Whiteswan Provincial Park, BC
I was walking along the shore of Whiteswan Lake, I noticed water entering the lake.
I followed the stream up into the woods. The scene that you see here is what caught my eye. A little bit busy, but okay. There is enough color to enhance the composition
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I had crossed over from the Tote Road north of Massey to the Westbranch north of Webwood on my journey home. I had spent the day exploring logging roads looking for future photo opportunities. As I traveled south, the evening was wearing on. The lighting getting warmer losing that harshness that is common most of the day. As I crossed a bridge my eyes caught the lighting on this particular scene. The wind was calming allowing for reflections.
The sunlight was coming from the right of me as I set up my tripod on the bridge. The location of the sun was creating sun flares on the lens. I retrieved my Tilly hat to act as a blocker. Thus holding the hat with one hand and the other to press the shutter button I was able to accomplish the above composition. What is interesting here is how the sunlight highlights certain parts of the scene. There is a lot of softness here with the earth tone colors. There is a quietness to be found here that gives one peacefulness that is very relaxing.
The La Cloche Art show opens next Friday evening July 3 and runs through to July 12. I myself will be there Friday, Saturday, Wednesday and Sunday. If you are in the area stop in and enjoy an excellent art show. Until next time happy trails.
There was a lovely maple tree overhanging a small stream that I passed many times on a logging road. The logging road was near Batchawana. I do not know the name of this stream, other than it flowed into the nearby Carp River. On a return trip from photographing other locations, I stopped on the side of the road to capture this scene. There is a small bridge that the stream flowed under. This is where I set up my tripod and camera. At this late in the evening it was calm and subdued. There was also no danger of a logging truck appearing.
The maple tree in the foreground gives you the eye popping colors. The stream was used to give a sense of peace and tranquility from the bold maple tree. A large rock is in the foreground to give a sense of depth and size. Most of the forest in the background has been eliminated by the maple tree. Thus also reduces the color green. There is a shallow pool in the background with muted reflections. Again quiet solitude. Then the stream disappears around the bend.
I received an honorable mention at the Art Competition Seeing The Land.
While that is all for now. I am preparing another book at the moment. It is taken up most of my time. The weather here has been crappy at the moment. So until next time happy trails
As I waited for the sun to descend to the horizon I walked the beach to the North. Once you leave the rocky part of the beach, it becomes all sand. I noticed three campsites along this stretch of beach. There were old tracks of a moose that had walked the beach. This is a common site in this park. The sand was crumbling in at the side of theses tracks and there was debris in the tracks Geese tracks were evident on the beach. Two islands could be seen in the distance. Ducks floated in the distance, silhouette like. Backtracking I returned to the little stream to set up for the above composition. I thought I would create something a little more abstract or create a pattern. There was a green colored rock sitting above the water with interesting marking. With the low setting sun allowing for slow shutter speeds, thus the water took on a dreamy affect. Yet the color of the rocks still shone through the water. By setting the tripod low to give me a face to face look with the subject rock I used my Canon EOS 7D to capture my composition.
It was soon time to leave. The 14 mile drive out was enjoyable as the woodlands passed by me. A Grouse hen walked across the road in front of me. Slowing to a stop I observed four tiny chicks following her. They must have been only a day or two old. The fourth chick huddled down in the middle of the road among the grass. Then a moment latter it dashed off after its mother. I waited a bit to make sure there was none other. I slowly proceeded by and was soon on my way. As I rounded a corner a Black Bear sow dashed across the road with two very small cubs in tow. They disappeared into the woods out of sight. It was not long before I turned North onto Hwy 17 To our campsite at Rabbit Blanket Campgrounds. It was time to call it a night.
I will be at the 37th La Cloche Art Show Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday this week. I am a host for the show. My schedule is 2 to 5 each day. If you are in the area stop in for a chat. Three of my compositions were selected. I had the honor of receiving the Peggy Forbes Award. Peggy was one of the original founder of this wonderful show. So That is it for now. Until next time happy trails
Sunday June 22, Maureen and I traveled to Lake Superior Provincial Park. This large and beautiful park is North of Sault Ste Marie. Here is a great opportunity to explore the shorelines of Lake Superior and the interior wilderness with many lakes and hiking trails. We decided to set up a base camp at the Rabbit Blanket Campgrounds. Thus allowing me to photograph the North half of the Park. Being close to Wawa allowed for getting gas easily.
The tent and screen tent were soon gracing our campsite. The screen tent is a real bonus. The mosquito population was here. Supper was soon over and we drove the fourteen mile gravel road to Gargantua Bay. This is a narrow road with a couple of newly built bridges. It is a nice drive through open forests in many places. At the parking lot we took the hiking trail to the South. A bridge was crossed and we emerged on to a stony beach. Before my eyes was this small stream flowing over these colorful rocks into Lake Superior. This little stream had to be only ten feet across. Being a long day as it was we headed back to camp for a good nights sleep.
