COLORS IN THE CANYON

Cimarron Canyon, New Mexico

While traveling in the fall the eyes are always open for some fall colors. One of the places we found them was Cimarron Canyon in the northern part of New Mexico. The light has a different quality in high altitude environments and although we have experienced it before, I’m still amazed about how deep the blue in the sky is rendered in certain situations.

These cliffs are cut by the Cimarron River and are formed from fine-grained porphyritic dacite sill, called Palisades Sill. A spectacular canyon!

BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE

Taos Junction Bridge, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico

Our first campground in New Mexico was right next to the river in the Rio Grande Gorge, which is part of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The Monument includes 245,00 acres (991 km2 ) of public land, and was designated by Presidential Proclamation in 2013. The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, northwest of Taos, NM, is the fifth highest bridge in the US (650 ft / 198 m). The design of this truss bridge is by far more impressive than the much smaller Taos Junction Bridge near our campground, but one evening the light on bridge and trees was just gorgeous and much better than what we had at the more famous one.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, near Taos, New Mexico

At this point the National Monument is very small and includes only the Rio Grande Gorge

SENSE OF SCALE

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

One of the reasons I wanted to go back to Great Sand Dunes National Park was the desire to create more photos with shapes, curves, and different light on the dunefield. Pretty soon I learned that including something that gives the viewer a sense of scale has a much bigger impact. A curve in the sand might be strong graphically spoken, but including an element we can relate to in size will tell the better story about the vastness of these dunes. In the first image the grass and bushes play this role while in the second picture the people climbing to the top give you the sense of size, distance, and altitude.

A few days before our arrival the sand dunes had obviously a little snow. The dark bands at some of the edges are from melted water. Overall the sand was very firm in most places and much easier to climb than seven years ago. At an altitude of 8900 feet (2700 m) we and our little dog Cooper were happy about every step we didn’t have to make twice on the way up…😉

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,

TURNING THE HEAD

Mount Herard from Piñion Flat Campground, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

When you take your eyes away from the dune field of Great Sand Dunes National Park in the west and turn your head north towards Mount Herard (13279 ft / 4,053 m) you have another stunning vista without moving a bit. There was some snow already the evening before but a little more had accumulated by the next morning. All what it took for this image was getting out of the sleeping bag and watch the fast development of the clouds that hugged the mountain. These mountains are not in the national park but are part of the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve. 

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   @ 112 mm, 1/500 s, f/8, ISO100

BACK IN THE GREAT SAND DUNES

Dunefield at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Hard to believe it has been seven years ago that we visited Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. We always wanted to go back there and made the Piñon Flat Campground at the foot hills of the Sangre de Christo Mountains our base camp again this year. It is at an altitude of about 8200 ft (2500 m) and the dune field to the west is about 700 ft (215 m) higher. It is a fascinating place where wind and water move sand to continually form North America’s tallest dunes. The times around sunrise and sunset are the best to create photos of the sand dunes with shapes that are sharp and rich in contrast. Wild fires somewhere in the west gave the sky what I call a “dirty look” but the clouds over the horizon are priceless.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4,   @38 mm, 1/160 s, f/10, ISO100

COLORFUL COTTONWOODS

Cottonwoods at Lake Mc Conaughy, Nebraska

Traveling in autumn includes always the search for fall colors. I didn’t expect too much down in the desert areas we were heading to, but the cotton woods we saw during the trip surprised us several times. Most of them don’t become this pretty here in eastern Iowa. I waited until the wind slowed down during sunset at Lake McConaughy in Nebraska for a brief moment to capture the colors and shapes of the cottonwoods along the original lake shore.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   @70 mm, 1/400 s, f/8, ISO400

EXPOSED TO THE WIND

Stormy Lake McConaughy, Nebraska

We just returned from a road trip that led us through eight states, with most of the time spent in New Mexico. This wonderful part of the country has many national and state parks, national monuments, forests, and wildlife refuges and we visited numerous of these places in the course of this trip. As I work through all the images during the next weeks, I will share some of the photos with you as always.

We started the trip into a heavy thunderstorm here in Iowa but that was the last rain we saw for the next eighteen days. Driven by very strong winds the storm clouds moved out as we drove across Nebraska. Finally our tent was pitched at Ogallala Lake in western Nebraska. This lake is separated from the much bigger Lake McConaughy by a dam, that gave us a little bit protection from the howling wind. Lake McConaughy is Nebraska’s largest reservoir on the North Platte River. Due to a very low water level much of the lake bottom was exposed to sun and wind. The drifting sand, touched by the light of the setting sun, made for an interesting, desert-like appearance.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   @70 mm, 1/400 s, f/8, ISO200

TAKING A BREAK

Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, 2014

As every year I will take a break from posting here in my blog for a little while but you can be sure new photo adventures are just around the corner. We have never started our fall trip so late in the season but we are excited to see how this will play out. One of our first stops will be a location we have visited before, Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. A fascinating place on earth but some other great locations further south are on our radar as well. Please stay tuned…

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…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #9 - TRAFFIC ROUTES

Black Hawk Bridge across the Mississippi River, Lansing, NE Iowa

While returning from a business trip last night I had to stop at the Black Hawk Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River in Lansing, Iowa. The light on the scene was just too good to be ignored. The website historicbridges.org describes this wonderful cantilevered truss design of the bridge as following: This bridge is among the most unusual and significant large scale cantilever truss bridges in the country, on account of its excellent historic integrity, relatively old age, increasing rarity, and unusual design.

