Tag Archives: trees

After The Storm

Last week my granddaughter Tisha came for a weeks visit.On the Thursday past Tisha and I went out photographing on the Wakanassin River North of Webbwood.The previous week I had explored a section of the river that showed some promise.It was too late in the evening to get anything in the way of a photo.

So loading up our gear and wearing chest waders the two of us proceeded to wade down the river. I was just getting ready to set up the camera when the dark clouds rolled in and we got drenched by four separated showers.The wind picked up briskly and the rain came down very hard.With no where to seek shelter Tisha and I endured the showers standing out in the middle of the river,getting soaked in the meantime.

The showers were short lived and the cloud cover was moving fairly quickly.Looking up river I noticed swirls of mist moving across the face of the hill.I proceeded to set up the camera and tripod and looked around for a good setup to compose my shot.I anchored the left side of the photo with the left river bank at a group of rocks.The wind was now non-existence now so there was some reflection on the water. But what really made the photo was the sun started peeking out from behind the cloud cover creating some beautiful lighting.You had to be quick on the shutter to capture the various lighting highlights and at the same time capture the mist moving in front of the hills.

You will also notice a dark cedar tree in the fore-ground that tends to add depth to the photo.This photo was shot at a shutter speed of 1/13 sec @ f 25 with the lense at 60 mm.

My granddaughter Tisha and I had a great day together in the wilderness and when the sun came out the warmth of the sun soon dried us out.So until next time happy trails.

Shadows

I have been ask if the water is always dark and lots of shadows where I photograph.The great majority of my work is done along rivers and creeks.The rivers are usually flowing between hills with a lot of tree growth.A majority of my photographic work takes place in wilderness areas and the tree growth is mature.

Depending on the time of day,there is usually a lot of shadows created by hills and overhanging trees.The sun is usually starting to disappear behind the hills by three in the afternoon and starting to filter through the trees.I carry a compass with me and I can check to see were the sun rises and sets. This is important to determine whether you will get back lighting 0r cross lighting.

The shadows used in conjunction with the lighting can create some awesome photographs.Looking at the photo above,you can see the sun is cross lighting in the foreground and you have deep shadows in the background.The sun is on the right hand side of this photo.Using this to good effect you can create a mysterious turn into deeper woods and good depth of field.You will also notice that the sun is highlighting parts of the trees on the left breaking up the shadows.

The above photo was shot at 1/4 sec with the zoom set at 135 @ f22. You must always be patient and take many shots.This particular afternoon there was moving cloud cover.By watching the scene before me I was able to get many shots as the sun reappeared from behind the clouds By watching the light intensity I could get different effects and then choose the photo I thought gave me the best effects.So until next time watch your shadows and happy trails

Two Shot Pano

There are times when I come across a particular locale that I have shot many times that I can improve on a previous shot.To keep the weight down I carry only one lense and camera.The lense is a 28 to 135 zoom.

At times you are limited as to where you can set up your tripod so I have to make the best of a given situation.As I do not carry a wide angle lense I will set up for a panorama.The above photo consists of 2 horizontally shot photos,overlapped.

The 2 photo pano allows me to compose a photo that shows the ruggedness of this scene.I used the rocks in the foreground and the left side to draw in the viewer and lead the eye along the edge of the river and also to create depth.I also have created a U shape in my composition by adding the rocks on the right to complete the composition.

This 2 shot composition was shot at 65 mm with a shutter speed of 1.6 sec at f32. Using photoshop’s photomerge to stitch the pano together,the final product is 34″x12″ with a 1/2″ border ready for matting and framing.

Next time you are out think about trying a small pano.Till next time happy trails

Exploring New Surroundings

One of the things I like to do is explore new surroundings. Birch Creek  flows East of Massey Ontario and there is a lovely waterfalls to photograph. My partner Paul Smith and I have made a number of trips here during the fall, but always bypassed the lower end of Birch Creek. We kept saying that we should check that area out. On our last trip late in the fall we walked down to the creek and started walking along it towards the waterfalls. This was late fall and most of the colored leaves had already fallen. With this in mind we would explore the area for photographing next year. Walking along the creek I spotted the golden sunlight coming through the trees up ahead and the creek bent to the left creating the around the bend effect.I quickly looked for foreground and found greyish colored rocks covered with lichen and moss. I also was able to get some leaf color into the photo also.This photo was shot at 50 mm with the zoom lense set at 1.6 sec. @ f29. We explored further along and found some more areas that will be worth checking out at a later date. By this time the creek area was becoming heavy in shadow.Needless to say we will come back next fall to do some more photographing here.