I returned to Gargantua Bay the next evening. The above composition is one of the photos I captured that evening. This was about capturing the beauty of the rocks with the stream flowing around and over them. At the same time the setting sun gives a dramatic effect to the overall scene. If you look close you can see specs of red sunlight on some of the rocks. You need low light or cloudy days to bring the color out on these rocks.
One of the things that I like to empathize is for one to stop for a moment and see the beauty that can be found in the little things around us. The colorful rocks.The sound of running water. Rising of fish during their evening feed that occurred while I sat on the beach. The changing of the sky as dusk approached. Waterfowl floating on the water surface like silhouettes. So many little things that happen when one becomes aware of his or her surroundings. Give yourself to Nature and you will be at peace.
I did a interview over at Exhibition Without Walls. You can read it here.
This Friday is the opening of the La Cloche Art Show at Whitefish Falls. This is show is in its 37th year. It runs from July 5 to July 13.
http://laclocheartshow.wordpress.com/
I am still in the process of working on my photos from the Superior trip. There will be more to come. So until next time happy trails.
Saturday dawned as another beautiful day. Tim and I enjoyed a leisure breakfast of bagels and coffee. The lake was fairly calm. The past evening I had explored a small stream flowing a couple hundred feet from Norway Lake. It crossed the portage. The water was clear and cool as it flowed over gravel and stones. This was were we obtained our drinking water by filtrating it into our drinking bottles.
Tim and I canoed over to the portage. We walked along the stream until a steep slopping rock ridge appeared. Here the water flowed down through a crevice in the rock structure as a series of very small waterfalls. The crevice was no more than four feet across. The tiny pools were clear and colorful. There was a green tinge to everything in the crevice. One of the problems I had here was very low light. I would say that there was very little sunlight appearing here. Thus I was shooting with very low shutter speeds. I used the small rocks in the foreground to give the sense of depth. The little waterfalls in the background added to the magic allure to the scene. You can see how the rock face on both sides are slanted.
Tim and I had agreed to portage back over to Killarney Lake the next morning. This would eliminate the hardest portage on Monday. Sunday morning on another beautiful calm day we packed up our gear. We soon had our gear over the portage, leaving the bloodthirsty bugs behind. A short paddle brought us to the first island at the East end of Killarney Lake. I had camped here two years ago. The campsite has a beautiful view looking West. Minnows were present along the shore. We observed one of about four inches long. It was deep bodied like a bass. But then we saw a flash of silver like you see on a shiner.
Monday morning at dawn we did our morning shoot. The wind was very light. Just enough to mess up the photographing. It was not long before we were on our way out. The winds again were good, making for relaxing canoeing. As we approached the last narrows to the portage landing a yearling black bear was walking the shoreline. Letting the canoe drift, Tim took a few shots of the bear. As we passed the bear, it came down off the rock structure and swam across to the other side, disappearing into the woods. The trek across the portage was uneventful and we were soon paddling on Freeman Lake. As the next portage over to George Lake appeared, a yearling doe was spotted in the water feeding on underwater vegetation. There was a pair of loons to the South of us. The female climbed up on a small mud island followed by the male. The male mounted his mate. This to me is late as I have seen eggs in there nest by late May.
It was not long before The vehicle was loaded and another wonderful trip over. Tim and I bid farewell until the next trip and we headed off on our separate ways. Well that is it for now. Until next time happy trails.
I shot this composition for its peacefulness and quiet dignity. The stream took a bend here and there was some reflections. A cloudy sky with even lighting. I kept it tight so that the emphasis was on the stream. You have the around the bend effect. The water is blue from the sky even though it is cloudy. An overall lovely scene to look at. It was kept quite simple.
Well it has been quite a busy week for me. I have spent a great deal of time promoting my new book A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry. I thank those folks who have purchased the book. You can view it here.
http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry
I would also like to thank those who stopped by for a visit. Until next week happy trails
You have had a bad day
Your body is tensed
Nothing has gone right
It is time to relax
Off you go along the woodland trail
Following a meandering stream
Till you come upon a pool.
Scrambling carefully across the rocks
Made slippery by splashing water
You edge down by the pool
Unlacing your hiking boots
Slowly easing your feet
Into the cool pool water
The stream is cascading
Over water smoothed rocks
To drop into the pool
Close your eyes momentarily
Listen to the sound
Of the ever flowing stream
Splashing and bubbling
Every fibre in your body
Slowly loosens to the rhythm
Of the small stream movements
You are now part of the spirituality
That a person feels
When you let go
To the senses of Nature
That completely surrounds you.
This is one of my favourite photos. The color, texture and form of the rocks are captivating. The yellow and orange lichen. The yellow leaves can only add to the appeal of this scene. The scene was captured on John’s Creek at the ladder. This small falls drops down in elevation in a series of drops like rungs on a ladder. The hills close in fairly tight. While that is it for now. So until next time, happy trails.
Ken Bennison's Photography 