Tag Archives: lighting

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

Isle Of Light

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BassFinLake0606a

During an evening shoot at Bassfin Lake, I had an opportunity to capture the above scene. This consisted of a rocky island with stunted trees on it. The problem here was that the island bound trees under normal lighting would blend into the tree covered shoreline behind it. As the evening sun lowered to the horizon, the trees on the island lit up beautifully. There was now the separation that I was looking for. The sky became an orange color that also highlighted the trees. There is quite a bit of detail on the rocks themselves. There is a very nice touch of lighting highlighting trees in the middle ground. The angle of the sun in relationship to the island made this composition possible. It is all about the lighting.

The  36th Annual La Cloche  Art Show is upcoming. For entry forms and dates check here.

http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/

At the moment the “Art Impact” Juried Art Show is now on.

I have two pieces of my work selected at the show.

More info is available here.

http://www.artistsonelgin.ca/index.php/events/juried-art-show

. Until next time happy trails

Photography

When The Hills Light Up

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CapreolNporth_0469

A hot Spring day. Time to head for the hills. I loaded up my camera gear and fishing equipment into my Ford Escape. It was late afternoon when I headed North of Capreol. I retraced my route from last week . I drove up to the North River where I crossed over and continued North. Three times I had to pull over to allow logging trucks to pass by. They have the right of way. The gravel roads up here are narrow.

On my first trip up here I had spotted a nice piece of rock face up in the hills. Great lighting on the trees and a unique rock face with character. I figured that I would stop here    in the evening on the way back and photograph the scene. The hill had lost its uniqueness by evening due to there being no lighting on the trees. This location has just been logged over. Thus exposing the rock face from the road. When I arrived late afternoon yesterday, the lighting was wonderful. I hiked up an exposed ridge to get a clear view of my subject. The wind was quite strong and gusting. I bumped my iso up to 400. This allowed for a shutter speed of 250 to stop the wind movement. The clouds were moving fairly quickly so it was a matter of watching the lighting and waiting for some decent clouds to pass by in a nice blue sky.

Finishing up I headed further North. There were a couple of lads standing by some forestry equipment so I stopped for a bit of conversation. Always nice to talk to people up here as you can pick up useful information on the area you are travelling in. Moving on I reached the 45 km mark and parked by the river. Time for supper. I set up my chair and cooler at the edge of the river in the shade of a clump of trees. It is so nice to do this. With the sound of the river flowing by. A nice wind to keep you cool. Very few blackflies to annoy you. Even the smell is good. Finishing my supper I retrieved my fishing gear and proceeded to make a few casts. It was still too early to catch any Walleye. But a good way to pass some time waiting for evening to approach.

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

Photography

Simple Effect

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untitled3a

I shot this composition for its peacefulness and quiet dignity. The stream took a bend here and there was some reflections. A cloudy sky with even lighting. I kept it tight so that the emphasis was on the stream.  You have the  around the bend effect. The water is blue from the sky even though it is cloudy. An overall lovely scene to look at. It was kept quite simple.

Well it has been quite a busy week for me. I have spent a great deal of time promoting my new book  A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry. I thank those folks who have purchased the book. You can view it here.

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

I would also like to thank those who stopped by for a visit. Until next week happy trails

Photography

From Dark to Bright

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BirchCreek1984

I have been going through my files and redoing a lot of my work. I now have Adobe CS6 loaded on my desktop. Cs6 has been greatly upgraded to the better. I highly recommend upgrading to it. Let me tell you, CS6 will improve on your work.

Getting to the photo above. This was taken on a Fall day trip a couple years back. The left side of the shoreline had some interesting rocks covered with green moss as well as a mossy ground cover. Some fallen leaves to break the color. But the problem was that the foreground was sheltered by overhanging trees. Being late afternoon it had become quite dark there. The background was the other extreme. Due to the low sun shining on the background creating a very bright scene there.

I set up my tripod very low. This meant that I had to lay on the ground. I proceeded to take a number of exposures at different shutter speeds without changing my f-stops, that were set at f22. Uploading the files I selected the dng file I wanted and came up with the above composition. It was a matter of opening up the foreground to what I wanted. The flowing water I wanted to have character there. This has all to do with your shutter speed. I wanted to show the power of the water here.

I was selected to the 2013 Quest Art 9th Annual Juried Art Show Midland. The show runs from Mar. 8 – May 4. I will be at the reception. If anyone that comes here for a visit please come to the reception and we can have a chat.

Well that is it for now. 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

Around The Bend,Onaping Lake

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As Gerard Leduc and I slowly motored in and around large and small islands.I was on the lookout for photographic compositions.We had already eaten supper and it was still early evening.As we moved in and out of various channels I noticed the above location.At the moment the lighting was still harsh.I figured another hour would be needed for the sun to get lower in the sky and soften up the scene.This particular set up had very strong side-lighting.I truly love this type of set up when I can find it.

After a waiting for the sun to get lower on the horizon we headed to a predetermined location to set up our camera gear.With the suns location we had the background a bit darker and the foreground awash with sunlight.This gives separation front to back.The rocky shoreline breaks up all the green and yellow that predominates the scene.The calm waters gave a lovely reflection adding to the overall scene.

I shot the scene by bracketing.There being so much differential in the lighting.When I returned home I was thus able to process the images in a HDR program.But I went straight into Photoshop to finish it off.I did not want to create a HDR image.I only wanted to open the shadow areas.

Well that is it for this week.So until next time happy trails.

