A Day at Not the Beach

"Don't tell me, you're headed for the beach again right?"

In fact I hadn't quite made up my mind which way I intended to go as I headed out the door, oversize photo backpack and tripod in tow, but my wife's almost chiding tone, with it's implicit suggestion that maybe it was about time to get a bit more creative with subject matter, brought me to the instant decision that whichever way I was headed, it wouldn't be towards the beach. It was the last day uncommitted day I had left out a week off work in which I'd been disappointed time and again by the harsh light and bland, featureless skies that characterize the kind of weather conditions most people refer to as "perfect". The skies were still blue this day but for once there was smattering of cloud to break the monotony - the kind of day polarisers (or for we black and white photographers red contrast filters) were made for. And now I found myself with a small dilemma, if not the beach then where?

After an uninspired hour or so wandering random back-roads of the Niagara Peninsula I found myself nearing subject matter I'd had in the back of my mind for some time but had never really explored - one of the power corridors leading west from the Canadian half of Niagara's hydro electric generators into the rest of Ontario.

I wasn't that familiar with the particular road I had taken that was leading towards the towers, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a small dirt road that lead through the fields traversed by the power corridor. My guess is it was put in place for Ontario Hydro service vehicles, but it looked like it was probably frequented by hikers and signage forbade only motorized vehicles. I had at once a nice computational element and assurance I was free to wander without risk of being considered a trespasser.

I had only recently obtained a set of black and white contrast filters in the 77mm thread size used by all of my Mamiya lenses and this was the perfect chance to try them out. For those who aren't familiar, these are plain coloured filters made to use with black and white film. The point, if that strikes you as a hair-brained notion, is that a coloured filter allows light with a similar colour to pass, while blocking and therefore darkening dis-similar colours. Thus the blue of the sky will be darkened by (in order of increasing strength) yellow, orange and red filters while (after exposure compensation is taken into account) neutral toned clouds are relatively unaffected.  As was done in all of the photos here, using a red filter like this on a blue sky with white clouds gives a result similar to using a polarising filter.

A nice discovery, and this is just one mall stretch of an extensive network. I just may find myself exploring it further.