Rural 1999

January 13, 2009 ·

Michael Reichmann

Rural Ontario 1999

Geese & Tree Row— Ontario 1999 (D)

The migration of Canada geese every October produces some wonderful picture opportunities. The challenge is to find the right combination of light and background. I was particularly taken with the simplicity and symmetry of the trees, and the ordered randomness of the birds. The sunrise glow in the sky is real, but needed some digital enhancement to bring it out and make it a more effective part of the image.

Taken with a Canon EOS3 and Canon 100~400mm IS L Lens on Provia 100.

Barn at Sunrise, Ontario 1999 (D)

A perfect early-October morning. A cool rain the night before leading to a warm dawn with a cloudless sunrise. Ground mist that would burn off once the sun had been up for an hour. The perfect conditions for a soft and ethereal country scene. I’d risen before dawn and driven to the countryside in search of fall colour. But 1999 was not a terribly good year for foliage in the Northeast, with greens turning to browns rather quickly. In any event, I was growing bored with pretty colours and found the monochromatic quality of the light very appealing. This barn and tree captured the morning’s soft spirit.

Photographed with a Rollei 6008i and Schneider 40mm f/3.5 Super Angulon lens on Fuji Provia 100.

Apple Tree, Mono Township Ontario 1999 (D)

November. Rainy, barren trees, gray skies. But, on one Sunday morning just after dawn the sun shone briefly and this old apple tree stood out boldly against a still-green orchard floor. A hour later it was snowing.(TheGaussian Blurtechnique that I occasionally use softened the rough edges of this image).

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and Canon 100~400 L IS Zoom on Provia 100

Bare Branches, Mono Cliffs Ontario, 1999

Mono Cliffs Provincial Parkis located on Mono Township about an hour northwest of Toronto. Crisscrossed with hiking trails it runs along the edge of the Niagara escarpment. Taken a couple of hours after the apple tree above a weather system had swept in and the skies became leaden. These bare branches, while originally shot in colour, clearly work well as a monochrome image.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and Canon 100~400 L IS Zoom on Provia 100, decolorized in PhotoShop.

Mono Cliffs Vista, Ontario, 1999 (D)

On theCliff Top TrailinMono Cliffs Provincial Parkthere’s an observation platform giving a perspective that looks down into theHockley Valley. A long lens, in this case 400mm, gives an isolating perspective on this gentle fall scene. Again, the Gaussian Blur post-processing techniques was used. Interestingly, this and the two photographs above were all taken within an hour or so of each other. A productive morning.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and Canon 100~400 L IS Zoom on Provia 100.

Fall Foliage, Ontario 1999 (D)

Sometimes I shoot colour just for the sake of colour. There’s something soft and ethereal about a late fall day when the weather can be unusually warm and the light soft and hazy.  This photograph attempts to capture some of that feeling.

Photographed with a Canon EOS3 and Canon 100~400 L IS Zoom on Provia 100.

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Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.

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