THE OTHER SHOT

Autumn light, Dunnings Spring Park, Decorah, Iowa

Driving back home from another business trip this afternoon I took the time and stopped at Iowas tallest waterfall in Decorah at Dunnings Spring Park. This location is part of the Driftless Area here in the Midwest, not flattened by the glaciers of the ice age, and home of  clear trout streams, waterfalls, caves, and it is just as gorgeous as it is in our neck of the woods.

I guess you may ask, Andreas, where is the waterfall? Well, I made quite a few clicks. Used a tripod and shot with long exposure times to make the water looking smooth, tried to avoid the dappled light as much as possible, but still didn’t like the outcome. I have photographed the waterfall before and accepted somehow that this time we had a lot less water coming down the stream after a dry summer. At the end, looking at my photos on the screen of the monitor, it was not what I had in mind. They just didn’t tell the story of a ”great waterfall” as I had remembered it.

This is a very narrow side valley of the Upper Iowa River and there is only a short time during the day when the sun actually shines into it. While hiking down back to the parking lot my eyes were on the crystal clear waters of the stream and suddenly I saw another picture opportunity. It is this certain quality of light as we can only experience in autumn and that I love so much, even with the absence of fall colors in the trees. The leaves are almost gone her in eastern Iowa. It’s still warm, but winter is coming for sure…

NATURE CLICKS #567 - EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE

Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bankston County Park, Iowa

It is pretty quiet in the woods already. Most birds are done with their breeding activities. Even the Eastern Wood-Pewee I saw today didn’t make its distinktive sounds. I consider the wood-pewee as a ”photographer friendly” bird. They prefer to perch on bare twigs, which makes it easy to take a picture. From there the pewee darts out to catch passing insects. Sometimes they return even to the same branch.

The low sitting sun this evening was shining through the trees in the background, leaving no doubt about that this photo was made in the summer time. Bankston Park is mainly a small wooded valley here in the driftless area of eastern Iowa. It’s steep slopes are formed by the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, a clear stream that is popular by anglers for trout fishing. Along the small river are plenty of insects and a flycatcher, like the Eastern Wood-Pewee, has no problems to find enough food.

FEBRUARY SUN, LONG SHADOWS

Mississippi River, Green Island Preserve. Eastern Iowa

February sun with already long shadows from the trees at mid afternoon, over a well known and still iced over part of the Green Island Wetlands. The photo was taken from a small boat ramp we have used many times before to launch our kayaks. This is about forty miles south from our home and that short of a distance can make quite a difference how the weather impacts the landscape. Here they didn’t get by far as much snow as we did this week and a couple degrees difference in temperature can make the snow disappear much faster.

Before the Green Island preserve was separated from the Mississippi River by dikes, this was obviously all backwaters of the big river. I have photographed from this spot before and it is one of my favorite locations in the wetlands. Always liked how the lines of this channel move the eye to the horizon and how the trees follow this line.

While approaching the place I saw the cloud in the background moving fast towards the east. I was hoping it would have been a little more to the left, in the gap between the trees, but unfortunately I was too late. I’m still happy with the photo, telling the story about gorgeous winter days here in the Driftless Region of the Upper Mississippi Valley.

ICE UNDERGROUND

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 24mm, 6s, f/18, ISO 100

Here in the region of the Driftless Area we can enjoy deeply carved river valleys and a karst geology with spring-fed waterfalls, underground drainage systems, sinkholes, and a number of caves. Inspired by a recent post on Facebook from the Dubuque County Conservation about a cave with ice in it, Joan, dog Cooper, and I went on a hike into Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area today. We were there actually already last week but hiked on a different trail. Today it didn’t take us very long to find the cave we were looking for, located in the Lost Canyon. It was still quite cold last week and we found these beautiful ice formations that look like stalagmites, built from the ground by dripping water. It will be much warmer this week and it may not take long before they are gone.

I had seen photos from that cave before and tried to prepare well for this little adventure. Good boots are a must for climbing up the slippery slope to the entrance at the canyon wall and for some grip on the icy floor. I made sure my speed light had fresh batteries before it went into the backpack and took also the small Gitzo GT2931 tripod on the hike.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 24mm, 2.5s, f/14, ISO 100

It was not really necessary to go deep into the cave. Both photos were made near the entrance. It is easy to break off one of the ice formations accidentally, but we were carefully and managed to leave the place as we found it. With the camera on tripod, about half a meter above the ground, I started shooting by using the flash light, which was connected by cable with the camera and allowed me to direct the light as wanted. Didn’t really like what I saw on the camera screen and continued to photograph with longer exposure and without the flash. We were at the cave in the very early afternoon. Some snow was still on the ground in the canyon and bright sunlight bounced nicely through the entrance and into the cave with the ice. The photos made with the use of flash from different angles were not really bad, but at the end natural light was the winner for this blog post.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #11 - FREEZING OVER

Mississippi River, Brownsville overlook, Minnesota, Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 70 mm, 1/640 s, f/8, ISO 100

Finally some much colder nights hit the Driftless Area along the Mississippi River. I drove back from a customer visit up north on the Minnesota and Iowa side of the river today. The bays and backwaters with no or little current freeze over very quickly and I saw some people even ice fishing, which seemed a little risky. I stopped at the Brownsville overlook, Minnesota, the same spot where I watched and photographed thousands of migrating tundra Swans less than four weeks ago. If you missed these pictures you can click on the link HERE to still see them.

