Studio Obscura Photography

With some free time on my hands and Covid restrictions lifting, we were finally able to get out last night to enjoy some live music here in Thunder Bay! Paulucci's Wayland Bar & Grill hosted timalbertsonmusic and the band Back Forty. While country music is not my usual preference, the band was excellent, Tim's vocals were spot on and there was just enough rock influence in their song selection that we thoroughly enjoyed the night! Thanks to Dan Lloyd and Marcia Kamstra for inviting us out for the evening and for the drinks and nachos, we had a great time!

Sometimes you just have to explore a little bit off the beaten path, that's where I find the nicest views :)

This week I took in the sunset from Katherine Cove.

Sometimes you just have to sit and watch the sunset.

Took a wonder through our backyard today, I spotted this little guy, then he spotted me!

Last year Chris and I traveled to Alaska, there was so much to see and so many vistas lent themselves to being shot in infrared. Here is one of those scenes. The camera is a Nikon D70s that donated to convert by my dad for the Infrared conversion, Lifepixle performed the 720nm conversion, the lens is a stock Nikkor 28-300mm lens. Like and shares are appreciated.... Enjoy! Mark

Alaska in Infrared. Captured last June during a boat cruise on the Chena River as it flows past Fairbanks.

Happy Labour Day long weekend everyone. As I prepare for the week ahead I am looking back to June 2019 and finally getting to the images we captured on our Epic Alaskan Adventure. This is a 15 image panoramic that I captured in Denali National Park. The photos were merged together in Lightroom with some light touch ups in Photoshop. Being 15 images, the Photoshop file is over 2GB in size with the final output from Lightroom being 63MB. Alaska is big, so the pictures should ...be too! Please enjoy, like and as always, sharing is appreciated. Cheers, Mark

Happy 6th Anniversary to my Beautiful Cousin Janis and her Handsome husband Spencer today. It was as amazing day we are so happy we could share it with you. Mark and Chris

When we went back to Southern Ontario for vacation in July, we finally got to meet Baby Anleigh and with all that cuteness we just had to take some photos! Oh, yeah Steph and Jay are in there too! Enjoy, Mark

Sunrise at Chippewa Park. I tried to have all my ducks in a row, really I did! Sharing is appreciated. Have a great day, ... Mark See more

Why did they invite the mushroom to the party? He was a fun gi. Why didn't he go? ... There wasn't mushroom! All corny jokes aside, I found this wonderful specimen while hiking at Little Trout Bay last weekend. I was shooting handheld with a wide angle lens. Likes and shares are appreciates! Enjoy, Mark

Nothing says relaxing like enjoying the view from Mission Island while having ice cream with your family! Happy Sunday everyone! Mark

Happy 6th Anniversary Elizabeth Ashley Fonceca and Aaron Fonceca! We were so happy to be part of your special day!

Sometimes you need to turn around to see the Rainbow. Kakabeka Falls.

The way in, Flett Tunnel. You can see how large the tunnel opening is, it's quite a thing to visit. Cheers,... Mark See more

We paid a visit to Kakabeka Falls last weekend, had some ice cream and then went over to see the falls. Two great reasons to visit this quaint little town! Enjoy, Mark

Stay out of the light! Chris and I took the dogs exploring last weekend and we found Flett Tunnel. It's a beautiful drive to this amazing spot! Of course the light coming into the tunnel is amazing. Enjoy, ... Mark See more

Another shot of Nestor Falls on HWY 71. It was a nice place to sit and relax for a little while!

Having driven by it many times, I finally stopped at Nestor Falls yesterday :)

I made a new friend this week. I found this little one on the side of Hwy 11 on the way to Fort Frances yesterday.

