Tag Archives: Sudbury

Photography

Spring Thaw

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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

Photography

Fine Art Composition

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Strolling along the Aux Sauble River at Chutes Provincial Park, Massey Onario on a late Fall morning, I came across this little scene by the river’s edge. It had all the makings of a good composition. It was a cloudy day with the sun breaking through now and again. This is a very tight shot that we have here. The reddish to orange colored vegetation was used as a frame for the left side and foreground. The rocks on the upper right hand side are a lovely chocolate color with a unique pattern. The flowing water came from the main part of the river and channelled between the rocks to give character to the flowing water.

I attended the Arts After Five last Wednesday at the Rockz. This event was presented by The Sudbury Arts Council. This was a chance for local people involved in the art community to get together in a social get together. Vicki Gilhula, president of SAC did a great job of putting this together. Andy Lowe provided the music for the evening.

I met some wonderful folks that evening. Along with Vicki Gilhula, I chatted with artist Gord Drysdale and many others.

Andy Lowe has a page on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/andy.lowe3?fref=ts

Gord Drysdale’s website

http://www.gordondrysdale.com/

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

Photography

The Oppurtunity

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I was on the road for most of the day yesterday doing business. On my way home at about 2:30 that afternoon I crossed a bridge over a creek. Glancing up the creek I took note of the patterns I saw along the water’s edge. I decided to head home and get my camera. I live only a couple minutes away. Once at home I enjoyed a cup of coffee first before grabbing my camera bag and heading out the door.

Yesterday was a cloudy day with lovely lighting. On the left side of the creek the shoreline had an interesting spot that really caught my eye. There was grass exposed under the snow. The snow texture was great with some neat patterns to it. On top of that the water was calm, allowing for great reflection to add to the pattern. Shot by itself was not going to create a good composition. I set up my tripod and camera and shot the above scene as a vertical. I used the right shoreline as a lead-in and placed my main point of interest in the top right hand of the photo. Of interest was the outline of a face made by ice on the water. As I processed the photo a touch of magenta showed on the snow that I had to tone down. The city of Sudbury has a far number of lakes and streams within its boundaries. Sudbury is also noted for its Nature trails that can offer photographic opportunities.

Be sure to check out my book A Wilderness Experience Through Photos And Poetry over at Blurb

http://www.blurb.ca/b/4071212-a-wilderness-experience-through-photos-and-poetry

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

Photography

Autumn on The Vermillion

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This is one of my favourite locations in the Fall to capture the Autumn colors. The Vermillion River just West of Sudbury, Ontario provides me with some very unique opportunities to photograph. I was driving home on Hwy 17 from Sudbury late one evening .I slowed down as the bridge over the Vermillion River came into view. Parking my Ford Explorer  on the side of the highway I grabbed my camera and tripod and scrambled down the embankment to the river‘s edge. The river was as smooth as glass and there was a great deal of saturation in the colors. Across from me is a rock point that has always been photogenic over the years. There was enough color to be had, but not overpowering. I myself prefer scattered Fall colors that can work in a composition. With the evergreens and the white Birch trunks to add contrast I composed the above composition.

‎’La Cloche Spirit’ by Jon Butler is now in Sudbury. Jon is a very good photographer who has over the years captured the many moods of The La Cloche Mountains. For more information go to Jon’s website.

http://jonbutlerphoto.com/

Well that is it for this week. My wife and I have just finished moving into Sudbury. It was a hectic past week. I am now set up to proceed with my work. If any of you are in the area please stop by for a viewing of my work. So until next time happy trails.

Photography

Little Maple

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I have spent the last few mornings heading down to the local river before dawn.The Vermillion River flows South before joining up with the Spanish River.My photographic locations have been in and around the Highway 17 bypass.Each morning there has been a fair amount of mist.The shoreline is loaded with color at this time of year.A great opportunity to get some colorful compositions.

There was a small maple shrub growing on a rocky point.It was a brilliant red in color.I headed over to it to see what I could do with it.Well when I got there I noticed some color on the far shore.A larger maple that had not turned completely red. But there was some nice yellow to go along with the red.There was a small rock structure to break up the color,a little bit of mist to add an added touch.Just to cause some curiosity there was a beer can among the vegetation on a ledge.This adds a bit of the human element to the photo.People seem to have a passion to litter.I only showed a small portion of the rocky point in foreground to keep the composition tight for a better effect.

Well that is it for this week.Thanks for stopping by.Until next time happy trails.

Photography

Photo Oppurtunities With Swans

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I have had the oppurtunity this past month to photograph Whistling Swans.A short 20 minute drive from home is a lovely park called Fielding Park The park borders  the West end of a lake where a small river runs out.A stretch of this river is open and it is here that you will find 6 of these large Swans.There is also a very large population of Mallards and Black Ducks.The waterfowl are feed every morning by local folks with corn.

The above Swan is named Goofy and she is the most humanized of the Swans.She will come up to me and lay down beside me.This allowed me to capture the above photo from very close range.I shot tight so that your eve will follow the valley between the wings up to the eve and beak.An interesting note is the small feather sticking up by here beak is a result of here breathing.I also wanted to emphasize  the very fine detail of the feathers the Swans have.Goofy also has 2 large yellow tags on here wings that I did not want in the photo.The zoom was set at 132 mm and the shutter speed at 1/500 sec @ f10

The other thing that I look for is various patterns when I am photographing these Swans.They have such beautiful long graceful necks that can create beautiful forms as you photograph.This pair created an inverted T along with nicely arched necks.You will also noticed that there is some feathers out of place that helps to add depth to the photo.I shot the above photo with a zoom setting of 130 mm and the shutter speed set at 1/500 @f13.

You will also notice a piece of ice sticking up from the bill of the Swan in the foreground.The temperature most mornings was -25 C with a wind blowing.

As I was standing on the shore trying to stay warm, I watched the above pair of Swans grooming.The next thing I saw was they were one behind the other creating a  neat pattern that I shot in vertical.The dark colored water allows the Swans to stand out.When I talk about patterns this is a pattern at its best.These Swans have yellow in there heads that add contrast to the photo.I shot the above photo with a zoom setting of 65 mm and the shutter speed set to 1/125 sec @ f10.

I will continue this series on the Swans next week and  until then happy trails.

Photography

Close To Home 2

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Paul Smith and I decided to drive to the far end of Bass Lake and do some exploring.Parking our trucks off the main road we gathered up our gear.We followed a trail along the shore line looking for photo opportunities. As we walked along the shore I noticed a point of land that was lit up by sunlight from behind and causing a very colorful scene.In the backdrop of the hillside was a awesome display of lighting to create this spectacular scene.

There was a slight breeze blowing that created a painting like effect on the reflection in the water.I shot this photo with a zoom setting of 132 mm and the shutter speed at 1/10 sec @f22. The sun was getting low in the sky and the wind was creating some problems.One problem we had was that we were by a beaver house. An adult beaver kept swimming back and forth in front of us disturbing the water.Needless to say along with wind and beaver waves,the water was not getting calm.We made it to the end of the lake and came upon private property.It was now getting dark.We hiked back to the trucks and called it a day.

Until next time happy trails