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…
STILL LIFE - OMA’S KITCHEN ITEMS
Oma’s Kitchen Items, 2020
My grandma was a really good cook and after she died 30 years ago I kept a few of her kitchen items in my possession and still use them. They bring up fond memories any time I look at them. I always liked the thick glass and how it feels in my hands. I know this sounds silly, but the aesthetics of these glass and metal items appeal to me. Since a very long time I was thinking about to make a photo of these kitchen items. This idea got propelled when I finally saw the photo Still Life, San Francisco, California, c. 1932, in Ansel Adam’s book Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs some time ago. It shows a couple glass bottles, two eggs, and also the same kind of egg slicer that I have from my grandma. No, I didn’t want to copy his arrangements but his photo gave me pleasure about how the light falls on and around his items. Adams writes, …very rewarding effects are possible with available light in the studio, whether from natural skylight or window light, or from existing artificial sources.
I don’t even have a studio but I knew it was doable in our living room, with its large windows and high ceiling. Today was finally the day when this plan was put into practice. A gray overcast sky produced a very soft light, even more diffused by the tall windows on the left. I used black foam board as my backdrop and a couple white pieces to direct the light, either shading it off (left side) or using the board as a reflector (right side). For this photo I handhold an additional 22” white reflector for some extra light from above right.
The boiled egg and the half lemon add some texture and life to the image. Oma’s kitchen items are older than me and using black and white for the final photo was part of the plan from the very beginning.
By the way, if you wonder what the kidney-shaped glass container on the left is, here is the story. My grandparents were operating a little restaurant and country side pub before I was born. A popular item on the menu in this part of Germany, the Upper Lusatia, was head cheese (Sülze), mostly served with fried potatoes or fresh baked bread, raw onion rings, plus oil and vinegar. I guess drinking beer with this food was mandatory…😉 This glass bowl was used as a mold for making the head cheese. After the jelly was cold and hard, the mold was flipped upside down on a plate and the other food items were added. My grandpa loved head cheese and I remember that this glass container was still used in their home when I was a child.
Nikon D750, Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/2 ZF T*, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch, @ f/16, 1 s, ISO100
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #13 - TOWBOAT AND BARGES
My favorite place to walk our dog and let him run and roll around is down at the Mississippi River at Mud Lake Park, Iowa. The best time is just before the sun disappears behind the bluffs and trees, which is right now about an hour before real sunset. It was very warm today, the light was golden, and Cooper and I just enjoyed sitting at the river, watching the birds and boats. We were already in the shade when this towboat with 12 barges came down the Mississippi but the sun still reached the main channel. The barges did not sit deep in the water and their covers were open. Maybe they went south to a terminal to pick up coal for one of the power plants further north, who knows…
When you look close at the first photo, there is a little detail I saw when I framed the shot with the 600 mm lens. A Bald Eagle sat on a piece of stranded driftwood and ate a fish. Just a silhouette, not the subject of the image, but nevertheless interesting.
A towboat with barges passes the entrance to the Hawkeye Marina at Mud Lake, Iowa
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #09 - ARRIVAL OF CELEBRATION BELLE
Ice Harbor, Mississippi River, Dubuque, Iowa
Great clouds, combined with a short rain shower, made for good shooting conditions this evening at the Ice Harbor in Dubuque, Iowa. I took our dog Cooper for a walk on the dyke, a little further north of this place. Well, I call it a “dog walk” but sometimes he just sits patiently next to me while I’m fiddling with the camera on tripod. I tell you what, he probably understands how photography works… 😊
While taking a few shots of the old railroad bridge that crosses the Mississippi over to Wisconsin, I suddenly saw the CELEBRATION BELLE coming up the river from LeClaire, Iowa and taking a turn towards the harbor. We jumped into the car and drove down the short distance. It takes time to maneuver this big boat through the small entry and flood gates of Ice Harbor, giving me enough time to find a good position. The TWILIGHT was also docked in the port and I rushed to find a shooting position where both Mississippi River boats and the clouds would line up perfectly. The spot was found while the first passengers exited the CELEBRATION BELLE. The image was made with the Nikkor 16-35, f/4 at 16 mm focal length and the BREAKTHROUGH 2-stop GND filter attached. The rain shower earlier made the wood of the pier wet and darker. It takes out the glare and makes the pier a good part of the composition that doesn’t compete with the bright subjects in this photo.