It is a photo I always wanted to make while driving through the town of Lansing or across the bridge several times each year. Yesterday the time was right. No, I wasn’t standing on the railroad tracks, just right next to them, but using a wide angle, 16 mm focal length allows to include the tracks in the photo and make them part of the storytelling about traffic routes in the Mississippi Valley. Sure, it would be nice to have the real warm light just before sunset for a photo like this, but due to the steep bluffs that form the Mississippi Valley in northeast Iowa the sun sets almost an hour earlier on this side of the river. 

MANITOWOC BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE

Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

Whenever I go on a business trip I take the camera with me, although quite often I don’t find the time to do some serious photography. Today I was a little early for an appointment with a customer in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Clouds and light looked kinda promising and so I went quickly down to Lake Michigan to make a few clicks of the Manitowoc Breakwater Lighthouse, that marks the entrance to the marina at the north pier. At arrival in the parking lot I realized that it was quite a long walk to get an unobstructed view of the lighthouse. I did it anyway, shot for three minutes and ran back to the car to make the appointment on time. It was worth the effort. Although the sun was behind my subject, nice clouds in the background, the sun reflecting on the water, and even a few waves crashing onto the pier were all good ingredients for this photo.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f/4, @ 200 mm, 1/1000 s, f/5.6, ISO100

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #8 - END OF SUMMER?

Mississippi Valley, Backwaters of Mud Lake, Iowa

As I’m writing this much needed rain is pouring down on us but it won’t be for very long until the small band of thunderstorms has moved out again. Colder air will move in shortly and we might see the end of the summer. Yesterday evening at the Mississippi River an interesting cloud was all what it took to trigger my desire to push the shutter release button of the camera. Maybe it was the announcement that summer will be over in a heartbeat…

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   @70 mm, 1/160 s, f/5.6, ISO200

A VISIT IN THE NOT SO WET WETLANDS

Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, iowa

It was overdue but yesterday I had finally a chance to make a trip to the Green Island Wetlands, 40 mile south and along the Mississippi River. As expected the water levels were at its lowest since a long time and many areas had no water above the mud at all. This is probably not a bad thing. The last few years have been very wet and much of the wooded land was submerged under the water. As a result most of the large trees and many shrubs died. All the dead wood you see in the above photo gives you an idea how bad it is. My hope is that during a dry year like 2021 some of the bushes can recover and become a nesting habitat for songbirds again. There is no hope for the trees…

Sandhill Cranes

As always, I was interested what kind of wildlife would be present. Only one Great Blue Heron and one Great Egret tried their hunting luck. Most of these stealthy fish hunters had probably moved closer to deeper waters along the river. A few Canada Geese and a female Wood Duck were about the only waterfowl I saw. But one bird species that obviously stood the ground and still found enough food was present and came within the range of my long lens, the Greater Sandhill Cranes. I saw six birds feeding and walking between grass and reeds. It is always a joy tho watch them and listening to their calls.

‘WISCONSIN DESERT’, VISIT ON A SAND PRAIRIE

Six-lined Racerunner

Last Sunday we went to an unusual nature preserve in our neighbor state Wisconsin. Here is a quote from the Wisconsin DNR website that gives a much better description of this 1,104 acres (446.8 ha) preserve than I can ever give you.

Spring Green Preserve, known as the 'Wisconsin Desert', features a rolling sand prairie on an old Wisconsin River terrace and harbors a unique flora and fauna that are adapted to the hot, droughty environment. The dry sandy soils contain many desert-like plants such as false heather, three-awn grass, and prickly pear cactus. Nearly 40 species of annuals and biennials thrive here, a high number for a prairie, […} Several sand blows, with shifting dunes and open sand, are scattered throughout. Bird life is diverse and includes large numbers of rare open country birds […]

Small part of Spring Green Preserve, a sand prairie born about 17,000 years ago.

Although already late in the season we still found a good number of interesting plants and insects. The biggest thrill for me was the sighting of a Six-lined Racerunners (Aspidoscelis sexlineata), a sun-loving lizard that lives in a variety of habitats, including bluff prairies and sand prairies. I have never seen one before and was very happy to get a few shots of this fast critter.

At places like the Spring Green Preserve is always a good chance to meet people that enjoy nature and travel as much as we do. Thank you to the couple from Madison for the interesting conversation! 

Great to see some real bees in the flowers

All photos: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2021 #6 - DIFFERENT SUNSETS

Mississippi River with Dubuque, Iowa on the other side

The wildfires in the west and in Canada seem to be far away when you live in the Midwest but the impact effects all of us. We deal here maybe only with bad air quality at times, but it is heartbreaking to see how people loose their life and their homes. Since the big fires burn we see the sunsets differently due to the smoke that crosses the continent in the upper atmosphere. A couple days ago I made this image across the river, over in Illinois, with downtown Dubuque, Iowa in the background. The sun was partly hidden behind a hazy cloud.

A 3-stop soft split-graduated neutral density filter was used for the upper part of the photo. I underexposed by -0.66 EV for the foreground and brought back some of the details of the city in post process.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Breakthrough GND filter 0.9,   @82 mm, 1/200 s, f/10, ISO100