June 09, 2015

On a Tuesday afternoon I picked up James W Cook at his apartment in downtown Sudbury. James is a local artist who loves to paint. I drove out of the city heading West. My destination was Massey where we would turn north into the hinterland. We arrived in Massey where I proceeded to top off the gas tank. Running out of gas in the woods is a no no. Thus we were soon driving north following the Aux Sauble River. The road winds through forests that has been logged for many generations. The river  flows under a number of bridges as it makes its way south. Our turn off onto Plaunte’s Road soon arrived. This a logging road that is still fairly new. There has been logging activities here in the last couple years. There are lots of pot holes and water in some areas now. This road receives no maintenance.

When I drove up here last week to Martha Lake, we passed a swampy area that really intruded me. I was fascinated by the many shades of green I could observe here. Upon arrival,  it was turning out to be an odd sort of day. Some areas the clouds were dark and threatening. Then if you looked in another direction the sun would be shining along with billowing white clouds. There was intermittent showers happening. A light wind would play on the water. Then all of a sudden there would be a stillness. Then the lighting became fascinating. There was this magic, mystical feeling before me that can only be inspired by Mother Nature.

Having set up my tripod and Canon 7D, it became a matter of just waiting for that right moment. By using the tree remains in the foreground to offset the various shades of green plus added depth. The wonderful stillness of the water creating gorgeous depth to the reflections in the foreground. The eye can follow through the open into the pond in the middle ground. Along the way you will spot a beaver house. The darkness of the water in the middle pond gives good contrast to the surrounding shades of green. The absolute depth found in the background is inspiring to the eye. There is a touch of red from dying evergreens. This lends a touch of addition color without overpowering the background. As I was photographing the large white cloud top left appeared. To the right was blue skies with darker wispy clouds to give the hint of the weather.

One spends more time looking for these locations than the actual photographing. Many hours are spent driving,walking or canoeing. When you do happen upon a scene that catches your eye the reward is as above.

For more info about James W Cook, check out his Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/jameswcookbeauxarts

So until next time happy trails.