Tag Archives: Park

Grundy Provincial Park

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.

Capturing The Moment

Every once in a while you capture a scene that really catches your eye.With a combination  of color,mist and mood imparted before you.The lighting highlights on the trees,the soft mist to create the overall feel.There is a beached canoe on shore suggesting a campsite.As I was about to take this composition a small flock of Canada Geese flew in and landed.They quietly swam into a little cove.If you look close you can just make them out.I had to wait until the water calmed down again before beginning to record this shot.I had been walking the shore line of the French River at the Flat Rapids Campsite early one morning when I happened upon this particular site.

Now this was a large scene before me,so I took two shots overlapping about 40 % to create a small pano.This composition will most likely end up being a 20 x 50 gallery wrap.I am always happy when I can produce a scene as shown above that exemplifies  the beauty of our land.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              This is one thing that I hope that through my work in our wilderness that I can show people the  pristine conditions of our many wilderness locations and what our Provincial Parks have done to preserve these special locations.The two Provincial Parks that I have explored come to mind.Killarney Provincial Park and the French River Provincial Park.To be on location to observe those special moments,when there is not a breath of air to be felt,calm waters reflecting and the presence of mist that so alters the scene before you into one of a calming mood at the start of a new day.Here you are away from the hustle bustle of civilization.Just you one on one with nature.So let us keep it this way, so many more can enjoy.This is our land so lets preserve it.

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

A Great Day at The Park

4:00 am comes early.I had about an hour and a half drive to Killarney Provincial Park to catch the dawn shooting.Stopping at Tim Hortons for a take out coffee I was soon on Hwy 69 heading South. The drive was uneventful and I was soon parked at the main campsite on George Lake.The wind was blowing over the lake which meant no photographing that morning.I now had to wait till evening and hope that the wind would calm down.

I past most of the day by going into the village of Killarney and parking in the Park by George Lake and reading my ebook.At 3:00 pm I loaded up my gear and started hiking into Little  Sheguiandah Lake. It was a hot,humid afternoon.The mountains were hazy.As I breasted the first ridge puffing a bit I met a couple coming back out.We chatted about photography for a few minutes before I continued on.At this time of year Killarney Provincial Park is a very busy place.I made my way around to the East side of Little Sheguiandah Lake. As I approached the shoreline of George Lake I noticed a fair number of people swimming.There is only a very narrow piece of worn rock separating Little Sheguiandah Lake from George Lake.I found myself a shady spot under a Pine tree and now had to wait till evening

By evening the wind calmed down and I proceeded to photograph around Little  Sheguiandah Lake.Once done I made my way back to A Y Jackson Lake. I arrived  at A Y Jackson to a nice calm surface.There was a couple sitting on the rock that I usually set up to do my shooting.I asked if I may set up my tripod beside them.They responded that it was okay.As I was setting up  the couple were asking about the North Country.This was there first trip this far North and were heading to Sault Ste. Marie  the next day

As I was standing there my eye was drawn to a point on my right.The trees were glowing on this small point of land.The sun near the horizon was going in and out of the clouds.Being hot and humid there was some interesting lighting being created on the scene that I composed as shown above.Darkness was soon approaching as I made my way back down to my Ford Escape.Happy and tired I was on my way home.Another great day at the park.

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