The little island on Wolf Lake from a different perspective
Tag Archives: Wolf Lake
Wolf Lake
This area is home to old growth Red Pine
Only 1.2% of the world’s old growth Red Pine forests remain.
The largest is in Ontario, Canada surrounding Wolf Lake.
Glacially sculpted white quartzite cliffs surround Wolf Lake and are prevalent throughout this adjacent Temagami area.
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Wolf Lake Part 4
Monday morning dawned with no photo opportunities available. Toasting bagels for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee sure started the day right. It was a relaxing morning. But all good things come to an end. Thus we packed up, loaded the canoe and made our way to the landing. Pulling up on shore a young couple pulled in behind us. Tim and I quickly unloaded to give them room to pull in. This was a young couple hailing all the way from Pennsylvania USA. They were on a one week canoe trip here. The lad had ripped his knee open on the rocks somewhere. He was toughen it out though. Tim and I soon had my Ford Escape loaded with the canoe tied down. Before long we where at Highway 17E . Tim loaded his gear into his SUV. Shaking hands and saying our goodbyes we parted once again. A great trip. I told Tim I was stopping at the first Tim Horton’s for lunch.
I ordered a soup and chicken salad sandwich. As I was busy eating my lunch, I noticed Tim standing there with a very worried look on his face. Tim asked me if I had seen his camera bag in my Escape. Saying no, I headed out to check. We were worried that the camera might be back at Wolf Lake. A quick search did not reveal his camera bag. Tim then checked his backpack and there was his camera bag. So all ended well and we parted once again.
I first saw this scene from our campsite. I love it when you can find side lighting as such. It adds such magic to a composition. What you really have to watch here is that you do not blow out the highlights on the rocks. With the rocks a light grey and the lighting being a little harsh this can happen.
This concludes my first trip into Wolf Lake. It was very enjoyable. I hope to be back soon. So until next time happy trails.
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Wolf Lake Part 3
With breakfast over and drinking tea made with blueberry leaves and a couple cut up strawberries, the canoe was soon gliding over the calm waters. We headed towards the landing. Tim and I had decided the evening before to haul the canoe over into Dewdney Lake for some bass fishing. I walked to the truck for our fishing gear. I saw a bag that had spices in it. Opening it I spotted the coffee and tea there. Wow that was so good. Launching the canoe, slowly paddling the shorelines we were soon casting our fishing lines towards shore. In the process we caught and released 30 to 40 Smallmouth Bass. Most were not of any size, but a pleasant diversion for the day. After a couple hours it was time to head to shore for lunch. There was not much wind and it was getting hot. Tim commented that the sun was getting to him and I was beginning to have a headache. Not to complicate things we headed back to camp. At the campsite I laid down in the tent for a nap while Tim went for a swim. When I woke up and met Tim at our chairs we both had cooled down. Tim spoke about how cold the water was and as he dove deeper it got colder.
Evening arrived and photographic wise you could not ask for better. The wind became calm, lighting became great, just an awesome time for a photographer. We set up among the islands to capture the compositions. The one above is one of the results. Finally the wind came back, but that was okay as it was becoming dark and time to head back to camp.
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Wolf Lake Part 2
Having explored the campsite it was time to haul our gear into the campsite. Once the camp gear was in place it was time to sit back, relax and enjoy the grand view. A nice breeze was blowing off the lake. It being lunch time we proceeded to eat lunch. This was when I discovered that I had misplaced the tea and coffee. Tim’s Dad had been an ardent woodsman and he taught Tim a lot about the outdoors. One of the things was making tea from plant leaves. In this case he gathered up a bunch of blueberry leaves to put in with the boiling water plus raisins. It was not bad. Experiment and learn.
After stretching out in the tent for a half hour, we were soon on the lake exploring. Wolf lake is not a large lake. As we followed the shoreline enjoying the lake features I noticed that there was remains of trees that had burnt during previous forest fires. All the campsites had been taken. There are apparently four or five campsites on this lake. Approaching the outlet into Sylvester Lake we observed a large party at a campsite. Shooting through a narrow spot between the two lakes, the canoe glided onto Sylvester Lake. Looking around us, it was soon discovered that this lake had nothing to offer for photographing. Paddling back into Wolf Lake we followed the West shoreline to the upper end of Wolf Lake. Turning the canoe back to the campsite, returning in time for supper.
With our meal out of the way it was a matter of waiting for evening to descend upon us. As we sat in our chairs, Tim spotted a Loon across the lake with its one young chick.
I explored the shoreline near camp. There appears to be a very healthy population of Smallmouth Bass in this lake. The lake looks very healthy. There are an abundance of crayfish among the rocks. Crayfish are a favorite of the Smallmouth Bass. We managed to get some photographing that evening. Evening soon turned to darkness. Tim had a good fire going. The mosquitoes appeared. We spent a wonderful evening sitting by the fire under a canopy of stars. The moon was shining as a quarter moon.
When we woke up the next morning the lake was still with mist. I captured the above scene by using the boulders as my foreground and to direct your eye through the V. It helped to eliminate a lot of water from the scene. You can see a small ridge in the background along with what I believe is Wolf Mountain.
I will be posting more work of this trip in the future. I am heading up North of Sault Ste Marie to Lake Superior for a weeks photographing. So until next time happy trails.
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Wolf Lake
I met my cousin Tim Bennison at the Kukagami Lake turn off at 8:00 am Saturday morning. While I was waiting for Tim I was able to have a good discussion with a local gentleman who has spent his whole life in this part of the country. We talked about Wolf Lake and surrounding lakes in the area. He mentioned travelling with his grandfather to the various lakes as a kid. We spoke about the damage that Inco and Falconbridge had done to the lakes back in the fifties with the acid rain. He confirmed to me that Wolf and Sylvester Lake were now fish sanctuaries. The MNR have planted Lake Trout in these two lakes over the past two years.
With Tim’s gear now loaded into my Ford Escape, we were soon heading North to Wolf Lake. Upon arrival we soon discovered that Wolf Lake is a popular destination for canoeing and camping. As a matter of fact there were even a number of American folks here. A couple of older gentlemen were hauling there gear to the road. We managed to have a chat. They told us where they had been camping. With that in mind we waited until they were finished hauling there gear up. Tim and I began unloading and carrying our own gear down to the lake. It is about 100 foot trip to the lake shore. Pretty easy compared to what we usually do. Heading out on the lake surface we certainly had an awesome view before us. Lots of rock structures and small islands. A spattering of cliff faces. Very nice. The rocks are light grey in color that really glow in the low light.
We headed the canoe across the lake to were the parting gentlemen told us that they had camped. Beaching the canoe in a shallow indent on the far shore, we walked the trail up to the campsite. This turned out to be a wonderful location with a gorgeous view over the lake. We were to be camped on a low ridge over looking the lake. I will take a moment to tell you how clean this campsite was. There was no garbage to be found anywhere. For an unsupervised area this has to be impressive. The campsite and trails are very well used. Which would mean a lot of campers come here. We discovered the boom box behind the campsite. It was in very good shape. All in all you can not ask for better. I have been at other lakes where the garbage is slewing everywhere. So hats off to the many people that travel here. Keep our wilderness clean.
I will continue this journey in my next blog. It has been a long day. So until next time happy trails.
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Getting In Tight
The flow of water. Unique rock structure with strong earth colors. Ferns turning a rusty red in the bottom left. Touch of red from a Maple shrub in bottom right corner. This all adds up to a beautiful composition. I came across this scene on my Fall trip to Chutes Provincial Park, just North of Massey, Ontario. As a matter of fact, I first discovered it on my original trip along this stretch of the Aux Sable River a few years back. The passing of time alters a scene.
This is a very tight composition. It allows for more creativity. You have water flowing in, then flowing out at bottom right. I maintained my f22 with shutter speeds set at 1.3 sec. This allowed me to capture detail in the water. That is very important to me as I like water to have character and life.
Check my Fine Art Prints section. I have added a new composition to the selections. It is titled Paradise Lagoon. I received an honorable mention at the 2013 Landscape Exhibition by MyArtContest
http://myartcontest.com/index.html
This is a very beautiful location. The water is turquoise blue. There are a series of waterfalls in an approximately half mile of river. It is located North of Sudbury, Ontario in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake locality. If you are looking for an unique composition to hang on your wall, this could be it.
I would like to bring to your attention the outstanding work of wildlife and pet portrait artist Colette Theriault. Colette has won many awards for her work. She resides in the Greater City of Sudbury. Check her website to view her work.
http://www.colettetheriault.com/
I will be at the Annual Christmas and Gift Show this weekend. It is located at Confederation Secondary School in Val Caron.
Saturday from 10 to 4
Sunday from 11 to 3
Well I must go and continuing packing. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time happy trails
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The River Flows
The idea of this composition is to show the beautiful rock texture and the color of the water. With that in mind I have my flow in with the waterfalls in background. Flow out of the water at the bottom right corner of the composition. The tripod was set low to eliminate some water in the upper pool. On the left of the composition the rock in foreground gives added depth. I experimented with various shutter speeds to obtain character in the water. The water here is a wonderful turquoise blue. There is just enough green to give a final touch. There is also a little wildflower growing on the rock in the foreground. This location was in the Wolf Lake area North of Kukagami Lake region.
That is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails
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An Evening in Paradise
It
Tuesday afternoon I had decided to go back up by Wolf Lake to where I had photographed in June. The location was the series of waterfalls at Lagoon Paradise. By now the water levels will have dropped exposing the colorful rocks that were underwater. I picked up Gerard Leduc mid afternoon and we were soon on our way. We stopped at Tim Horton’s to pick up our coffee and then we headed East on Highway 17. It was a nice sunny day with a slight breeze. Just great to be out. It was not long before we turned off onto the Kukagami Road. We were now traveling on gravel roads. As we approached the Y, I turned left onto the Matagamasi Road. We drove past Bassfin Lake heading North.
