Tag Archives: Lake Superior

Photography

Something Unique

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Walking the beaches at Pukaskwa National Park on an August evening 2013 turned up some interesting subject matter. With the lowering sun creating warm and interesting lighting on the surrounding landscape. I came across this  rock just out from the beach. The waning sunlight brought out the colors on this particular rock along with the intricate patterns on the rock surface. The constant pounding and flow of water over this rock creates smoothness and patterns. The water was not calm that evening. But with the lowering light comes slower shutter speeds to give that dreamy effect of the flowing water. You can see the light touching the back right corner of the rock bringing out the colors. These are the little things that I look for when looking for subject material.

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

Island In The Sun

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Littleisland4905

A little island on a lake in the Wawa area. It is located just outside the Lake Superior Park Boundry. I had seen this scene a number of times in my travels up here. I have a soft spot for these little islands. This little island is almost like a dot on the lake’s surface. So the morning before Maureen and I headed out for Treeby Lake I headed out from our motel to see if I could capture a nice composition. This lake is right along Hwy 17 so accessibility was easy. There was a small open on the shoreline where I was able to set up. The forest pretty much comes down to the shoreline here.

So I had an island. I needed the right lighting to make this work. There was also a lot of yellow here too. As I waited I watched as the morning light engulfed that little island. You could not ask for anything better. The island is now separated from the lower background which consisted of dark evergreens, having not been touched by the light. By positioning my tripod I was able to enhance this separation to gain more of the darker background. I did a partial framing on the right with the colorful sunlit trees on the right. The upper edge of the background is now being touched with the morning light.  A very attractive composition.

I will be set up at the Beaver Lake Fall Fair this Friday and Sat. It will also be a time to chat with old friends. So until next week happy trails.

Photography

Pot of Gold

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Rainbow

 

Last Sunday Maureen and I drove up to Sault Ste Marie on our way to Wawa. The weather was wet and windy. Rain was heavy at times. We arrived in Sault Ste Marie late afternoon. Before leaving home we had attended  my Grandson Gunner’s 4th birthday. We booked into a motel that night. Maureen was suffering from a cold and the dampness was making me sick. Monday morning was much the same weather wise. North of the Sault I stopped at the Chippewa Falls and proceeded to photograph the falls. There were fisherman at the pool catching salmon coming in to spawn. We stopped at the visitor center in Lake Superior Provincial Park to pick up our camping permits into Fenton and Treeby Lakes. This is to be a three day trip.

This being a cloudy day creating even lighting for taking photographs I was able to stop at various locations on Lake Superior to photograph. By mid afternoon we arrived in Wawa. We booked into the Best Northern Motel. Here we met the owners Mark and Teressa. This is a nice motel to stay in and there restaurant served excellent meals. I highly recommend staying here. For those celebrating Thanksgiving have a safe and good weekend with your families.

Until next time Happy Trails.    

Photography, Poetry

Gichigami ( Open Water )

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Gichigami

A land of raw beauty

With hidden coves

And beckoning bays

For the wayward traveller

Wind swept shorelines along

The moody blue waters

Of a large inland sea

Mist shrouded hills

As far as the eye can see

A land born of fire and ice

In an age long past

The flow of molten lava

Sculptured the ever changing terrain

A receding glacier that

Gorged and marred the surface

Scaring the exposed bedrock

A land of low rounded hills

After eons of erosion

A broken coastline constantly

Pounded by relentless waves

And ever changing winds

To create a land of raw beauty

The shallow soils of

The worn down hills

Are home to the Jack Pine

That dominate the horizon

White Birch and White Spruce

Cover the slopes of the hills

The tea stained waters

Of the coastal streams

Wild and rugged as they flow

Swiftly through rocky terrain

To join the inland sea

This is a land of raw beauty

At the mercy of Gichigami

A huge inland sea

Called Lake Superior

I am on my last day at the French River Visitor Center. So until next time happy trails

Photography

A Quiet Summer Evening, Almost

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Pukaskwa_3160a

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

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

Art In The Sky

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Pukaskwa_1310

Being this far North in the third week of June, meant that the outdoor conditions are different from our home in Sudbury. The leaf cover had just came out the week before. This gives you that nice fresh yellow green color in the landscape. The wild shrubs were just now in full bloom along with a number of wildflowers. The winter climate up here is so harsh that plants commonly found in the Arctic grow along the shores of Lake Superior. The folks at the Pukaskwa National Park said that the lake water temperature was 3 degrees. Brrr that is cold.

The above photo was taken on one of the three evenings that I set up on the lookout platform on the Manita Miikana Trail overlooking Lake Superior. As I was watching the sun go down towards the West of me I happen to look behind and saw this beautiful cloud pattern with a lot of color. I elected to create a vertical composition to contain the clouds. In the background you can see Horseshoe Bay and part of the sand beach.

Well that is it for this week. I will be set up at the French River Visitors Center for the weekend. I will have a great majority of my work on display. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great July First long weekend and be safe

Photography

Isle In The Mist

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Pukaskwa_1335

My wife Maureen and I returned last Friday from a week at Pukaskwa National Park. This has been a dream trip for me with late morning breakfasts and late evening suppers. The week soared by very quickly as I explored and photographed. Believe it or not I have barely covered this vast wilderness. To be sure there are many more trips to this wonderful park. Maureen and I will be returning in August.

Lake Superior is a vast inland lake. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world with 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. This is a land of rugged shorelines, ancient landscape of the Canadian Shield. This is a lake that one has to respect. From its cold waters, sudden storms and heavy fog you can create beautiful compositions. To sit up on a hill and just observe the magnitude of this landscape is something to behold. With bold sky s, rolling hills and rugged shorelines interspersed with many islands. The wind blows cold. This is a living  inland sea.

Maureen and I met wonderful folks here. From John and Garth who are the hosts at the park, to the individual people who work here and share their passion  for the park. If an opportunity ever comes to visit Pukaskwa National Park be sure  to stop by of an evening to chat with John and Garth at their campfire. They are very knowledgeable about the park.

The above photo was the result of a fog that rolled in about mid afternoon. This is something that happens fairly often. This makes for some very interesting photography. At times you can see nothing and then the fog recedes to allow you to capture the scene as you like. I was standing on the platform at the Manito Miikana Trail looking towards the South when I created this composition.

I will go into more detail on this wonderful park in the future. Its history as well as geological and vegetation facts. Well that is it for now. I have a lot of digital files to go through and process. Until next time happy trails.