MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2015 #3


I have been down at the Mississippi River in Mud Lake many times and I knew one of these days it would happen. Clouds were moving out this evening and while our little dog Cooper and I enjoyed the mood and solitude, a gap opened up and a shaft of light hit the bluffs on the Wisconsin side of the big river. I have never seen the reflections of the rocks coming all across the river with such an intensity. From all the photos I made during the brief period of time, this one is my favorite. I used the Nikkor 24-120, f/4 for this shot. Zooming in to 86 mm compresses the distance a little bit and I like that the reflections are more pronounced than in some other pictures that were made at the wider end of the lens. The foreground was all muddy drift wood and the photo benefits actually from leaving this out of the frame.

On a side note, I saw the little owlet peeking out of the nest today. Now I believe it is safe to say that we have for the third year in a row only one young Great Horned Owl in the nest. I think this is still wonderful and we look forward to see it grow up, at least until it will leave the nest in a few weeks.