The Canadian Forces Snowbirds are currently flying over many Canadian cities for Operation Inspiration. Today they flew over Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay. I was lucky enough to see them as they performed several perfect fly overs the beautiful city of Thunder Bay to bring hope and cheer to everyone. Here are a few of my shots from their flyovers. I hope you enjoy them and that they bring you hope and cheer. Mark

I'm always looking for something different to take pictures of and last night I hit the jackpot. I attended the Red for Filth, Anti Valentines Drag Show at Black Pirates Pub, such and awesome show with so many great performers. The show was hosted by Mz. Molly Poppinz, who would have been worth the price of admission herself! Her intros for each performer were amazing, her stories were funny and her rendition of Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know was amazing! The performer...s, Sophia Sapphire, Sharon Selfies, Amber Ail, Oliver Attitude, Sienna Diamond, Queen Deville and the Super Top Secret performer put on a fantastic show! Here are a few of the over 800 frames I captured during the evening. Enjoy, Mark

Chris and I just wanted to take a moment before the evening gets super busy with movies a very Happy New Year. All the best to you and for 2020 from Studio Obscura Photo. Cheers, Mark and Christine

Lady of the Lake It's been too long since I played with Pixels, so tonight when I should have been working on other things, I took some time for myself. This was an awesome shoot with Marjorie McDonald, Dammit Gary and of course our fantastic model, Erin Adams. Cheers,... Mark See more

A view from one of the hiking trails in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park this week. Fall colours are starting to show! Enjoy, ... Mark See more

One of my favorite images from the Canadian International Air Show at the CNE this year. The Brent Handy Aerobatics Pitts Special Barnstormer Brewing & Distilling Co. Bi Plane put on one heck of a show! Cheers, Mark

Yesterday we were able to attend the Photowalk in Toronto hosted by Skylum Software. It was a pretty cool walk, I'd never had a chance to see Stackt Market (And it's killer bunny!) or the Bentway public space, the views from the Bathurst St bridge were pretty cool too! We finished with seeing where they store the moon as a final destination, it was pretty cool! Here are my shots from the day! Enjoy, ... Mark Christine Williams-Flinders Mavis Bell Ron Clifford #Skylum #Toronto #Photowalk #Studioobscuraphoto

Photo processing day! While I take a quick break from processing images for a client, I thought I'd pop back into my images from the Canadian International Airshow at the CNE. Here is a set of the A-10 Thunderbolt (AKA The Warthog). They're a pretty badass jet, basically they developed the nose gun and then designed an air frame to go around it! I never thought I'd see one in flight, and I got to see two! Enjoy, ... Mark #cias #cne #cneairshow #a10thunderbolt

Monday's Canadian International Airshow at the CNE was awesome! Thanks very much to Jay Stratton for the extra ticket and to his Nephew Brandon who gave him the tickets! The VIP Area was pretty cool to sit in :) Here are my shots of the Snowbirds doing what the do best, wowing the crowd with their aerial acrobatics! Enjoy!... Mark See more

A few shots I took during yesterday's drive home from Sault Ste Marie. I decided that the day was too nice to not explore a little bit as I passed through some of the small towns that dot the North Shore of Lake Huron. Enjoy, ... Mark See more

Happy 2nd Anniversary Stephanie Bell and Jason Lee Bell! It was a magical day and we were so glad to be a part of it. Have a wonderful anniversary. Mark and Chris

Ever wonder what Canadian golfers do when two foursomes are waiting for the same fairway to be clear so they can Tee Off? Well, since it's Canada in all likelihood a Hockey game could break out!

On June 14th we were in Denali National Park in Alaska and our tour stopped to take in the breathtaking view at Polychrome Pass. The elevation here is 3695 feet and it was stunning! For the image I used my Nikon D750 with a Sigma 50-500 (We were hoping for wildlife!) on it. I took 15 images using manual exposure control in portrait orientation and then merged them to a panoramic in Lightroom and the processed the panoramic as a single image. I don't know if it will be my best... image from the trip but it is my favorite I've processed today! :) Cheers, Mark

Happy Canada Day! We hope you are spending your day how you want to spend it! Have a great day, Eh! ... Mark and Chris See more

Happy First Anniversary Kerry and Mike! One year ago, it was sunny, it was hot and the day was perfect! Surrounded by family and friends as you tied the knot, we were so happy to be a part of it. Mark and Chris

A very special Happy 5th Anniversary today to Elizabeth and Aaron, we knew there was something special about this couple when we met them. They are simply awesome and so fun to work with. Most recently we had the pleasure of doing a Maternity a Shoot with them as they are expecting their son very soon! Congratulations on Five Years of Happiness and we look forward to meeting your son when he arrives! Mark and Chris

