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Une scène jolie

by Mike Temple | Jan 4, 2018

On a cold and wet January day, wandering the cobbled streets of Bordeaux, Lonely Planet’s Best City 2017, my eye was drawn away from the impressive architecture and tempting storefronts to this simple scene. The bicycles leaning casually against steel railings perfectly positioned, the sinewy poplar trees stripped of their leaves and the rich, warm tones of the sandstone wall behind make for a simple but beautiful composition. My only regret is that I only had my iPhone 6 with which to capture it.

I have been as guilty as anyone of missing such beauty in the many places I have visited. Our eyes are often drawn to the imposing buildings in a city like Bordeaux, or even a dramatic and expansive landscape, like the vineyards which surround the city which produce the famous Bordeaux wine. I say guilty, because we can so often miss the little details, the things our eyes might just pass over and our minds somehow dismiss, but which can be integral to the very essence of the place we are in.

Maybe the next time you’re out and about, perhaps when you’re visiting a city like Bordeaux, you should take the time to seek out these little treasures. I know I will.

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Wall of fire

by Mike Temple | Sep 27, 2017

I loved the contrast between the vivid red, orange and yellow fall colors of the leaves on the trees in the background of this shot, and the muted natural tones of the bed of reeds in the foreground. The fall colors on the East Coast are often spectacular, but this year proved especially so, and this stand of trees looked to me like a ‘wall of fire,’ so vivid were the hues.

One might think that finding a good shot is easy when the leaves of the trees are so rich in fall colors but, having shot this particular stand of trees from several different angles, I was unhappy with the result until I scrambled through the scrub and brush to find this perspective. Standing in the muddy soil, I waited for the autumnal sun to break through the heavy clouds overhead and light up the trees, before pressing the shutter.

The window for capturing this natural wonder is surprisingly short – it is only for two or three weeks of the year that Mother Nature puts on this incredible show of fall colors. Each year I wait in anticipation for weeks before the trees burst into magnificent color, and I jump in the car to scour the countryside to capture photographs which do at least a little justice to the spectacle before the leaves drop and fall turns to winter once again.

It was well worthwhile getting my boots muddied and a little scratched to get this particular shot in the bag. I couldn’t wait to get back to the studio and have a proper look at it on a large screen. I wasn’t disappointed.

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Minister’s Island, Saint Andrews

by Mike Temple | Jul 3, 2017

One of our favourite places to visit during the summer is Minister’s Island near Saint Andrews in New Brunswick. For a short window each day, the tide allows access to the island across a causeway which is revealed when the tide recedes. The island is home to the Van Horne Estate, including the family home, however we prefer to walk the trail which circles the island, affording great views and access to several beaches on its route. This, the Minister’s Cottage, is one of the other visual delights on the island.

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Little Cooksie Island

by Mike Temple | Apr 7, 2017

I am fortunate enough to look out upon this view every day, and every day it’s different. On this particular morning the fog threatened to envelop Little Cooksie Island out in the bay. I love the subtlety of the scene and wanted to capture the faint silhouette of the island before it disappeared completely. The result is surprisingly peaceful and soothing.

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In the autumn of it’s years

by Mike Temple | Oct 14, 2015

The spectacular colours of autumn erupt onto the landscape for a few short weeks during September and October. It feels like this barn hidden among the trees is in the autumn of its years.

Moorings in the mist

by Mike Temple | Aug 10, 2015

Before I set out on a whale-watching trip with my daughter, we were sitting in the boat waiting for the crew to cast off. It was a summer’s day but cold because of the sea fog which was only now beginning to disperse. As the fog rolled away, it revealed these boats at their moorings, with Navy Island just visible behind.

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Spring blooms into life

by Mike Temple | May 29, 2015

It didn’t take much effort to find these delicate miniature white flowers of tree blossom in the springtime – I just had to put on my boots and talk a walk up through our back yard. There were still mounds of unmelted snow in the driveway, a reminder that in these parts Winter is the Alpha season, but the emergence of these fragile buds give hope to us all.

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Photography as art

by Mike Temple | Jun 25, 2012

To some, photography is simply not art, it’s just a case of pointing your camera at something and capturing an image which is already there. To others, of course, photography is art. I am bound to agree with the latter statement that ‘Photography is art’, after all I am a photographer, but more than that I would describe myself as an artist.

Perhaps the answer to this contentious issue is found in another question – what is art? One answer can be found in that most modern of references, Wikipedia, which describes art as “the creation of images or objects”. Well it seems that photography meets that criteria. Perhaps more adequately, The Encyclopædia Britannica Online defines art as “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others”.

It’s this challenge, the exercising of the imagination to see a photograph where others do not and the application of skill to capture that image in all its beauty, that I attempt to meet every time I leave the house with my camera. This challenge isn’t simply to create a great photograph, but to capture a scene, whether it’s a panoramic landscape of a countryside view, a dramatic image depicting the power of the sea or a documentary style black and white photograph of people on busy city streets, that engages with the viewer’s emotions and inspires a response. I don’t attempt to define that response, rather to elicit one, for after all beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Not all photography is art, with that I can agree – you only have to look at the dozens of photos of cats and our latest meal on Facebook! Photography is art? As you browse my own attempts at creativity, I’ll leave it to you to decide.

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