A decent photograph should give you a second or two of momentary satisfaction. A great photograph should pull you into the frame and make you feel like you want to be right there.
That’s the power of a photograph. It should make you want to escape wherever you’re standing or sitting and be transported to that little universe captured within a rectangular image.
I kind of stumbled my way into becoming something of a landscape photographer in the last few years. Taking photos has always been a part of my job as a reporter because you want to provide visuals in addition to the numerous blobs of text that people read in the articles that appear every week, but I guess somewhere along the way, I just learned to hone and fine-tune my snapshot skills.
Today, I enjoy taking advantage of what our little chunk of the province has to offer in the outdoors, and I’ve really tried to make my photography stand out in the last five years or so. When I’m not being a smarmy clown on social media, I post my best photography work on a page I started up that’s located at Facebook.com/DerekRuttlePhotography.
Shameless plug aside, I like to think that I capture a side of the Outlook and surrounding area that perhaps goes unnoticed. I think what’s really incredible is that I’m able to record such vivid imagery with such a modest camera. My little Canon PowerShot digital camera was bought eight years ago for about $150, and to this day, it’s responsible for most of the pictures you see in the pages of The Outlook, and 100% of the photos seen on my Facebook page. I know that most photographers have thousands of dollars invested in their gear, and some of their cameras have lenses that are longer than a footlong from Subway, but me and my little “point and shoot” have done just fine and produced some very good work. Someday we’ll have to go our separate ways, but at least I know that when the time comes for me to trade up to a newer camera, the Canon will have had a long, colorful career capturing our prairie skies and landscapes.
So what do I like to take photos of? Well, I’m a big fan of eye-catching sunsets, especially after it’s just rained or if the sunlight is receding over a body of water. For example, just this past Friday night I took a photo of this really bold sunset that was taking place in the middle of a dark blue and rainy sky. It was crazy; just this patch of orange clouds and sunlight that almost looked like the night sky had been torn open. I uploaded the image to my page and one comment said it almost looked “apocalyptic”. I agreed.
One particular spot where I really enjoy taking photos is up at Candle Lake, where my family and I vacationed a lot when I was a kid. These days, I’ll still drive out in the summertime to spend a day up there, and I always make sure to bring my camera. I’m very vigilant when it comes to such day trips, as I check to see what the weather will be like during my time up there, and I try to time it so that I’m at the beach at around 6:30 or 7:00 in the evening. I’ll go for a swim in the lake for awhile, and then when I notice that the sun is starting to set, that’s when the Canon comes into play. To me, there’s just nothing like watching the sun set in the west at Candle Lake. It dips down and down before eventually broaching the pine trees in the forest, and then it spreads a beautiful shimmer across the lake waters.
Folks, it’s the stuff of oil paintings. My dream is to one day own a cabin up there, and I’m going to either have one of my photos blown up and framed on a wall, or I’ll commission an artist to do such a painting.
I think one of the photos I’m most proud of is the one I call “Once Iconic”. It’s a shot of the SkyTrail walking bridge in Outlook, and I took it down in the regional park in August of 2016. The colors in the sky really helped contrast the darkness surrounding the abandoned and forgotten bridge; a former tourism hotspot that was, well, once iconic.
I’m always learning in the photography field, as I think one should. I have so many snapshots that I’m thinking of putting on an art show in the near future. Anyone have an idea how one goes about doing that? I’m also thinking of having some 2020 calendars produced that feature a different photo per month. Christmas gifts, maybe?
Above all else, photography has caused me to look at the land where I call home differently, or at least with a new admiration and respect.
Friends, you really should look up from time to time and visually appreciate what we have. Those license plates on our vehicles aren’t lying – we really do live in the ‘Land of Living Skies’.
For this week, that’s been the Ruttle Report.
