My photographic partner,Paul Smith and I unloaded the canoe in to the Aux Sauble River North of Massey at the 3 mile mark.We proceeded to paddle up river and we worked our way up to a small waterfalls and unloaded the canoe on a sandbar on the opposite shoreline.Paul elected to stay at the waterfalls and I proceeded upriver looking for photographic opportunities.Looking back down river I noticed a bit of a haze as the day was hot and muggy.

As I walked upstream I noticed a beam of sunlight highlighting the grass and ferns near the waters edge.The scene was on the opposite shore of the river.The time was getting on late afternoon and creating heavy shadows on the far shore.The sun also sets in that direction.I quickly set up and shot the scene that you see above.The dark background brings out the foreground and the reflections in the water.The dark background also helps eliminate clutter.It also helps to keep the shot tightly composed.

I photographed the composition with a zoom setting of 135 and the shutter speed at 0.6 sec and f25.

I continued walking upstream and I noticed some unique lighting ahead of me that you see in the photo above.The problem was that the background was very dark and the right shoreline was brightly lit.I set up the camera and tripod and created the composition you see above.I set the exposure for the sandbar and took a photo and then I took a exposure on the background and took a photo at that setting.This allowed me to bring both photos into Photoshop and achieve what I was looking for.

At this time it was getting late and walking further upstream was getting harder going.I had covered about a mile and a half.I retraced my steps back downstream and met Paul at the waterfalls.

We loaded the canoe and drifted back down river enjoying the stillness and quiet of the woods.Beaver were swimming ahead of  and Paul heard twiggs snapping beside us up in the bush.We stopped paddling and listened for a few moments but nothing happened.It was dark by the time we got back to the truck and headed home.

It was a great afternoon and evening enjoying the wilderness and getting a quality photo or two in the process an added bonus.As you can see I am always watching for interesting lighting situations.This only can happen if you spend a lot of time observing what is happening around you.

So until next time happy trails.