North of Capreol Part 2

•05/24/2013 • Leave a Comment

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After discovering the stream mentioned in the previous post, Jan Winther and I returned late in the afternoon to photograph the series of small waterfalls that are here. When we arrived the sunlight was blowing the highlights on the water. It was a couple hours before we could commence shooting. The above waterfalls was the first location as the stream dropped in elevation making its way to the North River. At the base of the waterfalls it was a mess of downed trees and other junk. I set up to the left of the waterfalls to exclude the mess. Also I like to photograph these type of scenes at a bit of an angle. This gives the water depth and dimension. If you photograph a waterfalls dead on it becomes flat looking. You must create the illusion of depth in your work. I will also do creative sharpening on the foreground to enhance this effect.

Now I had protruding rock on the left along with a good chunk of rock in the foreground. I created a composition of one third of forest and two thirds water falls looking at it vertically. You have to know were the water came from, which you can see through the cedar trees and you have an exit point at lower right in the composition. There is a lot of structure detail in the rocks. The cedar boughs have a color range from light to dark green. Almost looks like light from the sun painting some of the boughs. This helps also to create a very nice composition.

As we progressed into evening a few black flies started to appear. Welcome to Northern Ontario. They mainly hovered around us but did not seem to have any interest in biting us. Well that is it for this week. Thank you for coming by. Until next time happy trails

North of Capreol

•05/20/2013 • Leave a Comment

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Picking up Jan Winthers, I headed towards Capreol. It was mid morning with a lovely blue sky and warm temperatures. This was a day to go adventuring and find some new photographic opportunities. Arriving in Capreol I headed to the nearest gas station to top off the gas tank. When you head up into wilderness locations always make sure you have a full gas tank. When you get near a half tank it is time to turn around and head back. We spotted a couple older gentlemen chatting by the road. I exited the Ford Explorer and approached them. They soon set me in the right direction and off we went.

We left town on a paved road, passed the turn off to the Wanapitei 11 Indian Reserve and were soon on a gravel sand road with lots of dust. Before I continue I will explain a little about this area. The North River runs in a southerly direction and empties into Wanapitaei Lake at the North End. This being Victoria Day weekend there is lots of folks up here camping and fishing. This is Walleye country. As is typical in Northern Ontario, there is intensive logging occurring here.  It did not seem that long before we came to the North River. Crossing over the bridge I decided to head North.

The North River was still running high from Spring run off. The scenery was great to look at with a lot of high hills. But not much in the way of photographing. Heading North we followed the river. Upon reaching the 45 km the road got rough and washed out. By now it was lunch time. Hauling out the camp chairs, Jan and I enjoyed a leisure bite to eat with the sound of running water beside us. Making our way back down the road with windows open Jan and I heard the sound of running water in the bush. We looked and sure enough you could she a small waterfalls tumbling down through the trees.

Parking the vehicle, we made our way towards the running water and found a series of small waterfalls. This stream came from a lake up above and flowed into the North River. The above composition was one of the scenes I created. The rock to the left was rounded and curved. The water flow followed the rock curvature.  I   used that as my eye in. There is not a lot of open space along this stream bed. The evergreens and cedar have a mixture of old and new growth to give you the yellow and green colors. I placed some cedar boughs on the right for added depth. The water flow at a slow shutter speed created a pattern. There is some orange on the rock above the falls. A touch of green reflecting into the water. All in all a nice place to sit on a rock and dangle your feet in the water. Enjoy the sound of running water and the peacefulness that can be found in a spot like this.

Jan Winther has a blog at this address

http://imagesbyjw.com/2013/03/25/bridal-veil-falls-summer/

Well that is it for now. I will continue the journey on my next post. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.

The Reflective Side of Nature

•05/17/2013 • 2 Comments

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In this photo a unique lighting has been created. You have the lighting from the late evening sun drenching the rocks  in the background. Thus creating an orange like hue on the rocks. The rocks in the foreground are now darker for the sun no longer affects them. But there is still a touch of lighting on the rocks to the left. This is what helps to add character to a composition. It is the little detail. There is a nice green tinge to the water in the foreground. This is due to the sun striking the evergreens on the far bank and reflecting on the water. If it had been a little earlier the water would be a golden color due to the stronger strength of the sunlight.

This week I received an Award of excellence for one of my compositions.