THE SOUND OF PROP PLANES (PART 2)
Yesterday was the better day for shooting the T6’s at the Dubuque Airport. A little storm that went trough our area brought some clouds and that made for a much more interesting background. The wind had shifted to the west and the second runway, closer to the observation deck, was used for landing the planes. My keeper rate was much better and I hope I can attribute that to my practice of panning with the long lens the day before. Today I didn’t go out but we had a great air show right here at home. When the noise of plane engines filled the air we knew they all took finally off for the Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. What a display! I counted 27, flying all together in formations of four, as they had practiced during the last few days. Today’s photos are all from Saturday afternoon at the airport. I hope you enjoy!
All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S
THE SOUND OF PROP PLANES
During the last couples days the sound of propeller driven airplanes over the house made me aware that it is the time of the year again when pilots with their historical planes get ready and practice for the big airshow next week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This evening I went out to the Dubuque Regional Airport and tried to make some clicks. I have done this before during other years and although I’m not really into aviation photography I enjoy these airplanes and take this opportunity for practice of handholding skills with the heavy long lens attached to camera. My keeper rate wasn’t very good today and I hate to come up with tons of excuses, but it was pretty much the lack of practice of my handholding capabilities.
As mentioned in other blog posts over the years before, I like to tell the story of motion with these airplanes and aim for a blurred prop. The only way to get this kind of shot is to stick with a slow shutter speed, means between 1/60 s and 1/200 s. The T6’s flew in formations of four and this was my favorite shot of this evening. But wait, there was some bird present at the observation deck of the airport that I haven’t seen in a long time. But hey, this is for another blog post… 😉
“DE IMMIGRANT”
“De Immigrant” Windmill, Fulton, Illinois
Yesterday, at the turn around point of my trip along the Mississippi River, in the city of Fulton, IL, I stopped at the Dutch windmill that was built on a flood control dike. “De Immigrant” was fabricated by native millwrights in the Netherlands and shipped to Fulton, Illinois. It was assembled in 1999 and grinding of wheat, buckwheat, rye, and cornmeal started in 2001. It is a great attraction but the mill and the Windmill Cultural Center were closed for the season.
I arrived about 45 minutes before sunset and it was immediately clear that I had to use the warm sunlight on the backside of the mill for my photo. The color contrast between the windmill and the dark blue sky worked well, but the thin hazy clouds didn’t nearly create the drama as I finally found in the black & white version. It was important to have an eye on all the lines and geometrical shapes the wings, ropes, and structure create. I made other images, showing more of the windmill building, but this close-up shot at 24 mm made for a stronger picture, at least in my books…
If you like to read more about the windmill, here is a link: https://mississippiriver.natgeotourism.com/content/de-immigrant-windmill/mspe125a382cb0d9770e
MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2018 #04 - TWO RIVER BOATS IN DUBUQUE
Queen of the Mississippi, Dubuque, Iowa
The tip came from Pamela, the Communications Manager of the Dubuque Camera Club. I'm thankful she let us know that two Mississippi river boats were heading north and would be today in the port of Dubuque, Iowa. The time window is not very long before they head south again and so I went to town in the morning, shortly after the “Queen of the Mississippi” had arrived. Not the best light for photographing such beautiful river boats but it was still workable. I have photographed the “Twilight” before but the “Queen of the Mississippi” was a first. Back in the port this evening, both boats were gone but the quality of light was so much better…
Twilight
LATE POST, SPINNING PROPS
AT-6, ready for takeoff
The Air Venture 2018 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is already over since yesterday and I’m still posting photos from the practice that took place a week earlier at the Dubuque Regional Airport… Business travel and other circumstances prevented me to work on my pictures last week, but hey, here are still a few shots! I’m not really deep into aviation photography but historic aircrafts have an appeal to me and I admire the people that keep them flying. You may ask, why didn’t you post more pictures of flying planes this time? As already mentioned in my post from July 22nd, we had an ugly gray overcast on Sunday. This was OK for shooting the aircrafts on the ground because of the soft light, but when you have gray clouds without any texture the same rule as in wildlife photography applies, never photograph a bird in flight…
P-51D Mustang
Slow shutter speed is key for having all props spinning
ADDING SOME SCALE
Another photo from yesterday’s shooting at the Dubuque Airport. This little helicopter flew by several times at the new observation deck. As already mentioned, I was there for the clouds, but having a flying object in the frame may change the subject. Well, the picture is still about the clouds for me, the helicopter just adds scale to the image. Other than that, shooting aircrafts is always a great exercise for birds-in-flight-photography.
