Tag Archives: Light

Photography

The Reflective Side of Nature

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CameronFalls_0286 (2)

 

In this photo a unique lighting has been created. You have the lighting from the late evening sun drenching the rocks  in the background. Thus creating an orange like hue on the rocks. The rocks in the foreground are now darker for the sun no longer affects them. But there is still a touch of lighting on the rocks to the left. This is what helps to add character to a composition. It is the little detail. There is a nice green tinge to the water in the foreground. This is due to the sun striking the evergreens on the far bank and reflecting on the water. If it had been a little earlier the water would be a golden color due to the stronger strength of the sunlight.

This week I received an Award of excellence for one of my compositions.

You can see the selected works here.

http://www.exhibitionswithoutwalls.com/?page_id=5221

Well that is it for this week. For everyone in this part of the world have a safe Victoria weekend. 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

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

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

Persistance Pays off.

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It was the past Friday that Paul Smith and I came across some new locations up the Westbranch North of Webbwood.We were now 90 km up the Westbranch and exploring new country.The moose hunters were setting up there camps getting ready for the opening of moose season on Saturday.It was a sunny day,but the wind was creating havoc and towards sundown was still blowing.It was scratch day one.

The next day I headed back up alone early that afternoon.When I arrived on location the wind was blowing pretty good.I waited til late evening but to no avail.I headed back home again with no photos.Sunday came and being my youngest grand son’s birthday, I stopped off at my son’s apartment to enjoy the BBQ and wish  the little man a happy birthday.He was 1 year old.I hadn’t been on the Internet for a week as I had left my usb modem down South well we were visiting. I logged on an checked my email . My good friend Jan Winthers had emailed me earlier saying he was available for the weekend to go out photographing.I gave Jan a quick call and asked him if he could meet me in an hour.

I met up with Jan and we transferred his photo equipment to my truck. As we were driving up the Westbranch Jan realized that he had forgot his tripod. We have all forgotten something at one time or another. The third day turned out to be a blessing with the wind cooperating for a change.

Late fall brings with it much more subdued colors as the grass and ferns turn brown and rusty red.I myself like this time of year for the challenges it offers.Jan and I were walking along a small lake when we spotted a little island across the way. There was some very interesting lighting come from the side onto the island.The evergreens had wonderful lighting filtering through to break up the dark mass in the background.This creates a background with more detail .The gray color of the dead branches give character to the trees along with the remaining tree growth being highlighted by the sun.Take in the brownish shoreline and you have a very earth tone photo. There is enough reflection in the water to create depth.

I shot this scene with the zoom set at 100 mm and a shutter speed of  0.4 sec @ f 22. You must always be watching for unique lighting and color patterns.

Moving along the shoreline I was attracted by the lighting and colors that you can observe in the above photo. The clump of reddish brown grass was nicely lit by the sun.Light was filtering through the trees in the background creating lovely reflective patterns along with a beam of light hitting the reddish brown grass along the shoreline.I positioned my tripod to put the island of grass in the foreground and the lighted grass on the shoreline in the background.The idea here is to have the reddish brown grasses stand out.

I shot the above photo with a zoom setting 135 mm.The shutter speed was set at 0.5 sec @ f22.

Jan and I had a wonderful day together and I am looking forward to our next outing. Until next time happy trails.