David Forster's Photography

Welcome to Fifth Line Photography

There's a pretty good chance you already know that my name is David Forster and I live near Ottawa, Canada.

Photography is largely a labour of love for me. I am a technophile with a bit of a creative urge and dSLR photography satisfies both of those needs quite nicely. I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark III and use Apple's Aperture 3 to manage the images, do raw conversion and 95% of the post-processing. I use Photoshop CS6 for more advanced photo manipulation. I enjoy the time in front of the computer almost as much as the time behind the camera.

I am interested in photographing pretty much anything that will either result in a compelling image or document an interesting event. I suppose I am most interested in photographs that accomplish both. I dabble in nature and landscape photography but most of the images I take involve people engaged in some sort of activity. Above all, I get no greater pleasure from photography than when I manage a photograph of my children that truly captures their spirit or joy -- especially when they are doing something they love to do (travel, riding, running, playing or just being great sisters). They are very involved in equestrian activities and so I am accumulating a lot of experience photographing them, their teammates, and the ponies and horses they ride.

One of the many things I love about photography is the fact that no matter how lousy or great you are as a photographer there is always more to learn. Grabbing a snapshot of something that is happening in front of you is relatively straightforward. Actively composing an image, recognizing and using lines, depth, layers, symmetry etc., being aware of and able to manipulate light before the shutter button is pushed and having complete mastery over colour and contrast across the whole tonal range in a raw image file after the button is pressed -- all in order to create a unique and appealing image that tells an interesting story... that is a challenge without bounds.

The photos on this site are of course copyrighted. If I have offered them to you as a friend, acquaintance or family member then you are free to download and use them for any noncommercial purpose you'd like. In that case there is no charge to download the image files. The "buy" button at the top of most pages gives you access to various online printing services.

Most of the photos of recognizable people are in a password-protected area of the site. If you need access to them and don't have the password, just use the contact link at the bottom of the page to let me know who you are.

Dave