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Pines in the fog, Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas

The majority of time in the Ozarks we had blue skies and sunshine, but the few days with clouds, rain, or fog were actually the ones I enjoyed a lot more for photography. It seemed like we had to wait all summer long for the mood a foggy landscape can provide and that I like so much.

This meadow in Petite Jean State Park, Arkansas was actually an overflow campground, probably used in the summer when camping space in such a popular location is in high demand. Well, at his time of the year nobody was there and these wonderful pines, hugged by the fog, were just the right subject for a photo. Color’s didn’t play any roll and selecting black and white as my medium was a choice quickly made. A campground usually comes with some men-made facilities, like electrical outlet boxes, water faucets, or garbage containers. There were a few of these items visible between the trees in the background, but for such items, that just do not contribute to the photo, I don’t hesitate to use tools for content-aware replacement in Adobe Photoshop. What you won’t see in any of my nature images is sky replacement or any manipulation that changes the context of the subject.

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Palisades Overlook, Petit Jean State Park, Ozark Mountains, Arkansas. *Click on the photo for a larger view.

This was probably one of the most interesting vistas we enjoyed in the Ozark Mountains. Yes this is the same viewpoint I had already a few days ago but it was the day before Thanksgiving and sun and fall colors made for a great show at the edge of Cedar Creek Canyon. Down below in the background lies the Arkansas River Valley.

This panorama is stitched together from two photos. They were merged in Adobe Lightroom and it took less than a minute to do. It still amazes me how far this software has come over the years.

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Grasses in the river bed, Haw Creek Falls, Ozark Mountains, Arkansas

Today I have something for the more art-minded viewers. In my first blog post about the Ozark Mountains about a week ago I mentioned the challenge to find interesting details in the landscape. Deep in the woods of the Ozarks we checked out a campground at Haw Creek Falls. The summer was dry, not just in this part of the country, and many creeks and rivers have still low water levels and the waterfalls of Haw Creek were not very impressive  to say it mildly. But a hike with the camera on the exposed rocks in the river bed seemed to be promising. Harsh light can be your friend sometimes and these grasses in the river bed, that obviously had not seen a flash flood this summer, stood out against the dark background of the river nicely. The curves of the rocks gives us an idea how the water has carved out this valley over a long period of time.

And here is one of the aspects I like about the Nikon Z 6II, the first mirrorless camera that I use since exactly a year now. I really love the ability to set the camera into a particular picture mode and see a preview of the photo right in the viewfinder before I even make the click. In this matter I set it to monochrome. My presets in camera include a red filter applied to the image and relatively high contrast and sharpening. I still shoot in RAW mode, and if I don’t like the final result, it allows me to go back to color because all color information is still stored in the RAW file. In this case, with “Grasses in the river bed”, it was exactly what I had envisioned and saw in the viewfinder when the click was made, except for the fact that I cropped the final picture slightly.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 200mm, 1/400s, f/4, ISO 100

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Between rain showers, Palisades Overlook, Petit Jean State Park, AR

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in and around Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas. While we found mostly bare trees in the northern part of the Ozarks, fall colors were still present south of the Arkansas River. I made some photos of this vista from Palisades Overlook in nice sunlight with a blue sky the day before, but I like this shot between rain showers across Cedar Creek Canyon much better. Clouds moved fast through the canyon and the colorful trees below tell the story that fall finally came to an end here as well. An hour later we had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Mather Lodge, one of Arkansa’s historic treasures, built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Beats camping food by far…😉

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,  @ 24mm, 1/250s, f/8, ISO 400

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Old barrage at Alley Spring Roller Mill, Ozark National Riverways, near Eminence, Missouri

Hi everybody, we are back from a road trip that led us through parts of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas. Not a time when most people travel with a tent as their daily shelter for the night, but despite a few cold moments we managed it well. Photographically spoken it wasn’t a trip with a lot of great vistas but finding interesting details in the landscape was the challenge I tried to take on every day. I hope you may enjoy some of the photos I share here in the blog during the next weeks.

