Tag Archives: Lake

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

Hanging Out

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BassfinLake_2485

 

My wife Maureen had a day off last Wednesday, so I suggested that we load the canoe and head for Bassfin Lake up the Matagamasi  Lake Road. I had photographed along the lake by the road many times. I wanted to find out what else the lake had to offer. With that decided we packed a lunch and headed out. This is a short trip from Sudbury to the lake. We quickly loaded our Quebecor 17 canoe and pushed off. It was a wonderful afternoon. Bright blue skies and warm temperatures. The wind was light.

Maureen and I paddled across the lake and turned into a small channel that opened onto a bay. This is one of those locations were you enter a new world and mysteries. The rock structures were unique. There was a lot of detail in the rock faces. We paddled to the end of the bay. I located a spot to land the canoe. Quickly unloading, we walked up an exposed rock formation that slanted towards the interior of the surrounding landscape. Where I was set up I was overlooking the bay from a height advantage.

By now it was late afternoon. I set up my tripod in a favorable location and waited. This was like sitting in your own little world. No other people around. A beautiful sight before you. I sat their just watching the play of light among the trees. This is a good way to become knowledgeable in the ways of lighting in a wilderness setting. The wind was dancing lightly here and there before setting down. It was not long before the reflections began to appear. I took a number of photos as time progressed. The above photo is the last one I shot where there was just a bit of lighting striking the tree tops in the background. You can also see a sprinkling of light to the left. The sun was setting to my left.

Maureen and I enjoyed a great evening here. Just soaking up the beauty of this scenic location, plus hanging out together.Well that is it for this week. I hope everyone has a good weekend. Thank you for stopping by. Until next week happy trails.

Photography

Little Tree, Little Island

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BirchIsland_2222

 

4:30 a.m. comes early. Hauled my self out of bed. Loaded the gear into my Ford Escape. Stopped in Lively to pick up a Tim Horton’s coffee and some breakfast. Next stop was for gas. Then it was off for my morning shot. I arrived on location at 6:00 am with an hour to spare. Sunrise about 7:10 a.m. The temperature was hovering around 0 C. There was mist on the lake but it was still too dark. Lesson learned. Stay in bed an extra hour.

But the end result was the above photo about an hour and a half later. A little tree on a little island. Beautiful golden morning light saturating the mist. I kept this photo tight so as not to distract from the subject. By shooting vertical I was able to do that.

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

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

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

Bog Island

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BogIsland

I discovered this little bog island at the far end of a small shallow lake a few years ago. It is located  up the Westbranch behind Webbwood Ontario. I fell in love with the potential of a composition that could be had here. This little island had character. From the shape of the vegetation; some deadheads and a clump of small evergreens. The main problem here was to be able to separate the island from the background. The lake is nestled amongst  Spruce trees so everything would blend in. You would then get a bland photo.

With that in mind I needed good lighting. Luckily, were I was able to set up my tripod and Canon EOS 7d the shoreline sloped upwards. This allowed me to get some separation from the far shoreline. This shot worked best in November. The sun is low to the horizon. The vegetation on the island turns a orange, red color. That helps relieve a lot of green. Now the trick is to get the right lighting. You have to have that island stand out from the background. That is very important. I made many trips to this location until I got it right. Early morning did not create the required lighting.

Finally it all came together. It was a beautiful sunny November afternoon. It was 3:30 Pm. The sunlight lit the island up like a torch. The light was coming from the left which was good. I was now getting sun flares in my lens. I used my hat to block the sun flares and shot the above photo. What also helps this composition is the lighting in the background. You can see individual branches being lit up. This is what turns an ordinary photo into a dramatic composition. Lighting.

The above photo was accepted at the 119th Toronto International Salon of Photography.

Well I will close 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

Sunlit Grass

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Jan Winther and I were walking the shoreline of a small lake up the Westbranch.It was mid-morning.The wind was calm with mist rolling off the shores of this lake.Now this is a lake that is pretty much down in a hollow.The Tamarack trees are now bare.The lakes this far North are surrounded mostly by evergreens.

We are now into November,the days are shorter and cooler.The sun travels at a lower elevation now.This means the sunlight takes longer to penetrate through the trees on the hillsides during early morning.With that in mind,just close your eyes and envision a scene of a small lake in the Boreal Forest.The evergreens hug the shoreline.The sunlight is penetrating through the trees on the East side were the trees cascade down the hillside to the lake.There is mist covering the lake’s surface.There is no wind.The surrounding landscape is reflecting on the surface.This is a scene that I come across many times in my travels.To be there is a joy and to be able to photograph these scenes is a blessing.

With all that said Jan and I both turned and saw the sunlight highlighting the clump of grass protruding from the lake edge.There was mist moving slowly from the shore.The background was in shadow as the sun has not penetrated that area yet.I waded slowly out into the water.I wanted to make as little disturbance as possible for the scene was only ten feet from me.The tripod and Canon 7d was set up.I composed my shot,then waited for the water to calm down again and took my shot. I intentionally kept the background dark to keep the focus on the sunlit grass and mist.

Photography

A Beam of Light

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Jan Winther and I had arrived at our destination lake shortly after dawn. This jewel of a little lake is 80 km up on a gravel logging road.As you travel North you steady climb to a higher elevation.Which means at this time of year it is colder here than at home.We had been observing frost on the trees,but no ice on the lakes and swamps we passed.

After a five minute hike into where we were going to photograph,Jan and I set up our photographic equipment.There is a small island at one end of this little lake that we wanted to work with.I will talk about this island in another post.The lake surface was mirror calm,there was some mist and the air was crisp.The sun was just coming through the trees.

I am always watching around me at all times.The lighting is constantly changing dramatically or very supple.So be aware and you may rewarded with that award winning composition. Many times it is never the shot you came to get.The above scene is an example of that.I relocated to capture the beam of light coming over the water.I put the point on the left side as my lead in.There was just enough mist to create some mood.The real highlight of this photo is the sunlight filtering through the trees on the far shore.This is when it feels good to be a photographer capturing that moment of lighting.I had already made four trips here in the past two weeks to get the exposures I want.The only hang up I have with this photo is the blue tinge on the evergreen trunks.But that is the way it is so I leave it be.At this time of year the shoreline vegetation is a reddish brown in colour.This helps to offset the vast amounts of green due to the evergreens.

Well that is it for now.Thank you everyone for coming and visiting.So until next time happy trails.

Photography

O S A Lake Part 3

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By now after a day and a half of rain,dampness along with cool temperatures the weather cleared up.It was now late Thursday afternoon.It is always interesting to watch the grey clouds moving past you and then you spot some blue sky.Within an hour the sky had cleared and the wind had switched to the West.Now it was just a matter of waiting for the evening light and hopefully the wind would calm down.O S A Lake is a large lake prone to windy conditions.I cooked up a meal of Uncle Ben’s rice and canned meat.A nice hot cup of tea to end the meal and we were ready to photograph.

Paul Smith and I had some decent photographing that evening,but you had to watch the wind.In the more open water the wind did not settle down.I captured the above scene on the South side of the island we camped on.I loved the rock structure the protruded out into the lake for its detail.I had photographed this same scene in June.But now I had Fall color and the water level was down considerably since June.Thus exposing more rock structure.There was an old length of a tree jutting into the lake.I put it into the bottom right of the picture.For once I had some decent cloud patterns.

At this time of year darkness comes early.Paul built up a fire and we enjoyed its warmth for a few hours.You could feel the air cooling down now and tomorrow we head home.Thank you everyone for your comments and coming for a visit.Until next time happy trails.