Bringing wild perspective to Liverpool library
Workshop will focus on artistry and inspiration
DAVE MATHIESON SOUTH SHORE BREAKER
LIVERPOOL, N.S. – Kas Stone embraces extreme environments.
“I particularly like bleak, wild landscapes, and Nova Scotia’s coastal scenery is fabulous because you have all that raging ocean out there,” Stone said.
Stone grew up in Nova Scotia but time spent away helped her better appreciate the province’s diverse, wild landscapes.
“I got stranded in Toronto for almost 20 years. I’m not a city girl at all and I was desperate to get away, so I spent a lot of time in Northern Ontario paddling and hiking,” she said. “When I finally moved back to Nova Scotia it was with fresh eyes, and it really helped me see how beautiful it is, and the diversity of the scenery.”
Stone, a professional landscape photographer for 12 years, is the guest speaker at a photography workshop hosted by the Milton Canoe and Camera Club (MCCC) on Jan. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Thomas H. Raddall Library in Liverpool.
The workshop will focus mostly on artistry and inspiration.
“What I always try to get people to do is, instead of always looking out there for a thing that inspires you, it’s much more a question of looking inside and saying, ‘what am I feeling and thinking about this place and how do I capture that in my picture?’ That’s a lot harder to do. It requires a little more introspection.”
Stone separates herself from the photographic pack by venturing out during more extreme weather conditions.
“I tend to go out not during the gorgeous ‘golden-light’ that everybody talks about,” she said. “I love going out on a foggy day or a stormy day or a snowy day when you have this huge, wide field of snow or where you get the intimate scenes with fog and you can hardly see anything in front of your face. That kind of thing appeals to me.”
For Stone, a great photograph usually takes a backseat to a great adventure.
“I tend to go out to explore, to go on a hike or put my canoe in the water. I tend not to always think about getting pictures,” she said. “I go out there to have an adventure and see stuff. If I come home with a good picture as a result I’m happy. My chief motivation, usually, is to have some fun in the outdoors.”
The workshop will also cover photographic technique.
“People always want the ‘how-to,’ so I will talk about a little bit of technique.”
You don’t need the latest equipment to produce a great photograph.
“I have two or three pictures that I’ve sold hundreds of copies of and they were taken with a camera that was six or seven years old. Those pictures are still selling really well,” she said. “It’s more about the composition and setting the mood and finding the right weather and the right location and making the most of the equipment that you have.”
Stone lives in Dublin Shore and her portfolio includes an extensive list of publications, exhibitions and awards, with two outdoor adventure guidebooks published by the Boston Mills Press, numerous photo projects in collaboration with environmental groups, and feature articles and images in Canadian and British magazines.
The cost of admission to the workshop is free for members of the MCCC. Admission to non-members is a free-will offering at the door.