Duchesnay Falls, North Bay, Ontario

Looking up at a frozen Duchesnay Falls
Nikon D800, Sigma 15mm Fisheye Lens, ISO 50, f16 @ 1/25 sec.

I have completed much of the processing of the image files from my trip up to Duchesnay Falls in North Bay, Ontario and thought I would share them with folks here on the blog. Each of these photographs were created on Wednesday, January 7th on what turned out to be a bitterly cold day, with the outside temperature hovering at -26 degrees C. I love being outdoors in such weather creating photographs. Think about it now – at these temps you are almost guaranteed to have such destinations all to yourself and there are no mosquitoes to contend with 🙂  As long as I dress in in multiple layers and wear appropriate footwear (Sorels rated to -40) and head-wear I can stay out all day if need be.

Please do remember to click on each of the images to see the larger, sharper versions.

Duchesnay Creek
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 18mm, ISO 50, f22 @ 0.3 sec.

Duchesnay Creek
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 22mm, ISO 50, f16 @ 0.4 sec.

In the final image below note how the river’s brownish water has created tea-colored ice formations within the river. At first I was disappointed when I discovered this darkly stained ice, but the longer I looked at it I thought that it was rather interesting and created some interesting color to what otherwise be a typical winter river-scape.

Duchesnay Creek
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens 20mm, ISO 100, f16 @ 0.6 sec.

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Duchesnay Creek and the Bitter Cold

Duchesnay Creek
Nikon D800, Nikom 18-35mm lens, ISO 50, f16 @ 0.6 sec. Polarizing Filter

The forecast for today was one of bitter cold temperatures and snow squalls, however, the snow was to remain further towards the southern areas of the Ontario. When the weather turns bitterly cold this is often the time I am ready to head out to some of my favorite waterfalls and rivers because the extreme cold temperatures do wonders for the creation of awesome ice formations. My chosen destination for today was the beautiful Duchesnay Falls, which is on the Duchesnay Creek in North Bay, Ontario. I awoke at 4:30 a.m. and commenced my 3 hour drive north to North Bay. When I arrived in North Bay the temperature was a balmy -26 C 🙂 As I made my way through the forest towards the falls I soon came to realize that I could not hear the sound of the waterfall through the forest, and as I had feared it was completely frozen over, but I continued along the trail system the leads up to the top of the waterfall and did find some nice open water above the falls. I spent about three hours creating various compositions along this stretch of open water on the Duchesnay Creek before making the trek home. All in all it was a wonderful day, made even better by the brutal cold, which made for some lovely ice formations. I will share some of the alternate compositions with you shortly.

Please click on the image to view the sharper, larger version.

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A Berry Good Day

American Goldfinch
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-400mm VR lens @ 400mm, ISO 1250, f8 @ 1/125 sec.

Today I finally had time to get out into my insulated photo blind, complete with portable heater, for my winter songbird photography. A couple of days ago I found a tree that was adorned with berries, so I snipped off two small sections of branches that I could use as perches at my backyard set-up. Here are a few of the days best results. The activity today at the feeders was quite low due to the lack of snow on the ground. Once we get a good layer of snow on the ground the activity always increases dramatically. When there is very little snow on the ground the birds tend to ignore the feeder and forage around my property in search of other food sources, such as previously stored food caches or hibernating insects.

Please do click on each of the images to see the larger, sharper versions.

Hairy Woodpecker
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-400mm VR lens @ 400mm, ISO 1250, f8 @ 1/320 sec.

Black-capped Chickadee
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-400mm VR lens @ 400mm, ISO 1250, f8 @ 1/160 sec.

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