Tag Archives: Mist

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

Golden Light

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Westbranch802712

Happy New Year everyone. The above photo is a story of light. Take away that light and you just have an ordinary photo. The first thing that the lighting does is make the little pine tree stand out from the background. I purposely kept this shot tight so as not to have the lighting become too overpowering. There is just a touch of mist. The small piece of rock helps to add depth along with some darker evergreens. The background is as if a painter took a brush and painted the evergreens a golden yellow. All of this is reflected in the water in the foreground.

How does this happen? Mid November, the sun is low on the horizon. This means that it is late in the day before this side of the lake sees any sunlight. On the left side of the photo is a fairly steep hill covered in Pine trees. right down to the waters edge. The morning sunlight filters through the trees to highlight the little pine tree and create the above composition.

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

Photography

Morning on The Manitou

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The Manitou River starts its journey at the South end of Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island,Ontario.Manitoulin Island is the largest fresh water island in the world.The Manitou River is approximately 15 km long,The river ends at Michaels Bay on the South side of Manitoulin Island into Lake Huron.I had previously explored the Manitou River the evening before.I had determined that the best shot was to be had in the early morning.

Paul Smith and I arrived on location before daybreak and set up our photo equipment.It was a great morning.This portion of the river forms a S shape.With that in mind I placed the cedar tree at the top of the photo for depth.The sun actually lit up this tree first.The real bonus was when he morning light highlighted the clump of grass on the shore giving off a yelow orange effect plus a bit of reflection.You never know what you will get at times.There was mist on the river that morning.As time progressed a beam of light started on the right hand side of the photo.As I waited the beam of light slowly made its way to the left.The composition was slowly coming togrther.The last piece of the composition occured when the water turned golden in the foreground.After that happened the highlights on the water got too harsh.Now I took approximately 40 shots of this location.I used the second last shot to get the composition you see above.

That is it for now.Thank you for stopping by.So 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

Little Maple

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I have spent the last few mornings heading down to the local river before dawn.The Vermillion River flows South before joining up with the Spanish River.My photographic locations have been in and around the Highway 17 bypass.Each morning there has been a fair amount of mist.The shoreline is loaded with color at this time of year.A great opportunity to get some colorful compositions.

There was a small maple shrub growing on a rocky point.It was a brilliant red in color.I headed over to it to see what I could do with it.Well when I got there I noticed some color on the far shore.A larger maple that had not turned completely red. But there was some nice yellow to go along with the red.There was a small rock structure to break up the color,a little bit of mist to add an added touch.Just to cause some curiosity there was a beer can among the vegetation on a ledge.This adds a bit of the human element to the photo.People seem to have a passion to litter.I only showed a small portion of the rocky point in foreground to keep the composition tight for a better effect.

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

Photography

Rugged Shorelines

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While exploring the shores of the French River early one morning I happened upon the above scene.There was some small white flowers in front of me along with a fern growing on the rocks.With an island before me,mist and calm waters.The sky was unique with good cloud formation,There was a lovely pink color to the clouds.

When I processed this photo I enhanced the yellow part of the fern along with yellow highlights on the far shoreline.If you want to take your work to the next level this is what you have to do.It brings the artist out in you.Mind you it is supple, but that is all it takes.

My work is been featured at Upstream People Gallery

http://www.upstreampeoplegallery.com/exhibition/default.asp?XD=9/1/2012&AN=Bennison%2C+Ken

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

Photography, Poetry

Out of The Mist

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Morning is slowly evolving

From the darkness of night

The wind is calm

A heavy mist is present

Over the ever flowing river

Islands and rocky points

Can barely be seen

The strains of song

Muted in the mist

Becoming louder and louder

With each passing moment

The dip of paddles

In rhythm with song

Can now be heard

The sudden parting of mist

Reveals the misty outline

Of an elegant Montreal canoe

Paddled by stalwart voyageurs

Singing to the rhythm

Of their glistening paddles

The mist suddenly closes

The sound of voices

Receding in the distance

Ghosts from times long past

The sun has crested

Chasing the far shadows

Sunlight pierces the mist

A refreshing breeze blows

Dissolving the morning mist

The river having revealed

Its ancient history

Leaving one spellbound

To have been part

Of that long ago past

The idea of this poem came to me when I spoke to a number of local people on the French River.They talked of almost hearing voices on the French River on certain days.With that in mind I created this poem.

