It is Springtime on the Aux Sable River. Swirling water and rock structure.
If you remember Rainbow Country, this a part of river them filmed an episode
Tag Archives: Spring
Beautiful Warm Sunny Days
Spring has come and gone
The rainy season is over
Summer has arrived
In the mountains of Nicaragua
Beautiful warm sunny days
The land has become parched
Leaves have fallen
Over the dry land
Share this:
Spring Thaw
A freshening south wind
Caresses the frozen land
A bright and sunny day
The warmth of spring
Blankets the snow bound terrain
The spring thaw has begun
A river flows beneath
The burden of winter
The snow laden evergreens
Line the river’s edge
The relentless winter winds
Has turned the exposed snow
Into sculptured forms of art
The smooth crust of snow
Formed into humps and valleys
Where the shadows play
Embellishing the exposed snow
The river has burst forth
From its winter blanket
Surging water slowly appears
Creating pools of tea colored water
To disappear once again
Beneath the melting ice
To reappear downriver
Charging on in the
Warmth of spring
With the sun dropping
Below the distant tree line
There is a chill
In the spring air
Long shadows are cast
With a hint of blue
Upon the stark white land
Interspersed with exposed rocks
The approach of evening
Heralds the end of the day
With a display of subdued lighting
Share this:
Morning at Cave Lake
On my trip to Cave Lake I had hiked there on my own. I spent the night in my tent alone. It actually went better than I expected. A person seems to develop acute hearing during the night and I am deaf. You can start hearing sounds that are real or imaginary. But all in all I survived the night. I woke up to a beautiful morning with the local black fly population waiting for me. They were thick.
Walking along the shoreline I came across this small rock point jutting out into the lake. There were no clouds in the sky as per usual. I set up my tripod and Canon 7D to place the rock point to the right in my composition. By chosen to have the rock point angled to the center of my composition you can get more of a 3D effect in your work. It also allowed me to eliminate some of the lake surface. I showed just a touch of shoreline in the foreground bottom right. There were some small rocks and grass there. The small rocks allowed for a comparison of boulder size in relationship to the rock point. There is a lot of detail in the rock structures to be found. The reflections allow for an almost 3D effect of the rock point. There is a piece of broken wood on the rock edge for added interest. The green vegetation breaks up the rock color for a better appeal.
I was able to have the far treeline angle down into the center of the composition from the top left. I kept the sky to a minimum here. You can notice the fresh green of the Maples among the evergreens. You get this effect well into June. This gives you various shades of green for better contrast. One of the things you have to be aware of is that you have to disturb the blackflies in front of your lense. If not you can get a nice looking blurry spot on your photo.
Well that is all for now. So until next time happy trails.
Share this:
Spring Thaw
This past Sunday I headed back up to High Falls for another shoot. A beautiful sunny afternoon with a temperature of 10 C. The snow had deteriorated since the week before. Being much softer you had a tenancy to sink once in awhile. I walked the trail to the bridge above the falls. It was walk up, then walk down. The snow was also slippery in spots.
The river had opened up a fair bit. The roar of rushing water quite noticeable. The volume of water was higher from my previous trip. There was more open water to work with. The snow surface was now pitted from the hot sun. Chunks of ice were floating down river. The water was dark with a heavy yellow tinge. I composed the above scene to emphasize the chaotic nature of a Spring thaw on a waterfalls. I emphasized the dramatic flow of water. The chunks of ice breaking off from the river’s edge adds great detail.
This is probably my last trip here until the snows has melted. It won’t be long until the river is fully open and the volume of water too high for effective photographing. As I was waiting for the evening lighting, I met up with a gentleman on the trail. He was carrying a Pentax DSR. We had a good chat for awhile. We then moved off in different directions.
This weekend is the Sudbury Art Club’s Spring Show and Exhibition. If you are in the area please join us. While that is it for now. Until next time, happy trails
Share this:
Sculptured by Nature
What a beautiful day this past Sunday. Plus 6 C and lots of sun. I spent a late afternoon and evening exploring High Falls looking for possible compositions. The above capture was the last photo I took that evening. The shapes and patterns of the snow and ice are very interesting. My goal here was to put all theses forms into a composition. When you look at the sculptured snow and ice you can see a tremendous amount of detail. On the snow on the left you can see scoured lines leading down and towards the middle of the scenes. I placed a bit of water in the left bottom to give some color contrast. There are remarkable amount of detail along the waters edge. By placing the right hand curved piece in the foreground I accomplished more depth to the scene.
Do not forget to join me and my fellow artists at the Sudbury Art Club’s Spring Show and Exhibition on April 11TH, 12th, 13Th, 2014
Well that is it until next time. Happy trails
Share this:
When The Hills Light Up
A hot Spring day. Time to head for the hills. I loaded up my camera gear and fishing equipment into my Ford Escape. It was late afternoon when I headed North of Capreol. I retraced my route from last week . I drove up to the North River where I crossed over and continued North. Three times I had to pull over to allow logging trucks to pass by. They have the right of way. The gravel roads up here are narrow.
