# Random Photography



## MJ Preston

Haven't picked up my camera in a bit, so today I took a couple and thought I'd show a few that *are not* shots from the North.

Both shots below taken in Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario.

First attempt at Daytime Long Exposure. (No tripod)







Second Daytime long exposure. Wish I had my tripod for these.


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## MJ Preston

Looking for Inspiration

Give me a sign. Songwriter/Musician Mike Steward looks to the Heavens for inspiration. Thought putting an aging filter on this was appropriate.







Storm inbound: Candid of driver finishing his paperwork.


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## MJ Preston

Mrs MJ Preston -- All I need now is a bike.






Rust never snoozes. Taken in Saskatchewan.


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## Cran

Were the long exposures hand-held, or opportunistic prop (eg, post or rail with or without some item for a pad)?

Some top-notch images and ideas here, MJ, but I do wish you'd taken the Mrs out into the carpark and found her a Hog to keep company.


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## MJ Preston

I propped the camera on my bag and used a zero density filter. I forgot my tripod back in Alberta [slaps head]. I wish I could have taken the Mrs out into the parking lot and put her on a hog, but I'm afraid it will have to wait. Right now she's more than I can handle.


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## MJ Preston

Galvanized






Up there







The King of the World






The Court Jester


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## Sparktheunknown

omg I'm loving that one with the little lighthouse. Well done on that! And those clouds over the trucker. Awesome. These are great. I'm gonna go check out the other post you did... I think that was yours.


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## Gumby

_Awesome_ just about covers it, Mark. Beautiful and thought provoking, as always. Thanks for posting these. Mrs. MJ is beautiful.


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## Cran

Photojournalism's loss is our gain.


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## Sam

Awesome shots, Mark. I think you missed your calling.


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## Bloggsworth

Port Dalhousie, not far from _Niagara-on-the-Lake_, one of my favourite places in the world, if I didn't live in England, I could quite happily live there. The best cup of tea I ever had was in The Olde English Tea Shoppe in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I am a coffee drinker, but the tea was so good that I had 2 pots along with scones, strawberry jam and clotted cream. I asked where they got the clotted cream, they said they had it flown in twice a week from Cornwall, now that's what I call attention to detail!


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## MJ Preston

Some dog's know when they have a shot. Some don't...






It's not all black and white...






Getting in Tune






Dirt Band


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## MJ Preston




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## Kevin

"Some dogs know when they have a shot, Some don't..." - Too funny  Great caption.


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## MJ Preston

I went to a local watering hole in Edmonton called: Blues on Whyte and snapped these shots. I decided to go a little artsy with them.

Pillar of sound and pain





The 11 Man






Sleek Baby Blue






Pink smoke






Rusty Revolution


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## MJ Preston

Selfie






Train at Whyte Avenue in Edmonton Alberta


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## Dunluchyn

I like the central figures/objects in colour on a B&W ...HOW do you do that? It gives the pic so much impact...great work ( as usual  )


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## Gumby

Love the perspective in that second shot, Mark. Good selfie, too, you look quite happy.


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## Cran

Dunluchyn said:


> I like the central figures/objects in colour on a B&W ...HOW do you do that? It gives the pic so much impact...great work ( as usual  )


The way I've done it is to select the bit/s to stay in colour, invert the selection, then desaturate the inverted selection; finish by polishing (fine blurring) the selection edges. Another way is to superimpose the coloured bits onto a desaturated copy of the same image and save the result; the first and last steps are the same. Either way, it needs good eye-mouse coordination to carefully trace the selection outline.


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## tinacrabapple

Much enjoyed!


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## MJ Preston

Muddy Dusk







Lead Guitar





Shameless self promotion


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## lilgemsy

Some beautiful shots. I love your editing too


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## Foxee

Amazing shots. Love what you're doing by placing the subject in color, really nice. 'Muddy Dusk' is fantastic, there's something about it that's just really appealing. Thanks for sharing!


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## vangoghsear

MJ I really like those music group shots with the color against B&W.  Pretty cool.


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## MJ Preston

Ice Storm pics.


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## MJ Preston

Buffalo making for the woods at Mosquito Creek NWT.






Slightly out of focus, but a shot that warms my heart even from 1000 miles away. Mrs. MJ


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## Gumby

Love the Buffalo shot, impressive creatures! Mrs. MJ is, as always, beautiful.


