Photography

Among The Pines

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ParadiseLagoon_2077

As I drove along the Matagamasi Road, a swampy pond was soon sighted. There was a gentle slopping hill in the background. A growth of young Pine trees covered the hillside. The vegetation on the forest floor was in the early stages of decay. Fall was in full swing. It was a cloudy day with a stillness in the air. It had rained the night before. The Pine trunks had a starkness to them. The earth tone colors consisted of greens, yellows, reddish brown to shades of grey. There was a sense of tranquility about this scene. There was the softness  to the earth tone colors. A feeling of peacefulness and placidity to be had.

I set up my tripod in my selected location. I had to shoot across a small body of water. I fastened my Canon EOS 7D to the ball head. I set up the camera for a vertical shot. Thus I would be in harmony with the vertical Pine trunks. There were two objects here that appeared to me. The small outcrop of rocks. The rustic reddish-brown of the ferns. With that in mind, I placed two Pine trees in the foreground. The Pine needles in the upper left greatly added to the depth. The small rock outcrop was now in the middle to offset some color as well as more depth to the scene. The Fall turned colors of the fern circling the larger Pine tree in the background create that added touch.

This is a scene created to give that sense of restfulness and harmony to be viewed upon after a chaotic day. A day in the woods brings a sense of peacefulness and solitude. This is the quiet side of Mother Nature. The majority of my work is meant to create those moments for people to view.

Christmas is over. My wife and I had a great Christmas with my youngest grand kids,   2,4,6. So until next time happy trails.

Photography

The Creative Side of Me

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CameronFalls0019

You take a small waterfalls. Then some lovely textured rocks. Wait for the right lighting. Shoot from a low angle to give the waterfalls the illusion of height. You then can create a magic and mystical place. Yet all in all this scene is only three feet high, depth about six feet and maybe five feet wide. There is not a whole lot of water cascading over the rocks. Thus a shutter speed of one second and the f-stop set at 22 for that added depth. Looking at this photo, you say to yourself, wow I would love to sit on those rocks to let the water cascade over and around me. But you will discover that you are bigger than the scene. This is what I call a micro landscape. Many scenes can be found within the big picture. In this location we have a large waterfall with water flowing where ever there is a path to follow. This is due to the erosion of the rock formation over time. At this particular waterfall the water drops in a series of drops. So you have your main waterfalls along with a host of mini waterfalls to work with. You wait till late summer for the water flow to decrease and expose more of the rock structures.

When shooting this close you will discover the intricate detail in the rocks. Depth is very important here to give the scene some dimension front to back. Another important factor is to shoot the waterfalls at an angle, not dead on. This allows you to create more dimensional depth to the waterfalls. Remember your photo is two dimensional, thus you need to give the illusion of three dimensional.Nature provides the material. It is up to you to make it happen. This is also a scene that requires the right lighting. Be able to recognize that. Be patient and wait. Enjoy the environment and then you may get your chance.

I would like to wish all my friends who come here for a visit a very Merry Christmas and be safe. So until next time happy trails.

Photography

A Collection of Rocks

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Killbear_2861

Exploring the Georgian Bay shoreline in Killbear Provincial Park on a cool Fall evening, a series of small rocks appeared before me. I thought now this would make an interesting composition. The rocks were of different color and texture. The sloping rocky points in background gave depth along with added color. It was still early evening and I decided to keep on exploring. I would return later when the lighting would be much improved.

Returning just after the sun had lowered to the horizon, the above scene was captured with much warmer lighting to enhance the color of the rock structures. I set my tripod up very low. I was on my knees to get the effect I wanted. With a slower shutter speed I was able to smooth out the water to a nice pleasing ripple. The setting sun created a nice yellow glow on the water. The lichen scattered on the slopping rock adds a nice touch. It is all the little things that add up to a good composition. This is a place to just sit and relax to enjoy the view before you before darkness sets in.

