Fine Art Composition

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Strolling along the Aux Sauble River at Chutes Provincial Park, Massey Onario on a late Fall morning, I came across this little scene by the river’s edge. It had all the makings of a good composition. It was a cloudy day with the sun breaking through now and again. This is a very tight shot that we have here. The reddish to orange colored vegetation was used as a frame for the left side and foreground. The rocks on the upper right hand side are a lovely chocolate color with a unique pattern. The flowing water came from the main part of the river and channelled between the rocks to give character to the flowing water.

I attended the Arts After Five last Wednesday at the Rockz. This event was presented by The Sudbury Arts Council. This was a chance for local people involved in the art community to get together in a social get together. Vicki Gilhula, president of SAC did a great job of putting this together. Andy Lowe provided the music for the evening.

I met some wonderful folks that evening. Along with Vicki Gilhula, I chatted with artist Gord Drysdale and many others.

Andy Lowe has a page on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/andy.lowe3?fref=ts

Gord Drysdale’s website

http://www.gordondrysdale.com/

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

Rugged River

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The Aux Sauble River has many rugged areas in its journey South. One such location is pictured here. This was taken in late summer and the water levels are very low. On the far shore is a cliff of granite rock. What is unique is the patterns that can be seen on the rock face. As I was setting up my tripod and Canon 7D, a beam of light lit up some trees in the background. Now this really adds character to the composition. It is early evening and the sun is low to the horizon. This allows for the beam of light to filter through the trees at a low angle to produce the lighting that you see here.

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

Beam of Light

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Strolling along the riverbank of the Aux Sauble River, North of Massey Ontario. It was late afternoon. I saw this beam of light highlighting a clump of grass on the far shoreline. Keeping the composition tight and keeping the rocks on the left for structure. Looking behind that clump of grass there was vegetation being highlighted by the beam of light. I will also tell you that there are high hills on either side of the river. That is why you will get these beams of light in late afternoon. By evening this area will be in shadow.

The water is slowly moving here. A nice yellow reflection is cast on the river. I quickly set up my tripod and Canon 7D. In situations like this you must be quick. You do not know how long you have to get the composition. It could be a minute or ten minutes. So speed is of ultimate importance. I do not have to think how I will compose a shot. I do it automatically. Another factor when photographing along rivers like this is that the wind is not as much of a problem as opposed to being on a lake with a wide expanse of water.

Well that is it for now. Thanks for the comments and dropping by. Spring is just around the corner. Until next time happy trails.

Late Evening Sunlight

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A quiet stroll along the banks of the Aux Sauble River. The wind has died down. It is early evening. The sun is casting light through the tress on the left. A beautiful glow of yellow, green is illuminating the still waters. The tree trunks cast as black in the reflections on the water’s surface. The river narrows in the background. This is a place were you could sit on the river bank and just relaxed and enjoy the scenery. The shoreline is lined with Cedar and Pine trees.

Well that is it for this week. Until next time happy trails.

Old Buildings

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My daughter Maryjean arrived midmorning at my apartment last Friday morning. We drove down to Midland for the 9th Annual Juried Art Show at Quest Art. The reception and rewards were at 7:pm. We checked in at the Best Western. Maryjean discovered that there was a pool here. So off we went to Wal-Mart to find her a bathing suit. I do not know what it is, but I seem to end up in a Wal-Mart were ever I go.

I had not been to Midland since Quest Art’s last show in 2012. Since then, they had moved to their new location. It is a  beautiful location and spacious. We enjoyed a nice evening and met a few people that we chatted with. We had a wonderful chat with Hazel Ferry. Hazel was a volunteer for the night. She is a wonderful painter in watercolours. Hazel can be reached at her email.

ferrywatercolour@rodgers.com

The reception was over at 9:00. As I walked out the door the church across the street caught my eye. The beautiful stained glass windows were backlit with the brick wall lit by streetlights. The above composition is the result. I did not want the whole building. I concentrated on the windows and brick arches to achieve the desired effects.

