A walk through the forest

Fall is an especially beautiful time of year in the prairies and like any photographer, I felt compelled to take advantage of such photo opportunities. After my second Raw Artists exhibit I got a good feel for what art fans and potential buyers are looking for to hang on their walls, and I set about developing a selection of images similar to this one, which sparked an ongoing series.

Nature Abstract I The first photo in an ongoing series. A new, different kind of nature photography focusing on shapes, lines and colors. — Nature Abstract I (Winter 2012)
The first photo in an ongoing series. A new, different kind of nature photography focusing on shapes, lines and colors.

By chance one day in the winter of 2012 it was a nice enough day outside and I was in the middle of attempting a 365 project. So my boyfriend and I went for a walk at a neighborhood park and I snapped some landscape shots and a few shots of tree branches against the sky. Went playing around in photo shop later on and voila! One of my most popular pieces was born. A lot of people ask me what it’s supposed to be a photo of, I always say, “You tell me.” What the person see’s in the branches is always more interesting than me saying “Well, it’s some tree branches sir”
After my first Raw exhibit my mother begged me for the print and I eventually relented because it didn’t look like I was selling any of my prints. I even printed a new one for the second exhibit and while it did garner a lot of attention, no buyers. Though most people were interested to see similar images, so I set to work.

Fall Leaf on a bench Assiniboine Park 2014 — Fall Leaf on a bench
Assiniboine Park 2014

I figured the best place to start was Assiniboine Park. It’s a go to spot for just about any kind of photography in Winnipeg. I dragged my boyfriend out of our apartment and we went for a walk through the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. I’d been there before but there was a spot I’d somehow missed and wanted to check it out, and it was of course gorgeous.

Leo Mol Staute Garden Assiniboine Park 2014 — Leo Mol Statue Garden
Assiniboine Park 2014

Fall leaves and vines at Assiniboine Park 2014

I actually greatly enjoy photographing the statues because you can still catch a bit of that models character, captured in stone years later.

But going to the leo mol garden was not satisfactory enough for me. I’ve always wanted to get a really good shot of birch trees against a blue sky, and the time of year was right for this as well as something else…

In 2012 my boyfriend and I went for a hike in Spruce woods provincial park. We hiked down the Devils Punchbowl trail and at the end of it just jumped right off the trail and down into the punchbowl. We had to be careful to avoid some spots of poison ivy, and my boyfriend decided to be a bit old school and started carving our initials in a tree. So now every year we go back in visit! As if I even needed an excuse to go back to the beautiful prairie landscape that is Spruce Woods.