James Wagner Photography

My trip to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, last month started out in fog and rain (see my previous blog), but the weather eventually dried up enough to do some sightseeing. We were able to take a drive along the shore and I got some pictures typical of the East Coast.

The Commercial Harbour in Shelburne.

The colours used on the fishing boats make for great images.

Fishing boats at the dock.

Narrowing in on smaller details can give you some good shots, too.

Colourful details are everywhere.

But things don’t last forever, and in a place as old as Shelburne (over 200 years), there are opportunities for pictures that show the harshness of life on the coast. The boat in the following image still had its colourful paint on it, but, when combined with the dead tree in the foreground, I thought it looked better in black and white.

Life is Over.

And, of course, you can’t go to the “South Shore” of Nova Scotia without taking a picture or two of lighthouses. In this one, I purposely enhanced the foggy effect by increasing the grain in the post-processing and modifying the colours to be more in the brown tones.

Lighthouse in the channel of Shelburne Harbour.

On our way back to the airport, we stopped in briefly at Peggy’s Cove. But it was a warm, sunny, Sunday afternoon and the parking lots were full, there were 5 tour buses already there, and 3 more arrived while we walked around. These are not what I consider ideal conditions for taking my style of pictures. However, I didn’t have much choice, so, with the help of a polarizing filter and a careful choice of subject matter, I tried for a couple of reasonable pictures.

The first one is a composite shot of the coastline looking towards the lighthouse. The little bumps on either side of the lighthouse are some of the other people visiting the site.

Rocky coastline at Peggy's Cove.

In this picture, I narrowed in a a portion of the small harbour. To take the edge off the harsh lighting conditions, I pulled the Clarity slider (in Lightroom) well to the left, which softens the edges of everything and gives the image a more “dreamy” look.

Dreamy image of boats at dock in Peggy's Cove.

When you are on a trip, you can’t control the weather, or often even the time of day, so you need to focus on the images that are best suited for the conditions at hand.

Last month, my wife and I flew to Nova Scotia to visit my father and his wife on the occasion of his 87th birthday. He lives in the port-town of Shelburne, about a two and a half hours drive south-west of Halifax. We spent an unpleasant time driving in alternating driving rain then fog through miles of dark forests at night. The fog and rain stayed with us for the first two days. My wife, who had never been to Shelburne, didn’t really know what the town looked like for the first day. But, while rain and fog make for unpleasant sightseeing, they do offer possibilities to the photographer. I was out the first morning before sunrise to get some pictures.

Before I go any further, I must admit to an error in judgment. I have a particular tripod that I take with me on trips because it is short enough to fit in my carry-on luggage. I packed it without thoroughly inspecting it. So, when I got it out to use on that first morning, I discovered that the quick-release pad was missing, so there was no way to attach the tripod to the camera. Lesson learned!! Make no assumptions, always inspect your equipment before leaving home.

The town of Shelburne has done a wonderful job of preserving the 200 year old buildings along the water front. In fact many of the larger buildings are actually part of their museum complex, while, most of the homes have become coffee shops, boutiques and bed and breakfasts.

Early morning fog on Water Street.

Without the tripod, I found myself shooting at higher ISO speeds and bracing myself or the camera against structures. Luckily, the fog tends to hide the noise associated with higher ISO speeds.

The Dory Shop

The fog also makes for wonderfully saturated colours, and the people of Shelbourne, and many of the fishing villages along the coast, were not afraid to use colour on their homes.

A more subdued colour scheme.

The early morning calm meant that the water was very smooth. This lent itself to some great reflections.The following image is a panorama, made up of 3 separate images.

The Seadog Saloon, Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

The town also has its share of docks and piers. Getting out on them gives a good view back at the town and waterfront.

Memorial to Sailors Lost at Sea

There are so many well preserved buildings in Shelburne that it has been used in a number of Hollywood movies (i.e. The Scarlett Letter (1995) ). In 2009, filming for portions of the 2-part TV miniseries Moby Dick was carried out in Shelburne.