REFLECTIONS AT LOW TIDE

Reflections at low tide in Rockaway Beach, Oregon

On our first day traveling along the coast of Oregon we scouted and explored the northern part and finally unpacked our luggage in Rockaway Beach, a small but somehow charming community. During a short walk at low tide on the beach we finally saw the sun and lots of color replaced the gray that made most of the day. What a photo can’t transmit is the smell of the ocean, but I hope you get the idea that we had a marvelous time. Fresh cod and other seafood, combined with a local India Pale Ale, are hard to beat for a dinner that followed this walk on the beach… 😊

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 40 mm, 1/400 s, f/10, ISO 200

MEMORABLE MOMENT

Double rainbow above North Portland Harbor, Columbia River between Washington and Oregon

There is no better way to start a spring vacation at the coast of Oregon than with a photo of a double rainbow and some killer light on the house boats across the Columbia River in Portland, OR. We were eating dinner and enjoyed a good West Coast beer in the restaurant of our hotel last night when this act of nature unfolded, just outside of the window. We dropped fork and knife immediately and ran out onto the hotel terrace with the camera in hand. Other people saw obviously the potential for a good shot with their cell phones and followed us shortly after, and even our waitress stepped outside and enjoyed the play of light.

The warm colors of the houses in the setting sun on Tomahawk Island in the Columbia River would have been a great subject by themselves, but the two rainbows after a mostly rainy gray day made it a memorable moment… More to come, so please stay tuned.

PORT WASHINGTON BREAKWATER LIGHTHOUSE, FIRST TRY

Port Washington Breakwater Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

During business trips in the eastern part of Wisconsin I always enjoy a stop somewhere along the shore of Lake Michigan and especially if there is a lighthouse nearby. Port Washington Breakwater Lighthouse has been long on my radar but this week was the first time I was able to visit it. While heading east I started worrying long before I even saw the lake, due to the fact that I didn’t see a single cloud in the sky. Just a blue sky seems always a bit boring and it takes some thoughts to find a way to overcome what the ”beautiful” weather may present.

Walking on a pier didn’t leave many choices about getting lower or higher above the sea level. Putting the horizon line and the lighthouse on the left in places that go along with the ”rule of thirds” was a way to start this composition intent. So, now what? I saw a few gulls flying around over the entrance to the marina of Port Washington and waited until two of them filled the spot above the pier on the left and right. The birds don’t become the subject of this photo but the triangle between the two lighthouse points and the gulls make the eye go around in the photo. It’s definitely a picture that wants me to come back again during the hour before sunset and maybe we can see then a little more drama in the frame…

QUICK LENS CHANGE

Sunset at the Green Island Wetlands , Mississippi Valley, Iowa

My ambitions to get some good results with wildlife in front of the camera were not rewarded today. This is not unusual for this time of the year and I don’t get too much frustrated. Yes, I saw a couple Sandhill Cranes, some hawks, eagles, lots of geese, and finally large numbers of Red-winged Blackbirds have started to claim their territories in the Green Island Wetlands. I made the usual documentary shots for myself, but nothing was close enough for a serious try to make a photo that stands out.

While waiting and hoping for something to happen I had an eye on the western horizon, where, what I call, a ”dirty sunset” unfolded. Suddenly the clouds started loosing their ”muddy” appearance and I saw the chance for a photo. A quick lens change from the Sigma 150-600 S to the Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S and dialing in a different white balance setting in camera to a warmer tone was all what it took to work with another subject, this time the light and clouds above the horizon.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 32 mm, 1/640s, f/8, ISO 400

IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE MOOD

Mississippi River, Black Hawk Bridge, Lansing, Iowa

One of my favorite drives here in the Driftless Area is going up north the Great River Road along the Mississippi and my favorite view is this look with the city of Lansing, Iowa on the left and the old Black Hawk Bridge across the river in the background. I have photographed from this vantage point at the Driftless Area Visitor Center in Lansing many times before. A good reason to stop there these days is the fact that the beautiful cantilever bridge, built in 1931, will be replaced and construction of a new bridge has started already. The cranes on the Wisconsin side and in the river tell the story.

