In 2014 I spent a great deal of time exploring the shorelines of Lake Superior in Ontario.
I was attracted by this formation of rock with its covering of moss. To get the best detail and color I photographed in the late evenings
Tag Archives: Moss
Sitting on a Moss Covered Rock
Sitting on a moss covered rock
Surrounded by Black Spruce
Squashing a skeet now and then
The pesky critters would dive-bomb
To sting the back of my neck
A well beaten moose trail
Traverses the swamp edge
A scene of stillness
The open water quiet and benign
The ghostly dance of mist
Transforms the summer morning
The sun not yet risen
A channel leads one’s eye
To the far hills
The Black Spruce dark and ominous
At the shore’s edge
Protruding rocks break the shoreline
A cliff rises in the channel
The sun’s rays slowly creep
Over the shadowed land
Light filters through the mist
The far hills unfold
In the morning light
Fingers of light creep
Through the dark shadows
The mist is still swirling
A pair of Loons appear
Dark shapes in the mist
The warmth of the morning sunlight
Chasing the night shadows before it
The mist now dissipating
Exposing the Boreal Forest
Rising from my moss covered rock
I quietly trudged up the hill
With one last look
As I crested the hill
Another memory to preserve
Share this:
From Dark to Bright
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.
Share this:
Exploring Small and Medium Size Creeks
I was going through my collection of files and came across the two photos taken on a trip last Fall.The medium to small creeks can offer some interesting photo oppurtunies and at the same time a nice hike along the creek’s edge.
Although the Fall color was not in full swing here there was enough color to enhance the scenery. The above location was a tough area to shot as the foreground is mostly in deep shadow and the background is brightly lit.I shot two photos here to create one in Photoshop.I exposed the first photo for the foreground and then took another shot exposing for the background.Being early evening in the Fall the sun was low to the horizon creating cross lighting on the trees in the background. I added a fair amount of detail in the foreground due to the rich colors of the moss and dried leaves.
I mounted my camera on a tripod and with the zoom set at 28 mm and the shutter speed set to 1/6 sec @ f22 .With the 1/6 sec shutter speed I achieved good detail in the water.
I continued along the creek and came across this waterfalls with late evening lighting.You will notice that the sun is hitting the trees in the upper left corner of the photo.It was an added bonus to have the sunlight striking the rocks in two locations in the right hand side. I placed rocks in my foreground to create depth and to decrease the amount of water shown in the foreground.At the same time I created a basic S-curve with the water flow.The amount of water flowing in the creeks affects how your photos will turn out.
I took this photo with a zoom setting of 30 mm and the shutter speed set to 1/6 sec @ f22.Well that is it for today so until next time happy trails.
Share this:
Hiking The Crack
My photographic partner Paul Smith had been after me for some time to take a hike up to the Crack in Killarney Provincil Park.Back on October 11 I picked up Paul and we met Gary Leclair at the South End Canadian Tire parking lot in Sudbury. We load our gear into Gary’s mini van and headed to Killarney Provincial Park.Gary parked the van in the parking lot.
This is a very popular Provincial Park were the hiking trails are numerous.There are a lot of people taking advantage of this beautiful part of Northern Ontario to get out and go for a hike on scenic trails.
The three of us picked up the trail and started walking through a maple and birch grove of brightly colored leaves.Along the way I noticed a pond on our left.We made our way down to the pond.The wind was calm and being cloudy the lighting was very good.The first thing I saw was the small cliff face at the end of the pond.The rocks here are white quartzite that gleam.I set up the tripod and composed a shot by adding a small rock and a piece of wood reflecting in the water on the right.You will also notice evergreens on the right.I now had a lead in to the rock.There were a lot of bare trees now with no leaves so I kept the left side tight. The splash of orange and red on the cliff really brought out the picture.
I shot the above scene with a shutter speed of 0.4 sec @f22.The zoom was at 56.0 mm.
Looking around me I spotted this little island of moss and grass.There were these smallish reddish plants growing among the grass.You will also observe a group of white flowers growing here.The lighting was extraordinary and I set up the shot that you see above.The zoom was set at 135 mm with a shutter speed of 0.6 sec @ f22.
The three of us finished up shooting and we continued up the trail.We met numerous people hiking out and finally we approached the Crack.This is a split in the rock face that you have to climb to make the top.This last part of the hike consists of climbing up and over boulders.Your reward is an awesome panoramic view of lakes and the La Cloche Mountains before your eyes.I did not take any photos here as most of the hills were bare of color now.I will most certainly will be back next Fall.I have talked Paul into exploring the lakes below us next summer.
This a one and a half hour hike to the top of the crack.I enjoyed meeting Gary and hope to be in touch in the near future for another advendure.
For more info on Killarney Provincial Park you can check out there website
http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/kill.html
Paul Smith’s website is here so check it out too.
http://paulsmithphotography.ca/
So until next time happy trails
