Landscape | MiKS Media Photography

Spring a year ago – Landscape photography

by Mac Sokulski | Apr 26, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

It’s been exactly a year ago, when these photographs were taken. Sometimes I wonder, why it takes me such a long time to share them. I think it’s the combination of procrastination and being lazy. It’s not that I don’t want to share, or think these are bad images…. I mean I wouldn’t be sharing them at all if I thought they were bad. Just that I have a huge back log of images that just sitting in a dropbox folder, all dusted and almost forgotten. It seems that I must be taking too many images 🙂 .

I think it’s also a little bit of a memory lane. Going through the old images and think about the times they were taken. Funny thing is, I remember exactly what I was doing at that time. What me and Kasia were talking about. Yet I can’t remember what I did last week. Funny that.

This is one of the reasons I think our photographs are so important. They hold a piece of our lives, our souls. Doesn’t really matter if they are good or bad, it’s our moments worth remembering.

Going back in time to 16 mm Fuji summer – Landscape Photography

by Mac Sokulski | Apr 18, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

This was the time of actually field testing the 16 mm f1.4 Fuji lens. Wanted to see if I could live with just that lens for landscape photography, or would I miss the ultra wide zoom. I love the fact that the 16mm is so bright. At f1.4 and minimum focusing distance of just 15 cm, it is really easy to throw the background out of focus. Even though the ultra wide zoom from Fuji is a really really good lens, I think I can sacrifice a little and stick with the 16 mm lens. Since I don’t really have a choice any more, as my wife elusively appropriated that lens for herself 🙂

Roads through the mountains – Alberta Rockies

by Mac Sokulski | Mar 30, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

After leaving the bubbles of Abraham Lake behind, we plunged into the no-man’s lands of Alberta Rockies. This early in the morning the roads were empty. Lack of traffic allowed us to stop frequently and admire the rugged beauty of the Alberta landscape. Low clouds were rolling in and mostly obscuring the peaks. This looks so much different in full sunlight and blue skies. Funny enough we prefer this kind of weather, to blue skies and sunshine. Photographically speaking of course :). Sometimes it was very hard to continue driving, as the weather changed every minute, providing different views and compositions.

I find it really hard to separate images and pick the best ones to add to the blog. I like them all. Since shooting with Fuji cameras, and adding old school film to the mix, almost every image is carefully picked before the shutter is pressed. Possibly that is why we don’t come back with million of images from a trip like this. Then again, having landscape completely change in a span of few minutes, makes it hard not try to capture it. Since Kasia is also using Fuji cameras, I thought that having different points of view will create more interesting images. Yes and no. We still see the same things in a very similar way. I guess it’s time for me to start seeing things differently.

Vermillion lakes banff park alberta mountains

Abraham lake with Fuji and film – Alberta Landscape

by Mac Sokulski | Mar 15, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

After seeing amazing photos of Abraham lake in winter, we wanted to see it for ourselves. These photographs are pretty common, as the area is beautiful, and Abraham lake, being man made, exhibits methane bubbles which get trapped in ice. These, and sunrise in the Rocky mountains is a recipe for beautiful images. This lake may be photographed by many, but not us. So having one eye on the weather, we got up quietly at 3am and started our 4h drive, to see if we can get lucky. When I say lucky I mean lucky. 2 years ago, we attempted the same, and arrived at the snow covered lake and -35C. So one could say it was a bust. This year we got partly lucky. The ice was clear, the trapped methane bubbles were there, but the sunrise wasn’t.

Landscape photography is like a baking contest. You have a time limit, and unpredictable ingredients. Your cake will either be yummy, or it will fail miserably. The best of the landscape photographers, can bend the ingredients to their will, and still create something wonderful, even when given salt, when sugar is needed.

Kasia and me, try to create compelling images, even when the ingredients are not in our favour. Since Kasia started using Fuji cameras, instead of Sony, I decided to challenge myself, by taking an old medium format film camera with 2 lenses, one digital Fuji and only 1 lens. I guess one could say, trying to stay true to MiKSMedia roots of film and digital. There were odd times when I felt a pang of jealousy, watching Kasia with the super wide Fuji 10-24. I just have to be less selfish and know that this outing is a team effort. I know if she had the Sony cameras, we would end up with same images. Sharing Fuji gear, actually makes us closer.

Since we were in Alberta Rockies, we could not just stop at the bubbles, so we spend a day driving through, but that’s for another post.

Alberta rockies abraham lake ice bubbles

Big skies of Alberta Prairies in Spring

by Mac Sokulski | Mar 10, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

A year ago, we were wondering on the back lanes of Alberta, looking for our images. We have a very diverse landscape here. From flat prairies with big big skies, to huge mountains and waterfalls. The only thing we are missing is a coast line.

Sometimes the need to see the flatness of the earth and the huge sky above with beautiful clouds rolling by. The silent peace of it all. One can lie in the grass and just be lost in it all.

That’s what we did. We got lost. At least we did find some of our images.

Memories of Summer Sunset, an experiment with Fuji

by Mac Sokulski | Mar 3, 2016 | Fuji X, Landscape

After a brief moment of spring, winter has returned to our corner of the world. Snow is back on the ground that temperatures are back to normal. With fond memories I was looking through my back catalog of images taken in 2015. All those little trips we have taken, getting lost in the back roads of Alberta.

Edmonton is situated a little further from the Rocky Mountains, and usually it’s at least a day trip to be able to visit. Our backyard is mainly prairies and forests. It can be challenging sometimes, to create good images. Luckily we can compensate by finding a bit of history, and abandon farm, or church. Some are nothing more than a roof, yet some are still standing, remembering better times. Most of the histories of those places, have been lost in time, but stopping to photograph them, one can imagine the laughter and hard work that was normal not so long ago.

We love doing these little historical trips, to find these little gems, and photograph them. I’ve witnessed a few places which I managed to capture, and are no longer standing.

Near a town of Egremont, there is a beautiful little farm. Overgrown now, and abandoned. We managed to make it there right before the sunset, and we will be back again. A little history of Alberta, preserved in pictures.

Since Kasia and me, go together, I did not want my images to be like hers. Thus I left my Fuji 10-24mm behind. This was an experiment, to see if I can be creative with a Fuji 56mm f1.2 and Leica 90mm f2.8, with out breaking out the wide angle lenses. I almost succeeded, almost. I had to take out the 8mm fisheye, and the Fuji 16mm f1.4 as the skies were begging for the expanse 🙂

You can click any of the images for a better viewing experience 🙂