Stoney Lake and Viamede Resort

This section of my site is a collection of articles and tutorials on Generative AI in Adobe Creative Cloud. I've put a lot of effort into showing how Gen AI can be used in practical ways by photographers to augment their work, not replace their creativity. Enjoy!

For New Years at the end of 2017, we spent the weekend in the North Kawarthas at Viamede Resort, on Stoney Lake. Despite the frigid temperatures (-24 to -18 Degrees C), I braved the outdoors on New Years Eve Day, wandering the grounds of the resort for over an hour, photographing the area in its winter finery. 

I've been shooting a lot with my iPhone lately (the first 10 images here are mobile shots), and I must say, it was great to have my Nikon back in my hands, shooting what I love - trees and rocks.

And in this case, lots of snow, too!

Even with the cold temperatures, I managed to compose a panorama (later stitched together in Lightroom Classic CC) and several HDR images. The strong sunlight - practically a backlight in many cases - created challenges for exposing some scenes, which I felt HDR compositions would resolve. I wanted to retain shadow detail and also make sure not to lose the sparkle of fresh snow in some images.
I also forced myself to get back outside for about 20 minutes, to capture the final sunset of 2017. That short jaunt was worth the effort. My vantage point for the images was not ideal for wide landscapes (I was in the parking lot, overlooking the lake). I didn't think I'd have time to get down to the shore, so instead, after exhausting the options for a wide shot, my attention focused on the desiccated Queen Anne's Lace in the foreground. I love how these shots turned out, especially thanks to the shallow depth of field.
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