MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #4 - REPEATING, NEVER TWICE THE SAME

Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

The Dubuque Camera Club had a challenge on Facebook last month for submitting photos about the Mississippi River. Deadline was July 31st and I posted a photo of a storm cloud I took at Mud Lake Park some time ago, just an hour before the challenge ended, and repeated in my capture lines what I had said probably more than once before here in the blog, the MISSISSIPPI IS NEVER TWICE THE SAME.

Well, that statement was true even earlier the same day, when I created this image during almost high noon time. The clouds, some maybe made by airplane tracks, lined up with the landscape of the entry to the marina of Mud Lake. I have never seen it that way before and now my statement about the Mississippi River at Mud Lake IT’S NEVER TWICE THE SAME, maybe doesn’t sound just like a draw from the phrase book…

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 Many of the old barns have been replaced by metal buildings without any “soul”.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.

SAME CLOUD AGAIN

I still have my thoughts at this anvil cloud that took our attention last Monday at the night shooting event of the Dubuque Camera Club. I can’t really say I had a black & white image in mind this time, when I took a number of pictures of the cloud. I love this form of expression and finally wanted to give another photo of this series a trial.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @122 mm, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO100

HOT SUMMER NIGHT

I was not the only one who tried to capture the magic of this sun-filled anvil cloud, hanging in the sky to the north last night. I saw other fellow photographers pointing their lens in this direction during our night shooting event. First I tried it with the wide angle lens between 16 and 35 mm but had the feeling there were too many other things present that distracted from the subject. I found my way to tell the story about a hot summer night in the Midwest by zooming in to 105 mm and leaving just a small sliver of prairie and trees in the frame to give it some sense of place.

A sign and a small part of a bright concrete trail were removed with “content-aware fill” in Adobe Photoshop. This function has greatly improved since one of the last updates and is a very powerful tool for “romancing” a landscape by cleaning up from man-made garbage.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @105 mm, 1/250s, f/8, ISO100

SMOKE AND LIGHT

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @ 72mm, 1/160s, f/5.6, ISO400, matrix metering, underexposed by -1 stop

I trust you all had a nice Independence Day here in the United States. We spent this sunny and very warm weekend tent camping with the grandkids and their parents and had an enjoyable kayak trip with them. Of course, eating a good dinner is important after such exercise! Shortly after the fire in the grill got started we watched how the smoke made the sun beams visible that came through the canopy of the trees. Oh, I can’t bypass such a photo opportunity… 😊

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @ 95mm, 1/200s, f/4, ISO400, matrix metering, underexposed by -1.3 EV

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #3 - COLOR CONTRAST

American Lady, Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa

A mostly hazy and humid day ended for us with a trip to several locations along the Mississippi River right here in Dubuque, Iowa. Just as we stopped to enjoy a clearing wind breeze and to have a look at the Julien Dubuque Bridge, the “American Lady” came back from a river cruise. The warm light on bridge and boat made for a nice color contrast to the sky and its reflection on the water.

BLURRING THE WATER

Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, Bankston County Park, Iowa

No landscape or people photographer likes dappled light for the most part. But if the dappled light hits the right spots, a photo can be created. Back to the river valley in Bankston County Park today I tried to get some birds in front of the lens. The feathered friends had other plans and after spending over an hour along the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River without any good results, I decided to change lenses and dedicate some time to the river itself. We had some rain lately and the water had good speed around the cascades.

I used the technology in the camera to produce some blurred water in the bright light of this afternoon. The Nikon D750 allows multiple exposures for one frame, although its only three at a time. Newer cameras may allow more shots in multiple exposure mode. The camera is on a tripod and first a test shot is made to see where to start. Use aperture priority mode, between f/22 and f/32 (depending on your lens) and ISO100. Autofocus on a fixed point, like a stone, and then turn the autofocus mode carefully off. I set the shutter to continuous high speed but low speed may work as well. Fire all three (or more) shots and look for the results on your screen. Make any corrections you want with your exposure compensation dial and do it again, and again, and again. No two shots are exactly alike, due to the fact that the water looks always different. Back at home, in front of your computer screen, it is time to make the difficult decision which photo to use for telling your story…

Why do I like this way so much? During bright day light you need a very dark filter and may still not have a slow enough shutter speed to blur the water. If you have ever worked with neutral density filters (6 stop or 10 stop) you know that the slightest vibration can ruin your shot and focus has to be on spot before the filter is in front of the lens. The method as described makes you very fast and allows to try out many different shooting angles or zoom settings within a short period of time, giving you a lot more space for creativity while working along a creek or river.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #2 - GOING FOR THE SKY

Clouds over the Mississippi Valley, Mud Lake, Iowa

Half of this crazy year 2020 is almost over and I had only one of my ‘Mississippi River Stories’ here in the blog so far. This had to change today. Some promising clouds made me drive down to the big river during lunch break.