On my first trip up here I had spotted a nice piece of rock face up in the hills. Great lighting on the trees and a unique rock face with character. I figured that I would stop here in the evening on the way back and photograph the scene. The hill had lost its uniqueness by evening due to there being no lighting on the trees. This location has just been logged over. Thus exposing the rock face from the road. When I arrived late afternoon yesterday, the lighting was wonderful. I hiked up an exposed ridge to get a clear view of my subject. The wind was quite strong and gusting. I bumped my iso up to 400. This allowed for a shutter speed of 250 to stop the wind movement. The clouds were moving fairly quickly so it was a matter of watching the lighting and waiting for some decent clouds to pass by in a nice blue sky.
Finishing up I headed further North. There were a couple of lads standing by some forestry equipment so I stopped for a bit of conversation. Always nice to talk to people up here as you can pick up useful information on the area you are travelling in. Moving on I reached the 45 km mark and parked by the river. Time for supper. I set up my chair and cooler at the edge of the river in the shade of a clump of trees. It is so nice to do this. With the sound of the river flowing by. A nice wind to keep you cool. Very few blackflies to annoy you. Even the smell is good. Finishing my supper I retrieved my fishing gear and proceeded to make a few casts. It was still too early to catch any Walleye. But a good way to pass some time waiting for evening to approach.
Well that is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails
Share this:
Birch Grove
A grove of birch trees
By the shores of
An ice-covered lake
The stark white trunks
Emerging from the mist
On an early Spring morning
Reddish-brown leaves
From Fall past
Carpet the barren ground
Among the standing birch
No stirring of wildlife
Is to be seen
A place of peaceful stillness
A well beaten path
Meanders through the birch grove
Beckons a wayward traveller
To places that are beyond
Share this:
A Spring day at Killarney Provincil Park
I drove into Paul Smith’s yard and told him he had three choices,stay home and do his own thing,Go photographing Sandhill Cranes or go to Killarney.It did not take Paul long to make up his mind.Killarney it was.We both enjoyed a cup of coffee before hitting the road to Killarney.This was not a well planned trip as we did not pack any lunch or water.It was a spur of the moment adventure.
The sky was cloudy with a light breeze,but there was no rain in the forecast.I drove into the Killarney Provincial Park parking lot.We proceeded to walk into the office and store where Paul conversed with a park official whom he knew.He showed us where to go to get good scenic views on George Lake and off we went.I drove through the camping area down to the beach area and parked.I noticed that there was a few campers here.
We noticed a rock outcrop in a small bay and headed in that direction.I fell in love with the parallel lines the rocks made into the water and if you count you will find there are eight points projecting into the bay.I set up my camera and tripod to capture the angle that you see and I also photo tight.I did not want to show broad leaf trees as they are still bare at this time.The wind was very light so it was a matter of waiting for a calm moment to capture some reflection in the water.I probably spent an hour and a half in this set up as the lighting kept changing.I shot the above photo with a zoom setting of 70 mm, the shutter speed set to 1/6 sec @ f22,I was able to capture this pleasing composition.
Walking along the beach I noticed two rocks positioned one ahead of the other in front of a point of land.The water was calm and the reflection was perfect.I took three shots here to create a panoramic. I also kept things tight here as there was swathes of leafless trees in the background.I shot this series of photos with a zoom setting of 100 mm nd the shutter speed set at 0.3 sec @ f22.
As I scanned the far shoreline I noticed this beautiful rock reflecting into the water.But what really caught my eye was the clump of birches also reflecting into the water.I put the two elements together in this photo by adjusting the position of the camera and tripod and came up with this composition.Unfortunately there is a dock in front of the rock,but I can live with it.
The Poplar are now in flower while the Maple and Oaks have a reddish tinge to them now.It will not be long until Spring will be in full swing.Please check out my good friend Jan Winther’s new photographic blog.I am sure you will enjoy it.
So until next time,happy trails.
Share this:
A Spring Outing
The sun was shining,the sky was blue and Paul Smith and myself headed up the Westbranch to see what was available to photograph.I had just traded in my Canon Tsi Dsr for a Canon 7D.This was a chance to try out the 7D and become familiar with it.
This is actually a pretty drab time of year with not a whole lot of color and the ice and remaining snow being on the dirty side.The Wakonasin was ice free for the most part.I did not find the water levels very high for this time of year.
Our destination was Gordon Chutes about 30 km up the Westbranch.Upon arrival we decided to sit and enjoy a hot cup of tea and blueberry muffin before hiking along the river.We hiked up to the upper end of the falls and I was able to do some tight shots with the rocks and water flow.The above photo was a result of that.I used the rocks and water flow to design my composition.The rocks have a pleasing color to them and you will see that the small pool has green colored water.I shot the scene with the zoom at 135.The shutter speed was set at 1/13 of a sec with f22.This allowed me to achieve definition in the water that I always strive to accomplish when the water flow is fairly fast.When you have detail in the water you give the water character.
Later in the day a fine cloud cover came in and changed our lighting.The wind was cold as is typical at this time of year.I was more than please with my new Canon 7D and I am looking forward to many more outings with the camera.That is it for this week,so for now happy trails.
Ken Bennison's Photography 