Tag Archives: lighting

Photography

Along The Jinotega Highway, Nicaragua

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Jenataga_0219

 

As I traveled the Jinotega highway, the mountain views and valleys are incredible. The immense depth of the scenes are incredible. There is cloud cover every day. This allows for beautiful lighting. The biggest issue I have to deal with here is rain and strong winds. Therefore a high shutter speed is a necessity. As always it is a waiting game for the right conditions to happen. Today, tomorrow, who knows. To arrive at these sites I ride the local buses. When a site appears I jump off the bus. I do my work, then wait for the next bus appear and move on.

Well that is this it for this week.  So happy trails from Nicaragua.

Photography, Poetry

It Hurts

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Jenataga_0156

 

 

It Hurts

 

Been working all day

Kids to look after

When the darkness comes

The hurt always returns

I just can’t get

You off my mind

I am so tired of crying

 

So many emotions

Words have failed me

The pain of being cheated on

I gave you so much

Of my life

I never thought

I could be the other women

It sure hurts you know

 

What is it about her?

That I don’t have

You left me bitter

About love

But I got to let it be

Move on with my life

Photography

Mountain Sunset

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Mountains_0076

Sitting on the deck of my cabin in Nicaragua. Early morning and late evening I sit and observe the cloud formation and lighting coming over the mountains. Just waiting for that right shot. Thus a few evenings past, a magic moment occurred. The big thing here is patience. As the above shot shows it finally occurred. Beautiful cloud formation. Awesome lighting and darkening landscape. All these ingredients created a beautiful photo.

Well that is it for now. So happy trails.

Photography

Bathtub Island, Lake Superior

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Bathtub_Island_Superior

 

Bathtub island is a typical little island found on Lake Superior. Time worn with sparse growth of stunted trees. It is located at Lake Superior Provincial Park a good walk north of the Sand River mouth. There is a fairly large sandy beach here, along with sand dunes. Just north of this cove is Katherine Cove. I have walked from either direction. There is a trail off the highway that you can walk straight in to Bathtub Island. It traverses through sand dunes that are protected. So do not walk in the sand dunes. Very fragile.

This area is popular with tourists to swim in the clear waters of Lake Superior. Access to the little island is to walk along a sandbar just below the water’s surface. Very short walk. The reason this island is named Bathtub Island is that when you look on left of photo you will see the low rocky part of island. This creates an enclosed pool that is kept filled with lake water. As the waves surge in, the enclosure fills with water. I have made a number of trips in hopes of capturing this scene with the right lighting.

As I hiked into the beach one August evening, the sky was very dark and threatening. There was a bit of wave action to disturb the lake’s surface. The sun was settling to the west. This would be on the right side of photo. This gave a lovely warm glow to the rock face on the island. There were white clouds passing overhead at considerable speed. This created a problem due to low lighting creating slow shutter speeds. Thus I upped my iso to 400. Waited until there was fewer clouds sailing by, But at the same time mindful of the evening getting late. The result was as shown above. Take note of the lighting on the small shrub. A nice touch.

Well that is it for this week. Until next week happy trails

 

Photography

Design Elements

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Sea Of Light

 

Lighting is a powerful tool to capture those unique landscape photos. My first impression of the mountains of Nicaragua was how am I going to create a composition. Where I come from there is rock, trees and water. What is missing in these mountains was water. With that in mind I sat and just observed. Before long I noticed these incredible displays of lighting happening before my eyes. There is for the most part clouds moving in the sky. This is what gives you that unique display of lighting that magically appears here and there.

Now I had to have design elements for compositions. From where I am the mountains were for the most part in the background. The highlands and hills in the foreground. But what really sets things off is the open spaces to be found. Look at the trees next time you are out. They have unique shapes and forms that give that extra artistic touch. Throw in the lighting and you get that unique photo as you see above. Do not forget the land contours in this part of the world. I find they are very unique. The contours can be used as a design element in your composition. If you can just watch and look at the scene before you as vertical and horizontal lines then you will be able to capture that great shot.

Everyone pretty much learned geometry in school. With that in mind look for geometric shapes to incorporate into your next photographic experience.  The curve of the hills; the tree shapes, plus how the land shapes look. There is lots to see out there once you get pass the outer layer.