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## vangoghsear

Love your photos, MJ.


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## MJ Preston

Up there






Flying Rig


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## MJ Preston




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## Skodt

I have always enjoyed seeing a world I probably will never see on my own. Really don't envy your driving schedule at all, but I really do enjoy the sites you post for us to enjoy with you.


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## David K. Thomasson

Very nice work! On the truck image (Storm inbound: Candid of driver finishing his paperwork), what sort of post-processing did you do -- filters, plug-ins, hand-painting, etc.?


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## MJ Preston

David K. Thomasson said:


> Very nice work! On the truck image (Storm inbound: Candid of driver finishing his paperwork), what sort of post-processing did you do -- filters, plug-ins, hand-painting, etc.?



The only thing I did was increase the local tone slightly using Corel Paint shop Pro 6X. The lighting and hue are untouches as is the clarity.

This filter deepened the clouds.


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## MJ Preston

This one is my wife when we were very young. 18 maybe?

She is still so very beautiful, but I look back and think. _Wow! What the hell did she see in me?
_





Now  30 years later.


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## David K. Thomasson

MJ Preston said:


> The only thing I did was increase the local tone slightly using Corel Paint shop Pro 6X. The lighting and hue are untouches as is the clarity.
> 
> This filter deepened the clouds.



Thank you. It's good work.


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## Gumby

She is a knockout, MJ.


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## MJ Preston

Dexter.


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## Bard_Daniel

MJ Preston said:


> Dexter.



This picture makes me incredibly happy. I like the black and white too.


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## Gumby

I have come to have an admiration for Hounds.  Dexter looks like a sweetheart and I love the black and white, too.


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## Wander

I'm loving the photographs. Especially the storm clouds over the truck. I Drove Semi trucks for a while, and my dad drove for 30 years before me. Trucks were an everyday thing in my life. I can say that there were days I looked out the windshield of my truck to storm clouds like that and though "this is going to be a fun night."


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## MJ Preston

Thanks to all for the compliments. My camera has been ignored as of late while I enjoyed the holiday and hunkered down in the bunker to write.


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## MJ Preston

Church - Niagara Falls Countryside






Above and below are the same old abandoned house. I would love to shoot this in the fog and have noted it for another look if the weather cooperates.






Yet another abandoned house in wine Country






And I'm not sure what this Contraption is, but I found it interesting.


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## MJ Preston

My husband is so wonderful.


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## qwertyportne

Very much enjoyed all of them, especially the lighthouse in the background and the rock in the foreground. I can't ignore the rock, of course, but somehow the lighthouse demands more attention, even though it's not up front. More proof that art isn't what the artist sees but what the artist makes us see. Excellent. Thank you!


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## MJ Preston

All along the watch tower. CN Tower Toronto





Barn Storming 1 thru 3 taken on three different days.





Day 2





Day 3


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## MJ Preston

Grain Pool Goliath


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## MJ Preston

Retro Parkers


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## MJ Preston

Valiant Parking: Taken in Alberta






Storm rising


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## apple

MJ,  I have to say that I'm impressed with your photography.  Each one seems to evoke a mood or seems to have a story to tell.  So much texture and depth.  I am not a photographer, so I don't know all the technical stuff.  Just keep on baking the pie, MJ, and I'll eat it.


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## MJ Preston

apple said:


> MJ,  I have to say that I'm impressed with your photography.  Each one seems to evoke a mood or seems to have a story to tell.  So much texture and depth.  I am not a photographer, so I don't know all the technical stuff.  Just keep on baking the pie, MJ, and I'll eat it.



Thanks Apple. 

I took this shot the other day after a major thunderstorm. 

No Pie I'm afraid.


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## MJ Preston

Yellowknife NWT, take note of the clock on the dashboard. 
 That's not an error, the shot was taken at 11:10 PM.
 The sun only takes a short rest at this time of year.


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## Emz

Wow, i love the pictures that only show red and the rest black and white... I kinda forgot the name for that! Great pictures!


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## MJ Preston

This shot was taken in Yellowknife, NWT where I am presently working. It is an  eagle, I believe a golden eagle, the larger of the species.


