Cox Hollow Lake, Governor Dodge State Park, Wisconsin, Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Breakthrough GND filter 0.6
On the list of our favorite spots to spend a warm or hot summer day is Governor Dodge State Park in Wisconsin. This is about an hour away from home. This wooded area has two lakes and although man-made, they remind me a lot of places in Norway or Sweden I have visited years ago.
Joan had to work yesterday and so it was just “kayak dog” Cooper and myself who went on a paddle tour on Cox Hollow Lake. No camera was on board at all! Today we repeated the tour but this time Joan launched her kayak as well. The lake has pretty clear water and swimming was of course on the agenda both days. We know a good spot, away from the busy beaches this lake has to offer, where we can land the boats and go for a swim.
I had two lenses in the boat, the SIGMA 150/f2.8 Macro and the Nikkor 16-35, f/4. The SIGMA macro lens was used for some shots of dragonflies and for the image below. For the photo above the new Breakthrough GND 0.6 filter was employed and delivered just what I had in mind after my observations the day before. Luckily we had the same kind of puffy clouds again, with great reflections on the water and a little bit of blue sky for a nice color contrast. At 16 mm focal length Joan’s blue kayak seems to be far away and Cooper’s head in front of her is just a tiny dot.
“Kayak dog” Cooper, Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM, in-camera flash
Here is the story behind this photo. Cooper loves to be on the water and in the kayak but he is not really a “water dog”. However, we took him into the water a couple times to cool him off and clean him a little. Oh boy, when Cooper came back to shore he rolled immediately in a pile of pine needles, dust, and sand, just to tell us that our “cleaning efforts” are a hopeless idea…After the second time he climbed on a big rock along the shore and the expression on his face tells it all (at least to us). First, you will never get me down from here again, bastards! Second, I ignore you anyway!… Well, tonight after a delicious chicken dinner, Joan had created on the grill, we were good friends again…😉