Tag Archives: Killarney Provincial Park

Photography

Pink Lady’s Slipper

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MordeauFalls0006

I am not much into photographing wildflowers. I do have a soft spot for Orchids. One such Orchid is the Pink Lady Slipper that is also known as the Moccasin Flower. They are found in mixed or coniferous forest that is moist and shady. I usually come across this Orchid  when I am hiking along trails in Killarney provincial Park  in June. For more info on the Pink Lady’s Slipper check out Andy’s Northern Ontario Wildflower website.

http://www.ontariowildflower.com/pine_forest.htm#ladyslipperp

To make the flower itself stand out I used a technique found in Scott Kelby‘s Adobe Photoshop CS6 book for digital photographers.

I started by processing the photo as I would normally do. Then I would flatten the layers and save the file as a Tiff. This allows me to go back into Camera Raw. Once in Camera Raw get the adjustment brush. Drag the exposure slider all the way to the left. The shadow slider can be dragged all the way to the left to made things even darker. I did not move the shadow slider as I still wanted to see some habitat. Click on the erase button. Set your brush size to what you want. In this case I wanted to show the flower.  Set the feather ( softness) to 90. Then click once over the area you want lit with a soft spotlight like you see in the above photo. You are revealing the image in that one spot by erasing the darkness.

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. A wonderful Happy Valentine’s Day to all the wonderful ladies out there.So until next week happy trails

 

 

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Photography

Color in The Sky

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OSA8169a

A beautiful Fall evening. The sun is below the horizon. I had looked to the North side of O S A Lake and saw the beautiful colored sky that you see above. I set up my tripod and Canon 7D and composed the above shot. Scenes like this are always wonderful to see. The colors in the sky are fleeting, so you have to be fairly quick about getting these shots.

Well that is it for now. It is a rainy day here in my part of the country. Plus freezing rain and snow.

I just finished a new book on Blurb. I created this book using my photos and poetry. To view it go here.

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4064932-a-widerness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

Until next time happy trails

Photography

View of Silver Peak

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David7459

Two years ago my wife Maureen and I made a five day trip into David Lake by Bell Lake in Killarney Provincial Park. After carrying over the first portage with our canoe and gear we took an extended break. This was Maureen’s first trip out since before the kids were born. That is going back at least thirty years now. I spotted Silver Peak to my left. There was a piece of narrow swamp leading my eye to Silver Peak. So I thought this might be interesting. Keeping some shoreline on the left to lead the eye to the swamp which you then follow up to Silver Peak. Silver Peak is the highest elevation in the La Cloche Mountain Range. It rises to a height of 1782 feet. Silver Peak is a very popular destination for hikers to take in the view from the top.

I have just completed a softcover book through Blurb. There is also an ebook available as well. Check them out here.

http://www.blurb.ca/my/book/detail/3996210-wilderness-scenes

 

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

 

Photography

In Search of Black and White

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OSALakeBW4339

OSALakeRidge4339

On my last trip into O S A Lake in Killarney Provincial Park, I was constantly on the look out for subjects that would make a Black and white composition. Waking up one morning the La Cloche Mountains were covered in mist. There was one ridge of white quartz rock that I had an eye on. There were stark black evergreens growing on this ridge. The season was Fall. The trees in the foreground were in their full Fall color. The mist was constantly moving. It was a matter of waiting for the ridge to open in the mist before shooting a composition. I wanted to have the mist behind the ridge for better effect. Thus the stark evergreens appeared as ghostly images in the background.

I am a big fan of Ansel Adams work. Thus when the opportunity to capture a good black and white image comes along I start photographing. I have uploaded both the black and white photo and the original color photo so that you can compare. That is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

The Nature of Light

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Killarney0059Print

This photo was taken on a small creek that runs out of Johnny  Lake in Killarney Provincial Park. My partner, Paul Smith and I were exploring along the creek. As we made our way through wooded growth to the shoreline , I suddenly noticed the strong glow of lighting on the grasses and trees. Now there was cloud cover moving overhead rather quickly. This meant the sunlight came and went. It was late afternoon so the angle of light was right. Moving quickly I set up my tripod and Canon 7D at the creeks edge. Due to the large amount of green and yellow I kept the reflections to a minimum. The dead wood broke up the mass of green on the right. There is shadow in the background and the creek takes a bend. It was a matter of waiting for the sun to pop out from behind the moving clouds. This photo shows you what the right lighting can do to your composition. Normally this would be just an ordinary shot.

Well that is it for this week. I thank you all who came for a visit. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone and there families a Merry Christmas, especially the little ones. The campfire is beckoning and the tea is ready. So until next time happy trails

Photography

A Touch of Color

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OSALake4359

Winter is here in my part of the country. It is nice to sit back and go through my photos taken during this year’s trips. I selected the above photo from a trip into O S A Lake, Killarney Provincial Park. Paul Smith and I were sitting around the campsite one afternoon. It was a cloudy wet day if I recall. The wind was blowing a bit. We were talking about the Maple tree mixed in with the White Pine trees at our campsite. I decided then that I would attempt a composition of the colored leaves. There was one branch of orange, red leaves that crossed in front of a Pine trunk. I showed enough rock to break up the contrast. The rock had enough scattered reddish pine needles on its surface to add more color. There is some green color from the White Pine branches to create a more compact photo. Then there is the texture of the tree trunks that adds detail.

After setting up and getting the composition that I liked, it was a matter of waiting for the right moment for the wind to calm down. Well that is it for now. So until next time happy trails

Photography

Mystical

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Magical

I first noticed this composition on our last trip last Fall into O S A Lake, Killarney Provincial Park. It was located behind our campsite on a trail that led into the interior of the island. You had to duck under the evergreen branches to get through. So with that in mind I kept a close watch on the scene. One morning there was some beautiful backlighting on the scene. Between the foreground and background is open water. There is some mist over the water.

