Bridal Veil Falls – Spring
We had a “short” heat wave up here last week. Temperatures around the 5°C /40°F. That got things melting, but sure enough, it didn’t last long, so now we are left with some extremely dirty looking snow piles, black and brown from the salt, sand and exhaust. It’s not very pretty to look at. But of course being in Northern Ontario, we probably still have a snowstorm or two to deal with before it’s all said and done. Currently we are back below freezing but its going the right way. It is so nice to feel the heat from the sun as it gets higher in the sky.
Last week I posted a winter shot from Bridal Veil Falls. I thought I would keep going and post some pictures I took in the spring of 2011. They are not exactly fine art shots, but I thought they would tell a story of the spring thaw anyway. They are shot in May, and I’m sure by then the spring thaw has peaked, but it was still a cool to see the amount of water that’s going over that edge, especially when you compare that to a shot taken in late…which I’ll be posting next weekend ehm.. time.
The opening shot is taken from one of two viewing platforms that over looks the falls. I think this particular one is the lower one. This time of year, I would not go any closer to the falls, because my equipment and I would get absolutely soaked. As you walk down the metal stairs towards the trail, that by the way goes from the falls to downtown Kagawong, you will feel the cold mist coming from the falls on your face. Standing at the bottom of the stairs on the trail looking back, right around that corner are the falls and a spring shower if you get to close… The mist is clearly visible, and even standing here, you can feel it. The trail is borderline muddy, the stairs are wet and slippery, so hang on to the rail and wear practical shoes if you go for a peak your self. And you should… 
The Kagawong River or creek runs out in the big Lake Huron, and I found 4 shots in my library that was taken from the same spot right in sequence I put them together in PS and saved it as an animated gif. You may have to click on the image to view the animation. It kind of gives you an idea how this little river or creek really comes to life when spring arrives.
Thanks for stopping by.
Enjoy.
The Bush Road
Shortly after returning home from my holidays, I was going on a trip that would take me deep into the bush. Well, deep is probably an exaggeration to some, but about 20 clicks up an unknown gravel road is far enough for me at this time of year. I have to say that this road was an extremely well maintained one of the kind. In fact that particular day, this gravel road, – this snow-covered gravel road, was the best road I drove on that day.
Highway 11 which is a main 4 lane high way had a lot icy sections mainly in the right hand lane. Which made it a bit of a dicey drive especially when other cars and trucks were passing. A couple of cars had indeed ended up in the ditch due to the road conditions. The reason for the icy roads was due to a bit of a warm spell a couple of days before – thaw, freezing rain, and then some flash freezing and just to make it really interesting – a nice dump of snow to cover it all up. This day, the temperature was well below -25°C / -13°F, so road salt wouldn’t have made any difference what so ever.
After finishing my call at my customer, I headed back down the gravel road. The sun was higher in the sky, and some ice fog or mist was forming between the trees. I was so happy i had brought my camera that day, because it was absolutely gorgeous in there. Extremely cold, fresh snow on the trees, well-groomed road, no wind, blue sky and sunshine – perfect conditions for a winter shot. I made a few different shots on my way back to civilization, and this is one of them.
Now, I can’t really decide which one I like the best. Black & White or color. Scroll down to see the colored version. I like both, but I chose to feature the black and white – in my opinion it has a slight edge over the other one. The reason for trying the black and white conversion was the almost given due to the almost colorless scene, even with the blue sky, and I think it turned out pretty good. B/W conversion was done in the Perfect B & W module of the OnOne Perfect Suite 7. Final tweaks done in LR4.
Feel free to click on the images for a large view.
Oh, one more thing before I forget. As you probably have noticed, my blogging is not exactly regular, (some would say very irregular, but I’m trying…).
Please know that I really do value your visit, your comments, input and critiques, so please consider subscribing to my blog and you will get a reminder in your inbox when a new post is up. The subscription box is on the bottom of this post.
Enjoy.
Fall shots – IV
Please click the image for a larger view.
