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Tim Smith’s Photos of the Year

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2012 (4645 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The lights of south Brandon stand out against the surrounding countryside as darkness falls over Westman early Friday evening. The photo was taken from a Cessna 172 at 11,500 ft. The plan for this photo came together very quickly. When I arrived at work around 1:00PM on Friday, Managing Editor James OConnor informed me that he was looking for a photo involving lights for Saturday's front page. I immediately booked a flight for sunset with the Brandon Flying Club. I wanted to create a unique view of Brandon standing out against the surrounding countryside. I really had to push the limits of my camera to get the shot. The photo was taken at an absurd ISO 12800. The fading light of sunset added to the photo. In the end a myriad of factors came together to create a near perfect scene.
The lights of south Brandon stand out against the surrounding countryside as darkness falls over Westman early Friday evening. The photo was taken from a Cessna 172 at 11,500 ft. The plan for this photo came together very quickly. When I arrived at work around 1:00PM on Friday, Managing Editor James OConnor informed me that he was looking for a photo involving lights for Saturday's front page. I immediately booked a flight for sunset with the Brandon Flying Club. I wanted to create a unique view of Brandon standing out against the surrounding countryside. I really had to push the limits of my camera to get the shot. The photo was taken at an absurd ISO 12800. The fading light of sunset added to the photo. In the end a myriad of factors came together to create a near perfect scene.
Portraits of fire evacuees from Garden Hill First nation taken at various hotels in Brandon. For this Exposure project I packed up a portable studio and a camera and went door knocking at a few hotels. I met evacuees of all ages and asked them questions about their experience being displaced. I then paired their responses with the simple portraits.
Portraits of fire evacuees from Garden Hill First nation taken at various hotels in Brandon. For this Exposure project I packed up a portable studio and a camera and went door knocking at a few hotels. I met evacuees of all ages and asked them questions about their experience being displaced. I then paired their responses with the simple portraits.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Ron Minne stands outside his home in Waskada, Man. holding an x-ray of his left shoulder which shows the screws that were used to fuse his shoulder in place to prevent recurring dislocation. Minne was injured in a farming accident in September of 1991 and has suffered chronic pain and the loss of much of the use of his left arm. He and his wife Dawn are involved with Manitoba Farmers with Disabilities helping others that have been injured or affected by accidents and giving presentations on farm safety. I like simple portraits that give viewers some insight into the person in the story. This portrait was made with a 50mm lens with an aperture of 1.4 to blur out Ron's home in the background so your eye goes right to him in the middle of the frame.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Ron Minne stands outside his home in Waskada, Man. holding an x-ray of his left shoulder which shows the screws that were used to fuse his shoulder in place to prevent recurring dislocation. Minne was injured in a farming accident in September of 1991 and has suffered chronic pain and the loss of much of the use of his left arm. He and his wife Dawn are involved with Manitoba Farmers with Disabilities helping others that have been injured or affected by accidents and giving presentations on farm safety. I like simple portraits that give viewers some insight into the person in the story. This portrait was made with a 50mm lens with an aperture of 1.4 to blur out Ron's home in the background so your eye goes right to him in the middle of the frame.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Ten-year-old Monet Mazawasicuna practices hockey drills on her backyard rink beside her home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation as the sun sets on a cold February evening. Mazawasicuna plays with 11 and 12 year olds on the Virden Oilers Peewee team and is out skating on the outdoor rink five days a week. She has been skating and playing hockey since she was five years old. This photo involved driving out to Sioux Valley half a dozen times at all the wrong times until I finally found someone using the rink just before sunset. The great story about Monet's hockey prowess adds to the photo.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Ten-year-old Monet Mazawasicuna practices hockey drills on her backyard rink beside her home at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation as the sun sets on a cold February evening. Mazawasicuna plays with 11 and 12 year olds on the Virden Oilers Peewee team and is out skating on the outdoor rink five days a week. She has been skating and playing hockey since she was five years old. This photo involved driving out to Sioux Valley half a dozen times at all the wrong times until I finally found someone using the rink just before sunset. The great story about Monet's hockey prowess adds to the photo.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Keira Chevallier bounces on a trampoline in her family's yard in Hartney, Man. on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I love driving throughout the countryside looking for images of daily life. This looks like a summer photo but was actually taken during Manitoba's unusual heat-wave in February.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Keira Chevallier bounces on a trampoline in her family's yard in Hartney, Man. on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I love driving throughout the countryside looking for images of daily life. This looks like a summer photo but was actually taken during Manitoba's unusual heat-wave in February.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Birds take flight from a set of power lines overlooking a home bathed in the light from the setting sun in the west as the moon rises to the east at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in February.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Birds take flight from a set of power lines overlooking a home bathed in the light from the setting sun in the west as the moon rises to the east at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in February.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Manami Tsubai with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School stretches prior to performing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra during the WSO's Music in Motion performance for students in Brandon in May. Sometimes the best photo opportunities are behind the scenes, in this case backstage.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Manami Tsubai with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School stretches prior to performing with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra during the WSO's Music in Motion performance for students in Brandon in May. Sometimes the best photo opportunities are behind the scenes, in this case backstage.