The French River is steeped in history.This river was the main transportation route by the First Nation people,early explorers,Jesuit Missionaries,Voyageurs and much later the lumber men.
Well that is it for now.Thank you for comments.So until next time happy trails.

Photography

The French River Provincial Park

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Friday August 17 With all my camping gear,easels and my art work I finally got on the road by mid morning.I stopped in Sudbury to pick up some last minute supplies as was soon heading South.I was on my way to the French River Provincial Park visitors center.

I will give you a little bit of history of this large water system.The French River flows for 110 km from its Lake Nipissing source to Georgian Bay.For thousands of years the First Nations people followed the river system fishing and hunting.The French River was a major highway for explorers,traders and Jesuit missionaries as they pushed into the West to open up the country.Later the timber barons sent rafts of White Pine South along the river.Today many people paddle and boat on the French River camping and fishing.In 1986 The French River was designated Canada’s first Heritage River.A prime example of a glaciated Canadian Shield river environment.The above info was taken from the French River Visitor Information Guide.

My first stop would be the Flat Rapids Camp on the French River.Turning off the highway onto the Hartley Bay Road. Arriving at the campgrounds I checked in and soon had the camp gear set up.The Flat Rapids Campsite is run by very wonderful down to earth folks.I truly enjoyed my weekend here.I had a quick supper and soon was back on the road.

I crossed the bridge over the French River and turned off onto the road leading into the French River Provincial Park Visitor Center. This is a magnificent building that is well worth a visit.The layout inside is very well done.There is a lot of history to learn here as well as enjoying the visual display.The people that work here are wonderful folks and they go out of there way to help you.I can not thank them enough for their help and hospitality well I was there for the weekend.

Returning to Flat Rapids Camp that evening I hiked along the river shoreline looking for photographic opportunities.It was not a good evening and it was soon dark.

I awoke at dawn and was greeted by some spectacle scenery on the river.On this section of the river there are islands and exposed rocky shoals.There was mist to be had,heavy cloud cover.I set up for the above shot by using the point of one island in the foreground  and keeping another island in the middle ground.I then had the far shore and sky for my background.The sunlight was highlighting various sections of the scene when it would pop out.This is very important in getting that special composition.Just be aware of your surroundings.You will also note the position of the far island and the point were by I have created a S curve to lead the eye.At this time of day with the cooler morning temperatures that creates mist over the warmer water temperatures you can create mood in your composition.The rocks were wet and along with the reflections in the still waters created wonderful detail in the rock structure.All in all it was a great morning to be there.

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

Photography, Poetry

Birch Grove

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A grove of birch trees

By the shores of

An ice-covered lake

The stark white trunks

Emerging from the mist

On an early Spring morning

Reddish-brown leaves

From Fall past

Carpet the barren ground

Among the standing birch

No stirring of wildlife

Is to be seen

A place of peaceful stillness

A well beaten path

Meanders through the birch grove

Beckons a wayward traveller

To places that are beyond

Photography

The Unexpected Shot

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A couple weeks ago on a Monday,I headed up the Westbranch North of Webbwood to do some photographing.My destination was about 80 km up the Westbranch to a couple of lakes that I had been exploring this Fall.

These lakes are surrounded by Jack Pine and White Pine so bare deciduous trees are not an issue here.I was interested in one small lake that had an interesting cliff face that I have made a number of attempts to photograph without success.

Upon arrival I loaded up my gear and picked up the trail along the lake.This is a very small lake nestled down in between a series of hills.It was now about 11:30 in the morning. While I was walking towards the cliff face I noticed out of the corner of my eye a display of some beautiful lighting highlighting the evergreens along the shoreline. I set up my camera and tripod and composed a vertical shot using the small rock point as my focal point.At this time of year,mid November the sun is low to the horizon allowing for this kind of lighting at mid day.There was mist over the water to add atmosphere.There was a nice reflection on the water to add depth to the photo.I focused on the rock then I composed the shot.The zoom lens was set at 135 mm with the shutter at 0.5 sec @f22.

The above shot was taken in the same location as the first shot.I was attracted by the lighting on the far trees creating a nice lighting pattern and reflecting into the water.The sun always creates a beautiful gold color when it highlights evergreens.The zoom was set to 100 mm an d the shutter speed to 0.4 sec @f22. This allowed me to create a nice peaceful mood.

I never did get my shot of the the cliff.Oh well next time.Before I go I want to thank everyone who has visited my blog as I have now surpassed a 1000 hits.This is a milestone for me.So for now happy trails.