While that is it for now. Spring is slowly evolving here. Art shows are happening. Greeting fellow artists. So until next time happy trails

 

Photography

Creating A Composition

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_MG_3024

As I walked the shoreline of Lake Superior at Pukaskwa National Park late one evening, I envisioned the scene above. It was a late evening with poor lighting. The photographing had not been great. There was some wave action upon the rocks. I came to a sloping rocky shoreline with jagged rocks. The color varied from black to golden brown in color. So I decided to set up my tripod and Canon EOS 7D and see what I could come up with. Shooting tight and set up low I was able to get the above scene. The shutter speed  was set to 8 sec and to get the depth of field that I needed at this range, my f-stops was at f22. This is a nice soft and moody composition.

By waiting for the right amount of wave action I was able to get that capture, I was looking for. By shooting at 8 sec. I was able to create a moody scene where by the water now appears misty like among the rocks. The transition from water to rocks is smooth. By smoothing out the many body of water and getting the right lighting and shadows on the rocks I find this to be a very nice scene that will give you a soothing effect. The other way around would be having the waves crashing upon the rocks at a faster shutter speed.

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

Photography, Poetry

An Ole Shed

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SanPoche_Tone_vig

A beautiful Fall day

The air is warm

A mist upon the air

No hint of the cold temps

That will soon come

It is a late afternoon

The sun hangs low

Over the colourful hills

A lone shed nestles

Among the white birch

Having fallen into neglect

The door stands ajar

The metal roof aging

Into a rusty red

The weather beaten walls

Becoming a sombre grey

The encroaching forest slowly

Enclosing the old building

The vibrant forest behind

Of green, orange and yellow

Has taken on a soft glow

From the late afternoon sunlight

Filtering through the trees

The surface of the lake

Has a  a soft ripple

From a caressing wind

Creating an artist’s palette

Of reflective Fall colors

Photography

When The Mood Is Right

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CameronFalls224

For the type of photographic work that I do, I am reliant on Mother Natures many moods. When everything comes together it sure is a treat. The right lighting, calmness of the wind and also the view that is presented before you. The above composition was located at the bottom of Cameron Falls on the Aux Sauble River North of Massey. The sun was now below the horizon. Darkness was descending quite rapidly. The color and detail of the surrounding rocks was immaculate. The rock structure in the background created a canyon effect. This in turn added immensely to the depth of the photo. With a slow shutter speed I was able to show the water flow of the river. I placed a small part of a rock structure in the foreground that emphasized my theory of flow in flow out. I had to be quick as time was important here with darkness coming on fast.

On of the coolest things is to be standing there and watch as the changing lighting effects your surrounds. The colors take on a more vibrant look. Detail becomes more pronounced.  Then there is total darkness as if a switch has been pulled. The golden moment of light. Thank you Mother Nature.

While that is it for now. Until next time happy trails

Photography

Something Unique

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_MG_2984_

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 Creative Side of Me

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CameronFalls0019

You take a small waterfalls. Then some lovely textured rocks. Wait for the right lighting. Shoot from a low angle to give the waterfalls the illusion of height. You then can create a magic and mystical place. Yet all in all this scene is only three feet high, depth about six feet and maybe five feet wide. There is not a whole lot of water cascading over the rocks. Thus a shutter speed of one second and the f-stop set at 22 for that added depth. Looking at this photo, you say to yourself, wow I would love to sit on those rocks to let the water cascade over and around me. But you will discover that you are bigger than the scene. This is what I call a micro landscape. Many scenes can be found within the big picture. In this location we have a large waterfall with water flowing where ever there is a path to follow. This is due to the erosion of the rock formation over time. At this particular waterfall the water drops in a series of drops. So you have your main waterfalls along with a host of mini waterfalls to work with. You wait till late summer for the water flow to decrease and expose more of the rock structures.

When shooting this close you will discover the intricate detail in the rocks. Depth is very important here to give the scene some dimension front to back. Another important factor is to shoot the waterfalls at an angle, not dead on. This allows you to create more dimensional depth to the waterfalls. Remember your photo is two dimensional, thus you need to give the illusion of three dimensional.Nature provides the material. It is up to you to make it happen. This is also a scene that requires the right lighting. Be able to recognize that. Be patient and wait. Enjoy the environment and then you may get your chance.

I would like to wish all my friends who come here for a visit a very Merry Christmas and be safe. So until next time happy trails.