Muskoka in Winter & Frogs of the World Workshop Space Available

Pre-dawn Light at The Torrance Barrens / Dark Sky Reserve
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 22mm
ISO 100
f16 @ 1.6 seconds

On Friday February 26th I finally had some free time to get out and spend a day in the field creating some fresh winter landscapes. The first stop on my list was to visit Torrance Barrens / Dark Sky Reserve near Gravenhurst, Ontario. This is one of my favorite locations in summer and fall, but I had never explored it in the dead of winter. It was a very chilly morning with a cloudless sky, which meant there would not be mush of a decent sunrise so I chose to frame these scraggly spruce trees against the western sky and wait for the rising sun to cast a pinkish glow on the western horizon.

The next stop on my list was to make a first-ever winter trip over to Lower Rosseau Falls. Fortunately the road in was plowed and there was even a clearing plowed to allow a car or two to park near the river. Hiking through the woods down to the base of the falls was a little treacherous as there was significant ice build-up beneath a foot of fresh snow – I fell flat on my butt several times.

Due to the bright conditions on this day, to slow down the exposure times to blur the rushing waters I dialed in an ISO of 50 on my Nikon D800 and also used a Nikon Polarizing Filter to further extend the exposure times. I was in such a rush to get out the door and on my way on this day that I also forgot to take along my cable release. To overcome this I simply framed my compositions as I normally would, then activated the Live View feature, as this will lock up the mirror to allow live viewing on the LCD screen, and then finally I selected the 2 second self-timer to trip the shutter.

 

Lower Rosseau Falls on the Rosseau River in Winter
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 29mm
ISO 50
f22 @ 1/10 sec.

 

Lower Rosseau Falls on the Rosseau River in Winter
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 23mm
ISO 50
f22 @ 1/5 sec.

After a successful shoot at Lower Rosseau Falls I made the short drive over to Hatchery Falls on the Skeleton River. There was not a lot of interesting ice development at Hatchery Falls mostly due to high water levels in the river not allow any interesting formations to develop. Nonetheless, the hike in to Hatchery Falls was beautiful and I had the entire location all to myself to enjoy 🙂

Hatchery Falls on the Skeleton River in Winter
Nikon D800, Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 23mm
ISO 50
f22 @ 1 second

 

Frogs of the World Workshop Space Available

For folks that may have missed the announcement for my Frogs of the World Workshop there are still some spaces available should you be interested. The date of the workshop is Saturday, March 5th at 8:00 a.m. with a cost of $85. Please contact me directly at info@andrewmclachlan.ca if you are interested in attending this workshop. For more information about the workshop please click here to see the official announcement.

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Frogs of the World Workshop – a few spaces available

Red-eyed Tree Frogs
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberely F-2 Macro Bracket

 

For those that may have missed the early posting regarding my first-ever Frogs of the World Photographic Workshop to be held on Saturday March 5th at 8:00 a.m. please click HERE for more information. We still have a few spaces available for this controlled session with captive frogs that are endemic to Madacasgar, Vietnam, South America, Costa Rica, and Australia. After we have completed our 2 hour session with the frogs we will be able to photograph some beautiful reptiles, including some highly venomous snakes through the safety of their enclosures 🙂

Green Anaconda
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

 

Vietnamese Moss Frog
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

 

Green Mamba
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 1oo, f22 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberley F-2 Macro Bracket

 

Tomato Frog
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberely F-2 Macro Bracket

 

Sharp-nosed Viper
Nikon D800, Nikon 105mm Micro Lens
ISO 100, f22 @ 1/60 sec
Nikon SB400 Speedlight on a Wimberely F-2 Macro Bracket

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Announcing: “Frogs of the World” Photographic Workshop

 

Today I am pleased to announce my first-ever, captive frog photography workshop. We will meet on Saturday March 5th 2016 at 8:00 a.m. at Reptilia in Vaughan, Ontario where we will spend the next two hours photographing Tomato Frog (Madagascar), Vietnamese Moss Frog (Vietnam), Red-eyed Tree Frog (Costa Rica), Budgett’s Frog (South America), and White’s Tree Frog (Australia). After we have completed the two hour frog session, as an added bonus, we will be permitted to enter the Reptilia Zoo to photograph a wide assortment of venomous and non-venomous reptiles, in their enclosures, for the remainder of the day. The use of flash is permitted and it is highly recommend that folks use an off-camera, macro flash set-up for photographing the frogs. Some of the species tend to be quite active, making the use of a tripod virtually impossible. I do recommend a tripod and flash for the various opportunities that will present themselves in the zoo afterwards.

The cost of this workshop is $85.00 and payment can be made via email transfer or cheque made payable to “Andrew McLachlan” Space will be limited to 10 participants. Please contact me at info@andrewmclachlan.ca for further information and for sending either the email transfer or cheque as payment. Once participants have signed up and paid I will forward driving directions to Reptilia as well as other information that you may find useful to be prepared for an exciting day of amphibians and reptiles.

Hope to see you there 🙂

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