I think the story about fast moving clouds and their reflection on the water, in this quick changing light situation, is far better told by a black & white version of the photo. Here we go finally with #2 in 2020!

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4,   @16 mm, 1/800s, f/8, ISO100

OUT AND ABOUT IN NORTHEAST IOWA

Dunning’s Springs Park, Decorah, Iowa, Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4,   @35 mm, 1/25s, f/13, ISO200

If people think of Iowa, waterfalls are not coming to mind immediately, if at all. Today we explored the area around Decorah, IA. The Upper Iowa River has formed part of this landscape and is popular among kayak and canoe enthusiasts. Springs and clear streams draw trout anglers and several public parks are good destinations for hiking and other nature activities.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @122 mm, 1/5s, f/11, ISO100

One of them is Dunning’s Springs Park. It is not far from downtown Decorah and a 200’ waterfall is the biggest attraction. It is easy to reach after a short walk. I didn’t take the tripod with me and for both photos I went to the limits of my handholding capabilities.

SAME PLACE, TWO STORIES

Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, Bankston County Park, Iowa

Today’s blog post has actually two stories, both from the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, that flows on the bottom of the valley in Bankston County Park. My eyes scanned the trees for little warblers and other birds when I realized how gorgeous the light was and how it was reflected on the surface of the water. It doesn’t happen very often that I use the shortest focal length of the Sigma 150-600 but I didn’t want to change lenses, because of the chance to miss a bird.

Female Wood Duck

A little while later this female Wood Duck swam hastily around and called. I didn’t see any ducklings and was wondering what she tried to accomplish. They nest in tree cavities and suddenly it became clear that she tried to call them out of the nest for their first dive into the water.

Number one in the water

I backed off and moved away but when I briefly turned around, I saw that her calling seemed to work. The bravest of the ducklings had joined her already. Wood Ducks lay between 9 and 15 eggs and hopefully all of her babies will make it.

FIELD PREPARATION, AND LIFE WAS GOOD...

We stopped in the middle of nowhere for a break last Sunday and we saw this farmer showing up briefly on the horizon and disappear again. We had a glass of wine with a little snack and listened to the birds around us. I knew if the tractor would make another round on the field I would have have my chance for a shot. A few minutes later it happened. It didn’t need any details, the silhouette was enough to tell the story about field preparation. The wine tasted great and life was good…

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)

ON THE GOAT PRAIRIE

At Pohlman’s Prairie, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

Only about a mile away from our home is a 23 acre site of ‘goat prairie’, a remnant and variant of tall grass prairie, mostly found in the Upper Mississippi Valley on south-southwest slopes. It is a preserve here on top of the limestone bluffs in our valley of the Little Maquoketa River, just north of Dubuque, Iowa. Only a few more miles down, the Little Maquoketa meets the mighty Mississippi.

Last week Joan celebrated her birthday and due to the circumstances we all know about, we didn’t go out for a fancy dinner but made a short hike up the slope to ‘Pohlman’s Prairie’. Too early for wildflowers on the goat prairie but the view across the valley compensates for the efforts to make this little hike. The small patch of dry grass prairie is surrounded by Eastern Red Cedars. Actually an invasive tree, but nevertheless very pretty and its berries are a great source of food during fall and winter for several species of birds.

I always loved this spot on top of the bluffs and have photographed it many times before. With nothing but overcast, I thought a black and white photo would tell the story about this day at the end of winter the best. The dark cedars in the foreground frame the river and bridge. It doesn’t matter that there are no leaves out yet, the trees on the other side of the valley are out of focus but give a sense of place. Not a photo for the next local touristic brochure but I have enjoyed making it and it pleases my sense for landscape photography.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2020 #1 - A FAVORITE VIEW

Bridge across the Mississippi, Lansing, Iowa

It feels good to do some normal things in these days of uncertainty. Means wrapping my thoughts around photography and writing a new blog post.

This photo was taken last Sunday. Joan and I made a trip along the river to the wetlands up in New Albin, Iowa’s most northeastern town at the border to Minnesota. Before you get there you have this beautiful view of the bridge that crosses the Mississippi in Lansing. It is one of my favorite views here in the Mississippi Valley. This time I used the upper balcony of the Driftless Area Nature and Education Center in Lansing. The slightly higher elevation allows to keep the road in the foreground out of the frame without zooming to much into the scene. I hope you enjoy.