Photography

A Quiet Summer Evening, Almost

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Maureen and I just returned from Pukaskwa National Park, Sunday night. We spent a week camping in this beautiful location. I spent the week photographing and capturing the rugged shorelines of Lake Superior. I had issues with the weather as it was wet and damp for the first part of the trip. Temperatures were cool at night. One evening it was 7 C. The mosquitoes were about during the evenings. Daytime temperatures ranged from 18 to 20 C.

There was one evening when I had almost calm weather for my evening photographing. The above shot is from that evening. It is a good example of the coastline of Lake Superior. The grey rocks here are covered in lichens of various types. I love the reddish orange lichen that boldly contrasts with the grey and black rocks. The sun was below the horizon, allowing for a pinkish cast in the sky. Clouds were a bit scarce, but I was able to wait until the clouds you see in this photograph appeared. They help fill in an otherwise bland sky. I also kept the sky to a minimal.

The wind was quite strong the last half of the week. This created issues with photographing in the evening. Blurry wind blown trees do not make for a good landscape shot. Another factor was that clouds were scarce.   Well that is it for this  week as I have more photos to process from the trip. Until next time happy trails

Photography

Sailors Warning

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My last morning at Pukaskaw National Park I slept in by a half hour. Crawling out of my sleeping bag and grabbing my camera gear, I quickly headed towards Hattie Cove. I was greeted by a spectacular color display in the morning light. The sky and clouds were brilliantly colored. I setup my tripod and camera and captured the above scene. This type of view is ever changing. It is a matter of watching the changing lighting. It is a matter of taking a number of shots. You are looking for that optimal composition.

I proceeded to do some research on the subject and came up with theses facts. A red sky in the morning , sailor’s warning. Most times weather moves West to East, blown by the westerly trades wind. Meaning that storm systems generally move in from the West. The colorful sky that can be observed at dawn and dusk are caused by the sun’s rays been split into the colors of the spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and bounce off the water vapor and particles in the atmosphere.

I will be up at Pukaskaw National Park next week for a week of photographing. So until next time happy trails

Photography

The River Flows

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The idea of this composition is to show the beautiful rock texture and the color of the water. With that in mind I have my flow in with the waterfalls in background. Flow out of the water at the bottom right corner of the composition. The tripod was set low to eliminate some water in the upper pool. On the left of the composition the rock in foreground gives added depth. I experimented with various shutter speeds to obtain character in the water. The water here is a wonderful turquoise blue. There is just enough green to give a final touch. There is also a little wildflower growing on the rock in the foreground. This location was in the Wolf Lake area North of Kukagami Lake region.

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

Photography

An Evening in Paradise

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Tuesday afternoon I had decided to go back up by Wolf Lake to where I had photographed in June. The location was the series of waterfalls at Lagoon Paradise. By now the water levels will have dropped exposing the colorful rocks that were underwater. I picked up Gerard Leduc mid afternoon and we were soon on our way. We stopped at Tim Horton’s to pick up our coffee and then we headed East on Highway 17. It was a nice sunny day with a slight breeze. Just great to be out. It was not long before we turned off onto the Kukagami Road. We were now traveling on gravel roads. As we approached the Y, I turned left onto the Matagamasi Road. We drove past Bassfin Lake heading North.

It was an uneventful trip to our destination, but always some nice scenery to observe. We were soon at the drop off point and I parked the Ford Escape. Gerard and I loaded up our camera gear and started hiking up the logging  road. Picking up the trail off the road, the sound of  running water soon reached our ears. The humidity appeared to be high here among the trees and both of us were sweating. It is a fifteen minute walk to the waterfalls. We arrived at the water’s edge and found a good place to sit by the upper pool. Gerard and I ate our sandwiches while we waited for the sun to drop lower. Just being here observing the scene around us was a pleasure. I always enjoy the sound of running water.

There was some heavy cloud cover overhead that hid the sun for brief periods. I set up my tripod and 7d to capture the scene you see above. I now had a chance to try out my new 70 to 200 f4 Canon L series lens. It allowed me to get a better and tighter composition than my Canon 24 to 135 zoom would do. Especially for this particular photo. I loved the color of the rocks in this scene. Also I fell in love with the fern in the upper right hand corner. It is these little attentions to detail that can make or break a good composition. You also get a wide variety of earth  colors. I using a faster shutter speed I was able to get some very unique patterns in the water. It was then just a matter of waiting for the sun to hid behind a cloud to start shooting.