You can see the selected works here.

http://www.exhibitionswithoutwalls.com/?page_id=5221

Well that is it for this week. For everyone in this part of the world have a safe Victoria weekend. Until next time happy trails

The Art of Lighting

•05/13/2013 • Leave a Comment

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While I was photographing at George Lake in Killarney Provincial Park last Wednesday, I was observing the lighting that was happening on the far shore

The sunrise was to the right of me. Thus creating some wonderful lighting on the evergreens on a small point. If you look around the photo you will see some snatches of lighting on other trees. This is like a painter’s brush stroke with a dab of yellow here and there. This is created by the sunlight beaming through openings in the trees opposite to this composition. I kept the composition as tight as possible. The rocky shoreline adds depth and contrast. The lake surface is not totally calm. But that is okay. It gives the composition a more painterly effect that I so love. There is also a lovely mood here of soft lighting, peacefulness and tranquility.

I had a great day the Saturday past. The Rubber Boot Festival in Noelville was excellent with great music. It is always wonderful to talk to the public and meet other artists from the area. My work will now be hanging at the Backstreet Gallery in Noelville.

http://frcic.com/the-backstreet-gallery/

Well that is it for now. Thank you all for stopping by and for the comments. Until next time happy trails.

A Morning At The Beach

•05/10/2013 • 13 Comments

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Wednesday morning I crawled out of bed at 4:45 A M. Loaded my cooler with food and water for the day. Grabbed my camera bag and tripod. My goal was to arrive at Killarney Provincial Park at daybreak. I stopped at Tim Horton’s for my coffee and was soon on my way. I arrived at the park a little after daybreak . The first thing I noticed was that a slight breeze was dancing here  and there on the lake surface. Hmm not so good.

I unloaded my camera gear and set up my equipment behind Turner Point on George Lake. This is a very unique rock point with its own character. Many times what I have seen with this type of conditions is to just create your composition in your viewfinder and wait. It was not too long before the water became smooth again. I was then able to get my shot. One of the problems I had here was that Turner Point was getting a lot of sun. The rock could easily have blown highlights. On the other end of the scale the right side of the photo was in shadow as was part of the mountain side. On the plus side you can see the sunlight highlighting some of the trees on the mountains.

By 8:00 A M the photographing was finished. I packed up and headed for the Chikanishing River. I left the Escape at the parking lot. I picked up the hiking trail that would take me down to the mouth of the Chikanishing River. This river empties into Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. There are beautiful time worn rock structures along the shore line plus some islands dotted here and there. By now it was getting hot. I found a nice spot to rest out of the sun under an evergreen tree with a flat rock to rest my back. I had brought my e reader with me to pass the time. As I was reading I sensed something in front of me. It was a fairly large Garter Snake eyeing me. It stayed there for short time before moving off to my left and going under a rock.

Evening soon came, but no respite from the light breeze. I finally gave up around 8:00 P M. I wanted to be back at my Escape before dark. I was soon on my way home. While traveling on the Killarney highway I came upon a Moose cow with her  twin calves from last year. They are quite scruffy at this time of year.

Well that is it for this week. It was great to finally get out in the outdoors and do some shooting. I will be at the Rubber Boot Festival in Noelville tomorrow.

So until next time happy trails.

A Late Morning Composition

•05/06/2013 • Leave a Comment

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The above photo was taken last Fall at O S A Lake in Killarney Provincial Park.

It was late morning at our campsite. The La Cloche Mountains were ablaze in color.

Paul Smith and I were relaxing with our coffee after a dawn shot.

I happen to look across to the far shore. There is a small cove there.

A small group of evergreens grew here. The sunlight was highlighting these small trees.

I quickly set up my tripod and Canon 7D. My zoom lens is a Canon 28 to 135.

The resulting composition is quite pleasing with the color and lighting.

I will be at the Rubber Boot festival in Noelville this coming Saturday.

http://rubberbootsfestival.com/festival-2013/

I had 4 Special Recognition at the 15 th Annual Contemporary Art Juried Online Juried Art Exhibition by Upstream People Gallery

2 of my works were selected to the RBC Dominion Securities “Art Impact”
Juried Art Show in Sudbury Ontario

This show is up coming sometime in June.

Looking for a Mothers Day gift for Mom.

Check out my books by clicking on the buttons in the top right hand corner.

Well that is it for now. Until next time happy trails

The Right Flow

•05/03/2013 • 2 Comments

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When you can combine falling water with textured rock, a unique scene can be created.

This type of composition is available when the water levels are low. This can be late summer.

I shot the scene late on a clear evening. This way you have even lighting that creates great color.

This late in the evening your shutter speed is anywhere from 1 sec to 30 sec.

The nearer to darkness the slower your shutter speed.

The f-stop is set at f22

The water flows in at the top left and flows out at bottom left.

All that is missing is the sound of running water.

Well that is it for this week. Until next time happy trails

 

 
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