Tag Archives: Northern Ontario

Photography

Getting In Tight

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ChutesProvincialPark_2695

The flow of water. Unique rock structure with strong earth colors. Ferns turning a rusty red in the bottom left. Touch of red from a Maple shrub in bottom right corner. This all adds up to a beautiful composition. I came across this scene on my Fall trip to Chutes Provincial Park, just North of Massey, Ontario. As a matter of fact, I first discovered it on my original trip along this stretch of the Aux Sable River a few years back. The passing of time alters a scene.

This is a very tight composition. It allows for more creativity. You have water flowing in, then flowing out at bottom right. I maintained my f22 with shutter speeds set at 1.3 sec. This allowed me to capture detail in the water. That is very important to me as I like water to have character and life.

Check my Fine Art Prints section. I have added a new composition to the selections. It is titled Paradise Lagoon. I received an honorable mention at the 2013 Landscape Exhibition by MyArtContest

http://myartcontest.com/index.html

This is a very beautiful location. The water is turquoise blue. There are a series of waterfalls in an approximately half mile of river.  It is located North of Sudbury, Ontario in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake locality. If you are looking for an unique composition to hang on your wall, this could be it.

I would like to bring to your attention the outstanding work of wildlife and pet portrait artist Colette Theriault. Colette has won many awards for her work. She resides in the Greater City of Sudbury. Check her website to view her work.

http://www.colettetheriault.com/

I will be at the Annual Christmas and Gift Show this weekend. It is located at Confederation Secondary School in Val Caron.

Saturday from 10 to 4

Sunday from 11 to 3

Well I must go and continuing packing. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time happy trails

Photography

The Chippewa Falls

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ChipawaFalls

About 30 miles North of Sault Ste Marie, one will come upon the Chippewa Falls. It is quite visible from Hwy 17. The Chippewa River empties into Lake Superior a short distance away. On our trip up to Wawa last October, Maureen and I stopped in to have a look at the falls. There was a fair amount of water cascading down due to all the rain that fell this Fall. We parked in the available parking lot. There were fishermen here below the falls fishing the pools for fall run salmon. I walked up along the trail that followed the river to observe were I might get the best shot. I selected the above location for my composition. I had a point of rock for my foreground. This also created depth in the photo. The water exits out of the bottom left corner and enters at the top right corner.

It was still cloudy to achieve even lighting and give the colored leafs more saturation. I quickly set up my tripod and my Canon EOS 7D. I knew the lighting was going to change very soon as blue sky was appearing in the distance. The final result was what you see above. The Fall color in background to give you the time of year. The rugged rocks along the river that have very good color. The force and energy of the flowing water add dynamics to the overall effects of the composition.

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

Photography

Buried In Sand

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Pukaskwa_0872Deep1

 

I came across this piece of driftwood buried in the sand at Pukaskaw National Park. I was strolling the beach closes to the Pik River. It was late one evening as I was set up to compose another composition, that I looked behind me and saw the above scene. So I thought I would wait until the sun went down and the colors would warm up. There is so much detail to be found in this piece of wood along with the minuet patterns in the sand. This all about earth colors. This also simplicity.

Winter seems to have set in here now. Snow on the ground, cold winds and temperatures. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Clear Lake, Grundy Provincial Park

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GrundyProPark_ClearLake_0069

With a quick lunch yesterday, Maureen and I head down to Grundy Provincial Park to continue exploring. The temperature was 3 Celsius as we started our hike. I stopped in at the visitor building to let the people in the office know we where here. After a brief chat we went on our way down the main road. We soon turned off onto the road leading to Clear Lake. You can see Clear Lake from the highway. Maureen remarked how quiet it was as we walked. It is not often that you get a park all to yourself. One thing that I was impressed with is the large spacious campsites that are here.

Upon arrival at Clear Lake, I was soon set up and photographing along the shoreline. The South end of Clear Lake offers some good locations to photograph. There was thin ice to be found on the lake surface. The above composition was one of captures that day. I was attracted by the two clumps of Juniper bushes that were now a rustic reddish color. The stump against the rock was unique. I had two small rocks for the foreground. The ice gives a sense of time. The lovely textures of the rock  point adds to the overall effect. It was one of those days were the sunlight was diffused due to the type of cloud cover that day.

At this time of year I do not think that there is an evening to speak of. I am basically now photographing late afternoon to get the good lighting. With a good hike ahead of us, it was time to head back to the vehicle. We arrived back just as it was getting dark. Grundy is about an hours drive from Sudbury.