This image is from my Seasons in Solitude Project. Clare Haralson lies in bed in prayer one afternoon in June. This is another image that came out of spending a lot of time with the subject. You can't just walk into someone's home and expect to be able to photograph something as personal as them praying in bed. By the time I had taken this image, Clare knew me and knew my intentions.
This image is from my Seasons in Solitude Project. Clare Haralson lies in bed in prayer one afternoon in June. This is another image that came out of spending a lot of time with the subject. You can't just walk into someone's home and expect to be able to photograph something as personal as them praying in bed. By the time I had taken this image, Clare knew me and knew my intentions.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Clare cinches his jacket to keep out the cold and passes his barn, as he begins his walk north to Erickson on Highway 10 on a cool day in May. The bible scripture was painted on the barn more than twenty years ago and is a common sight for travellers on Highway 10.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Clare cinches his jacket to keep out the cold and passes his barn, as he begins his walk north to Erickson on Highway 10 on a cool day in May. The bible scripture was painted on the barn more than twenty years ago and is a common sight for travellers on Highway 10.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Clare eats lunch by the window in the dining room of his home as Pumpkin sits on his lap.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Clare eats lunch by the window in the dining room of his home as Pumpkin sits on his lap.
Animal Control Officers Kelly Pettinger and Brent Castle try to bring down a tranquilized bull moose as Dan Chranowski with Manitoba Conservation assists at J.R. Reid School in Brandon on Wednesday morning. Two moose, a male and a female, wandered into Brandon overnight and were contained in the school field by Brandon Police members until the animals could be tranquilized and loaded into a trailer to be released south of town. When you get a phone call shortly after six in the morning involving moose you get out of bed and go. This isn't by any means a portfolio image but it made a great daily newspaper photo.
Animal Control Officers Kelly Pettinger and Brent Castle try to bring down a tranquilized bull moose as Dan Chranowski with Manitoba Conservation assists at J.R. Reid School in Brandon on Wednesday morning. Two moose, a male and a female, wandered into Brandon overnight and were contained in the school field by Brandon Police members until the animals could be tranquilized and loaded into a trailer to be released south of town. When you get a phone call shortly after six in the morning involving moose you get out of bed and go. This isn't by any means a portfolio image but it made a great daily newspaper photo.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Huxley Percy swims at Wasagaming beach on Clear Lake as the sun sets one evening in July. In July I decided to produce an underwater photo series for our Exposure feature. Using a variety of equipment including a Canon camera in an underwater housing, I spent a few days in the water at beaches, pools, rivers and spray parks throughout westman. For the cover I envisioned a half-in, half-out photo of someone swimming. I've taken a few of those type of photos before so I wanted to step things up this time. I decided sunset would help make a nice colourful photo. To create this photo my wife Natalie and I set up one of my cameras in a rectangular fish tank. This way I could dip the fishtank partly into the water keeping the camera dry. I set the exposure to capture the sunset and used a flash held by Natalie off to the left to light the swimmer under-water. I used Pocket Wizard radio slaves to trigger the flash. These types of photos involve a lot of trial and error. I took probably close to 50 photos in the few short minutes of nice light and only one of the photos was close to what I had pre-envisioned.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Huxley Percy swims at Wasagaming beach on Clear Lake as the sun sets one evening in July. In July I decided to produce an underwater photo series for our Exposure feature. Using a variety of equipment including a Canon camera in an underwater housing, I spent a few days in the water at beaches, pools, rivers and spray parks throughout westman. For the cover I envisioned a half-in, half-out photo of someone swimming. I've taken a few of those type of photos before so I wanted to step things up this time. I decided sunset would help make a nice colourful photo. To create this photo my wife Natalie and I set up one of my cameras in a rectangular fish tank. This way I could dip the fishtank partly into the water keeping the camera dry. I set the exposure to capture the sunset and used a flash held by Natalie off to the left to light the swimmer under-water. I used Pocket Wizard radio slaves to trigger the flash. These types of photos involve a lot of trial and error. I took probably close to 50 photos in the few short minutes of nice light and only one of the photos was close to what I had pre-envisioned.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. Janelle visits with Tatyanna on a lazy morning before getting her out of bed. I love long-term projects and spending time with Tatyanna has been my most rewarding work of the year. Working on a long-term project involves a lot of waiting. First you spend time getting to know your subjects, getting them to trust you. Then you try your best to fade into the background of their daily life waiting for moments that tell the story.