I would like to share with you the work of Carole Rodrigue. Carole is  a still life artist specializing in contemporary realism. She is a proud member of the International Guild of Realism.

To view still life art at its best, check out Carole’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/CaroleRodrigueartist

It is getting cold in my part of the country. Christmas is coming. I have to get my Christmas shopping done. I am working on another book to be published next year. I have been accepted at the American Juried Art Salon’s 19th International Art Contest. One of my photos received a perfect score. More to come later.

For that unique Christmas gift check out my Fine Art Print Page.

https://kenben.org/fine-art-prints/

Or maybe a book of photos and poetry of Northern Ontario wilderness.

https://kenben.org/books-2/

Thank you for stopping in. Until next time happy trails

Photography

Killbear Provincial Park – West End

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Killbear_2900

 

The above photo was taken on my last trip to Killbear Provincial Park. I had been exploring the West end of the park when I came across the scene above. It was just a matter of waiting for dusk to come. This is a tight shot going to infinity. I wanted to emphasis the boulders here. There is a touch of Fall to be seen in the trees flowing down to the water. The background has beautiful color from the setting sun to give a nice touch to the clouds. There is a tremendous detail to be found in these boulders.

Photography

Getting In Tight

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ChutesProvincialPark_2695

The flow of water. Unique rock structure with strong earth colors. Ferns turning a rusty red in the bottom left. Touch of red from a Maple shrub in bottom right corner. This all adds up to a beautiful composition. I came across this scene on my Fall trip to Chutes Provincial Park, just North of Massey, Ontario. As a matter of fact, I first discovered it on my original trip along this stretch of the Aux Sable River a few years back. The passing of time alters a scene.

This is a very tight composition. It allows for more creativity. You have water flowing in, then flowing out at bottom right. I maintained my f22 with shutter speeds set at 1.3 sec. This allowed me to capture detail in the water. That is very important to me as I like water to have character and life.

Check my Fine Art Prints section. I have added a new composition to the selections. It is titled Paradise Lagoon. I received an honorable mention at the 2013 Landscape Exhibition by MyArtContest

http://myartcontest.com/index.html

This is a very beautiful location. The water is turquoise blue. There are a series of waterfalls in an approximately half mile of river.  It is located North of Sudbury, Ontario in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake locality. If you are looking for an unique composition to hang on your wall, this could be it.

I would like to bring to your attention the outstanding work of wildlife and pet portrait artist Colette Theriault. Colette has won many awards for her work. She resides in the Greater City of Sudbury. Check her website to view her work.

http://www.colettetheriault.com/

I will be at the Annual Christmas and Gift Show this weekend. It is located at Confederation Secondary School in Val Caron.

Saturday from 10 to 4

Sunday from 11 to 3

Well I must go and continuing packing. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time happy trails

Photography

The Chippewa Falls

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ChipawaFalls

About 30 miles North of Sault Ste Marie, one will come upon the Chippewa Falls. It is quite visible from Hwy 17. The Chippewa River empties into Lake Superior a short distance away. On our trip up to Wawa last October, Maureen and I stopped in to have a look at the falls. There was a fair amount of water cascading down due to all the rain that fell this Fall. We parked in the available parking lot. There were fishermen here below the falls fishing the pools for fall run salmon. I walked up along the trail that followed the river to observe were I might get the best shot. I selected the above location for my composition. I had a point of rock for my foreground. This also created depth in the photo. The water exits out of the bottom left corner and enters at the top right corner.

It was still cloudy to achieve even lighting and give the colored leafs more saturation. I quickly set up my tripod and my Canon EOS 7D. I knew the lighting was going to change very soon as blue sky was appearing in the distance. The final result was what you see above. The Fall color in background to give you the time of year. The rugged rocks along the river that have very good color. The force and energy of the flowing water add dynamics to the overall effects of the composition.