We arrived home feeling good after an afternoon of fresh air. There was a nice hot stew awaiting us. A great end to an excellent day. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Grundy Provincial Park

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GrundyProvPark_GurdLake

This past week I had the opportunity to do some exploring in Grundy Provincial Park. The park is closed for the season now. We parked our vehicle outside the main entrance. Gerard Leduc was my partner for the trip. It was a very nice afternoon. A fresh coolness on the air as we walked among the pines and maples. Quiet and peaceful at this time of year without the seasonal campers. We attempted to take the Gut Lake trail but encountered an overflowing creek that prevented us from continuing on. We then picked up a route that ran between Gut Lake and Gurd Lake. As we walked we spotted a couple of Ruffed Grouse along the way. This trail ended at the Gurd Lake dam. We backtracked and followed the road until we came opposite Picnic Island on Gurd Lake. We noticed a small point with a pine tree growing basically on top of the rock. Cloud cover was moving in now. I saw a cluster of boulders that would make for a good foreground. The rock point was sloping towards the water. The reddish pine needles in the rock crevices added texture to the scene. You can see the roots of the tree running over the rock. I added just a touch of green in the foreground to balance the color. The moon is just visible at the top of the photo. I also added the second pine tree on the right. I just showed enough of the larger tree to balance out the composition. The sunset was poor, but you can see some color on the horizon in the background. Surprisingly the wind did calm down enough to allow some reflections. But on the whole I kept the water to a minimum. This shot was taken at 2.5 sec at f22. The result was the above composition.

Well that is it for now. I am just waiting for a break in the weather here. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.

Photography, Poetry

Come Sit With Me

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ChutesProvincialPark_2705

Come sit with me

By the meandering stream

That flows through the forest

Listen to the water

Flowing freely among the rocks

Listen to the wind

Singing in the tree tops

Inhale the rich earthly smell

Of the forest around us

See the dainty wildflowers

Nodding in the wind

An array of vibrant color

A moss coloured log

Lies before us

Rich in green and brown

Slowly being reclaimed

Back to the earth

The voice of a songbird

Singing his colourful melodies

Amongst  the low growing shrubs

Declaring  his everlasting love

To his nearby mate

High up in a Red Pine

A noisy red squirrel

Chatters and scolds a chipmunk

With puffed out cheeks

Sitting  on a stump

A cotton tail rabbit

Hops into the clearing

Feeding along the forest edge

Always alert to danger

A chorus of song

Can be heard by the stream

It is the music of frogs

Quietly a whitetail doe

Steps from the forest

Approaches the streams edge

Alert for danger

She turns her head

Two spotted fawns emerge

From the forest shadows

To join their watchful mother

The doe lowers its muzzle

To the clear cold stream

Quenching her thirst

As the fawns explore

Then silently as they came

They faded into the woods

Evening is fast approaching

The woods are darkening

The sun is lowering

Soon to be gone

Shadows have lengthening now

It is time to head home

The trail beckons us

The stars will guide us

On our journey home

This poem is about slowing life down and enjoying the intimate world of nature.

To enjoy your surroundings and a relaxing way to observe the woods in your area away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

The above photo was taken in Chutes Provincial Park.

There was a nice bit of color on the far shoreline.

Using the rocks in midstream of the Aux Sable River as my lead in I created the above composition.

Well the weather has changed here to rain and in the upcoming week snow flurries. The temperatures are now dropping.

So until next time happy trails

Photography

My Home In The North

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I have worked with singer, songwriter Andy Lowe to produce a music video with his song My Home In The North along with my photographic work. The music video has been posted on YouTube for your viewing.

 

Photography

Chutes Provincial Park

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ChutesProvincialPark_2756

Late Monday afternoon I loaded up my gear and drove up to Massey, Ontario. Chutes Provincial Park was my destination. After parking my Ford Escape I hiked the trails along the Aux Sable River. Being too early to photograph, I searched along the river for compositions to work with later in the evening.

The river was running high. The moss on the rocks were wet. You could see were the water was seeping out of the moss and wetting the rock faces. The Fall colors here were not the greatest. But there was enough to work with. The rocks along the river here have character due to water action over the years. After completing my hike, I had a couple hours of wait time. I drove up the Massey Tote Road to visit a good friend Rob Bouchard. Rob is very knowledgeable about the area. It was soon time to head back to Chutes Provincial Park for my evening shot.