We enjoyed our stay in Midland. There was a lovely little fish and chip establishment on the main street where Maryjean and I had supper. Well that is it for now. So until next time happy trails.

A Different View

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So here is the same location that I posted last week. Only the composition is horizontal instead of vertical. The sculptured piece of shoreline is more prominent in the composition. The lighting is beautiful from the overhead cloudy skies. Very even lighting. I just added a small portion of the right shoreline for depth.

I received a Special Merit  and Special Recognition awards at the 3rd Annual “NatureArt exhibition by Light Space and Time online gallery.

You can view the entries here

http://www.lightspacetime.com/nature-art-exhibition-march-2013/

I will be attending the Quest Art 9th Annual Juried Show. I had a selection for this show.

I had a small book of photos published on Amazon that you can view here.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BOEVOWE

My book A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry is available at Blurb as a hardcover or ebook.

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

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

Simple Effect

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I shot this composition for its peacefulness and quiet dignity. The stream took a bend here and there was some reflections. A cloudy sky with even lighting. I kept it tight so that the emphasis was on the stream.  You have the  around the bend effect. The water is blue from the sky even though it is cloudy. An overall lovely scene to look at. It was kept quite simple.

Well it has been quite a busy week for me. I have spent a great deal of time promoting my new book  A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry. I thank those folks who have purchased the book. You can view it here.

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

I would also like to thank those who stopped by for a visit. Until next week happy trails

The Oppurtunity

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I was on the road for most of the day yesterday doing business. On my way home at about 2:30 that afternoon I crossed a bridge over a creek. Glancing up the creek I took note of the patterns I saw along the water’s edge. I decided to head home and get my camera. I live only a couple minutes away. Once at home I enjoyed a cup of coffee first before grabbing my camera bag and heading out the door.

Yesterday was a cloudy day with lovely lighting. On the left side of the creek the shoreline had an interesting spot that really caught my eye. There was grass exposed under the snow. The snow texture was great with some neat patterns to it. On top of that the water was calm, allowing for great reflection to add to the pattern. Shot by itself was not going to create a good composition. I set up my tripod and camera and shot the above scene as a vertical. I used the right shoreline as a lead-in and placed my main point of interest in the top right hand of the photo. Of interest was the outline of a face made by ice on the water. As I processed the photo a touch of magenta showed on the snow that I had to tone down. The city of Sudbury has a far number of lakes and streams within its boundaries. Sudbury is also noted for its Nature trails that can offer photographic opportunities.

Be sure to check out my book A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry over at Blurb

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

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

Gordon Chutes

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The photo above is the end of a series of waterfalls called Gordon Chutes. It is a fairly long series of fast water cascading down between rock formations. The Wakonasin River runs between steep hills as it makes its way South. The rock structure here is Granite for the most part. In low light it is a beautiful reddish color.

This composition was taken very late one evening. Thus the low shutter speed. I used a f-stop of f22 to maintain my depth of field. I put green vegetation in the foreground for depth. I was a bit elevated on the shoreline here.

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. It is now 5 weeks to Spring here. Until next time happy trails

 

Fast Water and Rocks

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Colorful rocks and fast water make for some wonderful compositions. I purposely kept this shot tight. I just showed enough vegetation at the top to add color and a bit of framing. I chose a couple rocks for the foreground for added depth. Then I recorded different shutter speeds but left my f-stops at f22. At the pace of the water coming through here I need a shutter speed to stop the fast flowing water. This how you  can create what I call character with flowing water. You make the water come alive with power and movement. You want that water to be vibrant.

After you get home, upload your shots to the computer. Then it is just a matter of selecting the composition that turns you on and process it. I am a photo artist so my work for the most part does not look like a standard photograph.

The above scene was taken on the Aux Sauble River just North of Massey Ontario

I have just published a book at Blurb consisting of my photos and poetry. You can check it out here.

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-widerness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

Well that is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time Happy Trails