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. Janelle visits with Tatyanna on a lazy morning before getting her out of bed. I love long-term projects and spending time with Tatyanna has been my most rewarding work of the year. Working on a long-term project involves a lot of waiting. First you spend time getting to know your subjects, getting them to trust you. Then you try your best to fade into the background of their daily life waiting for moments that tell the story.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. Tatyanna lies on a bed in the kitchen of her home using a saline mask to help clear her throat and lungs. Batten's disease makes it much harder for her to clear her throat on her own.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. Tatyanna lies on a bed in the kitchen of her home using a saline mask to help clear her throat and lungs. Batten's disease makes it much harder for her to clear her throat on her own.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. A rambunctious Lexi plays on her parents bed as Tatyanna sleeps.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun From the Tatyanna's Hope project. A rambunctious Lexi plays on her parents bed as Tatyanna sleeps.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Colter Harden grits his teeth during the Bareback event on day three of the Manitoba Finals Rodeo at the 2012 Wheat City Stampede at Westman Place. When you've covered the same event more times than you can count you look for different angles to shoot from. Shooting from overhead eliminates the advertising and people in the stands giving the photo a nice clean background.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Colter Harden grits his teeth during the Bareback event on day three of the Manitoba Finals Rodeo at the 2012 Wheat City Stampede at Westman Place. When you've covered the same event more times than you can count you look for different angles to shoot from. Shooting from overhead eliminates the advertising and people in the stands giving the photo a nice clean background.
Aerial images of Turtle Crossing Campground and a farm bordering Highway 250 comparing the landscape during the flood of 2011 and during the relatively dry spring of 2012.
Aerial images of Turtle Crossing Campground and a farm bordering Highway 250 comparing the landscape during the flood of 2011 and during the relatively dry spring of 2012.
A young boy peers out the window of an ice-fishing trailer on Minnedosa Lake in January.
A young boy peers out the window of an ice-fishing trailer on Minnedosa Lake in January.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Kira Cook poses for a photo while playing with friends on the Indian Birch River Reserve north of Swan River, Manitoba on a warm Tuesday evening.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Kira Cook poses for a photo while playing with friends on the Indian Birch River Reserve north of Swan River, Manitoba on a warm Tuesday evening.
A young boy plays soccer in the backyard of a home in south Brandon as a streak of sunlight from the setting sun cuts across the yard in late July, 2012. I love chasing the last fading sunlight of the day, often referred to as golden light.
A young boy plays soccer in the backyard of a home in south Brandon as a streak of sunlight from the setting sun cuts across the yard in late July, 2012. I love chasing the last fading sunlight of the day, often referred to as golden light.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun A VIA Rail Canada passenger train heading east crosses the CNR mainline trestle over the Little Saskatchewan River at Rivers, Man. as the sun sets on Sunday, February 12, 2012. This photo was the product of little planning and big luck. I was driving towards Rivers on PTH 25 one evening planning on finding a completely different photo when I saw the sun beginning to set behind the trestle to the west. I set up my Canon 1DMk4 on a monopod with a 300mm lens on the shoulder of the highway and stood their for 20 minutes or so waiting for a train to cross. 90% of time in these situations the photo you envision doesn't fall into place. As time dragged on and the sun began to disappear over the horizon I became increasingly certain I wouldn't get a photo. Just as I was about to leave I heard rumbling in the distance followed shortly by the familiar blasts of a train whistle. I recomposed my shot and waited for the train to pass through my frame. The fact that the train ended up being a VIA Rail passenger train added to the photo.
Tim Smith/Brandon Sun A VIA Rail Canada passenger train heading east crosses the CNR mainline trestle over the Little Saskatchewan River at Rivers, Man. as the sun sets on Sunday, February 12, 2012. This photo was the product of little planning and big luck. I was driving towards Rivers on PTH 25 one evening planning on finding a completely different photo when I saw the sun beginning to set behind the trestle to the west. I set up my Canon 1DMk4 on a monopod with a 300mm lens on the shoulder of the highway and stood their for 20 minutes or so waiting for a train to cross. 90% of time in these situations the photo you envision doesn't fall into place. As time dragged on and the sun began to disappear over the horizon I became increasingly certain I wouldn't get a photo. Just as I was about to leave I heard rumbling in the distance followed shortly by the familiar blasts of a train whistle. I recomposed my shot and waited for the train to pass through my frame. The fact that the train ended up being a VIA Rail passenger train added to the photo.

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