Photography, Poetry

A River’s Destiny

3 Comments

MeaudeauPano

 

 

 

A fine light mist

Hangs over a Northern lake

Draping the surrounding forest

Moisture laden branches dripping

Onto the lake’s surface

The remnant of a late summer storm

No winds blow now

The lake surface calm

 

The sound of running water

Can be heard not far off

A beaver dam holds

Back the rising water

Induced by the storm

A beaver can be seen

Repairing the leaking dam

 

The water drips through

The dam of sticks and mud

The dripping water

Becomes a trickle

Of a small flowing stream

The stream menders through

A grass filled swamp

Gnarled tree trunks

Grey with age

Stand like aging sentinels

Among the green grass

Waterfowl frolic and feed

 

The stream flows on

The sky is clearing

By late morning

The sun warms the land

Emerging from the wetlands

The river’s edge becomes rocky

The hills close in

Old growth pine and cedar

Dominate the rocky shoreline

 

With quicken of pace

The river flows onward

The merging of streams

Swells the strengthen river

The speckled trout abounds

In the clear and cold water

Of pools and rapids

 

A wide bend appears

A grove of Birch trees

In a burnt over area

Grace the river’s edge

The white bark luminous

In the late afternoon

 

There is a noticeable

Increase of water flow

The roaring sound of water

Can be heard ahead

Mist is seen in the distance

The river plunging vertically

Over a steep precipice

Into a swirling pool

Jagged cliffs are raised

Above the violent water

Manitoulin63

 

A family of Otter rollick

Below the misty falls

The river tumbles and surges

Through a rock infested gorge

To emerge into quiet waters

Leaving behind the towering hills

To flow through level land

 

A scattering of Maples

Are now a common sight

A grass filled meadow

Appears in the distance

A Common Merganser hen

With her half grown brood

Following helter-skelter behind

As she hurries downriver

 

A cow moose noiselessly

Steps to the river edge

Two calves follow behind

Lowering their heads

To drink their fill

Of the clear water

Before merging back into

The shadowy forest

Norway

 

The river flows on

Small birds in splendid color

Twitter and dash among

The overhanging tag alders

A hawk perched high

Watching for an unwary prey

A mink dark in color

Follows the rugged shore

With a bounding gait

Foraging for a meal

 

In the far distance

The shimmering waters of

Lake Huron is glimpsed

The river twists and turns

Through heavily forested land

To emerge through wind swept rocks

Merging into the vastness

Of Lake Huron

Photography, Poetry

A Sandy Beach Beckons

2 Comments

Superior_1972

 

A sandy beach beckons

The stars twinkling in the heavens

A full moon shines

A silvery path sparkling

On the rolling water

Arm in arm we walk my love

Barefoot on the cool sand

The gentle lapping of water

Upon the sandy beach

Silence is golden

Under the silver moon

Come sit on this log my love

You rest your head

Upon my shoulder

Watch the falling star

Streak across the heavens

Our years together my love

Have created a bond

As we sit quietly

On the sandy beach

Each with our own thoughts

In the solitude of the night

With a kiss on the lips

We rise to run

Through the cool waters

Laughing and giggling in our joy

Water splashes around us

As we race through the water

Let us catch our breath my love

A hug and passionate kiss

Before moving on

Share our endless love

Along a silvery beach

Photography, Poetry

A Merry Christmas

11 Comments

Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank you for stopping by through out the year.
Below is a selection of books I have published.
I just published A Wilderness Experience Through The Camera’s Lense this past week

A Wilderness Experience Through The Camera's Lense
A Wilderness E…
2009 to 2013
By Ken Bennison
Photo book
AWilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry
AWilderness Ex…
By Ken Bennison
Photo book
The Spirit Of The River
The Spirit Of …
By Ken Bennison

Photo book
Photography, Poetry

Two Little Brothers

2 Comments

OSALake4152

 

Borne upon the wind

As windblown seeds

To settle upon a ridge

One a Juniper tree

The other a white pine

In time they spread roots

Emerging into the world

To peer over the grass

The view before them

Of clear sapphire waters

Set among the ancient hills

Of gleaming white quartz ridges

Renown as the La Cloche Mountains

 