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…! 😉

FALL COLORS CONTINUE

Cottonwood leaves cover the foreground almost completely but the focus is on these young willows next to the marina. In the background, on top of the bluffs over in Wisconsin, the colors continue.

Mississippi Valley, Mud Lake, Iowa

After a busy week in the noisy and glitzy city of Las Vegas, NV it was nice to enjoy the Sunday back home in the Mississippi Valley. The colors of autumn have passed their peak but there was still plenty to find that makes fall such a beautiful season here. Many trees in the valley have lost their leaves already and warm wind and rain this evening may end the golden and red fall beauty faster than we may like.

The Nikkor 70-200, f/4 with attached polarizing filter was the lens of choice. It allowed me to isolate my subjects from clutter, like dead leaves or already bare branches, or focus on light and colors in the distance.

The red leaves of the sumac are always an eye catcher.

Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

I photographed this solitary tree at the beginning of my hike but a bare blue sky made it kinda boring. When I came back these clouds moved through and in addition the slight blur of the leaves told the story of a very windy but beautiful fall day much better.

Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

Cottonwood leaves carpet the grass below the trees. The traces of fast decay make for an interesting texture beside the golden colors. Just another way to tell a story about autumn.

Mississippi Valley, Mud Lake, Iowa

LOOKING BACK

Blackwater Canyon, West Virginia, 2017

Fall is here with all its beauty. Leaves fall down by the thousands, finally some much needed rain arrived, cooler temperatures kicked in , and last not least colors unfold in the trees. I just don’t find the time this week to go out during day light and capture the beauty with the camera. However, exactly five years ago we spent some time in Blackwater Canyon State Park in West Virginia, at the peak time of fall colors. And of course, I still have some images I can share with you. Hopefully next weekend the camera comes out again here in the Upper Mississippi Valley. I can’t wait…

FOLLOWING A STORM CELL

Storm cell, near Belmont, Wisconsin

I talked about drama in the clouds in yesterday’s blog post and using black & white to tell the story. Today I came across another dramatic weather development and that took a different approach. I was on my way to a business meeting with a customer in Wisconsin this morning and watched a small thunderstorm cell ahead of me during the first forty-five minutes of driving. Sure enough I drove right into it and a short heavy rain and even some hail cleaned at least the car. The light on the cell looked very impressive but I had a hard time to find a spot to pull of the road for a picture. Finally I found an exit and luckily this smaller side road had a nice curve that could be used in the photo as a foreground element. The rain still poured on the east side while a clean blue sky followed the dramatic cloud.

Almost always when I go on a one-day business trip I take the camera with me. Most of the time I never get it out the bag because not much happens, nothing interesting is waiting to be photographed, or time pressure dictates the course of the day. Today finally the passion paid off… Great moment!

GOING FOR THE DRAMA (NOT THE BRIDGE)

Rain front moving in over Iowa, Mississippi River, East Dubuque, Illinois

Last Friday evening I went across the Mississippi River to East Dubuque, the northwest corner of the state of Illinois. Over on the Iowa side a rain front moved in and started to cover already partially the low sitting sun. It is tempting to have only an eye for the Julien Dubuque Bridge that connects both states but there was more to consider as the subject for this photo. I was intrigued by the reflections on the water and the drama in the sky above. The bridge as a silhouette still holds the picture together and all lines, from below, above, and from the sides of the image converge near the brightest spot.

I started out shooting in color mode from different angles and distances to the bridge but non of the shots held the drama I saw as a possibility for the final photo. My monochrome settings in the Nikon Z6II apply the effect of a red filter. It gives extreme contrast, darkens the sky and makes the clouds really stand out. Seeing the effect right in the electronic viewfinder or on the camera screen gave me a good direction how I wanted to compose and how my exposure would effect the drama in the scene. Finally, later in post process at the computer, I reduced the effect of the red filter by lowering the contrast a little bit, and making it more looking like an orange filter was used.

