MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2023 #9 - MOONRISE, SUNSET, AND AFTERWARDS

Mississippi River, Mines of Spain, Dubuque, Iowa

It wasn’t full moon today, this will be tomorrow night, but the waxing moon was at 98.3%, good enough for making photos over the Mississippi River. The overlook on top of the bluffs at the Julian Dubuque Monument in the Mines of Spain, just south of downtown Dubuque, was the place where I put the legs of the tripod in the ground. The moon was supposed to rise at 7:26 PM over ”Island Two hundred Twenty Eight” on the left side of the big river. Sunset was 7:42 PM and my hope was to have a hint of daylight on the water at moonrise. The photo below was shot exactly at sunset time but the moon just became visible from behind some haze at the horizon. Moody, but not dramatic.

The photo above was shot at 7:53 PM. It is important to change the white balance to a colder temperature for the feeling of the blue hour during the time after sunset. I underexposed up to 2 f-stops so the moon is not blown out and brought the shadows in the foreground back a little bit.

At sunset time, the moon just became visible in the haze.

As already mentioned, tomorrow is full moon. Sunset is 7:40 PM and the moon will raise at 7:56 PM. It will have its largest size 39 minutes later. The moon will raise 9º further to the east, which means it will be much higher above the water from the same vantage point in the Mines of Spain and I’m not sure if the reflection on the water will work the same way.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,

1.   @ 170 mm, 1/8 s, f/8, ISO 100

2.   @ 112 mm, 1/13 s, f/8, ISO 100

BEAVER MOON

November’s full Beaver Moon coincided last night with a full lunar eclipse. I didn’t set the alarm for this event but woke up early enough to see it briefly between the trees this morning. The photo was made earlier, shortly after moonrise, from the balcony on the east side of the house. Nothing, but a romantic look through the trees here on the bluffs above the valley…

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head,   @ 67mm, 0.6 s, f/8, ISO 2500

DUBUQUE NIGHT OF LIGHTS

Dubuque historic Star Brewery building at Night of Lights event

Tonight was the inaugural event of Night of Lights in Dubuque, Iowa. Businesses and private homes in and near Downtown Dubuque were asked to leave the lights on for a few hours. Painters and photographers tried to capture the beauty of this event during the early night hours.

I was out of town the last couple of days and returned late from a business trip this evening. With not too much time on hand I drove straight to the old Dubuque Star Brewery building, a historic landmark next to the Mississippi River. Stone Cliff Winery has a wonderful tasting room in the historic brewery building and their wine garden was nicely illuminated. I guess all possible lights were on and with the location about ready to be closed, I had nobody walking through the scene during a 20 seconds exposure time for this photo. The metal sculpture in the foreground, “Flowing Connections” by artist Matt Moyer, is part of the annual ART ON THE RIVER exhibit, located along the Mississippi Riverwalk. I wished I had more time to check out some other locations in town, but maybe next year…!!

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head, VELLO wired remote switch,    @ 24mm, 20 s, f/18, ISO 100

3X CLOUDS

Observation point at Dubuque Regional Airport, view to the southeast, at 35 mm focal length, slight crop

I have been on the road the last couple days and have seen some remarkable cloud formations. Driving mostly on interstate and state highways I had to let pass many good opportunities to take out the camera. Finally, on the way home a stop was made at the observation point of the Dubuque Regional Airport this evening. I like this place for cloud photography for two reasons. You have a 360 degree view and no cables or wires obstruct the view. While not a friend of the humidity that comes with the hot temperatures of summer here in the Midwest, I love the clouds that often come with it. All three photos were made within five minutes and in each direction light and clouds were different.

