TWO CONCEPTS FOR A GRAY DAY

Eastern Kingbird

Last weekend I spent some time again in the wetlands along the Mississippi River. It’s nesting time and except for the pelicans, egrets, and geese most birds are not so visible. The sky had an overcast for most of the afternoon and it even rained a few times briefly. I practiced a little handholding with the pelicans that circled above but birds against a gray sky, well it just ain’t pretty.

When I had this flycatcher, an Eastern Kingbird, in front of the lens, I decided to go for a black & white image. The bird is mostly black, gray, or white and shape and color of the dead branch it was perched on seemed to fit for this concept. The uniform sky made for negative space and supports this approach for a fine art print.

Here is another way to deal with the gray sky and its reflection on the water surface. The water lilies started to bloom and there was this spot without too much glare on the water. You may say, dude, why didn’t you use a polarizing filter in front of the lens? The answer is simple, I don’t have such a big one that would fit the 150-600 mm lens. Yes, the flower was a bit away and I had the long lens at hand anyway… In post process the vibrance was increased a bit more than usual and I used the dehaze-slider to give it a little more punch.

I know, there are better ways to make these kind of photos but photography should remain fun. Coming back home with something on the memory card on such a gray day counts twice… 😊

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)

ANOTHER SIGN OF SPRING

If there is anything I don’t like about March here in eastern Iowa, it’s the fact that we have so many gray days without any sun. Today was another one of those. The photo of the crocuses is from yesterday, when a little more light was available and no extra efforts were necessary to make the colors pop. For this picture I employed the Nikkor 16-35, f/4 and closed down to f/10 for more depth of field than in the photo of the Hepatica from yesterday’s blog post. As I always stress, I’m not a flower photographer, but with all the gray and brown from last winter on the ground a few colors don’t hurt and keep the spirit up on a day like this.

SERIOUS SIGN OF SPRING

Hepatica americana

No, the photo wasn’t taken in our woods this time but during a little hike that Joan, dog Cooper, and I took in the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area this evening. Hepatica Americana is the first wild flower that usually shows up and we found it below some rock bluffs in a more remote part in this park south of Dubuque, Iowa.

I wanted this kind of shot with a low depth of field. At 200 mm and f/5 only a couple blossoms are in focus, but it keeps the eye away from the dried clutter around the plant and that’s the way I like it.

PASSING BY

Greater White-fronted Geese

Not a full moon but pretty close. I made this picture yesterday at 600 mm focal length. Most of the Greater White-fronted Geese managed to fly around but finally I found a few that would pass in front of the moon. The trick is to predict the path the geese would take and track them by panning with the lens. If you pre-focus on the moon and just wait until a bird flies by, the geese would be most likely just blurry. The warm light on the birds creates a nice color contrast to the cool background and leaves no doubt about when this shot was taken.

PAINTED DESERT (3)

A shaft of light hits a big piece of petrified wood, while the shadow of the mountain behind me hides the surrounding area and makes the subject stand out.

So, how about the petrified wood in the National Park? In a nutshell, the process of per-mineralization of the wood was accomplished by silicification, meaning that the wood was replaced by silica long time ago. That’s interesting, but beside the scientific facts there are other reasons to point the lens at these gems in the desert.

Erosion produces the look how we can see the fossilized trunks in the park. Many are still buried under layers of soil and rock.

Different minerals have produced the colors we can find in the petrified wood today.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE

On the exhibition floor during DUBUQUE BALD EAGLE WATCH 2020

I have another photo of the Dubuque Bald Eagle Watch event from last Saturday for you. This picture tells a good story about the educational value the attendees were able to experience. The Jackson County Conservation had a turtle and this Milk Snake on display and visitors were able to touch or even handle them. Beside the birds of prey during the presentation of the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, this snake was the real star of the event. Many people came to see it and get a hands on experience with the harmless reptile. Not everybody was as brave as this little girl, who had no fear to pick up the snake and let it move around arms and fingers. I guess at the end of the day the snake was a little bit stressed but hopefully a lot more people had a new appreciation about some wildlife that surrounds us.

32ND ANNUAL BALD EAGLE WATCH IN DUBUQUE

Bald Eagle

Dubuque, Iowa had its 32nd annual BALD EAGLE WATCH in the Grand River Center yesterday. I was again a member of the team at the information table of the Dubuque Camera Club. All the local nature resource agencies and organizations were present with educational displays and information. I always enjoy networking with park rangers, other nature enthusiasts, and photographers and it was again a day well spent.

I told you in my last blog post about the snow storm that hit our area and big parts of the Midwest the day and night before. To my surprise the event on Saturday had a very good attendance, despite not so ideal road conditions. Many people of all ages came for the educational programs with live birds of prey.

American Kestrel

The young lady of the University of Minnesota Raptor Center (I’m sorry, I didn’t catch her name) did an awesome job educating the public about four different species of birds she brought with her to Dubuque. I think she answered every possible question that came up during her presentation and you could tell she had a lot of passion about these birds and how to care for them. Very enjoyable! All birds on display had an injury in the past and were unable to live in the wild on their own.

