoot week. I'm glad I asked if I could tag along. It was a beautiful day out, there was actually sun, and we had some good photo opportunities. We got there bright and early before the sun had risen and set off (I had only had an hour and a half worth of sleep too but for some reason I was wired, no coffee either). What a feeling it is making it to the lake for sunrise. My blood was pumping and I was filled with excitement. I finally got the chance to get some long exposure on water and I am pretty happy with my results

And here's a shot of me shortly after falling in the water. I set up my self timer and I was running out and hopping across the rocks to stand on the farthest rock out in the water. This time however I slipped and fell. (note the ripples in the water and me looking at my legs)

Some Photo's up for Critique

2008-09-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Researching the High Dynamic Range Technique

2008-09-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging is a fairly complicated and technical process to master. Dynamic range refers to the range of light that cameras can capture. Cameras can only capture a certain amount of light range either being the highlighs or the shadows but it cannot capture both in great detail. The HDR process can create an image that has detail and correct exposure in the highlights, midtones, and shadows of an image. The process involves taking a series of bracketed exposures (using the shutter not the aperture) and combining them into one image with editing programs such as photo shop CS2. The use of a tripod is essential in this technique and your frame cannot move an inch. Also you need to be shooting an object that is static, again becasue nothing in the frame can move or the image wont turn out. The benefits of this technique is to be able to create successful images under tricky lighting situations (example: view through the door of a dark room into the bright outside or the contrast between and very bright sky and a dark land). By combining a series of exposures you can use this process of editing to let you see the details in the shadows as well as maintaining the detail in the bright areas and keeping the image properly exposed. The HDR process can also be used to ad a unique graphic look to a photograph. An HDR photo done well gives amazing detail in the shadows, highlights and midtones all at the same time. Many photographers simply use the HDR process as a creative technique instead of a practical one just for the look it can give. The whole process is very technical and is a bit hard to wrap your head around but I am hoping to master this technique by the end of the year.

Here are a few links to some of the best websites I found on the HDR technique.

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/high-dynamic-range.htm

http://www.popphoto.com/howto/3038/how-to-create-high-dynamic-range-images.html

http://www.photobird.com/daily/2008/08/13/mastering-hdr-photography-by-michael-freeman/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/10/35-fantastic-hdr-pictures/ - This link just shows some amazing HDR photos.

Here are some links to photo's that I felt demonstrated this technique very well.

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5207327 -I chose this photo because it shows the frames used to create the image and it gives you a better understanding of how the general process works. You can see the results clearly in the final image as well.

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5494137 -I chose this photo becasue it shows just how far you can go with an HDR image. This photo shows the creative use of the HDR technique and how you can use it to make an surreal image. It was also a photo that really jumped out at me. The colors, tone and composition are simply very stunning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michelepincanelli/2888016168/in/pool-hdr - I chose this photo because it is a good example of how the HDR process can be used as a tool to get an image that sucessfully brings out the details in the highlights, midtones and shadows and does it all with mainting the correct exposure of the overall image. Without using the HDR process for this image the brightness of the sky would have been overpowering and there would be a lot less detail in the shadows.

My Admired Photography Website

2008-09-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.wildthingsphotography.com

This is a website that caught my eye. Once I started looking at the pictures I couldn't stop. This photographer focuses on nature photography such as wildlife, landscapes etc. I found his photos stunning. I looked at them in awe wondering how he could have possibly been able to take them. His portfolios are huge and each picture is amazing. His ability to capture the beauty of a landscape or the gracefulness of a animal in action is outstanding. His work really inspires me to try to become a successful photographer like he is.

My Brush with Greatness

2008-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

Question: Have you ever had a brush with greatness? (meeting someone famous)

To tell you the truth I've had to many to describe. I frequently hang out with Justin Timberlake. I was actually just hanging out at his place last night. I usually have coffee with Oprah every Sunday. And I am ashamed to say that I have dated Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Just kidding, but seriously. I've actually seen Harrison Ford before. This was when he was in that movie k19 The Widowmaker. They were filming on Lake Winnipeg in the winter right in Gimli. At that time I lived in Gimli and I actually got photographed and made the front page of the Winnipeg Free Press looking out at the lake at the film crew. I also was working on set once with a film crew in Birds hill park filming a new movie that hasn't come out yet called, "Chilled in Miami." On set I actually talked to Rene Zelwegger (or however you spell her last name). She rolled up in some Escalade while the rest of the crew was outside shivering in the cold. I'm also good friends with a guy who's brother is the drummer for Comeback Kid if you know the band. But I've never actually met his brother yet so I guess that's not really a "brush with greatness". And that's about all I can think about off the top of my head.

And now some questions on photography that I forgot to include in my blog.

1. What first attracted you to Photography?

The ability to capture something beautiful and preserve it for a lifetime or possibly even forever was something that really attracted me to photography. Also the ability to capture and freeze a moment in time. And the ability to be able to freeze an image so clear and crisp giving you the ability to study every aspect of the image which we cannot do with just our eyes.

2. What skills or techniques are you hoping t learn by the end of the diploma year?

I am hoping to learn a very deep understanding of the photographic world. I want to learn more about editing and the dark room. I also want to learn how to compose pictures better. I'm kind of a Techie so I also want to learn more about equipment and know how to edit both in the darkroom and on computer like I've been doing it my whole life.