HISTORY IMAGINED

Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota

It’s hard to believe that when someone travels across the fields, grasslands, and prairie here in the Midwest that there was only one valuable photo opportunity during the whole week. Sometimes things just don’t line up the way we photographers like…

Coming from Nebraska I crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it was photographers ”luck”, with not a single cloud in the sky (sigh!!!).

While standing there I imagined the time before the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, long before this modern bridge was built, and bison crossed the shallow river at this place. Maybe the people that owned the land, the Native Americans who depended on hunting bison and lived along the Missouri River, may have enjoyed the same view from this hill above the river banks. Who knows?

Another historical moment happened already in late summer of 1804, when the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition came up the river by boats during their journey to the Pacific Northwest. Their over 8000-mile expedition trip for the US government took two years, four month and ten days. When this expedition moved upstream, most of the difficulties were still laying ahead of them.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #07 - BEFORE TWILIGHT AND A LOOK AT THE MOON

Mississippi River, Potosi, Wisconsin

Same location as in my last blog post from two days ago. Before the time of twilight the sun has to set, of course, as it happens 365 days a year (but not every day lets us enjoy the twilight time 😉) The view goes to the northwest, the direction where the river comes from, and due to the time of the season the sun sets still over a part of Wisconsin. Our state of Iowa is the small stretch of land on the left hand side, and that may give those of you who are not so familiar with this area an idea how mighty the Mississippi River really is. For shots like this I set the white balance in camera pretty close to 7000 Kelvin. The new Breakthrough 2-stop graduated neutral density filter prevents the blow out of the highlights even in the center of the sun. The real landscape photography gurus may ask, why did you use only a 2-stop filter, if the range of light is asking for three stops or maybe even more.? Yes, I have a 3-stop GND filter (Schneider GND 0.9) and I knew it would have been the proper choice, but I’m still testing the limits of the Breakthrough X4 GND 0.6.

Moon over the river, Potosi, Wisconsin

And here is the other reason to be out there as a photographer, even if it wasn’t really my subject this evening. An almost full moon raised 42 minutes before sunset, pretty much exactly 180 degree on the opposite side. A little too early for the best shot of a moonrise but still good for a picture from the same spot and pointing the lens to the southeast. The exposure time was 0.6 s & f/16, giving the water a nice blur and telling the story about a windy spot by looking at the willow leaves.

I know, family and friends over in Germany often ask me to show more photos of our area. I hope this gives those of you who have never been here, or have a look at my blog from different parts of the world (Hi, Jeanine and Johan in Johannesburg / South Africa) a better perspective if I tell one of my “Mississippi River Stories”. I appreciate every visitor in my blog! Keep sending me message/opinions/questions, etc. 

IT WILL TOUCH YOU

The Tundra Swans are still present at the Mississippi ----- 

Remember, a week ago I posted pictures and reported about the large concentration of migrating Tundra Swans at the Mississippi River, just north of the Minnesota border. Joan had to work last weekend and so we gave it a try again today and drove north on the scenic roads that follow the river. Guess what, the swans were still present and after a mostly gray and rainy week it was nice to see thousands of Tundra Swans again in good sunlight.

View from Brownsville Overlook, Minnesota

This is only a fraction of all the swans. The compressed view of the 600 mm lens makes the Wisconsin side of the river appear a lot closer than it actually is. The Mississippi is here about 3 km (~2 miles) wide. The main channel for the boats is behind the island with the tall trees.

If you live somewhere in northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin, or southeast Minnesota and you haven’t been there yet, take the time to see the swans. It will touch you, no matter if you a photographer or just someone who likes nature.

FIRST GLIMPSE

Great Horned Owl  ------------   

It looks like I show you the same image at this time of every year. Yes, a Great Horned Owl sits again in the nest at Mud Lake Park, just a stone throw away from the Mississippi River. 2017 is the fifth year in a row that the Great Horned has chosen this nest site. A couple other photographers have emailed me during the last days that they saw the owl and even the male was spotted in another tree (Thank you Linda and Ken!). Incubation takes about 28 to 35 days and is mostly done by the female.

 I was there yesterday afternoon but the bird was out of the nest. Today I used my lunch break to drive down to Mud Lake again and was even able to make a few clicks. Distance is always a bit of a problem and I used all my technical means to overcome it. First, the Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG was mounted between the Sigma 150-600 mm lens and the camera to extend the focal length to 850 mm. Second, the D750 was set to DX crop mode, which gave me the equivalent angle of view of a 1275 mm lens. I still cropped a little sliver on the right and top to keep a few distracting branches out of the frame. At that time of the day I had to shoot against the sun but a thin layer of clouds didn’t make this a big problem. Dialing in exposure compensation of +1 1/3 EV delivered the best results today. 

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #10 - FOOD ENVY

Two American White Pelicans and about a dozen Double-crested Cormorants seemed to go along with each other very well below dam #11 in the Mississippi River. Both species fished peacefully side by side, the pelicans using their big bill and the cormorants diving for the fish. There wasn’t any problem until one of the cormorants got a pretty good size fish out of the water.

One of the pelicans was obviously struck by food envy and suddenly attacked the cormorant pretty aggressive. Looking at the image a little closer on my screen at home I realized that the pelican had the poor cormorant in its bill and obviously tried to bite him. I’m very happy to catch this moment. As you can see the cormorant got away with its prey…

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

The photos were made on the Wisconsin side of the river, right below the dam between Dubuque, Iowa and the state of Wisconsin. Usually it is not a good place to shoot in this direction during the afternoon hours because the sun is just across the river. We had some heavy overcast and that muted the sunlight quite a bit. To overcome the gray from above and reflected off the water fill flash was used to reveal the colors of the birds.

THERE ARE REASONS

Missouri River, near Bismarck, North Dakota

The photo was made on our way home, just southwest of Bismarck, the capitol of North Dakota. There are reasons why getting up early in the morning may lead to a desired image. Pitching the tent next to the Missouri River made it a lot easier to be on site before sunrise. A few minutes later a beaver swam down the river. Those are the moments when you realize, being in the right place, at the right time, is not solely due to just having a lucky day…

BADLANDS, BUT GREAT MOMENTS

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation, lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. (source: Wikipedia)

What this classification doesn’t include is the beauty you can find in these landscapes. We spent a big part of our vacation this year in Badlands, in South, and as well in North Dakota. It is easy to get spoiled by some of the more iconic parks here in the United States, but we had some very stunning and almost unexpected moments in the Dakotas. This photo was made one early evening in the North unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Down in the valley is the Little Missouri River, shallow and always very muddy. At this time of the day it became a very essential part of the photo. Walked back to the car with a smile in my face...