The ice on the river was not very thick and if the warm weather continues, the river may have open water very soon. It was again quite foggy this morning and my choice was black & white for the photo. Several hours later, on the way back, the bright sun had taken over but the mood of this scene did not speak to me anymore…

A FOGGY DAY

It has been much warmer the last few days and with still plenty of snow on the ground the fog was hanging between the trees this morning. The cedars in the background mark the edge of the rocky bluffs and the Little Maquoketa Valley below was not visible at all.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2024 #2 - WINTER, BUT WARM COLORS MAY HELP

Bluffs at Catfish Creek, Upper Mississippi Valley, Dubuque, Iowa

After all the snow we had here in the Midwest during the last couple weeks and the very cold temperatures that still remained today, I wanted to make one single photo that sums it all up, tells the story about winter here in the Upper Mississippi Valley. I drove around this weekend, mostly to places nearby and along the river that have the potential to deliver this kind of a story. Well, I got a few shots yesterday and recognized last night in front of the computer, nice photos but the story is not told the way it needs to be told.

So I went out again this morning with a recent blog post of acclaimed photographer Moose Peterson in mind, while thinking about my plans for the day. He called it ”Red Loves White!”. This very interesting article is about the iconic landscapes out west, Bryce, Zion, Arches NP, Grand Canyon, etc., and how these red rocks can really reveal their beauty with the addition of snow. (https://www.moosepeterson.com/blog/red-loves-white/)

I wasn’t really out for the rocky bluffs here in the Mississippi Valley and its side valleys. However, I thought how can I emphasize the presence of cold weather, snow loaded branches, or ice covered creeks in my photo? The answer I found in Moose’s blog post while thinking in reverse was, try to add some red, orange, or yellow to the wintry landscape! The closest place that came to mind was the Mines of Spain, the State Recreation Area just south of Dubuque, Iowa. Catfish Creek has hollowed out this side valley of the Mighty Mississippi River and has its confluence with the big river just a couple hundred yards behind the bend in my photo. I love what I found!

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…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2024 #1 - JANUARY, ALREADY UNUSUAL

Mississippi River, Bellevue, Iowa

Of course, I will continue publishing photos right from here, the Upper Mississippi Valley, and will try to tell the story about this beautiful place with my images again in 2024! I will hopefully let you participate how seasonal changes at the big river may appear and how climate change effects the nature I try to photograph. I’m much aware, I may end up with photos that are sometimes totally different than during the last twenty years, taken at the same time of the season.

It is tempting to let the shoreline cut through the image right in the middle of the photo and make it an artsy-fartsy image, mirroring the landscape, but it was more important to me to make it a photo of the day and as I really saw it.

So here we are, January 6, 2024, and the main channel of the Mississippi River is completely free of ice. There is a little snow dust in the woods, but that’s about it for winter so far! Well, we now have a snow storm in the forecast for early next week but, maybe I can now finally put the swimming trunks away…😉

However, it makes me happy if you follow again the MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES in my blog and as always, let me know your thoughts about any photo you see. Your opinions are highly appreciated!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Farmland, Bankston, eastern Iowa, 12/31/2023

The last photo from 2023 is the first one for the new year. A hike in the valley of Bankston County Park on the last day of the year was followed by a short drive across the country side nearby. For a brief moment the clouds opened up and the light touched the farm and field at the horizon. One of the moments with the camera in hand I was thankful for in 2023.

I wish all readers, visitors, and followers of my photography website a peaceful year 2024 and many happy moments while pursuing your own photography!