Traveling for my day job has it's perks, I get to see beautiful Northern Ontario, in all seasons! Spring in Thunder Bay is simply beautiful. Last week while I there I was able to capture the sunrise as it came over the Nor' Wester Mountain Range. I decided it would make a beautiful panoramic image to share with everyone! What do you think, was it worth getting up before the sun? Cheers,... Mark See more

Processing wedding photos today for Ashley and James. I love that there are so many details at a wedding, many of them happening long before the ceremony in the early hours of the day. I love to watch a makeup artist work, they just know which colours to choose, which brush they want and how to bring out the natural beauty of the ladies. Cheers,... Mark See more

The Renegade Derby Dames April Shovers event in the Alliston Memorial Arena was a huge hit (Pun intended). The match is always exciting and the action is fantastic!

Congratulations, Ashley and James! Your day was perfect, and we were happy to be a part of it! Here are the few sneak peeks that we sent to Ashley while we process the rest of the images. Cheers,... Mark and Chris See more

New, this sexy little Fender isn't quite new, but it's new to me and it was my photo submission for the first Daytripper Photo Challenge in the new Community over on MeWe. Since Google+ is shutting their doors all of the photo communities are having to find new digs. MeWe seems to work pretty well so far.

A little bit of winter. Today I went for a walk down at the park and took a quick wonder out onto the ice. I found this ice ridge where a pressure crack had come together and formed into this beautiful ice sculpture.

I have to admit, in my travels I get some cool rental cars from time to time. This Shaker Edition Dodge Challenger was super fun and exciting to drive. Maybe too fun...

The event was Sept 15th, I've finally cleared up all the images that were for others and now I can work on things for me! The Oro Worlds Fair, what a show it was, I was invited up by my friend Cheryl to see the riders take their horses through the different events. The action was awesome, I learned quite a bit, got to practice panning, and had a great time! Here are some of my favorite action shots from the day! ... Enjoy, Mark

One of my favorite shots of Brendan Gainey from a shoot we did last year. He had been working really hard for a Fitness Competition with his girlfriend Kass. They both looked amazing for the shoot and we had a lot of fun with them. I was super happy to be able to document their hard work for them. Mark

Saturday marked the first time I was able to shoot with my D750 since the beginning of November. I had sent it into the camera wizards at Nikon to take core of some damage that had happened during a photo shoot (Here at Studio Obscura the shoots sometimes get so extreme the equipment takes one for the team!). A Christmas Party provided me the first model to step in front of the lens. This Old Fashioned, lovingly mixed, poured and smoked by Jason Lee Bell was picture perfect!

Another image from Pumpkinferno on Saturday night. We were in the Terror Zone and this...entity... was watching over the guests! #pumpkinfernoDH #stuidioobscuraphoto Discovery Harbour

Last night we went to Pumpkinferno at Discovery Harbour with some friends. As we were leaving, Jason Lee Bell sat in Old Sparky. What happened next was surreal, the air became electric, there was a loud hum and suddenly Old Sparky erupted into rivers of electric fire! I can still feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up and I can still taste acrid tang of electrocution. Overall we all had a great time (Except Jay of course, he's a little....shocked...) If you have a free evening head over to Discovery Harbour to see the event, it is quite spectacular! Oh, and tell Old Sparky that Mark sent you... #StudioObscuraPhoto #pumpkinfernoDH Discovery Harbour

I was sick last week and missed the fall colours in Northern Ontario. Well, I didn't really miss them, I saw the beauty as I drove home from Sudbury with the Flu. I know I feel bad when I won't even stop and take a cell phone picture, I just wanted my bed, chicken soup and a puppy! Tonight in North Bay I knew the sunset was going to be awesome, so I went over to Sunset Park and I was so right! The sunset was awesome, along with the strong wind coming in from the West made a...n awesome show of colour and waves on Lake Nippising! Here is my favorite shot, is that Nessie in Lake Nippising? Cheers, Mark

Yesterday, Chris along with our dog, Freya and I participated in the Scott Kelby World Wide Photowalk. We made the drive down to Newmarket to walk with the amazing Ron Clifford! The day was overcast but the rain stayed away. Overcast skies make for wonderful natural light portraits because there is no harsh shadows. Chris came for the walk with Freya while I took pictures, it was an amazing event with fantastic people and we look forward to next years event! ... Here is one of the images of Freya I captured during the walk. Enjoy, Mark

