WAY TO GO

Fall has many ways to tell us that the growing season is over and nature gets ready for hibernation and all the other things we associate with the season before winter. I made this photo about two weeks ago up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. This was at a little pond, nestled between endless woods and next to a swamp. The trail cameras of a friend prove that deer, bears, and wolves call this area home, even if we hardly ever see them during the day.

The cattails I found at the shore are called ”Kanonenputzer” in the area where I grew up in Germany. This means loosely translated ”canon cleaners”. Maybe you agree that this name describes the plant as good as the english term ”cattail”.

Enough about names, it was the gorgeous side light that made the decaying cattails and grasses stand out. The water of the pond and the woods in the background are pushed back by a strong underexposure, letting the shapes and details of the plants tell the story of a sunny afternoon on a beautiful day in autumn. To me color meant nothing in this image, it was all about the light, contrast, and shapes of the subject. I thought Black & White was the way to go.

CHANGED THE PLAN

Frozen Popple River, Wisconsin

It was the traditional ice fishing weekend with friends up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. While we fished successfully one day we changed plans for the second one. The wind of the ongoing snow storm was too brutal and we decided to drive through the woods and look for wildlife or find some photo opportunities instead. No surprise, the wolves and black bears up there kept hiding but we saw a few White-tailed Deer.

One of the stops we always make is in the middle of nowhere at a bridge that crosses the Popple River. I have posted photos from this location before here in the blog but it is always interesting how different the scene can look. Due to the warm weather even up north during the last couple months, the ice on the river was very thin. Big parts of the woods have bogs and the tint of the ice comes from the peaty water. It makes for a good color contrast between the river and the snow cover. Nothing spectacular, but obviously more fun than attaching bait to the hooks in the icy wind…

WEEKEND IN WISCONSIN’S NORTHWOODS

Popple River, Forest County Wisconsin

I spent the weekend in the Northwoods of Wisconsin at a friend’s cabin, to be more precise, in the woods north of Crandon and Laona. With every mile I drove further north fall colors appeared more sparsely. In addition gray skies dominated the weekend’s weather. I still tried to find ways to tell the story with the camera about the changes at the end of the fall season.

I have photographed from this bridge, crossing the Popple River, several times in the past. My older photos show it mostly frozen, with a layer of snow on top. Most leaves were gone already but the patches of grass lead the eye to the background, where some fall colors tell us, it’s not all over yet.

Full moon revealed, near Double Bend Road, Forest County, Wisconsin

The rain had moved out of the area and the almost full moon started peeking through the clouds. The light and mood of the scene reminded me of paintings by German Romantic landscape painter Casper David Friedrich (1774 - 1840). A light at the cabin to my left gave the tree trunks some structure. It is very subtle, but made the difference instead of rendering the trees just as a silhouette and nothing but black on the lower part of the photo.

Most of the maples had lost their leaves already but I found this young maple on an island in a bog. I removed carefully everything bright below this branch to keep the background as dark as possible. After this little bit of preparation it was an easy click.

I’m always amazed about the variety of different tree species up north. On the small island in the bog near the cabin we found pine, fir, spruce, maple, birch, arborvitae, and others. With the absence of popping colors, even in the sky, the camera was set to black and white with a red filter effect applied, making the shape of the trees the subject of the image. Although the arborvitaes are evergreen trees, the may shed some of their leaves. Here they covered the forest floor and gave me another reason to make this photo.

Cascade in the Little Popple River, Forest County Wisconsin

The tinted water at this cascade is a good indicator that the river flows through a boggy and peaty landscape, shaped by the glaciers a long time ago. This was shot handhold at 190 mm focal length and 1/20 sec. exposure time. I wanted movement in the water but also keep some of the details and not making it just some ”chocolate milk” flowing over the rocks.

MARVELOUS ARCHITECTURE

Milwaukee Art Museum

It doesn’t happen very often that I have the chance and time to visit an architectural landmark during one of my business trips. However, a week ago I was able to stop at the Milwaukee Art Museum while traveling with a German business friend. I knew the museum was closed that day but the design by Eero Saarinen, David Kahler, and Santiago Calatrava has always fascinated me and there are many architectural highlights to admire while walking around the building complex.

It was the first time that I photographed the museum with snow on the ground and not a single cloud in the sky. While in most of my landscape photography I’m not thrilled about a bald blue sky, here I like the fact because the beautiful lines of Calatrava’s Quadracci Pavilion stand out nicely against the background. The Burke Brise Soleil, a moveable sunscreen with a 66-meter wingspan was unfortunately folded down during our short visit.

View towards Lake Michigan and across the Reimann bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that connects the museum to the city.