Suddenly the quiet was interrupted by a splash of water to my right. A young couple with their son and daughter had just arrived and were soon swimming in the pool. In conversation with the Father I learned that this was there first time here. They had learned about Paradise Lagoon from a guy on CBC Radio One talking about this location and the fact that it was located within the Greater City of Sudbury. I am also starting to see evidence of garbage in the form of water bottles and so forth. The price you pay for too many people finding these locations. Shortly afterwards five teenage boys showed up and were having a great time at the pool. This pretty much put an end to photographing for this evening. Also the fact that I had forgot to charge my batteries for the camera didn’t help.

While that is it for this week. Thank you for the comments and stopping by. Every one have a safe Civic Holiday long weekend. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Unique Cloud

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Pukaskwa_1050a

 

Back in June when I was at Pukaskaskwa National Park, I spent an evening photographing sunsets and clouds. My equipment was set up on a viewing platform on the Manitou Miikana Trail, “The Spirit Trail”. As I was photographing one scene, I looked behind me and saw this unique cloud formation that had turned an unique orange color. I reversed the camera on my tripod, found some foreground and composed the above shot. Because I had to deal with wind I kept the foreground dark to avoid any blurriness and for your eye to view the sky.

Well that is it for this week. The Killarney Art Show was a fun filled weekend. Made a little money and met some wonderful people. So until next time, happy trails.

Photography

Sunken History

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Thursday morning of our three day French River trip to The Elbow was a little calmer. The waters were quiet in pockets. At the edge of the beach at our campsite was a piece of machinery sunk in the water. Don and I could see the remains of a boiler. There was a drum with gears at each end. Probably for holding cable. Where we were camped was were the loggers released the logs from the booms. The logs were then sent through the Dalles Rapids to continue the journey to the river’s mouth.

So I set up the scene with the rusted out equipment in the foreground. The green of the trees and their reflection created a frame of sorts. The reflecting rocks added contrast and depth to the composition. I had to quickly set up for a shot as the wind came back within minutes.

Thursday night after we had crawled into our sleeping bags, Don and I were treated to a display of lighting and thunder. It rained quite heavy. When the next morning arrived everything was very wet. The trees were dripping and the wind was picking up. We had breakfast and were soon loading the canoe for our journey home. As we launched the canoe the skies were getting darker. After a half mile of paddling the heavens opened and it did not take long before we were soaked. There was some lightning and thunder in the distance, but it was soon heard no more. We were going with the wind this time, so that was a bonus. We made it back to Hartly Marina in good time. Just a bit stiff and wet.

The gear and canoe were loaded into my Ford Explorer well it was raining. I paid our bill before heading to The French Trading Post for some hot soup and coffee. We had a great trip. I am looking forward to doing some more exploring on the French.

A friend of mine Ray Thoms has published an interesting book called SUDBURY -A Retrospective View, comprises of a series of images that show the evolution of our City over the years. More info can be obtained on Ray’s site here.

http://sudburybook.com/

I will be in Killarney this coming weekend at the Killarney Art Show.

More info can be obtained here.

http://www.killarneyartshow.com/index.html

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by and visiting. Thank you for the comments.

Until next time Happy Trails

Photography

The Elbow,French River

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Received a phone call from a formal co-worker about going out on a 3 day canoe trip. Don Dupuis loves the outdoors, camping and canoeing. Don is also a member of the Search and Rescue Group. I suggested that we float the French River down to The Elbow. Don agreed and on Wednesday July 17 we arrived at the Hartley Bay House and Marina.

I payed our fees and we loaded up the canoe. It was a beautiful sunny day and hot. There was a chance of rain and thunderstorm activity in the forecast  for the three days of our trip. It was 10:00 AM when we finally launched. As you paddle the French River you soon come to realize that this is not a small river. There are so many islands and bays to explore if one had the time. I  estimated that we had approximately seven or eight  kilometers to reach our destination. The wind was blowing towards us, but light. At about three kilometers from The Elbow we landed on an island to enjoy a shore lunch. As we ate the wind was picking up pretty good. So heading down stream we were now paddling into a strong wind that would gust from time to time. I have to tell you we where glad to spot The Elbow and look for a campsite. We chose campsite 625. It had a nice sandy beach. Don and I quickly unloaded the canoe and unfolded the camp chairs. A rest was in order. We both were feeling sore and hot. Must be getting old.