Red-tailed Hawk

The photography was again a bit of a challenge. Very little light in the conference room required very high ISO settings in camera. Flash is not an option with these birds of prey. The presenter moved around most of the time, so everybody in the audience was able to see them pretty good. On the down side it made it difficult to obtain focus and produce a sharp image. As during the last two years at this event I used it as an opportunity to practice handholding of the D750 with the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 attached. The number of misses was of course much higher than usual with this camera / lens combination out in the open country.

Great Horned Owl

FIRST ONE OF 2020

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, Dubuque, Iowa

I hope you were able to start the new year with something interesting and exciting. When our grandkids are in town a visit of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa is always on the agenda. It is one of the best places for education and entertainment, and this is valid for every age.

This first photo of the year was made at 70 mm, 1/320 s, f/4, and ISO 6400 through the thick glass of one of the seawater aquariums. Not my usual kind of photography but it always powers me if light and colors have something to offer. I hope 2020 will be a good year for all of us. I look forward to see your pictures and share visual stories with you again.

OUR WOODPECKER TREE #1

Male Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker at “Woodpecker tree #1”

Nature is always in a state of change. We were out of town over the weekend and when we came home yesterday we found one of the elm trees in our front yard on the ground. We knew this would happen one of these days. The tree was heavily effected by the Dutch elm disease, had more and more bare branches every year, and eventually the roots died.

This elm was an important tree for my photography. I always called it “Woodpecker tree #1”. Its location was perfect for shooting six of the seven woodpecker species that spend time in our woods but many other birds used it as well for approaching the bird feeders in the front yard.

Well, it’s not the end of the world, although I’m a little sad. A young oak tree nearby is growing fast since a few years and may take over the role as the new “Woodpecker tree #1” 😊

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #13

Sunset at the St. Louis River, just outside of Duluth, Minnesota

Jay Cooke State Park was the last campsite for one night at the end of our journey through the Northwoods of Minnesota. We had some snow and rain during the trip and shooting pictures of fast flowing water just seems to be a logic consequence. Well, I love to make photos of creeks and rivers. It is never boring and always a challenge.

I have talked here in the blog some time ago about a technique to make these kind of pictures without the use of a neutral density filter. There are sometimes situations where combining multiple exposures in one image, right in camera, is a valid solution. In particular at narrow and busy places, like famous waterfalls, with lots of visitors. Observation decks for example often vibrate and make any effort with a long exposure useless.

For this photo things were just great. At this time of the year, mid October, the low sun covers the river and the surrounding rocks with warm light for quite some time before it disappears behind the trees. With the Nikon D750 on a solid tripod I used the BREAKTHROUGH X4, 6-stop ND filter in front of the Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 lens. For the final image a 5 second exposure at f/18, ISO 100 was used. Sure, some people like to see the water even silkier, it’s an unfortunate trend at the moment, but the wild St. Louis River, with its waterfalls and cascades, is not smooth at all at this place. The story of that evening was the combination of soft and warm light with the fast flow and turbulences of the river. If weather allows Joan and I will be back in the Duluth area very soon. Can you sense my excitement…? 😊

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #9

Looking out the window and seeing the snow that came down last night makes me want to think about something different. This was already the fourth time this season and with temperatures forecasted at -15º C (5º F) for tonight, it is a save bet to say, winter has arrived. About a month ago, back in Itasca State Park, Minnesota, fall colors were at their best. Alright, let’s wallow a little bit with those colors for now…

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #4

Mississippi River, only a few yards after the headwaters

Itasca State Park is the oldest state park in Minnesota, established 1891, and was created to protect the forest and waters around the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Its landscape was shaped by glaciers and it contains over 100 lakes and large tracks of Minnesota’s remaining old-growth red and white pine forest. It is a fantastic place to be in the fall, not just for photography.

Here is it where it all starts. The water from Lake Itasca flows over a simple rock barrier and the Mississippi River starts its 2,552 mile (4107 km) journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

The polarizing filter in front of the Nikkor 70-200 eliminates some of the glare on the water and led to a four second exposure at f/18. Enough to indicate the flow of the water with a silky look.

Stand of tamaracks, Lake Itasca, Minnesota

Itasca has beautiful red and white pines, spruce, fir, birch, aspen, maple, and others, but beside the colorful leaves one particular tree tells the story of fall the best. Larix laricina, better known as tamarack (German: Lärche), is a deciduous conifer. Its needles turn bright yellow in autumn and tell the story about the changing season. We found them at many locations in northern Minnesota during our trip. 

All three photos were made at or around the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR, B+W F-PRO Kaesemann High Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC filter

 

EARLY SNOW

Gorgeous light shortly after sunrise but most of the snow melted away during the day.

What’s going on? We still have daylight savings time (Sommerzeit) but last night a few hours of snow fall changed everything. It’s the first snow of the season for our woods here in eastern Iowa, but up in northern Minnesota Joan and I had already a white morning earlier this month.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR