The Fall of each year brings out the muted earth colors of the vegetation in the north country. The spectacular display of the Maples and Oaks are mostly finished. The temperatures are getting colder. What is left?
The rich yellows and browns of various grasses growing in swampy areas. Black Spruce is common in wet areas. Therefore giving you green color in the low light of afternoon. spectacular, no. Just a nice soft blend of color pleasing to the eye.
The fall colors of the maple and oak are almost gone now. Standing out in contrast with the green of the pines and spruce, the tamarack displays its beauty. The tamarack is also known as larch.
The Algonquian people named this tree tamarack. The meaning, wood used for snowshoes. Its habitat is low lying areas such as swamps,and bogs. The larch is deciduous and the needles turn yellow in autumn.
I photographed this scene in the late afternoon. Sunlight was filtering through the clouds. The side lighting intensified the yellow color of the tamarack. The backdrop of the green spruce helped to allow the tamarack to stand out in the photo.
I was hiking the Superior shorelines South of the Clearwater River mouth. The location was within the Lake Superior Provincial Park Boundry. I came upon an interesting stretch of rock that had unique patterns to it. Baldhead can be seen in the background. The Indian head seen in The Keeper post is now to the North of me. The sky is cloudy. It has been threaten to rain all day. Lake Superior was relatively calm. Gently lapping on the rocks.
Thus I set up my tripod and Canon 7D to capture this scene. There is tremendous depth in this composition. The water foaming along the rocky shoreline. You will notice a touch of green and yellow water three-quarters into composition. This adds a nice effect. Remember that Lake Superior is very clear. I must say that I covered a lot of shoreline in my two weeks in August here and I managed about 10 good shots for my effort. This type of photography demands time and patience. In the end the reward is justified.
I was up on Lake Superior last week for 3 days. Was not successful this time out. The weather was not on my side. Rain and snow my last day there. So until next time happy trails
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
A beautiful Fall day
The air is warm
A mist upon the air
No hint of the cold temps
That will soon come
It is a late afternoon
The sun hangs low
Over the colourful hills
A lone shed nestles
Among the white birch
Having fallen into neglect
The door stands ajar
The metal roof aging
Into a rusty red
The weather beaten walls
Becoming a sombre grey
The encroaching forest slowly
Enclosing the old building
The vibrant forest behind
Of green, orange and yellow
Has taken on a soft glow
From the late afternoon sunlight
Filtering through the trees
The surface of the lake
Has a a soft ripple
From a caressing wind
Creating an artist’s palette
Of reflective Fall colors
As I drove along the Matagamasi Road, a swampy pond was soon sighted. There was a gentle slopping hill in the background. A growth of young Pine trees covered the hillside. The vegetation on the forest floor was in the early stages of decay. Fall was in full swing. It was a cloudy day with a stillness in the air. It had rained the night before. The Pine trunks had a starkness to them. The earth tone colors consisted of greens, yellows, reddish brown to shades of grey. There was a sense of tranquility about this scene. There was the softness to the earth tone colors. A feeling of peacefulness and placidity to be had.
I set up my tripod in my selected location. I had to shoot across a small body of water. I fastened my Canon EOS 7D to the ball head. I set up the camera for a vertical shot. Thus I would be in harmony with the vertical Pine trunks. There were two objects here that appeared to me. The small outcrop of rocks. The rustic reddish-brown of the ferns. With that in mind, I placed two Pine trees in the foreground. The Pine needles in the upper left greatly added to the depth. The small rock outcrop was now in the middle to offset some color as well as more depth to the scene. The Fall turned colors of the fern circling the larger Pine tree in the background create that added touch.
This is a scene created to give that sense of restfulness and harmony to be viewed upon after a chaotic day. A day in the woods brings a sense of peacefulness and solitude. This is the quiet side of Mother Nature. The majority of my work is meant to create those moments for people to view.
Christmas is over. My wife and I had a great Christmas with my youngest grand kids, 2,4,6. So until next time happy trails.
4:30 a.m. comes early. Hauled my self out of bed. Loaded the gear into my Ford Escape. Stopped in Lively to pick up a Tim Horton’s coffee and some breakfast. Next stop was for gas. Then it was off for my morning shot. I arrived on location at 6:00 am with an hour to spare. Sunrise about 7:10 a.m. The temperature was hovering around 0 C. There was mist on the lake but it was still too dark. Lesson learned. Stay in bed an extra hour.
But the end result was the above photo about an hour and a half later. A little tree on a little island. Beautiful golden morning light saturating the mist. I kept this photo tight so as not to distract from the subject. By shooting vertical I was able to do that.
Well that is it for now. Thank you for stopping by. Until next time happy trails.
A quiet stroll along the banks of the Aux Sauble River. The wind has died down. It is early evening. The sun is casting light through the tress on the left. A beautiful glow of yellow, green is illuminating the still waters. The tree trunks cast as black in the reflections on the water’s surface. The river narrows in the background. This is a place were you could sit on the river bank and just relaxed and enjoy the scenery. The shoreline is lined with Cedar and Pine trees.
Well that is it for this week. Until next time happy trails.
It is a beautiful sunny day. It is late afternoon, mid June. The ferns scattered along the river bank are a lovely lemon green color. There is a slight breeze so the bugs are not too bad yet. It is always a joy to walk the shoreline of a river looking for photographic opportunities. As the sun lowers on the horizon the surface of the water takes on the colors of its surroundings. A great time to look for abstract type of compositions. I came across some rock just below the river’s surface that created some interesting water flow and color. The trick here after setting up your tripod and camera ad getting the composition you like is to take a number of shots at different shutter speeds. This will allow for different looks to the movement of water in your photo. Then it is just a matter of selecting the one you like on your computer.
Well that is it for now. Thanks for coming by. Until next time happy trails.
This photo was taken on a small creek that runs out of Johnny Lake in Killarney Provincial Park. My partner, Paul Smith and I were exploring along the creek. As we made our way through wooded growth to the shoreline , I suddenly noticed the strong glow of lighting on the grasses and trees. Now there was cloud cover moving overhead rather quickly. This meant the sunlight came and went. It was late afternoon so the angle of light was right. Moving quickly I set up my tripod and Canon 7D at the creeks edge. Due to the large amount of green and yellow I kept the reflections to a minimum. The dead wood broke up the mass of green on the right. There is shadow in the background and the creek takes a bend. It was a matter of waiting for the sun to pop out from behind the moving clouds. This photo shows you what the right lighting can do to your composition. Normally this would be just an ordinary shot.
Well that is it for this week. I thank you all who came for a visit. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone and there families a Merry Christmas, especially the little ones. The campfire is beckoning and the tea is ready. So until next time happy trails
Ken Bennison's Photography 