Creative Cascade

Spencer Gorge Wilderness Area

I have been busy processing a backlog of images from this past spring, summer and fall and also trying to catch up on much needed rest. While going through my files I came across this small cascade that I photographed at Webster’s Falls in the Spencer Gorge Wilderness Area in Hamilton, Ontario. This is found along the Niagara Escarpment. The Hamilton region is noted for its numerous waterfalls on the Niagara Escarpment, many of them really only show any flow after periods of significant rainfall. I found this one to be particularly attractive with the escarpment wall for a backdrop. After processing the image file I decided to run it through Topaz Labs B&W Effects to create the effect you see above.

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Sanderlings at Katherine Cove

Sanderling at Katherine Cove on Lake Superior

During my September trip up to Ontario’s Lake Superior Provincial Park I had the opportunity to photograph a small group of migrating Sanderlings at Katherine Cove. The weather on this day was a real mixed bag of sun and cloud with rainstorms and sun-showers. After photographing of few landscapes I decided to sit down and have my lunch when I became aware of a group of shorebirds making their way along the beach and pausing to rest from time to time. I enjoyed watching them for sometime before embarking on photographing them. The area of the beach they were at has many rocks among the sand and capturing images with a clean background was a challenge, but I also thought it was necessary to have a few images that would illustrate the surroundings that they were foraging and resting within. I photographed these Sanderlings using the Nikon 80-400mm VR lens, handheld, with the vibration reduction feature activated, while lying flat on by belly in the wet sand. My favorite Sanderling image from the day is the above photograph. Please take a moment to let me know which is your favorite and why?

For this image I added a touch of canvas to the left side of the frame to repair a clipped tail. I like this image for the inclusion of the autumn, white paper birch leaf and I do like the patterns in the background created by the debris that the Sanderlings were foraging in, that washed ashore due to rough waters the day before.

In the next two photos below, I could not decide which I prefer. I like the shadow below the Sanderling in the sunlit image, but I also like the even lighting in the last image that was captured seconds after the sunlit image. As I mentioned, sun and cloud cover was constantly changing as a result of the weather systems that were rapidly moving through the area.

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Late Season Impressionistic Blurs

While on my way to pick-up my daughter from school today I had a few minutes to kill, so I headed off to a few woodlots along the farm roads near my home. In one of the woodlots there are some nice groupings of Aspen trees and I have always wanted to shoot some blurs of them. Today’s mostly overcast weather was perfect for such photography. I was surprised to see a few of the Goldenrod plants still in bloom and thought they would make a nice splash of colour against the browns of late fall / early winter. It doesn’t really feel too much like winter around these parts just yet, as the days are actually quite warm and pleasant. Below you will see an assortment of handheld, in-camera, impressionistic blurs that I created this afternoon. Hope you enjoy these images.

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More From Lake Superior

Katherine Cove, Lake Superior

I have been catching up on processing more of the images from my Lake Superior trip in September. When I look back at these images I can’t wait to go back there again. In my honest opinion, I believe that some of Ontario’s finest landscapes can be found in Lake Superior Provincial Park and various locations along Lake Superior’s north shore. The images in this post are all from lake Superior Provincial Park.

Agawa Bay, Lake Superior

Early Fall Colour on the Coldwater River at Lake Superior

The image below is a 5 frame HDR processed with Oloneo PhotoEngine. I previously posted an HDR of this same scene, but when reviewing my other image files I came across this sequence that I think I like just a little bit more.

HDR – Katherine Cove, Lake Superior

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