CAN’T DO THIS ONE ANYMORE…
February 18, 2018
On February 18, 2018 I crossed for the first time the new bridge over the Mississippi River between Sabula, Iowa and Savannah, Illinois. I thought it was interesting to see both, the old truss bridge and the new one, side by side and so I stopped and made a few clicks. Since around 10:30AM today the same picture cannot be made anymore because the old bridge was demolished and imploded with a big BOOM and clouds of smoke and sits now in the river. I read that cutting apart the remains started immediately and the pieces will be transported away by barges.
I didn’t really plan to publish this photo here in the blog. I was a little sloppy while taking the picture, not paying enough attention to the details around the edges and a different view point would have been probably better. After reviewing my photos on the computer screen I thought even about going back and shoot it again. Well, it is too late now…😏
Below are a couple pictures I took almost three years ago when I heard for the first time that the old truss bridge will be replaced. I even wrote a blog post about it. http://www.exnerimages.net/blog/2015/4/7/mississippi-river-stories-2015-5
It’s good to have these images!
April 5, 2015
TUGBOAT SUSAN L
Tugboat SUSAN L, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
We saw the tow and tugboats in the warm light of the late afternoon sun while driving over one of the bridges that cross the Sturgeon Bay Canal and we rushed down to the pier immediately. I reminded myself of a quote by famous photographer Jay Maisel, I found in his book IT’S NOT ABOUT THE F-STOP some time ago: “Never go back. Shoot it now. When you come back, it will always be different.”
I think that was such a moment. It was our last day in Door County, Wisconsin, and who knows when we will be there the next time. The boats might be gone or replaced by new boring models. I’m sure the setting sun hits them from that angle only during a short time of the year. There are many variables that come together for this photo. I’m glad we stopped.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER RUNWAY
I went back to the Dubuque Airport on Saturday. The pilots used a different runway for starts and landings, far away from the observation point of the Dubuque airport, and out of reach for a decent photo. I drove on a small gravel road that leads to the end of the runway and tried my luck again. I arrived there just in time to watch three P-51D’s taking off.
Most of the T-6’s trained in formations of four for the AirVenture in Oshkosh and when they come in for landing the photographer gets four chances in a row for a picture. I missed a few but I like this shot because I pre-visualized where I wanted to make the click, right between the two clouds.
When I took this photo I didn’t really know what I had in front of my lens. This is ‘Doc’, one of only two flying B-29’s in the world. If one of my valued blog readers is interested in the amazing story about this airplane and its restoration, here is the link: http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/restoration-doc-flies-again-180960367/
AIR SHOW PREPARATIONS
Last week the noise of airplane engines around here reminded me that the big EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is coming up next week. As always during the last years the Dubuque Airport hosts a number of WWII airplanes and their crews to prepare for the air shows.
Aviation photography is not really my main interest but I always like to use this opportunity to practice handholding of the camera and long lens. The same skills used for shooting a moving airplane can be used in wildlife photography. All the airplanes have propeller engines and the only way to get a full circle of the prop is to shoot with about 1/60 s exposure time. This is easier said than done and the amount of garbage I have produced was much higher than during any other time of the year. Friday evening the planes used the landing strip near the observation point at the airport and this allowed for a number of pictures that filled the frame without any significant cropping. More to come…
All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, @ 1/60 s
THE OLD CHAIR
The old chair, Farm in northwest Iowa, December 2016 ----------------
If there is one place where I like to wander around and scan the surroundings for remains of history or traces of light that may tell a story, it is the farm in northwest Iowa where my wife Joan grew up and that is operated still today by her brother Don and his wife Shelly. The morning of Christmas Eve, when there was snow on the ground and hoarfrost on bushes and trees, I went out with the camera and just did what I always like to do in this place, walk slowly around and look for photo opportunities…