Upon arrival I sat at a picnic table to enjoy a quick sandwich. Then it was time to gather up the gear and start photographing. As I hiked the trail I would stop at the various locations and set my tripod and Canon 7D to get the photograph. I soon made my way up to the bridge at the North end of the Park. The sun was now below the horizon and there was a pink cast in the sky.

I had observed this spot earlier and loved the way the water flowed, The rock formations, a little bit of Fall color. As I stood there now I spotted a touch of pink here and there in the water. There also was a pink glow on some of the rocks. This was a result of parts of the rock surfaces being wet. I quickly set up the Canon 7D on the tripod and went to work. This is a 20 second shot at f22. With Photo shop I was able to bring out some detail in the water to give the feel of motion. Where there was white water you are able to observe that too. The pink coloring in the water is from the evening sky. I showed just enough sky to tell you the sunset was a pinkish glow.

As I was photographing an American couple came by and we started chatting. I now was finish photographing, so I said I would walk out with them. They were staying the night at the campsite. We parted company when I reached my vehicle. One of the joys of my work is meeting wonderful folks along the way. It is always a pleasure to chat with these people.

Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. Always look forward to your visits. Until next time happy trails.

Photography

A Humid Day

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ParadiseLagoon_2097

 

Tuesday morning came as a wet cloudy affair. I spent the morning getting caught up with my work. Just before lunch I looked out the window to notice that it had stopped raining. There was a mist to be seen and the wind was almost non existing. With a quick lunch, I loaded up my gear and headed up to Paradise Lagoon. As I traveled the Matagamasi Road I stopped here and there to capture various scenes that attracted me. The humidity was high. It was a bright cloudy day. Everything was wet and there was a mist in the air. This made for some intense colors. The forest vegetation is changing color now.

As I was photographing by a lake, a truck came around the bend in the road. They stopped and I was asked if I knew the way to Wolf Mountain. Giving them directions I told them I was going to Paradise Lagoon. If they liked I would take them there. I loaded up my gear and off we went. We soon arrived at the side road and parked. Loading up my gear I lead the way up the bush road to the trail that takes you to Paradise Lagoon. Being so humid we were all soaked from sweat and the water coming off the trees. After our arrival and quick look around we parted company.

The above shot was a location that I wanted to capture previously. Due to high water I was not able to. I removed my running shoes and socks, but then after observing the rocks in the water I decided to put my running shoes back on. There was some pretty sharp looking rocks under the water. Using my tripod as a walking stick I cautiously waded the stream till I was in position. I now was knee deep in water. The intensity of the rock colors was vibrant There is enough greenery to offset that with the water being on the dark side due to the cloudy skies. The water felt good running around my legs and was not cold.

No matter how many times you return to a location there is always something new to find. The lighting is different. The water levels change and the various seasons have an effect.

Well that is it for this week. I am busy getting ready for the Anderson Fall Fair this Saturday. The Anderson Farm Museum is located in Lively Ontario. I will be set at the stable with my work from 10 to 4. So if you are in the area stop by for a fun time. My running shoes are still drying out from the episode in the river, but I got the photo that I wanted.

So until next time happy trails

Photography

Keep it Simple

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FoxLakeRd_1956

 

It was late Sunday afternoon when I turned off Hwy 144 North of Onaping onto the Chicago Mine Road. It was a beautiful sunny day with cloud cover. The wind was minimal. I drove past Windy Lake Provincial Park. It seemed to be closed for the season. There are a number of small  lakes along this stretch of road. I was heading to the Ladder on John’s Creek. It is located off of Fox Lake Road.

As I drove along I spotted the above scene on the far shore of a small lake by the road. The lighting was beautiful and it was fairly calm water with the slight ripple. I set up my tripod. Mounted my Canon 7D. I switched to the Canon 70 to 200 L Series lens. My objective here was for a tight vertical shot without overloading the composition. Keep it simple. We have a lot of vertical lines here in the form of tree trunks. They add a grey cast to offset the greens and yellows.

On the shoreline there is a nice clump of shrubs growing to give depth. The sun is to the right and as it is getting later in the year it is much lower to the horizon, allowing for some very good lighting. The sun is casting light on various parts of the scene. I used only a small portion of the reflections for a better effect. What you have here is basically 1/3 water and 2/3 forest. This is like taken a pair of scissors and cutting out the part of the scene you want.

I have added a new print available for sale. It can be found in the Fine Art Prints section on my blog.

I received an honorable mention at the My Art 2013 juried Landscape Completion

http://myartcontest.com/winners-feb.html

I will be set up at the Anderson Farm Fall Fair in Lively Ontario this coming Saturday.

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