Winter is the best time to dig out photos from the library to give them maybe some well deserved attention. During a paddle trip on Bear Head Lake in northern Minnesota in the fall of 2023 this eroded root system of a spruce along the shore intrigued me. Any time I look at this photo I see different things and a new story. Nature is always fascinating.
MINNESOTA NORTHWOODS - #13
Common Merganser, Bear Head Lake, Minnesota
On almost every lake we paddled last month up in Minnesota we found this bird species, the Common Merganser. We see them here in eastern Iowa during winter as long there is open water on the Mississippi River, and of course during migration. Most of their breeding grounds is higher up in Canada but the lakes in northern Minnesota are called home as well.
They are pretty tolerant when approached slowly with a kayak and they let us come quite close sometimes. So it is not a ”one time opportunity”, as it probably was with the River Otters. This gave me much better time to wait for a backgrounds that was not so busy. There is a lot of fallen trees lined up along the lake shores and as natural as it is, it’s not always a flattering background. The mergansers hunt mostly for fish underwater and if they do it right in front of you, you just know, the bird has accepted your presence and they don’t feel threatened.
MINNESOTA NORTHWOODS - #8
North American River Otters, Bear Head Lake, Minnesota
It is not always guaranteed coming back with some decent images from every wildlife shooting adventure but it takes only one good photo to make it a successful trip. For our trip to the Northwoods of Minnesota a couple weeks ago this picture of three River Otters I value the most. Yes, there is a third otter on the log, right behind the one on the left and if you look carefully at this low resolution photo, you may see its nose peeking out from behind.
During our visit at Bear Head Lake State Park in 2019 I saw an otter near our campsite one early morning coming out of the water for a few seconds. The otter looked at me, and jumped right back into the lake. I was able to take a couple shots and of course this time I had high hopes to see another River Otter again. It’s a big lake and looking for an otter feels like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But luck was on our side again this time. On a very windy day we paddled the East Bay of Bear Head Lake since it seemed to be a little less effected by the wind. We had already watched a Great Blue Heron and a number of Common Mergansers while paddling along the shore, when suddenly two otters just appeared in front of my kayak and lifted their upper body out of the water. It looked like they were just checking us out as we paddled slowly into this part of the lake. Joan didn’t see them and I felt bad for her. We waited a few minutes, looked around, and suddenly she discovered three North American River Otters sitting on a dead log. The wind was pushing us towards them and I knew I had only a few seconds to line up the boat, lift the lens, focus, and let the camera rip out a few shots. As we drifted too close all three jumped simultaneously back into the water and were not seen again. The light was a little too harsh for my taste but at least I came back with a handful sharp photos of these interesting and beautiful animals. Moments like that are unforgettable!
Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, @ 600 mm, 1/5000 s, f/6.3, ISO 1600, image cropped
AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #14 - WILDLIFE ENCOUNTERS IN LOW LIGHT
White-tailed Deer, Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota
I have never been a friend of shooting wildlife with an ISO setting above 250-320. But when you walk out into nature early in the morning or during a day with low light due to overcast, you have to rethink your ideas. The higher the ISO, the lower the resolving power, the more noise in the image, and the lower the dynamic range. But at the other hand, a sharp photo with a higher ISO setting is still better than capturing a blurry picture because shutter speed is too slow as a result of having the ISO settings in the basement. This is in particular true if a very long focal length is employed while handholding the camera. There is a limit where Vibration Reduction or Optical Stabilization, as SIGMA calls it in their lenses, may help you to get a sharp image. The well-disposed viewer of a photo on the web, in a blog post, on Instagram, or any other social site may not see much of a difference, but the real quality bar for a good photograph is the ultimate print.
The photo of this White-tailed Deer, up in Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota was shot at ISO 800. To make it clear, it wasn’t a difficult shot. As I wrote here in the blog before, the deer near a campground are not tame, but they are used to people and don’t run away as soon they see a human. Staying in or near a campground is a safety strategy that at least works during the camping season. Their predators, like wolves, avoid these places.
I have shot handheld at 500-600 mm focal length, 1/60 s, ISO 200 or even lower, but I also have deleted a lot of pictures with this kind of settings. Practice is always the key to success for sharp photos but sometimes a higher ISO can save your butt.
Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, at 490 mm, 1/320s, f/6.3, ISO800
AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #12
Bear Head Lake, Minnesota
Exactly a month ago we spent part of the day 2341 feet below the surface in the Soudan Mine, the deepest and oldest iron ore mine in Minnesota. It was operated until 1962. It is hard to imagine that the miners quite often didn’t see the sun at all during their working week. Thinking about that made us even more enjoy the crisp and clear moments around sunset, back in our camp at Bear Head Lake State Park.
Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head
AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #11
Bear Head Lake, Minnesota
I admit, this photo was made with some quick instructions shouted across the water. I told Joan to paddle very slowly in front of the tamarack tree, that was for a brief moment perfectly illuminated by the sun. It could have been a great fall shot with its color contrast between the beautiful tamarack and the blue kayak, and as the ice on the cake a nice reflection on the water, if… Yes, if there wasn’t the dead trees in the picture. To be honest I didn’t even see them until I was back home and viewed the pictures on screen. Sure, I can invest another hour and remove all the dead wood from the photo. Photoshop and other software gives us endless possibilities to tinker with an image. But is it worth the time? I clean up a landscape picture if necessary, especially around the edges (called “border police” by other photographers), but I rather go out and shoot again instead of removing a bigger flaw in post process. Every photographer has to make their own decisions about how much time to spend for fixing a problem. Unless I try a new technique in post process I hardly ever exceed ten minutes for working with a RAW file and bring out the romance in the photo. Life is too short and the world doesn’t come to an end if a photo doesn’t get published…
AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #10
River Otter, Bear Head Lake, Minnesota
We didn’t come across with the big animals that have their home in northern Minnesota this time, like moose, black bear, or wolf, but we had a good number of wildlife encounters during our trip last month. The best and most memorable was a brief meeting with a River Otter at Bear Head Lake in Bear Head Lake State Park. I went for an early morning walk with the Nikon D750 and 70-200 attached. There were some deer in and around the campground and I was hoping to get a glimpse at them. As I approached the lake an otter just entered one of the logs in front of me. What a surprise! I have seen otters here in eastern Iowa before, but never had a wild otter in front of my camera. I made a number of clicks but should have dialed in an ISO beyond 1600. A shutter speed of 1/100 s was just not enough to freeze the action for a tack sharp photo of this fast moving beautiful otter.
Ruffed Grouse, Lake Vermilion State Park, Minnesota
Movement didn’t play a role with this Ruffed Grouse a couple days earlier, but it was the same kind of low light from a heavy overcast. The grouse just sat at the edge of a parking lot and let me get very close. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep the blacktop out of the frame.
White-tailed Deer, Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota
The deer are usually not very shy in and around many campsites. For them it is a relative safe place because predators, like wolfs or coyotes, stay away mostly from busy human places. None of the campsites were really busy in October anymore, some of them we had for ourselves, and the deer can graze pretty undisturbed before the snow covers everything up. This photo was made near our campsite from the kayak during a paddle tour on Bear Head Lake. I liked the environmental aspect of this setting, with the white bark of the birches, some fall colors, and the big pines on the right.
All photos: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR