Tag Archives: rocks

The River Flows

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The idea of this composition is to show the beautiful rock texture and the color of the water. With that in mind I have my flow in with the waterfalls in background. Flow out of the water at the bottom right corner of the composition. The tripod was set low to eliminate some water in the upper pool. On the left of the composition the rock in foreground gives added depth. I experimented with various shutter speeds to obtain character in the water. The water here is a wonderful turquoise blue. There is just enough green to give a final touch. There is also a little wildflower growing on the rock in the foreground. This location was in the Wolf Lake area North of Kukagami Lake region.

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

The Color of Black

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While photographing at Pukaskaw National Park I became fascinated with the rock structures that can be found along the Lake Superior shorelines. The coastline here is broken and rugged. This is a result of relentless wind and wave action. The rocks are volcanic in nature and very smooth. The color of black is very dominant in theses rock structures.

I found this rock structure at the West end  of the largest beach near the Pic River. I set up low and close to the rock structure. I had a brownish color in the rocks in the foreground that became a rich brown or slightly golden as the sun retreated below the horizon. The sun was actually setting opposite to me below the rocks. If you follow the rock s you will notice that it tapers down in the background. The sand is no longer white at the time I took this composition. It has taken on the color hues of the sky. You have a sense of habitat with the sand, a little bit of Lake Superior in the background and scattered driftwood.

On July 27,28 is the 2013 Friends of Killarney Art Show and Sale. Come for a visit and chat with the many artists who will be there.

http://www.killarneyartshow.com/index.html

Well that is it for this week. I will be floating the French River this week for 3 days with my canoe. Thank you for stopping by and the wonderful comments that have come my way. Until next time Happy Trails.

Of Times Past

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As I strolled the beaches in Pukaskaw National Park, I was on the lookout for something unique to photograph. In Horse Bay I came across a large chain attached to a piece of driftwood and buried in the sand. This chain probably comes from the time of logging in this area. The chains were used to hold the large timbers together to create log booms to haul to market.

I elected to shoot this composition vertically to keep things tight and not become over crowded. Thus the focal point is the chain and driftwood piece. At the same time you get at sense of the location. Which is a sandy beach, lots of driftwood, shoreline and sky. There is even rock in the background. The beaches on Lake superior are loaded with driftwood at the high water mark.

This weekend is the start of the 36th La Cloche Art Show. If you are in the area go and check it out. Well that is it for this week. Until next time happy trails

Isle Of Light

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During an evening shoot at Bassfin Lake, I had an opportunity to capture the above scene. This consisted of a rocky island with stunted trees on it. The problem here was that the island bound trees under normal lighting would blend into the tree covered shoreline behind it. As the evening sun lowered to the horizon, the trees on the island lit up beautifully. There was now the separation that I was looking for. The sky became an orange color that also highlighted the trees. There is quite a bit of detail on the rocks themselves. There is a very nice touch of lighting highlighting trees in the middle ground. The angle of the sun in relationship to the island made this composition possible. It is all about the lighting.

The  36th Annual La Cloche  Art Show is upcoming. For entry forms and dates check here.

http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/

At the moment the “Art Impact” Juried Art Show is now on.

I have two pieces of my work selected at the show.

More info is available here.

http://www.artistsonelgin.ca/index.php/events/juried-art-show

. Until next time happy trails

The Waterfalls

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The above location was captured on my first trip up the Matagamasi Road. This is the second waterfalls in this stretch of water between two lakes. Silvester Lake and Matagamasi Lake. The water is flowing quite high at the moment. Later in the summer there will be more rock exposures. The rock structures here are quite colorful in the low light.

The above  composition is a result of taking two overlapping shots vertically. I placed some rocks on the left for my lead in. The forest vegetation in upper part of photo creates a partial frame for the waterfalls. There is a lovely green tinge on the water surface.

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

A Magical Pool

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The past Saturday morning dawned cloudy with mist. I drove into Jan Winther’s driveway around 7:30. We loaded up our gear. First stop was Tim Horton’s to grab some coffee. Our goal was to travel up the Matagamasi Road to explore for photographic possibilities. We headed out of Sudbury travelling East on Hwy 17. In a short time we turned onto the Kukagami Road and headed North. It was not long before we reached the Matagamasi Road turnoff. The gravel road was in good condition.

As we traveled, Jan and I scouted out the various lakes we passed along the road. There were a number of locations that were worth while to come back to. As we drove further North the country became more and more hilly. It is very heavily forested here. There is also logging in progress up here. Being the week-end I had no worries about logging trucks. They do not operate on week-ends. We soon left the lakeside homes and were now traveling in wilderness areas. As we drove along a moose appeared in front of us. It ambled up the road and disappeared back into the bush.

