Mill of Kintail - Long exposure photography on a gloomy day.

 

View of Kintail Mill

The conditions that day were very overcast, and wet! Not the most enjoyable for hiking especially with my camera gear (I am quite paranoid about keeping everything dry).  Slippery mossy rocks and mud puddles can be a little daunting to navigate.. 

But these low-light conditions are ideal for long exposure photography, especially with the diffuse/even light and the wet foliage accentuating all of those beautiful colours. 

Having a few hours to spare after work, I grabbed my gear and rushed to the site to take advantage of the remaining light. I am fortunate to live close by (5 min away) so it is very convenient for those spur of the moment short outings when time is of the essence. 

Mossy Trunk

Having visited the area previously, I was familiar with the trail and wanted to go back and shoot a few potentially good spots that I had noted. But my last visit was in the dead of summer where everything is well.. green. 

Up river view of Kintail Mill

What a difference a little colour makes!  I could suddenly see compositions everywhere and became quite excited/overwhelmed with all of those possibilities. I literally had to stop myself from scrambling all over the place like a kid in a candy store. This is the type of situation where I would normally jump from composition to composition, erratically  taking hundreds of shots but coming back with nothing worthwhile... 

  
So I shook my head and thought "Focus Fred!...", and decided to stick with the program and go to the areas I had planned to shoot. Doing so made the whole experience much more pleasant and efficient. It enabled me to take the time needed to fine tune compositions, focus on the task at hand and enjoy the scenery. 

Most of these photos are long (some very long) exposure shots ranging anywhere from 1/2 sec to 20 seconds long. Now some of the pictures aren't as sharp as I would have liked due to the very slight breeze (very little wind but sometimes just enough to cause movement in the leaves) but I think the overall effect is interesting and worth the trade-off. 

Tree on Indian River

I am quite happy with the results and came home with a few "keepers" so it was a successful outing in my book. 

Hope you enjoy! And thanks for visiting. 

Mill of Kintail Trail

The Mill of Kintail Conservation area is a 154 acre site located in Mississippi Mills, Ontario featuring a network of scenic trails along the beautiful Indian River which flows across the property. The site is also home to The R. Tait McKenzie Memorial Museum and the James Naismith Museum.