We finally got the campsite in order. It was time for a swim to cool off. That evening the wind was still blowing good and no possibility of photographing. The next morning we headed down to Dalles Rapids to explore around. Don and I pulled into the portage and walked it through. Then we hiked along the ridge until we came back to Dalles Rapids. We filtered water at the rapids as we had drank everything the day before. We returned to camp and after supper returned to Dalles Rapids for a little fishing until the sun lowered before doing some photographing. I managed to catch a couple smallmouth bass. The above composition is a result of my evenings photographing.

I was really turned on by the rock structure I found here and I had a large bent tree to add to the composition. There was beautiful detail and color to be had as the sun lowered.

Well that is it for this week. I will be in Killarney this weekend at the Killarney Art Show. For more info check here.

http://www.killarneyartshow.com/

My photo daybreak went live a week ago at the Exposure 2013 Exhibition at Long Island City New York.

I had an interview over at Exhibitions Without Walls that is now posted.

http://www.exhibitionswithoutwalls.com/?page_id=5934

So until next time happy trails

Photography

The Color of Black

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Pukaskwa_0868a

While photographing at Pukaskaw National Park I became fascinated with the rock structures that can be found along the Lake Superior shorelines. The coastline here is broken and rugged. This is a result of relentless wind and wave action. The rocks are volcanic in nature and very smooth. The color of black is very dominant in theses rock structures.

I found this rock structure at the West end  of the largest beach near the Pic River. I set up low and close to the rock structure. I had a brownish color in the rocks in the foreground that became a rich brown or slightly golden as the sun retreated below the horizon. The sun was actually setting opposite to me below the rocks. If you follow the rock s you will notice that it tapers down in the background. The sand is no longer white at the time I took this composition. It has taken on the color hues of the sky. You have a sense of habitat with the sand, a little bit of Lake Superior in the background and scattered driftwood.

On July 27,28 is the 2013 Friends of Killarney Art Show and Sale. Come for a visit and chat with the many artists who will be there.

http://www.killarneyartshow.com/index.html

Well that is it for this week. I will be floating the French River this week for 3 days with my canoe. Thank you for stopping by and the wonderful comments that have come my way. Until next time Happy Trails.

Photography

An Evening Reposed

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Pukaskwa_0885

My last evening at Pukaskaw Provincial Park. I decided to check out the beach nearest the mouth of the Pic River. This beach is the largest near the campgrounds. The beach was covered with driftwood at the high water mark. As I traversed the beach looking for a photographic composition, moose tracks could be seen in the sand. They were old, as debris was filling the tracks. The sun was slowly setting, a nice breeze was wafting in from the Lake Superior. Half way down the lake there was a rock outcropping all by itself at the edge of the beach. In the background was an island.

I set up my tripod low so that I could eliminate as much of the water surface between the rock outcrop in the foreground  and the the far island. There is a bit of color in the late evening sky. But nothing dramatic. There is a stark contrast between the black of the volcanic rock and the bold colors of the lichen that forms on theses rocks. Add a couple little plants to the recipe to create this composition. This location is worth a few more trips to photograph.

Well that is it for now. The 36th La Cloche Art Show is now in full swing. It runs till Sunday July 14th from 11 a.m. – to 5:00 p.m.

Two of my works is on display there.

Thank you everyone for stopping by for a visit. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Of Times Past

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As I strolled the beaches in Pukaskaw National Park, I was on the lookout for something unique to photograph. In Horse Bay I came across a large chain attached to a piece of driftwood and buried in the sand. This chain probably comes from the time of logging in this area. The chains were used to hold the large timbers together to create log booms to haul to market.

I elected to shoot this composition vertically to keep things tight and not become over crowded. Thus the focal point is the chain and driftwood piece. At the same time you get at sense of the location. Which is a sandy beach, lots of driftwood, shoreline and sky. There is even rock in the background. The beaches on Lake superior are loaded with driftwood at the high water mark.

This weekend is the start of the 36th La Cloche Art Show. If you are in the area go and check it out. Well that is it for this week. Until next time happy trails