Photography

A Magic Moment in Time

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Paul Smith and I spent a lazy afternoon on the beach enjoying the beautiful warm weather as we waited for the evening photo shot.At this time of year with the days becoming shorter it is no longer a long wait.It is so enjoyable to sit by the water observing the lighting and ever changing conditions.Paul and I sat at one of the picnic tables.People were coming and going.In most cases we would chat with them.One Japanese gentleman approached us and we had a discussion on photography.

Paul and I met Michal Podwapinski on the beach later in the afternoon.Michal had just finished a 2 week hike around the park.We spent a pleasant couple hours as Michal talked about his 2 week hike.

By this time evening was approaching.Paul and I quickly got ourselves set up for the evening shot.I returned to the same location as the photo in the previous post.We had some nice clouds available plus color.What also was interesting was that as the sun dropped below the horizon there was a nice reddish tinge in the sky.This in turn caused the beautiful reddish glow on the rocks.You have to be quick with your set up in these conditions as that magic moment will only last a very short period of time.Again being in the right place and time.It is called a magic moment in time.You must be able to recognize these conditions and act upon it.I believe this is what separates the good photographers from the ordinary photographers.

This lighting probably lasted for all of about 15 to 20 minutes and then was gone.Paul and I finally decided to call it a day.We had succeeded in getting some wonderful photos on a extraordinary day.We enjoyed conversing with other people at the park that day.It was just one of those Fall days where everything fell in place and was just enjoyable to be there.

So until next time happy trails.

Photography

Over to Boundary Lake

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It is Wednesday morning and I am continuing from the previous post of our five day trip. After a leisure breakfast of coffee and bagels we proceeded to pack up our camp gear.Our destination was to head over into Boundary Lake for a couple nights.We had never been there before.

We paddled to the upper end of David Lake and crossed over to the South shore.We had to do some searching but soon found the portage to Boundary.Donning our packs we hiked up the portage.Off the lake the portage was steep.Maureen disappeared ahead of me so I figured I would meet her at Boundary Lake.When I arrived at the end of the portage there was no Maureen.But I did view a really beautiful scene at the East end of the lake.Mean while I had to find my wife.

Returning back up the portage there was Maureen coming with a big grin.She said oops.The portage crossed over the hiking trail.Maureen had turned left onto the hiking trail.She met up with a couple hiking the trail and they redirected her onto the right trail.

Basically the portage was a steep climb one way and a long winding walk downhill.At Boundary we had to carry everything down to the lake shore before proceeding to the campsite.We met another couple coming out.We  finally arrived at the campsite and unloaded everything. There is only one campsite for canoeing and one for hikers.The campsite we were at was nice but the view was not as good as the previous campsites we had been to.

Wednesday and Thursday turned out cold and windy with not much in the way of photographic opportunities. Thursday, Maureen and I canoed along the lake shore.As we emerged from between two islands Maureen spied a Whitetail Deer along the far shore line.We quietly edged the canoe towards the deer.It turned out to be a eight point buck.

Thursday night we both agreed to get up at 5;30 and pack our gear and head to the landing.There I would try to get some photographing in and we would have breakfast after the mornings shot.

Friday morning arrived cold and foggy.We rough packed our gear and quickly made our way over to the landing.There was a bit of wind dancing here and there on the surface of the lake.It turned out to be a great morning to photograph.The above scene is one of the many photos I captured.This particular photo is interesting as the sun peeking through the fog lit up the side of the hillside to add some dramatic lighting.The fog creates mystery and depth to the photo.There is some fall color on the hillsides.We are a few weeks away from full color.

While that is it for this week.So until next week happy trails.

Photography

Adverse Weather

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A couple days ago the phone rang and it was my good friend Paul Smith calling.He asked if I would be interested in going out to do some photographing.I never turn down an invitation to head out and get some photos.

The day was cloudy with various lighting situations and some showers.The clouds were moving very quickly.We headed up the Westbranch to a locale that I had previously taken a very nice photo.Upon arrival I headed to the river that ran along side the road.The first thing that happened was that I took a tumble on the rocks.These rocks get very slippery when they are wet.

I half crawled down the rocks looking for my previous photo location.I looked behind me and saw a beautiful scene before me.I quickly set up the camera and tripod and took the composition you see above.The sun sent a beam of light on the trees in the background and the reflection was gorgeous.When the rocks are wet the colors come alive.The mist gives that added touch.This shot was taken in the middle of the afternoon by the way.It is not often you get mist at that time of day.I did find my previous location but was unable to get any decent shots as the mist got too heavy to photograph.

I shot the above scene with a zoom setting of 85 mm and the shutter set at 1/10 sec @ f22.The mist got too heavy to photograph and I find that I then have trouble focusing automatically and manually.Is this the difference between a 800.00 camera and a 3000.00 camera?I will be upgrading in the future.

We decided to head back and go up  the main road.By now the sky had cleared and the sun was shining.I was driving along and Paul said stop.He had noticed light reflecting on some rocks on a creek through the trees.I parked the truck and gathering up our gear we hiked into the creek.When we got there we saw a beam of light on some vegetation across the creek.I set the camera and tripod and took the photo you see below.

The rocks were pinkish and everything was still on the wet side to bring out the colors.I put a rock to the left in the photo to lead your eye into the photo following the shoreline and the clump of grass helps provide depth and breaks up the water.The beam of light adds that little extra touch to the photo.

This photo was taken with a zoom setting of 85 mm and a shutter speed of 3.2 sec @ f32.When you see light beams like this you had better be quick and get the shot as the lighting can go very fast.In this case the light lasted about 5 minutes as cloud cover moved in.These are the type of shots that requires a little luck and you must recognize that there is a photo to be taken.You also must compose on the fly with out thinking to capture the lighting.

Until next time,happy trails.