The swans have of course moved on to the Atlantic coast and the bay is frozen over. It was the sunlight coming through the clouds and reflected on the ice that made me stop. As you can see, we don’t have snow on the ground and it looks like for the first time in 18 years we will not have a white Christmas…

AFTER THE RAIN

Sunset in the driftless region of eastern Iowa

Much needed rain and gray clouds dominated the sky today. Not long before sunset the clouds moved out and I grabbed the camera and drove into the fields nearby, trying to find a good spot for the sunset and the illuminated clouds without obstructions by power lines or trees. Not as spectacular as I was hoping for but still good enough for a few clicks and starting the weekend…

FALL COLORS - NORTHEAST IOWA AT ITS BEST

Turkey River, near Motor Mill, Iowa

The five photos I show you today don’t need a lot of text. Gorgeous weather and fall colors probably at their peak last weekend in Northeast Iowa. We pitched the tent for a night at Motor Mill along the Turkey River. Finding the colors wasn’t the problem, finding a way to let the light tell the story is the challenge that is left to us…

As always, a click on each photo gives you an enlarged view.

CLOUDS AND FINDING A GOOD LOCATION TO SHOOT THEM

Storm clouds, near Five Points, Iowa

Joan and I went on a cloud chase by car as a line of thunderstorms went across the area yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately our garden didn’t receive a single drop of much needed rain and we never really found the BIG SKY, but a few clicks were made out in the countryside of the driftless area. This seems to be an easy task but after a while of driving around you realize, it becomes more and more difficult to find farm buildings that have some charm. I love old farm structures and they can make a nice middle ground for a photo with clouds. Many of the old barns have been replaced by metal buildings without any “soul”. This farm on a hill and the winding road to Five Points, Iowa had what I was hoping for. The clouds tell the story of the developing thunderstorm at the end of a typical hot and muggy day in July here in eastern Iowa.

A word about the post process of the image. There was no location along that gravel road without a number of power lines in the frame. Thanks to the content aware healing brush tool in Photoshop the removal was a breeze and took only a few minutes.

A HIDDEN GEM

White Pine Hollow Preserve, Iowa

One of the hidden gems in the landscape of the driftless area here is White Pine Hollow State Preserve near the little town of Luxemburg, Iowa. You can’t drive in and I recommend some solid hiking boots if you like to explore this area. Except for the hollow that leads down to the bottom of the canyon there are no trails and some sense of direction is recommended. If you don’t mind a hike through washed out and rocky terrain and can master a couple of small river crossings, you will be rewarded with tranquility and the beauty of nature. And now, during these unusual times, it is a place where social distancing is easy to maintain. We hiked yesterday for 3 1/2 hours and didn’t see a single soul. Well, have a look what we found…

Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale)

Big patches of Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum)

Round-lobed Hepatica (Anemone americana)

AT THE CONFLUENCE

The Wisconsin River meets the mighty Mississippi. Pikes Peak State Park, Iowa

One of the best places here in eastern Iowa to have a great view over the driftless area, the landscape that wasn’t shaped by the glaciers, is Pike Peaks State Park. Here, just above the confluence of the Mississippi River and the Wisconsin River you get the idea what a gem the area is we live in. When we have visitors from Germany, we always try to make Pikes Peak State Park part of the program (Hallo Claudia, Susanne & Andre St. 😊). I have shot here several times before over the years but never managed to tell the story of this great vista with just one photo.

This Sunday was a gorgeous warm winter day. Joan and I took our little dog Cooper for a ride and a short hike in the woods of the state park. The blue sky didn’t make for a lot of drama, but with the low sun behind us it was ideal for a panorama photo. I turned to a six-shot pano, trying to bring this great view all together in just one image. No tripod, just hand-hold upright clicks, with about 20-30% overlap and then simply assembly in Adobe Lightroom, using its panorama function. The result is a photo with almost 17,000 pixel on the long side, which would allow to print it 1.5 - 2 m wide without loss of detail. The small version of the picture here in the blog doesn’t do it much justice, but if you click on the photo and use the full real estate of your computer screen, you may get why I’m happy about the outcome of this probably 150 degree view.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #11 - LANSING, IOWA

Here is a little location tip, not just for photography. Coming back from a short business trip to LaCrosse, Wisconsin today, I stopped at one of my favorite photo locations along the Great River Road. Just south of the little river town Lansing, Iowa is the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center. From there you have a great view upstream with Lansing and the Black Hawk Bridge in the background. The scene reflects really the character of the driftless area and the Mississippi Valley. As a bonus a small local thunderstorm developed quickly and provided drama and some great clouds and colors.