View to the northeast, at 95 mm, slight crop

View to the southwest, at 32 mm, slight crop

YEARS IN THE MAKING

Moonrise over the Mississippi, Mud Lake, Iowa

Today’s photo was several years in the making. I had this shot in mind for a long time but quite a few things had to be true for this image. First I wanted the Mississippi River with an ice cover and with a fresh layer of snow on top. Of course, I needed a full moon and time of sunset and moonrise only a few minutes apart from each other. It was important to me to have a little glow on the rocks of the Wisconsin side of the river and also still some light left that filled the valley and gave the snow some structure. And last but not least it required a clear sky to make it all happen. As a bonus this evening there was no wind and the temperature was balmy -10 ºC / 14 ºF. What I didn’t expect, but really like, is the fact that the moon lightened the snow patches on top of the bluffs and make them stand out.

I have scheduled and tried this shot several times before over the years but quite often clouds were in the way or something else didn’t work out. At one time a few years ago I showed up a little bit early at bitter cold temperatures. Some moisture must have built up in the camera and about when the moon showed finally up over the horizon line, the shutter mechanism was probably frozen and the camera failed to do the job. Back home and after bringing the camera slowly back to room temperature and let it dry out, everything worked just fine again. I learned my lesson and today I made sure the camera didn’t undergo any sharp temperature changes (like from heating in the car) before the actual shooting.

Here is an app for your phone I can highly recommend for an event like this. The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) is a great planning tool and shows you exactly on a map where the moon or sun will rise or set and when the time is right to be ready for the shoot.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @200 mm, 1/8 s, f/8, ISO100

RETROSPECTS 2020 - #12

Milky Way, Medicine Rocks State Park, Montana

I’m ending my retrospects not with a photo from December last year. For actual reasons I show you another image from Medicine Rocks State Park in eastern Montana, taken in September 2020. In December, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) designated Medicine Rocks State Park in Montana a certified International Dark Sky Sanctuary. There are now 14 dark sky sanctuaries worldwide.

I consider myself a beginner for night photography. I’m looking into that for quite some time but I’m often discouraged by the light pollution we face most of the time, even in a not so densely populated area like here in eastern Iowa. Back in Montana last year it was just amazing and I’m not sure if any picture can reflect how gorgeous it really was. I have seen impressive skies before, for example back in the mid 80’s during backpacking tours in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania in southeastern Europe, but dark places like that become rare. We camped in Medicine Rocks State Park for two nights but only during the first the skies revealed some of their secrets…

If you followed patiently my retrospect series I like to thank you. I enjoyed sharing some of the photographic moments of 2020 with you again and I hope it helped to overcome the daily worries that might be larger than usual for some of you these days.

MEDICINE ROCKS - FINALLY THE MILKY WAY

It wasn’t until almost the end of our trip that it was possible to make a night picture that included the Milky Way. We had many clear nights and light pollution by human-made light sources was very little most of the time in the Dakotas and Montana. But it was the moon that came up every night, bright and beautiful, that cancelled every effort. Finally at Medicine Rocks in Montana we were able to see and capture a little more of the universe we live in. I tried exposure times between 15 and 30 seconds and ISO settings from 3200 to 6400. Only for a few shots I went vertical with the camera but at home, in front of the computer screen, I found that these photos work actually better than all the images in landscape orientation.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @16 mm, 20 s, f/4, ISO6400

MOON AND CLOUDS IN MOTION

Moon light and clouds over Little Missouri National Grassland, North Dakota

Most nights during our trip out west we had moon light giving the landscape some shape. That was great and led to opportunities for night photography. The downside, as everybody knows, is making the Milky Way the subject of an image, this was not an option, except for the days at the end of the trip.

We had this National Forest campsite just outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park almost for ourselves. When the moon light touched the fence, that was there to keep the cattle out, and clouds moved fast across the sky, I tried a 69 second exposure to make the dynamic in the sky visible. The light reflected by the fence leads into the picture. The stars show already a little trail. I have more photos with shorter exposure time and blending two pictures together would be an option, but I still like how this turned out.