Summer turned to fall

A north wind blew

Causing a chill to blanket

The changing wilderness

The hills once aglow

With the colors of fall

The hills now stand bare

As the last leaves descend

To the forest floor

An early winter snowfall

Blankets the barren land

Two little brothers submerged

In the fresh fallen snow

Dark clouds roll overhead

Ice begins to form

On the darken waters

The nights are cold

With the temperature dropping

Two little brothers lying dormant

In the fresh fallen snow

Not to awaken till

The coming of spring

 

It is now winter

The land buried in snow

The cold raw and dry

Prevails over the land

The sound of snapping branches

Echoes through the forest

On bone cold mornings

There is a raw beauty

Looking over the landscape

The nights are long

The days are short

In the grips of winter

Two little brothers lay

Dormant beneath the snow

 

A warm freshen breeze

Blows from the south

The temperatures turn mild

The coming of spring

Just around the corner

The snow in turn

Begins to melt

The dripping of water

Commences to flow

But the coming of darkness

Lends a chill

Through the awakening forest

Each morning brings another

Warming spring day

The grip of winter eroding

 

Before long the little brothers

Poke through the receding snow

To refresh in the clear spring air

The cleansing spring rains

Invade the awakening hinterlands

A touch of green

Soon appears on the forest floor

 

Then a sudden snowfall

Blankets the changing vista

But the snow is gone

By the next day

The warmth of the sun

Soon prevails over the landscape

Melting away the fresh snow

The sound of running water

Is heard everywhere

Under the relentless sun

A once icebound lake

Is now open water

The sound of waterfowl

Splashing and feeding

The haunting call of the loon

Echoes over the lake

The sounds of spring

Carries in the air

 

Patches of color push

Through the dead leaves

Spring flowers soon dot

The woodland floor

The returning song birds

A splash of color

Darting among the trees

Give joy to spring

With their graceful melodies

 

A sea of green splashes

The far quartz hills

The two little brothers

Rejoice in new found growth

Photography

Sculptured Rocks

10 Comments

Superior_1852

 

I am always looking for something different in terms of a composition. Something that is opposite to what I normally do in photography. I was walking along a beach in Lake Superior Provincial Park. The evening was getting on. Just a lovely evening to enjoy. Looking at the far far scenery and trying to figure how to get there. I seem to do a lot of that in this Lake Superior country. I was strolling South on the sandy beach. Then I noticed that at the south end of the beach the shoreline became mostly boulders of different sizes and descriptions.

Now I had patterns here in the form of vertical lines. Actually they angled a bit. Also there is rounded shapes. Therefore I set up my tripod without opening the legs. I sat on my butt. Now I was down getting the true angle of my composition. I placed the first rock in the foreground due to its difference in color. You can see a zombie like head emerging. How cool is that. Then after staring at the emerging zombie, your eye goes to the next rock. Now this one is oblong in shape, but maintaining the vertical lines. Then you have smaller rocks in the water. This will tell you that this is part of a shoreline with a sandy beach. To keep everything simple I used the large rock in the background to eliminate clutter. You will also notice you will only see part of that rock. There are vertical lines there also. Your eye is going to follow a diagonal path to the background. Yet the two main rocks overlap the central line of the diagonal. There is very good earthy color and balance here.

I had a radio interview  over at Contemporary Art Gallery Online. It aired last Sunday. You can catch it here

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cagmedia/2014/12/07/an-artist-speaks-season-3-episode-17-with-guest-ken-bennison-1

Leanne Cole from Australia did an interview  and was posted on her blog

http://leannecolephotography.com/2014/12/08/introductions-ken-bennison/

Photography, Poetry

Spring Thaw

14 Comments

High_Falls_Levack_0278

 

A freshening south wind

Caresses the frozen land

A bright and sunny day

The warmth of spring

Blankets the snow bound terrain

The spring thaw has begun

A river flows beneath

The burden of winter

The snow laden evergreens

Line the river’s edge

 

 

The relentless winter winds

Has turned the exposed snow

Into sculptured forms of art

The smooth crust of snow

Formed into humps and valleys

Where the shadows play

Embellishing the exposed snow

High_Falls_Levack_0291

 

 

The river has burst forth

From its winter blanket

Surging water slowly appears

Creating pools of tea colored water

To disappear once again

Beneath the melting ice

To reappear downriver

Charging on in the

Warmth of spring

 

 

With the sun dropping

Below the distant tree line

There is a chill

In the spring air

Long shadows are cast

With a hint of blue

Upon the stark white land

Interspersed with exposed rocks

The approach of evening

Heralds the end of the day

With a display of subdued lighting

High_Falls_Levack_0278BW

Photography

Stream Side Maple

6 Comments

Batchewana_2559

 

There was a lovely maple tree overhanging a small stream that I passed many times on a logging road. The logging road was near Batchawana. I do not know the name of this stream, other than it flowed into the nearby Carp River. On a return trip from photographing other locations, I stopped on the side of the road to capture this scene. There is a small bridge that the stream flowed under. This is where I set up my tripod and camera. At this late in the evening it was calm and subdued. There was also no danger of a logging truck appearing.

