As I was crawling over rocks alone the Lake Superior shoreline one evening. I looked down ahead of me . There before me was an ancient lava flow like it was yesterday. Incredible.
I set up the camera equipment among the rocks. It was a quiet evening, The sun was on the horizon soon to disappear. Not before it went out in a blaze of glory. As I was photographing everything turned to red.
My two week trip to Lake Superior has concluded. A base camp was set up at Pancake Bay Provincial Park. I highly recommend staying here. Beautiful beach at this park. I spent many hours exploring the coastline and photographing. It is always a joy to walk the sandy and stone beaches. I climbed over rocky structures looking for the next shot. If you are observant, there are many geological observations to be made here.
I had seen the worn ribbon tied to a tree just off the highway a number of times. Therefore one evening I decided that I had to check it out. Normally marker ribbons are placed for a reason as a marker. Gathering up my photo equipment, it was time to check it out. Sure enough a well beaten trail materialized through the grass leading into the woods. This trail weaved its way through the dense woods of lichen covered trees to emerge upon a small cove. The beach was of pebbles. There were free standing rock forms scattered around. I walked behind a huge rock formation onto the scene you see above. It is amazing what the forces of Lake Superior can create. If you let your imagination loose, you can imagine that you are observing rock sculptures in the form of prehistoric animals. A very unique location indeed.
It was still early evening. I did create a few compositions. The best lighting was yet to come. It would be a couple hours of waiting to get the compositions I wanted. Meanwhile I checked out the composition of these rock forms. They appear to be sedimentary in structure. One thing of note was the fair size stones embedded in the material. As erosion occurred the stones would fall out. What remained was small cavities where the stones had been.
I photographed the above scene before the sun left. Wonderful lighting with a touch of good sky for the background. I actually climbed up another rock to get this composition. At times a bit of height improves upon your shot. Well that is it for now. Just waiting for the fall colors to appear. Then back up to Lake Superior again. Until next time happy trails.
Algoma, a land of rugged scenery. Canadian artists have come here to paint and photograph over the years. A popular destination of the Group of Severn. A land covered in old growth trees. I drove up to Pancake Bay on September 22, 2014. Upon turning North out of Sault Ste Maria the scenery becomes awash with color and rolling hills stretching for miles. I drove into Pancake Provincial Park, whereby I set up my base camp to work from. The weather turned out warm and sunny during the week that I was here. The Fall colors were in full swing.
The next morning bright and sunny, I drove to the Voyageur Restaurant. There I met a friend Brian King and his pal Joe. With map and coffee in hand we all sat at the picnic table that was available. Joe was born and raised in this part of the country. I was able to get quite a bit of info on were to explore. It was my quest to explore the back country here in the Batchewana area. There are many roads to chose from. Some were in excellent shape to a few that were a little rough at times. But they were all quite manageable. My favorite road turned out to be logging road that was at the present being used by a logging company. Once I came to know the schedule of the workers I could then plan my shots. The good thing they were all finished working by 6:00 pm and heading home. The logging trucks were my main concern. If you meet these guys pull over.
Along this road I found five good compositions to work with. This particular scene was a swampy area with lots of color. I had a hill in the background. Water for reflections. Points of land on either side with Maples in full color. The reflections worked really well to fill in the foreground. Your eye follows the water to the background. The two points of land keep you focused on the back of the photo.
Like I said previously it was a great week to be here. The joys of travelling these roads through tunnels of Maples in full color to cresting a hill to a colorful view of another hill ahead. Then descending down into another wealth of color. Travelling along the side of a hill with a stream flowing below you. I managed to get in a fishing trip with my new found friend Joe. We caught a few Speckled Trout. Had a great time together. Looking forward to more of this. I also met quite a few folks in and around the Voyageur Restaurant area. It became routine to stop in for a cup of coffee in the afternoon. When people know what you are doing they will be glad to fill you in on the good scenic spots. Getting off the beating path can produce some great work.
This coming Saturday at the Killarney Mountain Lodge, Killarney, Ontario, my good friend Andy Lowe will be holding a concert where upon he will be releasing his new cd. For a sample of Andy’s work check out this video,
So until next time happy trails
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Ken Bennison's Photography 