Traveling in Northern Ontario is beautiful, sometimes that beauty turns majestic. There is nothing quite like a sunset over Lake Nipissing! Enjoy, Mark

As my holiday explorations continued we stopped to buy some fruit and veggies (and some fantastic butter tarts!) at a farm on Highway 28 North of Peterborough. They had awesome displays of pumpkins and I captured this image. I didn't even notice the little spiders web until this morning while processing my images from that day! Happy Autumn everyone! Mark

When I am on the road for my day job I sometimes make time at the end of my day to explore and take pictures. However, when I'm on holidays I take an entire day to explore and take pictures! Chris and I loaded the puppies into the car on Thursday and went for a drive to see what cool things we could find. Road construction gave me an opportunity to find my own detour which took me past this awesome barn. Here it is shot with both colour and Infrared, which one do you like best?

Golf Tournaments can be tough to shoot, if you roll up in your cart with the music going, you can ruin a golfers concentration and make them mess up a shot. Then you have an angry mob of golfers to deal with. Good thing they accepted my apology or I may not have made it out with my camera intact!

An awesome reference for anyone who is learning photography! Thanks Photography Is My Therapy for sharing this!

I love creative requests, my friend Jason asked if we could do an image of him in all his awesome golf attire so that he could send it in to the manufacturer for a calendar submission. Jason had a vision of what he wanted, we collaborated, shot it and here is the end result. I love it! We had so much fun doing this. What are your creative ideas? Let's make them happen! ... Cheers, Mark

Last Tuesday I was invited to shoot a Charity Golf Tournament out in Renfrew, Ontario. I checked the forecast and it called for mostly sunny which is perfect for shooting Infrared images. So I packed my gear and included Sir William (My IR Converted Nikon D70s) in the bag. I love shooting golf tournaments, the players are so much fun, and I get my own cart to bomb around the course in without having to chase that infernal white ball myself! While waiting the backlog on the 11...th tee the sun was amazing so I pulled Sir William out to play. Here is the view back towards the 10th green while I waited for slower golfers in Infrared. Enjoy, Mark

We had a wonderful evening last night at Chris' cousin's house in Holland Landing, they are located on Soldiers Bay and have a spectacular view of the sunset every night! Every September they host a family BBQ and of course wouldn't attend without my camera! Just as the dinner feast (what a feast it was!) was ready the sun put on an amazing show for us. This is seven images taken to create a panoramic shot, merged together in Lightroom with some light tweaks in Photoshop. T...hanks again Pat and John for the amazing evening and it was so nice to see everyone again! Can't wait for the next get together! Mark

Travel photography tip! Often when I travel, I take pictures of statues, sculptures and historic places. One thing I leaned the hard way was to always document the name of the landmark I was looking at. It's not fun when someone asks what the image is of and you have no idea! Chris taught me an easy trick to ensure I have the information I need that she learned from her travels, that trick is to take a picture of the information plaque or or sign that most often will accompa...ny the point of interest I am photographing. Here is an example from last week's travels to Sudbury, while walking I came across this awesome sculpture at Bell Park. I took a few shots and then found the plaque. If this was a family vacation, Chris would create a page that looks similar to this for our trip photo book. Cheers, Mark

When I travel for my day job, I always take a camera with me. Once I'm done work for the day, I often go for a drive to see what interesting things I can see. On my last trip to Sudbury, the hotel desk clerk said I should head down to Bell Park and go for a walk. In almost 10 years of going to Sudbury, I've driven past the park countless times but not once had I stopped to enjoy it! I know, bad photographer, BAD! I walked around beautiful Ramsey Lake and saw many awesome thi...ngs! Here are a few of my shots from that stroll. Enjoy, Mark

Sometimes when you're on the road for work something interesting happens. Tonight in Thunder Bay was no exception, as it turns out Alice Cooper was in town! I went over to the Community Auditorium after work to see if there was any tickets left and as luck would have it I scored a pretty decent seat since I only needed one! I've only done a quick look through my pictures (I took just over 500) but here are a few highlights from the show! Thanks for entertaining me (again) A...lice, I think this has to be the 15th or 16th time I've seen your show (The second time on this tour, the first Paranormal Evening was in Casino Rama) and you always impress! See you next time, Mark

It's Peachfest weekend in Niagara On The Lake, Chris and I drove down to buy some peaches to jar. Of course I took along a couple of cameras including my IR converted Nikon D70s. While Chris was buying peaches, I noticed how cool the path through the peach trees looked. I took the shot both with my regular camera and the IR camera. I much prefer the results from the IR!