It was an uneventful trip to our destination, but always some nice scenery to observe. We were soon at the drop off point and I parked the Ford Escape. Gerard and I loaded up our camera gear and started hiking up the logging road. Picking up the trail off the road, the sound of running water soon reached our ears. The humidity appeared to be high here among the trees and both of us were sweating. It is a fifteen minute walk to the waterfalls. We arrived at the water’s edge and found a good place to sit by the upper pool. Gerard and I ate our sandwiches while we waited for the sun to drop lower. Just being here observing the scene around us was a pleasure. I always enjoy the sound of running water.
There was some heavy cloud cover overhead that hid the sun for brief periods. I set up my tripod and 7d to capture the scene you see above. I now had a chance to try out my new 70 to 200 f4 Canon L series lens. It allowed me to get a better and tighter composition than my Canon 24 to 135 zoom would do. Especially for this particular photo. I loved the color of the rocks in this scene. Also I fell in love with the fern in the upper right hand corner. It is these little attentions to detail that can make or break a good composition. You also get a wide variety of earth colors. I using a faster shutter speed I was able to get some very unique patterns in the water. It was then just a matter of waiting for the sun to hid behind a cloud to start shooting.
Suddenly the quiet was interrupted by a splash of water to my right. A young couple with their son and daughter had just arrived and were soon swimming in the pool. In conversation with the Father I learned that this was there first time here. They had learned about Paradise Lagoon from a guy on CBC Radio One talking about this location and the fact that it was located within the Greater City of Sudbury. I am also starting to see evidence of garbage in the form of water bottles and so forth. The price you pay for too many people finding these locations. Shortly afterwards five teenage boys showed up and were having a great time at the pool. This pretty much put an end to photographing for this evening. Also the fact that I had forgot to charge my batteries for the camera didn’t help.
While that is it for this week. Thank you for the comments and stopping by. Every one have a safe Civic Holiday long weekend. Until next time happy trails.
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A Magical Pool
The past Saturday morning dawned cloudy with mist. I drove into Jan Winther’s driveway around 7:30. We loaded up our gear. First stop was Tim Horton’s to grab some coffee. Our goal was to travel up the Matagamasi Road to explore for photographic possibilities. We headed out of Sudbury travelling East on Hwy 17. In a short time we turned onto the Kukagami Road and headed North. It was not long before we reached the Matagamasi Road turnoff. The gravel road was in good condition.
As we traveled, Jan and I scouted out the various lakes we passed along the road. There were a number of locations that were worth while to come back to. As we drove further North the country became more and more hilly. It is very heavily forested here. There is also logging in progress up here. Being the week-end I had no worries about logging trucks. They do not operate on week-ends. We soon left the lakeside homes and were now traveling in wilderness areas. As we drove along a moose appeared in front of us. It ambled up the road and disappeared back into the bush.
Our goal for this trip was to locate a series of waterfalls further North. Paul Smith set me up for the location. We were now in the Wolf Mountain, Wolf Lake. This area contains the largest expanse of old growth Red Pine. This wilderness area is in pristine country. It has protected status. I will be journeying up to Wolf Lake in the near future. For now I will look for the waterfalls location. Using both map and GPS, Jan and I soon found our jump off point. As we loaded up our camera gear it started to rain. Hiking up an old logging road, the rain continuing to fall, we were soon drenched. Walking down the road, a marshy area came into view. This part of the road was totally flooded. Checking my GPS we discovered that we were now off course. Backtracking on the road, we soon discovered a trail heading in the direction we wanted to go. It was soon discovered that this was a well used trail. As we approached the waterway the sound of running water came to our ears.
Upon arrival we were enthralled by the beauty of this series of small waterfalls nestled among the rocks. The water was crystal clear. The rocks were colorful. The water flow was quite fast now. By now we were water logged from the rain. As a matter of fact it was now coming down harder. We elected to head back to the vehicle and have lunch. I tell you the mosquito population is quite heavy up here. Just before we arrived back at the Ford Escape the Heavens opened more and the rain was now deluging everything. There was water running everywhere and puddles were there was none before. About an hour and a half later the rain stopped. I headed back to the waterfalls and Jan elected to stay in the vehicle.
This is a very magical location. The photo above is of the upper pool. There is just a hint of a waterfalls cascading down through the rocks into a crystal clear pool of water. I used rocks for the foreground to enclose the pool. The boughs of the cedars are very lacy looking here. A hint of color by the red fallen pine needles on the rocks. Using this effect I hope to create that magical effect in a very special locale. You could close your eyes and hear elves and children of the woods splashing in the pool. These are locations were you can tune out the world. You hear the sound of water tumbling along. The quiet whisper of the wind in the cedars. There is no better place to be.
While that is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. I hope that I have created a magical moment for you. Until next time happy trails.
Ken Bennison's Photography 