Tag Archives: Webbrood

Photography

Bog Island

8 Comments

BogIsland

I discovered this little bog island at the far end of a small shallow lake a few years ago. It is located  up the Westbranch behind Webbwood Ontario. I fell in love with the potential of a composition that could be had here. This little island had character. From the shape of the vegetation; some deadheads and a clump of small evergreens. The main problem here was to be able to separate the island from the background. The lake is nestled amongst  Spruce trees so everything would blend in. You would then get a bland photo.

With that in mind I needed good lighting. Luckily, were I was able to set up my tripod and Canon EOS 7d the shoreline sloped upwards. This allowed me to get some separation from the far shoreline. This shot worked best in November. The sun is low to the horizon. The vegetation on the island turns a orange, red color. That helps relieve a lot of green. Now the trick is to get the right lighting. You have to have that island stand out from the background. That is very important. I made many trips to this location until I got it right. Early morning did not create the required lighting.

Finally it all came together. It was a beautiful sunny November afternoon. It was 3:30 Pm. The sunlight lit the island up like a torch. The light was coming from the left which was good. I was now getting sun flares in my lens. I used my hat to block the sun flares and shot the above photo. What also helps this composition is the lighting in the background. You can see individual branches being lit up. This is what turns an ordinary photo into a dramatic composition. Lighting.

The above photo was accepted at the 119th Toronto International Salon of Photography.

Well I will close for now. So until next time happy trails.

Photography

The Unexpected Shot

1 Comment

A couple weeks ago on a Monday,I headed up the Westbranch North of Webbwood to do some photographing.My destination was about 80 km up the Westbranch to a couple of lakes that I had been exploring this Fall.

These lakes are surrounded by Jack Pine and White Pine so bare deciduous trees are not an issue here.I was interested in one small lake that had an interesting cliff face that I have made a number of attempts to photograph without success.

Upon arrival I loaded up my gear and picked up the trail along the lake.This is a very small lake nestled down in between a series of hills.It was now about 11:30 in the morning. While I was walking towards the cliff face I noticed out of the corner of my eye a display of some beautiful lighting highlighting the evergreens along the shoreline. I set up my camera and tripod and composed a vertical shot using the small rock point as my focal point.At this time of year,mid November the sun is low to the horizon allowing for this kind of lighting at mid day.There was mist over the water to add atmosphere.There was a nice reflection on the water to add depth to the photo.I focused on the rock then I composed the shot.The zoom lens was set at 135 mm with the shutter at 0.5 sec @f22.

The above shot was taken in the same location as the first shot.I was attracted by the lighting on the far trees creating a nice lighting pattern and reflecting into the water.The sun always creates a beautiful gold color when it highlights evergreens.The zoom was set to 100 mm an d the shutter speed to 0.4 sec @f22. This allowed me to create a nice peaceful mood.

I never did get my shot of the the cliff.Oh well next time.Before I go I want to thank everyone who has visited my blog as I have now surpassed a 1000 hits.This is a milestone for me.So for now happy trails.

Photography

Mile 29 Aux Sauble River

Leave a comment

Late afternoon last Thursday Paul Smith and I head up to the 42 mile mark on the Aux Sauble River North of Massey.This location has a good set of rapids which are not of much interest in photographing.The river above the rapids is quite interesting with good photographing opportunities.

We had been here the week before when there was an overcast sky and the air was heavy with moisture.As a matter fact there was a fine mist in the air that you could not see,but the mist showed up in the photos.I had a lot of unsharp photos,especially with the rocks.

This time around the problem was that we had shadow to the left and right of us and brightly lit shoreline ahead of us.There was a touch of wind that did not stop completely.Another problem we ran into was that the fish were jumping at a tiny white mayfly that probably measured about a 1/8 inch. I had seen one fly by  me close up so I was able to identify  it as a mayfly hatch.You would press the shutter and a fish would jump creating ripples in the water.

I walked out to a rock above the rapids in my chest waders  and noticed some reddish colored rocks in front of me.Looking at the far shore line I saw rocks and deadheads reflecting in the water.By combining the reddish rocks for foreground and the far shore for depth I created an  interesting composition.I set my zoom lense at 44mm and the shutter speed at 4 sec and the f stops at f25.

Once we lost our lightning we packed up and headed back down the road.We decided to take the crossover road that connects the Tote Road to the Westbranch Road North of Webbwood. This road is used by loggers to get in to the area to cut trees and haul the logs to the sawmill.Paul and I were driving along when we drove down a small hill and before us was a swampy area with blackish water by the road.What caught our eye was a group of deadheads on the far side with reddish orange grass behind them.The water was dead calm and the lighting was gorgeous.We parked the truck and proceeded to photograph and low and behold we again had problems with fish jumping.

The above photo was one of the compositions that I came up with.Shot with a zoom setting of 65 mm and a shutter speed of 3.2 sec @ f22.One of the things that I had to watch out for was there was a lot of gray in the background that would not look good.The lightning lasted about a half an hour,before we headed home.

So until next time happy trails.