The maple tree in the foreground gives you the eye popping colors. The stream was used to give a sense of peace and tranquility from the bold maple tree. A large rock is in the foreground to give a sense of depth and size. Most of the forest in the background has been eliminated by the maple tree. Thus also reduces the color green. There is a shallow pool in the background with muted reflections. Again quiet solitude. Then the stream disappears around the bend.

I received an honorable mention at the Art Competition Seeing The Land.

While that is all for now. I am preparing another book at the moment. It is taken up most of my time. The weather here has been crappy at the moment. So until next time happy trails

Photography, Poetry

Morning Solitude, George Lake

7 Comments

GeorgeLakeFall2014b

 

The wind is calm

The air being crisp

A clear blue sky

The exposed hills aglow

With the morning sunlight

A touch of color

Decorates the ancient hillside

 

Shadows are opening up

A light mist roams

The quiet lake waters

The grass filled shallows

Resplendent in rusty brown

A stray beam of light

Filtering throw shadowy trees

Casts a lustrous glow

On the sunlit  grass

 

There is a stirring

Of a north wind

From over the hills

Rustling through the trees

The morning mist dispersed

The lake’s surface ruffled

By the strengthening wind

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photography

Black Spruce

8 Comments

BlackSpruce

 

There is a small lake in Superior Provincial Park alongside Highway 17. It is named Moose Lake. There is a clump of skeletal Black Spruce that caught my eye. I first saw this set up in 2013. We were always passing by at the wrong time. Bad lighting. This year Maureen and I spent 5 days at Superior Provincial Park in late August.

What attracts me to this scene. The Black Spruce. As the sun lowers in the sky, the grayish color of the dead Spruce becomes more intense. The grey color stands out in a sea of green. The channel leading back to these skeletal trees gives me a lead in. An added bonus is that the late evening sun was highlighting the hill in the background. This in turn created a golden reflection in the foreground. Now I did not want to show to much of this golden reflection. Therefore I kept it tight. Doing this allowed for more lead in to the Black Spruce. Showing too much of this colorful reflecting would lead to a distraction. For depth we have four layers here. The shoreline, Black Spruce, The evergreens behind and then the sunlit hill in back.

You may ask me if I knew that the hills would light up. The answer would be no. But I have also seen this many times . I had set my composition in the camera on the tripod. Taken a few shots. Then low and behold the hills lit up. I quickly started shooting and shortly  the lighting was gone. Be there. That is all I can tell you.  The Black Spruce always adds drama to your work. You can not miss them when they are in the dead form.

Another week has gone by, so until next time happy trails

 

Photography

A Boggy Place

4 Comments

Batchawana_3011

 

I was exploring the logging roads in back of Batchawana. It was a wonderful feeling to watch the road ahead. I was driving through a canopy of vibrant fall colors. Cresting  hills to a view of hill tops alive with dynamic colors that only Fall can give.  Making my way along the side of theses hills with a stream flowing far below. Looking past the stream to the craggy rock faces through the tree canopy. The road was in good repair as they were hauling logs here. As I approached the Y in the road I turned right onto a narrower gravel road. Both sides of the road had been cut over. With it being late evening I had no worries of meeting a log truck. I had conversed with the logging people. From them I learned that they were finished each day by 6:00 PM. This piece of road had very few pull offs and it was relatively new.

I came upon this composition in the cutting area. With some vibrant color in the background. The ghostly appearance of the Black Spruce in decay reflecting upon the water. Small boggy islands in the middle ground for added depth. Then the total reflection in the foreground. I purposely left out the sky for more even lighting over the scene. This is one of those compositions that can seem busy.This is a very detailed scene overall. But at the same time alive and peaceful. These locations are one of my favorites  to just sit and absorb the wealth of color and patterns involved. But overall I like the final composition. Remember rules can be broken.

That is it for this week. Until next time happy trails