My goal here was too create a mystical affect. Like if you step through a door into another world which is the far shoreline in the background. The foreground is the entrance and ducking your head under the sunlit evergreen branches takes you into a magical land. The reddish pine needles add a lot of color and contrast. There was a small green fern tipped with yellow on the right that I included to offset the red in the foreground. I framed the photo with highlighted evergreen branches. I kept the far shoreline slightly darker to add to the effect. The background has enough misty effect just so that you can see the colors on the trees.

I have been having technical difficulties with the size of my photos in my blogs lately. They will not appear as large as they normally do. I have been in contact with the wordpress folks and the issue is still not resolved. Oh well there is always something new to learn.

I have redone my Fine Art Prints page. There is more info there and I have added a Paypal button. Unfortunately it says donate. Due to some weird ideas at wordpress I can not use a normal Paypal button. Please hang in there until the issues are resolved. Well that is it for this week.Until next time happy trails.

Photography

‘los Hermanitos’

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The ‘los Hermanitos’  is what I dubbed the little pine tree and small juniper bush. I came across this Spanish phrase in one of the novels I am reading. It means the little brothers. Perched side by side on a small cliff over looking the lake. This set up was located behind our campsite on O S A Lake last Fall in Killarney Provincial Park. I had first noticed these two pint-sized trees on an earlier trip in, but the lighting had not been right or we were off photographing somewhere else. They look like two people enjoying the evening view high on the rocks. The wind was calm, the water smooth and the beautiful Fall colors before them.

I set up my tripod behind the little ones. The height of the tripod was lowered to the height of the trees and I wanted to show enough rock detail for added depth and habitat. I also chose a vertical format to keep things tight. The objective was not to lose the miniature trees in the scene.   Across the way is the La Cloche Mountains in their Fall glory. Locating objects like you see in the above photo do not come by everyday so when the opportunity presents itself I try to make the most of it.

That is it for now. Thank you for coming by and thank you for the comments. I am now settled in the apartment. I have my work on display. If you are in the vicinity stop by for a viewing and maybe you will buy that special gift for a love one or good friend. So until next time happy trails.

Photography

Awash in Colour

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On my last trip into O S A Lake,Killarney Provincial Park the weather was cool,wet and windy.The above locations is one of my favourites for the structure of the La Cloche Mountains.This particular rock face had a necklace of Fall colours adorning it. It had stopped raining late that afternoon leaving the landscape wet and saturated.The cloud cover was heavy and grey.The sun had not come out yet.

I used the two points as my lead in, showing just a touch of reflections in the foreground.This should make my good friend Bill Whittaker smile in regards to water and reflections.This is an ongoing topic we have.Past the two points is more water.There is a pink tinge on the rocks that gives a unique feel to the composition. Two days later there was large areas bare of colour due to the weather.

I received an email that my artwork titled “Daybreak”  has been selected as an Honorable Mention of the 2012 Landscape Art Contest, an international juried art competition. Mywork will have a full page feature in Artist Portfolio Magazine Issue 10.

Bill Whittaker has a website you may like to check out.

http://billwhittaker.scarf.ca/

Well that is it for this week folks.Thanks for visiting and till next time happy trails.

Photography

O S A Lake Part 4

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Paul Smith and I awoke to the sound of wind in the trees.Every once in a while the wind would buffet the tent.There would be no photographing this morning.It was Friday morning and we were to depart home. Dressing and crawling out of the tent,we were met by a wind that had shifted into the West during the night.After a leisure breakfast and a hot coffee,we packed our gear for the trip out.Paul and I had decided to try the shorter portage over to Killarney Lake.Pushing the canoe from shore we were able to go with the wind.The islands sort of sheltered us from the wind until we hit open water.The rollers were now going past us and there was some white-caps.The canoe was moving at a good clip and before long we were at the portage.

Packing over was quick and before long we were on our way again.The bay here was calm.In a couple minutes we arrived at a small beaver dam that we hauled over and were on our way.The portage over to Freeland Lake was soon spotted and we arrived shortly there after.While loading our gear into the canoe,a kayak approached and Paul and I had a good chat with a gentleman from the French River area.He was day tripping over to Killarney Lake.

Pushing off,we paddled into the wind now.The velocity was low-keyed here.Paddling steady we made good time to George Lake.As we approached the West end of Freeland Lake,four heads popped up beside us.They were a family of Otter checking us out to see who the intruders were.This was Paul and myself s first sighting of Otters.We had also observed Loons on the way out.The young were gray and almost adult size.The adult loons were just starting to change.

At the final portage there were a number of folks carrying over to Freeland Lake.Talking to these folks I asked about the conditions on George Lake.I was told we had our work cut out for us.Paul had met a couple having lunch so I think we spent also an hour chatting to them.It was now time to find out what was in store for us.

As we rounded the first point the full force of the wind hit us.The waves were high enough and at times there were rollers.Every once in a while there would be a strong gust of wind that stopped us in our tracks.With some hard stokes we finally made it into the bay to the landing.The Explorer was quickly loaded and we were on our way home.Another good trip in the books.

The composition above was taken Thursday night at the West end of O S A Lake.It was close to dark when I happened along.I was intruded by what I saw.There is just enough Fall color to tell the time of year.In the background is the flat rock surface of the La Cloche Mountains on the North side of O S A Lake.By utilizing the various points and islands I created a path for your eye to follow into the background.Thus this photo was created.The reflections were kept minimal.You can see scrub oak on the rock face.They are a reddish brown.

While that is it until next week.It is now time to photograph Tamarack as they change colors.So until next time happy trails.