Photo Impressions, Photography by Pat Beaudoin, Sioux Lookout

All of these were taken during our camping escapade at Ojibway Provincial Park a couple of weeks ago, beautiful light when the sun gets low.  Those are Canada Geese basking in the glow. 

By the time I came into a clearing and saw that beautifully red, setting sun it was all but over and too late to run for the right equipment; not my best exposure but had to include it to complete the story.  Couldn’t for the life of me figure out why those fishermen didn’t put those fishing rods down and grab a camera!

Long time since I’ve taken any kind of landscape; these were  quick shots, late afternoon at my niece’s home on Sturgeon Lake.  Three shots later I was running for the shelter of my car to escape the down-pour. 

Only minutes earlier, this was the scene; what a difference clouds make…

One from the May Photowalk Theme List for a change…  it’s the back of an old barn, taken while we were in Barrie.  I thought the padlock on the door was cute…

EF-S 17-55 2.8 lens @ 51mm – f.8,  1/30s, ISO 200  

                   
Lots of blue tones in these and I decided to ramp up the vibrance and go with it.  I used a circular polarizer but did not have an effective angle for it in the full barn shot, as you can see from the uneven sky colour.

Just up from the waterfront is Dunlop Street, where the city has retained their oldest historical buildings.  This is Downtown Barrie with interesting shops and lots to eat.    This triangular old hotel is one of my favourite buildings and looks like it is undergoing some spring maintenance.  (B&W  Preset from Nicole Van) 

                                    
                                                                                        (Zurich Street Scene Preset from Preset Heaven)
                                                
                                                                                           Billz – this is your kind of restaurant!

The Barrie waterfront is one of my favourite spots to spend the day in the summer.  However, April visiting is another story.  Despite the warm sun it was horribly cold with strong bitter winds, we weren’t there for long.  There is a beautiful large fountain on one of the penninsula’s that I wanted to photograph but it was not running this early in the season.  I was disappointed to find that it was the same throughout the Barrie area – the interesting places I had hoped to photograph were not yet open to the public. 

The Spirit Catcher Sculpture, an impressive Barrie Landmark at the waterfront.   It dwarfed my three grandchildren, who were very good sports about yet another photograph even though they were freezing!   I liked the distortion of the city in the background in this one, taken with a wide-angle lens;  I’m thinking a fisheye just might be a fun addition to my equipment at some point.  More on this sculpture and Barrie, ON here.

Despite the cold there were still people boating, fishing off the shore and walking the many pathways on this sunny Sunday.   Even though we live in a more northern area of Ontario, we found the Spring dampness and cold strong winds of Barrie much harder to take!

Very early morning, cold, foggy… but the fishermen were all over this deep crevice for the Rainbow Trout.  Gorgeous little nook off of the Chippewa River, just outside Wawa, ON.   There was fresh snow along the highway in this area, much to our surprise.

Our trip to Barrie involved 1028 miles and 20+ hours of driving over two days;  photo-stops had to be limited or we would have never arrived!

I did a similar exercise on May 3rd of 2009 for a course I was taking, so I’ve pulled these examples from my photo archives.  All of the images were taken at various times of the same day, the point being to study the quality and the effects of the light on the landscape throughout the day.   I hated getting out of bed so early in order to travel to this fairly remote lake but I will say I learned more by actually doing the exercise than from the reading I had already done.  There is no learning method as good as experiencing things for yourself and this is especially true for photography!

                             
     Early Morning (8:15 am)                               Mid-Day (1:05 pm)                                     Evening  (6:15 pm)
 

I was photographing three different parts of the area so I wasn’t early enough getting to this scene to catch the earliest light.  However, morning is definitely my favourite time of day for landscapes – the light is softer, the details (especially the water reflections) are crisper, the colours deeper  and the shadows open.  It also just feels good to be out there in the morning even if it’s cold, which it bloody was!

The sun begins behind and to the left of me - ends in front and to the right of me, in these images.

Note: the mid-day shot would normally be even more bland; I suspect at least part of the sun had slipped behind one of those wispy clouds and helped out with some nicely diffused light. 

The biggest thing I remember from this day, is to be aware of the direction of your light and the effect that will have on your image.   Get out with your camera and do this!

Metadata: f/22 @ 35mm, using a GND filter for the sky and a tripod.

I was working with the last of the day’s light here and would normally neutralize the blue shadows by changing the white balance.  However, I liked the icey-blue tones of some of these and decided to leave them alone for a change.  These fit this month’s Photowalk theme “Alone” as well.

My prize for this day was happening on the Owl… he’s been on my list forever!  He was high above the rest of the forest trees and looking so comfortable on his perch.  I still have not learned to always bring my 400mm lens when venturing into the wilder areas, shot this with the 200mm.  I plan a return with the bigger lens and more daylight to get the details of this wonderful large bird; chances are good that this is his usual hunting location.  I’m pretty certain he’s the Great Grey Owl of North America, described here.  I love these moments of sheer delight…

More things I found in the snow, a continuation of my post here. 

I saved the best for last…. meet ” Sioux “ (prn. Sue) who is simply a delight!    

                                                 
          Horse’n around…                                 Someone’s watching me…

 I tried out a cloudy white balance for the cabin shots  in an attempt to counter a very grey, overcast day.   

 A big thank you to Val and Elso for allowing me the freedom to wander their property, one of my favourite places to be!

 With the unusually warm weather we’re experiencing, I went out to look for things in the snow… what caught
 my eye were the simple things. 

                                             
There was more to enjoy here, but I’ll save those for the next post…

Doorway into the old vault at our cemetary… once used to store the dead over the winter and the catalyst of many ghost stories over the years. 

The thumbnails have been resurrected from the Fall of 2009.  This could also be titled  “A Study in Grey” as in grey days. 

Not much time for photography during this busy season, however, I did want to stop and wish everyone a Happy Christmas! 

Truthfully I enjoyed these few minutes away from all the preparations with my camera… .  hopefully I’ll get out for some seasonal shots soon to  add to this theme. 

The poinsettia was taken with the LensBaby Composer plus the Macro accessory.

The thumbnail images are the result of a fun photo excursion with my 11 year-old grandson on December 23rd.    Justin brought home his wonderful interpretation of Xmas lights with my Canon PowerShot G5 and a whole lot of movement – a reminder for us adults to “just try it” and see what happens!    The day was grey and almost over for my landscape shot but it verifies that we do indeed have more than enough snow for Xmas.

Ralph Lake on November 6th, a little after sunset.

Gorgeous warm sunshine during that last week of October even though the air was plenty chilly.  I set up on one of the shores along Pelican Lake and very quickly forgot about how cold I was with the reminder of how beautiful nature is at this early hour.

                              
I could hear the float plane taking off long before I could find it.   The last image is Frying Pan Island on Pelican Lake.

These delightful figures are scattered along one of our rural roads thanks to the “Holletts”, new residents who immediately gave of their artistic talents.   

I have taken to visiting the road regularly, looking for my favourites and enjoying the surprise of anyone new.  I love their fit into the natural world and imagine each figure will grow even more beautiful as they meld with the environment. 

I’m sharing my favourites here and you can view the complete series in my Image Gallery.   These were taken over the summer at various times and in varying light.