Our goal for this trip was to locate a series of waterfalls further North. Paul Smith set me up for the location. We were now in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake. This area contains the largest expanse of old growth Red Pine. This wilderness area is in pristine country. It has protected status. I will be journeying up to Wolf Lake in the near future. For now  I will look for the waterfalls location. Using both map and GPS, Jan and I soon found our jump off point. As we loaded up our camera gear it started to rain. Hiking up an old logging road, the rain continuing to fall, we were soon drenched. Walking down the road, a marshy area came into view. This part of the road was totally flooded. Checking my GPS we discovered that we were now off course. Backtracking on the road, we soon discovered a trail heading in the direction we wanted to go. It was soon discovered that this was a well used trail. As we approached the waterway the sound of running water came to our ears.

Upon arrival we were enthralled by the beauty of this series of small waterfalls nestled among the rocks. The water was crystal clear. The rocks were colorful. The water flow was quite fast now. By now we were water logged from the rain. As a matter of fact it was now coming down harder. We elected to head back to the vehicle and have lunch. I tell you the mosquito population is quite heavy up here. Just before we arrived back at the Ford Escape the Heavens opened more and the rain was now deluging everything.   There was water running everywhere and puddles were there was none before. About an hour and a half later the rain stopped. I headed back to the waterfalls and Jan elected to stay in the vehicle.

This is a very magical location. The photo above is of the upper pool. There is just a hint of a waterfalls cascading down through the rocks into a crystal clear pool of water. I used rocks for the foreground to enclose the pool. The boughs of the cedars are very lacy looking here. A hint of color by the red fallen pine needles on the rocks. Using this effect I hope to create that magical effect in a very special locale. You could close your eyes and hear elves and children of the woods splashing in the pool. These are locations were you can tune out the world. You hear the sound of water tumbling along. The quiet whisper of the wind in the cedars. There is no better place to be.

While that is  it for now. Thank you for stopping by. I hope that I have created a magical moment for you. Until next time happy trails.

North of Capreol Part 2

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After discovering the stream mentioned in the previous post, Jan Winther and I returned late in the afternoon to photograph the series of small waterfalls that are here. When we arrived the sunlight was blowing the highlights on the water. It was a couple hours before we could commence shooting. The above waterfalls was the first location as the stream dropped in elevation making its way to the North River. At the base of the waterfalls it was a mess of downed trees and other junk. I set up to the left of the waterfalls to exclude the mess. Also I like to photograph these type of scenes at a bit of an angle. This gives the water depth and dimension. If you photograph a waterfalls dead on it becomes flat looking. You must create the illusion of depth in your work. I will also do creative sharpening on the foreground to enhance this effect.

Now I had protruding rock on the left along with a good chunk of rock in the foreground. I created a composition of one third of forest and two thirds water falls looking at it vertically. You have to know were the water came from, which you can see through the cedar trees and you have an exit point at lower right in the composition. There is a lot of structure detail in the rocks. The cedar boughs have a color range from light to dark green. Almost looks like light from the sun painting some of the boughs. This helps also to create a very nice composition.

As we progressed into evening a few black flies started to appear. Welcome to Northern Ontario. They mainly hovered around us but did not seem to have any interest in biting us. Well that is it for this week. Thank you for coming by. Until next time happy trails

The Reflective Side of Nature

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In this photo a unique lighting has been created. You have the lighting from the late evening sun drenching the rocks  in the background. Thus creating an orange like hue on the rocks. The rocks in the foreground are now darker for the sun no longer affects them. But there is still a touch of lighting on the rocks to the left. This is what helps to add character to a composition. It is the little detail. There is a nice green tinge to the water in the foreground. This is due to the sun striking the evergreens on the far bank and reflecting on the water. If it had been a little earlier the water would be a golden color due to the stronger strength of the sunlight.

This week I received an Award of excellence for one of my compositions.

You can see the selected works here.

http://www.exhibitionswithoutwalls.com/?page_id=5221

Well that is it for this week. For everyone in this part of the world have a safe Victoria weekend. Until next time happy trails

Missing Ball

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I came upon this composition on the French River one late summer morning. The rock structure in front of me was fabulous. It had color and a great amount of texture to go with it. I also put a bit of green grass in the foreground to add contrast. There was an island in front of me. I used a small portion of this island as my background. There is lots of color on and around theses rock formations. In between the water was calm. This gave me great reflections to tie in everything from front to back. You can also see the bottom of the river in the foreground for a nice effect. When I first looked at this composition I noticed a small beach ball by the grass, floating in the water. I can not remember whether I had seen this when I took the composition.

Thank you everyone for stopping by. So until next time happy trails.

Morning On The French

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A beautiful late summer morning on the French River, French River Provincial Park. As you can see in the composition above the early morning light is illuminating the scene on the left. The rocks on the far shore are now highlighted by the morning light. A touch of mist to add to the mood.You will notice that there are rocks in shadow where the sun has yet to appear.

Our snowstorm is over and looking forward to warmer weather now. Well that is it for now. Until next time happy trails