Happy 1st Anniversary Steph and Jay! I can't believe it's already been a year since this magical day. The day was perfect, the ceremony was wonderful, the wedding party were stunning and the party was epic! Here are a few shots from the day, we were so happy to be able to capture the day in images for you and we wish you all the best for many, many years of happiness! All the best, ... Mark and Chris See more

I'm a couple of days late posting here, but I had to sneak a post about this fun loving couple in! August 10th marked Five Years of fun, new experiences and home renovations! Happy 5th Anniversary Erika and Cory Vee! The wedding was coined as "The Anti-Wedding" by the Erika and Cory, they had all the guests and fancy dress without a lot of emphasis on the wedding traditions. The ceremony was a perfect length with Erika's sister even Skyping in from abroad (England if I'm not... mistaken), to watch the ceremony! Here are a few shots from the day, they had invited Jim Parsons but sadly he declined, so they improvised! Happy 5th Anniversary, here is to many more years of happiness, love and fun! Mark and Chris

It's always a great day when you get to do a photo walk with a group of super talented photographers. But, when you stumble across a wedding to shoot it makes the day even better! We found this great looking bunch taking a moment to ensure the Bride stayed well hydrated!

It's always fun to be out an about with a camera. Last weekend while walking through Graffiti Alley in Toronto, this fun bunch of young ladies asked if I could take their picture using their camera. They were having so much fun touring around with the bride to be on her Bachelorette day, how could I have possibly said no? Of course, since it was a photo walk I took a few shots on my camera too. Congrats on the engagement and I hope your wedding day simply amazing!

This past Saturday we were invited to be the photographers at Kerry and Mike's Wedding! The day was so very special to us for many reasons. We have known Kerry and Mike for many years, they live right next door and finally decided it was time to get married! Two kinder and happier people are certainly hard to find, they always say hello, they laugh, enjoy life and love their family to the fullest! Here are three photos of the day we've already shared with the happy couple. T...he day was warm and the event was awesome, it was exactly how Kerry and Mike wanted it, a small event, surrounded by their closest family and friends, including several grand children and lots of dogs! Kerry and Mike's dog Ally was also in attendance and we managed to get her into a few photos! Congrats Kerry and Mike and thank you so much for inviting us to be a part of your special day. Much love, Chris and Mark

It's been a warm and busy week here at Studio Obscura Photo, I got invited to shoot the Soft Opening of the Beautiful new Shoppers Drug Mart at Dundas Square on Thursday. Such a beautiful store, great people, excited customers and they even have an homage to the Hard Rock Cafe that used to live in that building! I took thousands of shots, but I just had to walk across the street to capture the building in all it's glory! If you're downtown and a fan of Shoppers Drug Mart, ...you have to check out the very unique store! It's three floors with an entire floor devoted to the Beauty Boutique! It's truly one of a kind! Cheers, Mark

On Canada Day we always like to take a look back at some of the images we have captured of this fantastic country in the past year. We feel very fortunate to live in this beautiful country full of such diversity, wonderful people, opportunities and places to go see and of course capture images. Have a Happy Canada Day everyone, spend it however you'd like but please have a great time and be safe doing it! Here is an image that Mark captured last year while on a overnight tri...p with several other photographers that was hosted by our friend Bryan Weiss and Daytripper Photo. They spent two days on a private Island on the west end of Lake Nippising and it was awesome! Enjoy! Proudly Canadian, Chris and Mark. Studio Obscura Photography

We took the dogs up to Arrowhead Provincial Park yesterday to walk them and us. We were treated to this spectacular view from the Big Bend lookout. As we took in the view, two kayaks came up stream. Not one to pass up an opportunity like this I took seven shots of the scene to merge together as one panoramic image. If you get a chance, make sure you head out to one of the spectacular Ontario Parks this summer! Be sure to view large! ... Enjoy, Mark #DiscoverOntario #OntarioParks #ArrowheadProvincialPark #StudioObscuraPhotography