Don’t take me wrong, the bridge is a nice subject for a picture, but this was all about the drama in the sky and its reflection on the Mississippi River.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #9 - TUGBOAT AND BARGES GOING UPSTREAM

A convoy of tugboat and 15 barged going upstream

I’m following a famous photographer on social media who always claims, if my gear can do it, I can do it. I totaly agree and I’m not afraid of weather, and when a heavy rain started to come down last Saturday, I thought of it and just finished everything while the equipment got soaking wet. I guess it pays back to invest in cameras and lenses that have weather seals included in their design…

While eating lunch with friends in Clayton, Iowa, just a few feet away from the big river, I saw the barges being pushed upstream, the clouds changing dramatically within seconds, and just felt a picture opportunity is right around the corner.

It’s just amazing how the the tugboats manage to navigate a set of fifteen barges within the small channel that can be used for deep sitting loads in the Mississippi River. This convoy had nothing but coal onboard, probably heading to one of the last coal power plants upstream. I had the pleasure to see a coal powered plant disappear from the landscape not far from home in recent years and I’m pretty sure I will see this again. Coal has no future.

I have been able to remove any kind of digital noise from this image (an article about this topic will follow soon). What’s left is the texture a heavy rain can produce, and that’s what really makes for story telling in this photo. I really love how the light, coming from the back, sets the tugboat and the barges apart from the clouds and the rest of the Mississippi Valley.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #8 - STOP AT THE BEST MOMENT

Thunderstorm moving out, Mississippi River, Guttenberg, Iowa

My thank you goes out to our friend Mary, who drove the car while this beautiful scene with clouds was visible over in Wisconsin across the Mississippi River last weekend. She stopped safely without any hesitation, so I could get out of the car and make the photo. Some wet roads further south told us later that this thunderstorm had mad its impact also on the Iowa side of the river. This was taken just above lock & dam #10 in Guttenberg, Iowa, about 30 miles north of our home.

There is very little to do in post process since I import my monochrome settings right out of camera into Adobe Lightroom. As in this case, what I saw on the screen at the back of the camera after the click was pretty much what I wanted to see in the final image. Another great summer day we were able to share with friends. Thanks again Mary!

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #7 - SUMMER CLOUDS

Clouds over the Mississippi River, Clayton, Iowa

We met with friends from northwest Iowa in Guttenberg today and took a little drive along the mighty Mississippi to the little river town of Clayton, Iowa. Following an excellent lunch at Clayton Lighthouse Restaurant and Bar we saw some great development of clouds over the river. What serious photographer would not take out the camera and try to tell a visual story about a summer day in August in the Upper Mississippi Valley? My choice was black & white and to see a preview of the final result right on camera screen, the Nikon Z 6II was set to monochrome picture mode. Since I shoot always in RAW the color information is still in the file and if I would ever change my mind about the picture intent, making it a color version, this is still possible. My monochrome settings include a red filter and that meets exactly what I would do in the old days of B&W film photography for a landscape with clouds as we saw today. Great day, good times!

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 45 mm, 1/1000s, f/8, ISO 100

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2022 #6 - A CLASSIC VIEW

A view I never get tired of, the swivel railroad bridge in Dubuque, Iowa. I made the picture a week ago, when the bridge was open for the barge traffic on the Mississippi River. A “spot light” by the low sitting sun onto the swivel part of the bridge, combined with some lovely clouds, made me push the shutter release button. The photo is pretty much what I saw, with just a little bit of dodge and burn at the cloud reflections on the water. This slight touch in post process reveals what I really had in mind when I took the photo. I know, this classic view has been photographed by many before, including myself. I just couldn’t resist to add another picture… 😉

ANOTHER DAY, DIFFERENT CLOUDS, BIGGER MOON

Not as many clouds as the day before yesterday evening but beauty everywhere. When I took a series of shots at this scene I thought already, the cell phone tower behind the barn has to go away in post process. To be honest, I do not like too many “contemporary” elements in my landscape photos. But back home at the computer I changed my mind for this image. The waxing moon was at 68% last night, 11% more than the day before, and the tall tower points exactly at it and kinda leads the eye there.