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2023 #11 - A TOUCH OF MELANCHOLY

Mississippi River, John Deere Marsh, Dubuque, Iowa

I guess I’m finishing my Mississippi River stories of 2023 at the same location where I started them this year, at the end of the dyke that protrudes far into the river, near the big John Deere factory north of Dubuque, Iowa. It’s the fog that tells today’s story. Cooler water comes slowly down from the north while the air temperature is way too warm for this time of the season. With almost no wind today there were no ripples on the water and the fog had a chance to stay in the valley. Some thin sheets of ice had piled up on a mud bank lately, but it was the only white spot around. The scene had a certain melancholy and proofed what I have said often before, the Mississippi River is never twice the same…

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #1

Anvil clouds, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

As the year comes slowly but surely to an end I already look back and start analyzing what have been the best photography moments in 2023. During the short trip to Badlands National Park in early June I had definitely some good opportunities for wildlife and landscape shooting. These cumulonimbus incus, also called anvil clouds, moved towards the campsite rapidly, but the thunderstorm was mild and only little rain hit the ground. The bison trail in the grass leads the eye nicely along Sage Creek Valley and towards the clouds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 31 mm, 1/100 s, f/8, ISO 100, camera setting : Monochrome / red filter

HISTORY IMAGINED

Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota

It’s hard to believe that when someone travels across the fields, grasslands, and prairie here in the Midwest that there was only one valuable photo opportunity during the whole week. Sometimes things just don’t line up the way we photographers like…

Coming from Nebraska I crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it was photographers ”luck”, with not a single cloud in the sky (sigh!!!).

While standing there I imagined the time before the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, long before this modern bridge was built, and bison crossed the shallow river at this place. Maybe the people that owned the land, the Native Americans who depended on hunting bison and lived along the Missouri River, may have enjoyed the same view from this hill above the river banks. Who knows?

Another historical moment happened already in late summer of 1804, when the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition came up the river by boats during their journey to the Pacific Northwest. Their over 8000-mile expedition trip for the US government took two years, four month and ten days. When this expedition moved upstream, most of the difficulties were still laying ahead of them.

DIFFERENT WETLANDS, DIFFERENT SMELL

Tauerwiesenteich, near Förstgen, Saxony, Germany,

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, Panoramic image created from 4 single photos,

This photo is best viewed at a computer. Click on the picture for a larger image on screen.

No, this is not any of the backwaters along the Upper Mississippi River here in Iowa. A week ago, back in my home town Bautzen, Germany, I had the chance to make a short trip to the biosphere preserve ”Upper Lusatian Pond and Heath Region”. This area stretches to the north of town, away from the mountains, and is a mix of woods, heath, wetlands, agricultural land, and includes 240 ponds. Many of them are used to raise fish. One of the treasures in the preserve is the high variety of plant and animal species. This all happens in harmony with agricultural and fish farming.

Today, over there, they received the first snow in the ”Upper Lusatia” (so did we here in Iowa), but a week ago some fall colors were still present in the woods. An observation tower that overlooks this part of the wetlands was used as a shooting platform. A single image seems not to do justice to the wide view from the tower and therefore I took five overlapping photos. I used four of them for the final image and stitched them together in Adobe Photoshop. This used to be a time consuming, sometimes tedious task but with today’s computer power and state-of-the-art software capabilities it is only a matter of a few seconds to obtain the panoramic view.

I love it here in the Driftless Area along the Upper Mississippi River Valley, with its deciduous forests and wildlife, but I definitely miss the smell of resin from pines and mushrooms in abundance, as it was present in my old stomping grounds a week ago…

MINNESOTA NORTHWOODS - #14

Split Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior, Minnesota

The last day of our trip through the Northwoods of Minnesota in September came with strong winds and rain. Big waves broke into the rocky shore of Lake Superior and it was a challenge to find moments with the camera when gray was not the only color visible at times. Split Rock Lighthouse is probably one of the most photographed landmarks along the north-shore and even in not so popular weather conditions, lots of people liked to see it.

No, this wasn’t my model, posing for pictures below the lighthouse, but I couldn’t resist to ”steal” some color on this gray day from the person who took pictures of this young lady in front of rough water.

I know this blog post comes ”a little late” but life stood in the way too many times lately. I hope you enjoyed my photos about some of Minnesota’s beautiful and wild places and maybe it inspired you to get the camera out of the pocket more often…