Tag Archives: trees

Photography, Poetry

When I am walking with Trees

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When I_m walking with Trees

Painting by Pierre AJ Sabourin En Plein Air Landscape Artists

Thank you Pierre for use of your painting. It inspired this poem

 

When I’m walking with Trees

A forgotten path beckons

Through an ancient forest

Covered in lichen and moss

When I’m walking with trees

My body is relaxing

My energy is flowing

My soul becomes of the forest

As I listen, to the forest sounds

The air is calm

The morning sunlight filtering

On the forest floor dancing

When I’m walking with trees

When I’m walking with trees
My body is relaxing

My energy is flowing

The path twists and turns

Over time worn rock

I have this feeling

Being watched from above

A light appears ahead

As closer I walk

The light it intensifies

Then before my eyes, fading

I hear a song

As I walk along

It is the trees whispering

A hush voice singing

A gentle caress upon my cheek

It is the morning breeze

Cool and fresh, a lover’s touch

When I’m walking with trees

When I’m walking with trees

My body is relaxing

My energy is flowing

The trees appear to nod

As I pass by

The air is clear

The sounds I hear

The brush of a branch

Gently upon my shoulder

It has been awhile

For now I smile

Ken Bennison

 

 

 

Photography

A Rainy Day

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san-ramon-turnoff_0649

 

Wednesday October 19, 2016

I awoke to cloudy skies and a longing to go photographing. It is the rainy season here in Nicaragua. It has rained every afternoon. I now live in Matagalpa, Nicaragua surrounded by mountains I spent the morning cleaning house and shopping for groceries. I continually observed the sky for signs of rain. The clouds were a light grey. I looked to the North. The mountains were covered with mist. Now this was promising. A chance to capture some moody scenes. I downed a quick lunch. Loaded my camera gear into my day pack. Then out the door I went.

I hailed a passing taxi. Next stop was the bus station. I exited the taxi after paying my fare. There was a bus loading passengers to San Ramon. I climbed aboard heading to the San Ramon turnoff. As I exited the bus at the turnoff, the sky was becoming darker. I quickly walked down a side road to set up my tripod and camera.  There were some interesting compositions as you can see above. I placed part of a small knoll along with a portion of a tree branch in the foreground. I found the tree branch interesting due to its angle, but the lighting on the leaves was the highlight. By doing this I achieved a greater depth to the photo. The camera settings for the photo was 0.5 secs, f22. Drops of rain appeared as I was photographing.

The rain picked up a bit as I walked a fence line. I was able to capture a few more shots. The rain was coming down harder by now. I packed up and headed to some buildings at the turnoff. I waited and waited but there was no let up with the rain. I waited about forty five minutes. The day was getting darker. This meant lower shutter speeds. There was a bit of wind. Time to go home and make supper.

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

Photography

Design Elements

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Sea Of Light

 

Lighting is a powerful tool to capture those unique landscape photos. My first impression of the mountains of Nicaragua was how am I going to create a composition. Where I come from there is rock, trees and water. What is missing in these mountains was water. With that in mind I sat and just observed. Before long I noticed these incredible displays of lighting happening before my eyes. There is for the most part clouds moving in the sky. This is what gives you that unique display of lighting that magically appears here and there.

Now I had to have design elements for compositions. From where I am the mountains were for the most part in the background. The highlands and hills in the foreground. But what really sets things off is the open spaces to be found. Look at the trees next time you are out. They have unique shapes and forms that give that extra artistic touch. Throw in the lighting and you get that unique photo as you see above. Do not forget the land contours in this part of the world. I find they are very unique. The contours can be used as a design element in your composition. If you can just watch and look at the scene before you as vertical and horizontal lines then you will be able to capture that great shot.

Everyone pretty much learned geometry in school. With that in mind look for geometric shapes to incorporate into your next photographic experience.  The curve of the hills; the tree shapes, plus how the land shapes look. There is lots to see out there once you get pass the outer layer.

While that is it for now. Spring is slowly evolving here. Art shows are happening. Greeting fellow artists. So until next time happy trails

 

Photography, Poetry

El Chile, A Poem

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_MG_9904

 

Off in the distant

The mountains stand tall

In the converging mist

The morning air cool

The sun not yet appeared

Dark shadows cover the highlands

It is the season to be dry

 

The Rio Trentino meanders

Through the lower valley

Arching boughs over the water

Of a near dry river bed

Mist rises from the river

To mingle with the smoke

Of the breakfast fires

From the brick and mud chozas

 

The sky becomes enlightened

The mountains and highlands

Ghostly in the moving mist

Open fields cover the hillsides

In shades of green and brown

Ganado appear on the exposed hills

Flights of Garza wing overhead

Gleaming snow white in the mist

To land among the Ganado

Feeding on stirred up insects

As the Ganado graze

 

The air is alive

With flights of parrots

Flocking to the soybean fields

For their morning feed

The air is warming

The sun rays filtering

Through the shadowy mist

To enlighten the highlands

With bands of light

 

Black Vultures take to the skies

To catch the air thermos

Warming in the morning air

Gliding high above the land

Searching for carrion

The throaty haunting cries

Of the Congo monkeys

Echoes upon the mountains

As they feed upon fruit and leaves

High in the tree branches

Along the Rio Trentino River

 

The mist is thinning

A sun lit El Chile emerges

From the swirling mist

Regal and graceful behind

The rolling sunlit hills

Billowing white clouds appear

A golden glow enshrines

The rugged mountain scene

A momentary spectacle

That is soon lost

The wind is increasing

Blowing from the north

A haze now appears

With the mist frittering away

Leaving a hazy scene

As the morning advances

Photography

Hills And Mountains

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_MG_9728

I have the opportunity to Photograph mountain scenes in Nicaragua. We are completely surrounded by these mountains. I captured this scene above by using the clouds and the slope of the mountain. The individual trees emphasize the tremendous distance and size of these mountain slopes.

I do not have much time to get into any great deal  as I am sitting in an internet cafe. So until next time happy trails from Nicaragua.

Photography

The Right Lighting

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The sun was slowly creeping over the horizon behind me as I watched the play of light on the landscape.I always have enjoyed this part of photographing watching my surroundings as the various parts of the landscape begins to light up.It is interesting to watch the lighting paint the tree tops in front of you.The higher ground is the first to receive the morning sunlight.In this case the sunlight painted the top of the La Cloche Mountains.Then a strong beam of light lit up the trees on the left with paths of light touching the ground.Add to this to the beautiful reflections in the water can create a beautiful photo.The rocks reflecting in the calm water create geometric patterns that are intruding.

Now you will not get these effects every trip out.There are days when this will not happen.In most cases when you have this type of event it only occurs for a very short period.Be ready for it.It helps to know your surroundings and it may take many trips to achieve the desired results.So until next time happy trails.

Photography

Nature’s Beauty

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As one emerges onto the shores of Ruth Roy Lake from the portage from Johnny Lake you are greeted by a scene of beauty and depth.There is a mystical feeling you get when you first gaze upon this hidden corner of the lake.

The clear turquoise blue water adds depth and mystery to the reflections on the water.It appears that the tree reflections are three dimensional when viewed.This little inlet is small in nature with the depth of the woods in the background.I composed this shot with the pink flowers in the foreground to add depth and rocks to offset the mainly green foliage.This is truly one of the pleasures of a wilderness adventure as one travels the waterways of Killarney Provincial Park

I will be heading back into the park this week so 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