I wanted to show you this 4 image panorama I made from this location. Kind of gives you a nice view from the vantage point under the highway bridge. Gorgeous place. I hope to find time to go there again one morning and to find more mist on the water. Of course, this time of year, it’s a totally different image. Colors and leaves are gone, so it’s a bit sad to look at right now to be honest, but i think with the right light and a bit fog, it can be quite interesting. A reminder for next time, a slightly longer lens (this is shot with a 35mm), and perhaps shooting the panorama with the camera vertical. It is a wee bit narrow…
Enjoy.
The Extremist.
My good friend Ken Bennison asked me to come with him on a trip up the West Branch this past weekend. But before I get to that, I should explain the title on this blog post. It came up as we were waiting for the light to be in the perfect spot, and for the wind to die down a bit.
Extremist is (what I learned on this trip) more or less what his own family affectionately calls him, and it refers to the way he approaches his photography. There is a very good reason why Ken is an incredible artist/landscape photographer. He does what a lot of other people wont do. He gets up at an ungodly hour, drive,hike or canoe for hours, (obviously not at the same time, but most of the time he will have to do all three to get to his location of choice.) And when he gets there he will explore the area, figure out what he want to shot, and wait for the perfect conditions to happen. Ken is not afraid to wait for hours for his shot. He knows exactly what he wants in a picture, and if the conditions aren’t there, he wont even take the camera out of the bag, because he wont be able to use the shot anyway, so if he doesn’t get the shot, he will simply return to the same spot again and again until he gets the shot he has in his mind. And the results speaks for themselves. Check out his website. I should mention that Ken’s is shooting with a Canon 7D, one lens (28-135mm) and his trusty SLIK tripod. Yes, Ken only use one lens.
Anyway, so this past weekend we were up at the West branch north of Webbwood, Ontario. A place I haven’t been to in 2 years, so it was nice to go there again, and revisit some of the places I have shot before. Examples of previous posts can be found here, here and here. We are about 80 km (~50 Miles) in the bush, driving on a gravel logging road. The weather was perfect. No wind, sunshine and frost in the air. After having shot at a couple of locations, we wound up at the little lake where I had taken the Moonshine shot a couple of years ago. All of a sudden the sunshine starts to come through the trees, and lights up some grasses in the lake. Being the extremist that Ken is, gets up and wades out into the shallow waters. Ankle deep in loon and beaver crap he sets up his tripod and starts to compose a shot. I thought this would be a good time to get a shot of him in action, so I took a few of him shooting this sunlit grass, with some mist in the background.
The shot below is my shot from this location. Not being an extremist, I of course did not go into the water.
Fall shots – III
Please click on the image for a larger view.
One more from the Hwy 17 over pass. Same location as this shot, but this vantage point is from under one of the bridges looking south, as you can see on the google map. It’s definitively an area ill will revisit again.
Fall shots – II
Click on the image for a larger view.
I got a few more fall shots I would like to share. (My first Fall shots post is here). Still on Hwy 17 west of Sudbury in Northern Ontario. It’s always a treat when the water is calm, and the reflections is like mirrored perfectly.
nbsp;
Morning on the lake
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 70 mm, f/6.7, 1/500 sec, ISO200, Panorama - 16 images
On a trip down Hwy 6 to Manitoulin Island back in October last year, I drive through the town of Espanola. – See more shots and post from the town here, here and here. That morning the fog was pretty heavy and on a hunch I took a detour down on Panage Lake Rd, just in case I would get lucky, and I didn’t get disappointed. It took about an 1 hour before the fog was burned of enough to get this shot – well, shots actually. It’s a panorama made from about 16 images, 8 shots in 2 rows. But in the mean time, I had a lot of fun shooting the morning mist or fog which is magical in a picture. It’s peaceful and a bit mystical. Not a bad thing in an image if you ask me.
The Mill
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm, 170mm, f/8, 1/2sec, ISO200
Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I think that was a very short weekend….
I’ll kick this week of with a shot from the paper mill in Espanola, Ontario. It’s from a set of shots taken in October last year. I just happened to be going by early in the morning, and seeing the mist or fog by the hydro damn and bridge, that’ s just an opportunity that shouldn’t be wasted so I had to pull over and grab some shots. Here and here are some earlier post from Espanola.