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

Photography

Buried In Sand

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Pukaskwa_0872Deep1

 

I came across this piece of driftwood buried in the sand at Pukaskaw National Park. I was strolling the beach closes to the Pik River. It was late one evening as I was set up to compose another composition, that I looked behind me and saw the above scene. So I thought I would wait until the sun went down and the colors would warm up. There is so much detail to be found in this piece of wood along with the minuet patterns in the sand. This all about earth colors. This also simplicity.

Winter seems to have set in here now. Snow on the ground, cold winds and temperatures. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Clear Lake, Grundy Provincial Park

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GrundyProPark_ClearLake_0069

With a quick lunch yesterday, Maureen and I head down to Grundy Provincial Park to continue exploring. The temperature was 3 Celsius as we started our hike. I stopped in at the visitor building to let the people in the office know we where here. After a brief chat we went on our way down the main road. We soon turned off onto the road leading to Clear Lake. You can see Clear Lake from the highway. Maureen remarked how quiet it was as we walked. It is not often that you get a park all to yourself. One thing that I was impressed with is the large spacious campsites that are here.

Upon arrival at Clear Lake, I was soon set up and photographing along the shoreline. The South end of Clear Lake offers some good locations to photograph. There was thin ice to be found on the lake surface. The above composition was one of captures that day. I was attracted by the two clumps of Juniper bushes that were now a rustic reddish color. The stump against the rock was unique. I had two small rocks for the foreground. The ice gives a sense of time. The lovely textures of the rock  point adds to the overall effect. It was one of those days were the sunlight was diffused due to the type of cloud cover that day.

At this time of year I do not think that there is an evening to speak of. I am basically now photographing late afternoon to get the good lighting. With a good hike ahead of us, it was time to head back to the vehicle. We arrived back just as it was getting dark. Grundy is about an hours drive from Sudbury.

We arrived home feeling good after an afternoon of fresh air. There was a nice hot stew awaiting us. A great end to an excellent day. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

An Evening at Bassfin

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BassfinLake_2508

This is a photo that I composed when Maureen and I spent a wonderful evening canoeing on Bassfin Lake. We were paddling out of a secluded bay through a narrow channel leading to the main lake. The bright red coloring of the rocks caught my attention here. I motioned to Maureen that we would pull up to the red colored island. Gathering my camera equipment I was soon set up and composing my shot. The sun was below the horizon now. The water surface like a mirror. Mother Nature was at her best in providing cool geometric shapes created by the reflections. There was a touch of clouds in the background to offset the blue sky. A perfect ending for a lovely evening spent with my wife in a back bay isolated from everything but nature.

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

Photography

Grundy Provincial Park

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GrundyProvPark_GurdLake

This past week I had the opportunity to do some exploring in Grundy Provincial Park. The park is closed for the season now. We parked our vehicle outside the main entrance. Gerard Leduc was my partner for the trip. It was a very nice afternoon. A fresh coolness on the air as we walked among the pines and maples. Quiet and peaceful at this time of year without the seasonal campers. We attempted to take the Gut Lake trail but encountered an overflowing creek that prevented us from continuing on. We then picked up a route that ran between Gut Lake and Gurd Lake. As we walked we spotted a couple of Ruffed Grouse along the way. This trail ended at the Gurd Lake dam. We backtracked and followed the road until we came opposite Picnic Island on Gurd Lake. We noticed a small point with a pine tree growing basically on top of the rock. Cloud cover was moving in now. I saw a cluster of boulders that would make for a good foreground. The rock point was sloping towards the water. The reddish pine needles in the rock crevices added texture to the scene. You can see the roots of the tree running over the rock. I added just a touch of green in the foreground to balance the color. The moon is just visible at the top of the photo. I also added the second pine tree on the right. I just showed enough of the larger tree to balance out the composition. The sunset was poor, but you can see some color on the horizon in the background. Surprisingly the wind did calm down enough to allow some reflections. But on the whole I kept the water to a minimum. This shot was taken at 2.5 sec at f22. The result was the above composition.

Well that is it for now. I am just waiting for a break in the weather here. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.