It was the past Friday that Paul Smith and I came across some new locations up the Westbranch North of Webbwood.We were now 90 km up the Westbranch and exploring new country.The moose hunters were setting up there camps getting ready for the opening of moose season on Saturday.It was a sunny day,but the wind was creating havoc and towards sundown was still blowing.It was scratch day one.

The next day I headed back up alone early that afternoon.When I arrived on location the wind was blowing pretty good.I waited til late evening but to no avail.I headed back home again with no photos.Sunday came and being my youngest grand son’s birthday, I stopped off at my son’s apartment to enjoy the BBQ and wish  the little man a happy birthday.He was 1 year old.I hadn’t been on the Internet for a week as I had left my usb modem down South well we were visiting. I logged on an checked my email . My good friend Jan Winthers had emailed me earlier saying he was available for the weekend to go out photographing.I gave Jan a quick call and asked him if he could meet me in an hour.

I met up with Jan and we transferred his photo equipment to my truck. As we were driving up the Westbranch Jan realized that he had forgot his tripod. We have all forgotten something at one time or another. The third day turned out to be a blessing with the wind cooperating for a change.

Late fall brings with it much more subdued colors as the grass and ferns turn brown and rusty red.I myself like this time of year for the challenges it offers.Jan and I were walking along a small lake when we spotted a little island across the way. There was some very interesting lighting come from the side onto the island.The evergreens had wonderful lighting filtering through to break up the dark mass in the background.This creates a background with more detail .The gray color of the dead branches give character to the trees along with the remaining tree growth being highlighted by the sun.Take in the brownish shoreline and you have a very earth tone photo. There is enough reflection in the water to create depth.

I shot this scene with the zoom set at 100 mm and a shutter speed of  0.4 sec @ f 22. You must always be watching for unique lighting and color patterns.

Moving along the shoreline I was attracted by the lighting and colors that you can observe in the above photo. The clump of reddish brown grass was nicely lit by the sun.Light was filtering through the trees in the background creating lovely reflective patterns along with a beam of light hitting the reddish brown grass along the shoreline.I positioned my tripod to put the island of grass in the foreground and the lighted grass on the shoreline in the background.The idea here is to have the reddish brown grasses stand out.

I shot the above photo with a zoom setting 135 mm.The shutter speed was set at 0.5 sec @ f22.

Jan and I had a wonderful day together and I am looking forward to our next outing. Until next time happy trails.