Milwaukee Downtown, looking west from the same viewpoint as in the picture above.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,

BACK IN THE NORTHWOODS

Fay Lake, Florence County, Wisconsin

It was the traditional ice fishing weekend with friends up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Great camaraderie, good food, lots of laughters, moderate temperatures, and yes, a few fish saw the light above the ice. While here in eastern Iowa all the snow had melted, up north there was still plenty of the white stuff on the ground and the ice on the lake was solid and about 12” (30 cm) thick. Good enough for driving safely onto the lake.

I know I have posted photos of Fay Lake before, but it is never twice the same. The camera comes out of the bag shortly before we collect our fishing gear and leave the ice. The sun is low and we were rewarded with a nice glow on the ice and warm colors above the horizon. Good times!

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 24mm, 1/1000 s, f/10, ISO 100

BACK AT THE LIGHTHOUSE

Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

I’m back from probably my last business trip this year, this time to the western shore of Lake Michigan. Native Americans, who called this place home in the days before European settlement, named it Manitowoc, home of the good spirits. I have been there before in September 2021 and came back with some pictures of the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse that marks the entrance to the marina. (Click HERE for a link to my blog post from last year )

This time the image was was created from a different angle and different light. The late afternoon sun was muted by a layer of clouds but the building stood out against the darker clouds over the lake. A little snow on the ice in the foreground and tweaking the white balance towards a colder tone give this photo the peaceful wintry mood I felt yesterday at the lake shore. Maybe this was just the prelude to a big snowstorm and arctic temperatures that are expected here in the Midwest still before Christmas…

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4,  @ 200mm, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400

ONLY ONE

Rainy day deep in the woods, Forest County, Wisconsin

The last three days were spent in and around a friend’s cabin up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. I had high hopes to come back with a few photos that tell the story about a landscape “five minutes before winter”. It didn’t happen. The weekend was marked with rain and a uniform gray sky. I had an image in my head, with fog and maybe some good spot light that would help to draw the attention away from the bare deciduous forest that had lost its colorful leaves already. Again, it didn’t happen.

But at least there was this short moment, when the endless rain slowed down a little bit and the different layers of conifers in the background became visible. The trunks of the birches stood out and a few remaining leaves in the foreground left no doubt about the time of season. Only one picture in three days? Yes, getting skunked is sometimes part of the game in nature photography. Well, we stacked some wood for the winter, raked some leaves around the cabin, made repairs, had some good food on the stove, drove around in the rain in search for a picture opportunity, and stopped at the local bar. Yep, only one photo, but we had a lot of fun too…! 😉

DEALING WITH THE WIND CHILL (II)

A second round of photos from last weekend’s trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Our friend Bryan built his cabin near this remarkable tree. I have photographed it, but never during a snow storm before. Actually I wasn’t really motivated to go out and wade through the deep snow to get the tree from this angle. Instead I just played with the camera and shot this image through the glass of a window. 

As mentioned yesterday already, no snow stuck to the trees for long due to the high winds, but I think with its toning and long shadows the photo still tells the story about a very cold winter day up north on the frozen tundra.

The question came in, “how was the ice fishing?” I guess, this picture tells it all. What you see is the black tip of the flag that goes up when a fish bites. The orange stick is just for safety, so no stranger drives over your fishing hole accidentally. The photo was shot with an iPhone 12 after I had already removed my three tip-ups from the ice. Our friend Doug had his fishing gear still out when I snapped the pic. We all cleaned the drilled holes in the approximately 15” (38 cm) thick ice quite often to prevent them to freeze over, but the drifting snow covered the depression and the tip-up within minutes. It was faster then I have ever seen it in 17 years of ice fishing fun. We had a few flags going up and it was never because of a serious bite, just triggered by the icy winds. Yield of the day, one Bluegill, caught by Bryan’s son Clayton with a jigging rod at a hole next to his truck. Experience means nothing while ice fishing… 😆

DEALING WITH THE WIND CHILL

Frozen Popple River, Forest County, Wisconsin

Last weekend was the annual ice fishing trip with friends in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Very cold temperatures are not unusual up there but due to an icy wind we actually limited our time on the ice to only a few hours. Instead we scouted some lakes we had never been before and checked them out for future ice fishing adventures. Beside all the other fun we had I used this opportunity for some photography while driving through the woods and across the frozen land. Our host Bryan, who has a cabin up there, knows the area very well. I was happy that he stopped at a location I had been before several years ago and always wanted to revisit for some better images.

