Bill Ault…
Images
I’ve always been drawn to images and making images. Photography, especially modern photography has made it so easy to do.
My first photographs were of the small creek and sites around the house in Eastern Ontario where I grew up and forty years later that same part of the planet still provides almost daily inspiration to capture a moment, some
One photo taken when I was 14 or 15, and which I still have, set the tone for every picture I’ve taken since. Mid-summer day, the bluest sky is reflecting in what water is left in a pool by the crossing behind the house and the cat-tails surrounding it are the greenest green. Kodachrome colour film. Still my go-to finished look.
These days I shoot RAW and draw out the colours in post-processing but that 4×6 drug store print sets the standard of how I want my images to “feel” not just appear.
I’m now fortunate that I’m afforded a bit of time to travel so my horizons and my photography have stretched a great deal over the past decade or so.
My love of nature, concern for the planet and old-fashioned curiosity all come together wherever those travels take me and I attempt, but don’t always succeed in capturing images that reflect where I am.
Sound
At one point in life, thanks mostly to a TV show – WKRP in Cincinnati – and a deep love FM Rock Radio and an Ottawa-based station called CHEZ106 I thought I would pursue a radio career. I did make a couple of brief forays into the broadcast world after graduating as a co-host of a soccer show on the TEAM 1200 in Ottawa and as the music director for RANA-FM in Kandahar (yeah that one usually is a good icebreaker for the introvert in me) but nothing concrete ever stuck.
Then came this thing called podcasting first with CanadaKicks (soccer as you may have guessed) and now Northern Latitudes and NL BIZ. It is true on the internet you can be anything you want to be. The basic premise I take when interviewing people for the shows is teach me the things you know and hopefully, the audience learns as much as I do.
Northern Latitudes
Mostly photography both daily and travel, a little concern for the planet, and now podcasting about many of the same things – that’s Northern Latitudes.
The site gives me the chance to share my efforts with an audience that might not otherwise get to go to some of the places I travel, see a few of the many special places, and hear from people they might never meet.
Equipment
My equipment is pretty low-key. A Nikon D7500 DSLR and a Samsung S23 Phone captured 99% of the images and a simple recording setup using Restream captures the sound. Before that it was a Sony a290, which died a painful death in Iceland… and even further in the past a Canon. (Any other images are not mine and are photo credited). In post-production I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for phone images I process on the phone using Snapseed. Audio editing is done with Audacity a free software system.
Image Usage
Feel free to contact me about using any of my images. bill[at]northernlatitudes.ca or check out the PicFair store under the shop tab.
Recognition
Jökulsárlón – Named a Youpic.com cover for Landscapes 2019.01.21
35 images named a Youpic.com “Inspiration” photo with over 600,000 combined views.
Icefields – Top 100 photo in “Without Humans” Challenge. 2018.08.08
and Four-time “Guru Pick” award winner at Gurushots.com.
Superior Sunset – Won the “Community Choice Award” on ViewBug.com 2018.11.30
Bonus Lake – Won Peer “Choice Award” on Viewbug.com 2017.11.30
A total of 172 Peer Awards on Viewbug.com.
Into the Sun – named Colour Feature Photo on Aminus3.com 2018.07.22
In the Shadow of Giants – was Colour Feature Photo on Aminus3.com 2018.03.13
Seeing For Miles – was named Feature Photo on Aminus3.com 2018.08.09