"Flying E" Tree, Alberta Foothills

One of the benefits of living in Okotoks was the ability to hop in the car and take a drive to explore the Rocky Mountain Foothills area south of Calgary.  One of my favourite spots was the "Flying E" tree, named after a local ranch.  This image is from a series of lens tests I did, comparing various older manual-focus lenses on my then-new Sony A7R mirrorless camera.  This image is from a sequence taken with the remarkable little Olympus OM Zuiko 21mm f3.5 MC lens.

"Flying E" Tree, Alberta Foothills

The following image was captured a few months earlier, using a Zeiss Contax 21mm f2.8 Distagon lens on the Sony A7R.

"Flying E" Tree, Alberta Foothills

More photos of the foothills region and other parts of Alberta can be found on my web site. at www.imageswest.ca.

Peggy's Cove Redux

Not long after returning from our trip to Haida Gwaii, I was reviewing some old photos of our last trip to the other side of the continent, when we travelled to Nova Scotia in the fall of 2005.  Some of my favourite photos from that trip were taken on our arrival in Cape Breton (as the remnants of Hurricane Tammy passed through), and later during our first morning at Peggy's Cove with its iconic lighthouse.

Fall Colours Along the Margaree River

Effie's Brook, Cape Breton

Morning Light at Peggy's Cove

Sunrise and Reflection, Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Waiting for the Light, Peggy's Cove

All of the photos on this trip were taken with the Nikon D2X.  While its 12-megapixel APS-C format sensor was among the best available at the time, technology has steadily advanced since then, and many of these images no longer meet the quality standards required for stock sales.  I guess the lesson here is that if you plan to market your photos, always use the best quality equipment available...which has me contemplating upgrading to the new Sony A7R IV with its stunning 61-megapixel sensor.