I used the wide angle lens to catch as much of the clouds as possible and walked down and across the street to keep the road out of the foreground. If you don’t have any clouds or if they are not important, you can shoot with a longer lens and still keep the road out of the frame. What about the railroad bridge? This old beam bridge has character and becomes part of the storytelling.

If photography is not the only thing you have in mind, the Mississippi river town of Lansing has a lot to offer. Founded in 1851, downtown still has some authentic period architecture and little antique shops, boutiques, and restaurants are behind the storefronts. If you like to learn more about this scenic town and the area around it, check this link out: https://www.lansingiowa.com

ALONG THE FROZEN RIVER

Mississippi River, view from the Wisconsin side to the Iowa side

I was on another business trip again. This time I went up north to La Crosse, Wisconsin. The drive along the mighty Mississippi River is one of my favorite routes. Yesterday we had an almost clean blue sky. Not really great for a good photo but it always makes an impression on me how wide the river is above the dams. We had a lot of snow and it was not so easy to find a spot where you can pull off the road to make a picture. I crossed over the bridge into Wisconsin in Prairie du Chien. From there the road follows the river below the bluffs on the east side and offers great views across the ice covered stream to the Iowa and Minnesota side. This is all part of the driftless area, the region that escaped glaciation during the last ice age and, consequently, is characterized by steep, forested ridges, and deeply-carved river valleys. Today I drove back home on the west side of the river in Minnesota and northeast Iowa. It is as pretty as the Wisconsin side but the camera stayed in the bag due to a gray overcast this afternoon. I’m glad I made the stop yesterday…

CHASE THE LIGHT (AND THE CLOUDS)

While friends and family in Germany suffer under a heat wave since a while, we enjoy moderate temperatures, and even more important, relative low humidity here in Iowa. Nevertheless, small thunderstorms cross the country, with very little effect, but still with great clouds. Last night I went out to chase the light that comes with thunderheads and dark clouds and I didn’t have to go very far. Here in the Driftless Area of the Midwest, where the landscape was never glaciated, we have to drive out of the valleys and find a spot in the hills that allows an unobstructed view for such a photo. One of my favorite places is Hantelman Road, a gravel road near the town of Sherrill, Iowa. The state of Iowa has power lines that can spoil an image everywhere, but knowing the location I knew exactly where to go. Why do I call it a chase? Well, it happened before, the magic light and clouds might be gone before the photographer arrives on location. This time it worked out just right… 😊

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR

LOCATIONS: BACKBONE STATE PARK / IOWA

In my last blog post I mentioned a location here in eastern Iowa we hadn’t visited for a while but a nice hike last Sunday made me considering it more often for future wildlife or landscape shootings.

Backbone State Park is a heavily forested area, mainly oaks and maples, measuring over 2000 acres (8.1 km2). As part of the driftless area it was left unglaciated during the last ice age. It has an interesting geology with ancient dolomite formations dating from the Silurian period. A large ridge of rock divides the park, resembling a spine, and lends its name to the park and adjacent forest. The area is characterized by active springs, caves, sinkholes and karsts. (source: Wikipedia)

A lake was created by building a dam across the Maquoketa River in 1933/34 and during my hike along the shore I found ducks, geese, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and finally saw three Eastern Phoebes catching insects by perching on branches hanging over the water. The phoebe is a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, despite the fact that we had some light snow again today…

It was the pattern of old snow below one of the rock formations that made me push the shutter button. At this time of the year (no sign of any green yet) and with last Sunday’s gray overcast it was not so easy to “romance” the landscape. I tried to combine the textures of the grass, snow, rocks, and the trees on the slope and let the river guide the eye through the image.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, @ 200 mm, 1/320 s, f/8, ISO 200

FIRST FALL PHOTOS

We pitched our tent in Wyalusing State Park, Wisconsin this weekend and were rewarded with wonderful and sunny fall weather. Located at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers, the bluffs and valleys of Wyalusing belong to the same drift-less area we call home. The leaves just started to change colors although many are still green. The air was crisp and clear, other than the haze we see often during the summer, and this gives the light a different quality. I wanted to challenge myself and took only one prime lens with me during our hikes in the park, the SIGMA 150/ f2.8. My older version of this lens is a little slow with focus, but this doesn’t play a big role when hunting for light and colors in the woods is the goal.