Both photos were made from a bridge across the frozen Popple River. Fresh snow fell the night before but unfortunately the wind blew most of it off the trees. I liked how the shore lines lead the eye into the backcountry. The Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S lens was used the whole time and I was very pleased how the Nikon Z6II performed under sub-zero conditions (-4ºF, -20ºC). A considerable wind chill made shooting quite a challenge and everything had to be done fast. There are of course gloves in my pockets that would allow shooting for a while, but I still prefer to use bare hands while operating the camera. Nice to have a warm pickup truck as a backup when the fingers start to get frozen stiff…😉

ACROSS THE VALLEY

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35 mm f/4, Breakthrough GND filter 0.9,   @16 mm, 1/200 s, f/10, ISO100

A couple weeks ago we had dear friends visiting us over the weekend and as part of the program we went to a popular overlook near Balltown, Iowa, not far from home. From there the eye goes across the Mississippi Valley and over to Wisconsin. It was a little hazy but the puffy clouds let the light shine through and made for some nice sun spots on the fields below. A 3-stop graduated ND filter was used to keep some of the details in the clouds and gives them also a little more drama.

A CROW, BUT WHICH ONE?

Crow, Mississippi River, Potosi Landing, Wisconsin

Just because the crow had the tail of a fish in its bill and tried to eat it doesn’t mean I watched a Fish Crow last Sunday at the Mississippi near Potosi, Wisconsin. The more common American Crow and the Fish Crow are nearly identical. The books and apps say that the best way to identify them is by listening to their calls. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to the call and so I may never find out if this is a Fish Crow or not. Both bird species are omnivores and eat almost everything.

I’m still happy about this shot. Even the ubiquitous American Crows don’t let you get close for a picture quite often and many settings along road sides don’t qualify for a good background. With other words, I don’t have very many reasonable photos of crows in the library…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #5 - MAKING SPEED VISIBLE

Wisconsin bridge, Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa

Dubuque has three bridges across the Mississippi River. The photo shows the highway bridge to the state of Wisconsin. The two other ones, connecting Iowa and Illinois, have been in my viewfinder quite often in the past. This one not so much. I went there last weekend to practice and experiment again with my graduated neutral density filters. Our vacation trip is coming up later this month and I like to be prepared for some new landscape explorations.

A lot of traffic on the river, with most boats slowly cruising and people enjoying a hot and sunny evening. We know there is always an exception and the approach of this very fast speed boat was announced by its roaring engine well before it came in sight.

I wasn’t interested in the details of the boat but wanted a long exposure to have a blurred trail, making the speed somehow visible to the viewer, while bridge and even background remain sharp. The darker part of the 3-stop GND filter was pushed all the way down in the filter holder to cover more of the frame, ISO 50 prolonged the exposure time a little more, and by using an aperture of f/20 I ended up with 1/4 of a second. Needless to say that the camera was on a tripod and focus was obtained manually by pre-focussing on the center of the bridge. The water in the foreground had some turbulences that were slightly blurred in the photo, making it a bit more interesting without distracting too much.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4, B+W F-PRO Kaesemann High Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC filter, Breakthrough X4 3-stop soft GND filter, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @ 66 mm, 1/4 s, f/20, ISO50, manual focus

BRIDAL FALLS

Bridal Falls, Pikes Peak State Park , Iowa

I’m picking up where I left almost a week ago. Being on the road for another business trip prevented any contribution to this blog from a photographic standpoint. Not that I wouldn’t take the camera with me, but light and schedule haven’t been in my favor.

Last Sunday, Joan, dog Cooper, and I took a hike in Pikes Peak State Park, Iowa, which led to Bridal Falls (Deutsch: Brautfall). With the sun behind the ridge and waterfall, not much could be gained from the light on this side of the slope (facing east). 

I have seen this waterfall before and at that time it was nothing but a trickle. With things in place, I guess the photo that tells a powerful story about winter in Iowa was within the range ….

AT PLATTE MOUND “M”

On top of Platte Mound, above the big “M”

Four miles east of Platteville, Wisconsin is Platte Mound. On its slope is the largest hillside letter “M” in the world. It is the symbol of the College of Engineering and was created in 1937. The M was constructed from limestone found on the mound. It is whitewashed every year by students. Here is a link where you can find more details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platte_Mound_M

Many times we drove on the highway to or from Madison, Wisconsin we have seen Platte Mound and the big “M” during the last fourteen years. However, we have never been at this landmark until yesterday.

Platte Mound M

Joan counted 290 steps to the top and from there you have a great view to the southwest. Several patches of prairie flowers made for a nice foreground in the first photo. A mile long hiking trail leads to the other end of the mound through a deciduous forest and along some interesting rock formations. 

I love to photograph clouds and I consider coming back for a more dramatic sky to Platte Mound and its unobstructed view.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Breakthrough GND filter 0.6

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.