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## Pandora

I love your photographs, you are very talented MJ, the classic cars my favorite. I have a cool file coming from Stephen Fearing (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) he too a great photographer from Canada. It is a yellow Buick with a Nova Scotia plate, it's called Love my Buick. He's kind to let us print it at our biz, I needed something larger for the space planned in our home. It's going to rock!

Thanks for sharing, awesome thread!


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## MJ Preston

The water tower behind my house is sort of a monstrosity, but at night it looks sort of cool.


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## Monaque

really enjoyed looking through your photos, some excellent work, storm rising being my fav....and really loving the artsy =D>


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## MJ Preston

Here's a few more shots.






I used some filtering to block out the ghastly sodium lighting in the area which seems to pollute everything.


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## TKent

Holy smoke. Your photos are amazing. I am so glad you posted and brought this thread to my attention.


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## Kevin

The tower vs. the rest... the tower is so 'space-age', like it doesn't fit. The color and sheen of the metal...silver(moonlight?) vs. the yellow(house light?) does well... quite a contrast.


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## am_hammy

These photos are fantastic. You have such a raw and natural way of capturing scenes and people. I love candid shots and some of the photos you have capture that essence of the subject being unaware and in the moment quite well.

Glad I stumbled across these. Looking forward to seeing more!


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## MJ Preston

A shot of Ukrainian Church captured one early morning on the way to work.






I call this Angel Sleeps


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## TKent

Love the photography on both and the emotion behind the 2nd one especially   awww,,,,,


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## PiP

Wow, I love the colours in the shot of the Ukrainian Church - they are almost etheral ...


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## MJ Preston

Thanks folks rumor has it that I am a DEAD MAN WALKING if she discovers the sleeping pic. I think she looks angelic, but there may be some fire and brimstone when she see's it.


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## TKent

Haha. I agree with your assessement. It is a wonderful photo!


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## MJ Preston

The Road to YK





The Girl who stole my heart.


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## escorial

PiP said:


> Wow, I love the colours in the shot of the Ukrainian Church - they are almost etheral ...



quid pro quo


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## Raleigh

MJ Preston said:


> Haven't picked up my camera in a bit, so today I took a couple and thought I'd show a few that *are not* shots from the North.
> 
> Both shots below taken in Port Dalhousie on Lake Ontario.
> 
> First attempt at Daytime Long Exposure. (No tripod)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Second Daytime long exposure. Wish I had my tripod for these.



that water on the second picture looks amazing, almost like a painting or like ice! and I like how mysterious the first picture is, these are really amazing. How did you do that? :3


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## Monaque

lots of atmosphere with your photos, liking the news ones.


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## Mike C

Loving your work, though I have to admit I'm not a big fan of HDR or popped colours. Keep posting!


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## Justine

Your shots are impressive! What an amazing work... Especially loved the "Ice Storm" ones. Black and white photos have something... You really know how to capture beauty. Wow!


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## MJ Preston

Raleigh said:


> that water on the second picture looks amazing, almost like a painting or like ice! and I like how mysterious the first picture is, these are really amazing. How did you do that? :3



I used a polarized filter and did a 25 second exposure which makes the waves look misty or frozen.


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## MJ Preston




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## TKent

love those!


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## Abby

Love them all but that first one is just amazing!


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## MJ Preston

Here's a bit of new photography.


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## TKent

Brilliant as always. Is it weird that your photos make me want to be a long haul trucker? The first one looks like the inside of that truck is about as cozy as a log cabin with a big old fire raging in the fireplace. I don't even try to pick favs from your photos anymore.


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## MJ Preston

TKent said:


> Brilliant as always. Is it weird that your photos make me want to be a long haul trucker? The first one looks like the inside of that truck is about as cozy as a log cabin with a big old fire raging in the fireplace. I don't even try to pick favs from your photos anymore.



Don't do it! Stick to writing. Admittedly, the bunk of a truck during a snow storm can be a warm safe haven but, it can also be a very lonely place.


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## TuesdayEve

Today,  is Thanksgiving in the US and I'm thankful for the return of your photos. They're very cool... great shot of the raven but the colors and stars behind the glowing eyed silhouette of the truck is magical


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## MJ Preston

The aurora borealis is a beautiful subject.


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## MJ Preston

Ekati Diamond Mine 2012


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## MJ Preston

Yellowknife Base Camp Ice Road 2016


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