LIGHT PAINTING ON THE PRAIRIE

Prairie at night, Mines of Spain Recreation Area, Dubuque, Iowa

Last night the Dubuque Camera Club had its “end of the season” meeting. Quite a few members were brave enough to defy the heat and came out for some night shooting to the  picknick shelter at the Butler trail. This part of the Mines of Spain Recreation Area is mostly open prairie and allowed for good social distancing. I had fun with some light painting on the prairie grass and trees. 

Despite some light pollution from the city of Dubuque, the stars were visible and as I framed one of the shots an airplane approached the DBQ Airport with full lights on. Photography friend Pamela Brandt assisted with a second light source (thank you again Pam!) and at the end some pictures were on the memory card that I liked.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, RRS BH-55 ball head, Vello cable release,   @16 mm, 30 s, f/4, ISO200, Manual mode

TWO WAYS TO TELL TONIGHT’S STORY

Canada Geese, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa,

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/1250s, f/6.3, ISO800

During my recent presentation at the Dubuque Camera Club about storytelling in wildlife photography I stated to take the camera with us, wherever we may go. I’m sure glad I did tonight when I took Cooper, the dog, down to the Mississippi River for a walk. The sun had disappeared already behind the bluffs, light was fading away fast, and I thought there wouldn’t be much to photograph. And boy, was I wrong! Hundreds of Canada Geese crossed the river in groups, flying towards the setting sun.

There were at least two ways to make a click and tell the story, and I tried to accomplish both. In the western sky was the glow of the setting sun with some hazy clouds, and to the east, over the river, was the moon. The shot aiming the lens at the sunset was indeed predictable. The geese fly in V-formation and I wanted to bring that somehow in connection with the clouds and the sun light.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, @70 mm, 1/500s, f/5, ISO800

The other photo, with the geese flying “through” the moon, required a little bit of luck. Many flocks crossed the Mississippi this evening and I just waited for the right moment. You can’t really pan with the camera, follow the flock, and shoot with a slower shutter speed in order to keep the ISO low and the digital noise out of the picture. This would result in an even more blurred moon. I had to set ISO to 800 for maintaining a shutter speed of 1/500s. Not that this one is perfect, but it was pretty much how I saw it with the thin layer of haze in front of it.

A MERRY MILLWORK MARKET

I had a little break here in the blog and come back with some street photography. Dubuque had its ‘Merry Millwork Market’ during the last couple evenings. Joan and I went yesterday night to this mini- Christmas market in the Historic Millwork District. Let me go straight to the highlight 😉. It was the first time since I live in the US that I saw someone selling Glühwein. The mullen-spiced red wine is served on every Christmas market in Germany, something I have missed during the last fourteen years.

I thought the market was well done, taking place outdoors and indoors. There were a lot of local artists selling their artwork and it seems the character of the market fits the ambience of the repurposed warehouse buildings in the Historic Millwork District of Dubuque, Iowa very well.

I don’t know when I shot the last time with ISO 1250 and still hand held the camera at a shutter speed between 1/15s and 1/40s. Detail was not so important as it is in wildlife photography and I wanted to keep the mood intact by using only the ambient light.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2018 #07 - MOONRISE OVER THE RIVER

Moonrise, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

Yesterday we had a full moon and finally I found the time and weather conditions that allowed to photograph the moonrise over the bluffs on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. Sunset was about half an hour before moonrise, not enough to have a red glow on the bluffs but still good to have a little bit of ambient light. When I planned the shooting I actually had a composite in mind. First a shot that was exposed for the ambient light and second a shot that would be exposed just for the moon with some details on the surface. Both would be merged in Photoshop to make a picture that shows close to what the eye really sees. The contrast is too high to have it both with just one click. I did all this and then, last night at the computer, I didn’t like the outcome. Instead of, I present you a photo that was shot right when the moon showed up on top of the bluffs, still during the civil twilight period that can produce some amazing blues. No, it doesn’t show the details of the moon for said reason, but they were not really visible anyway because of that hazy cloud around the moon. Love the role of the clouds in this image, it makes all the difference to some of my other trials.

I set up the tripod at Mud Lake, right at the entrance to the little marina. When the daylight faded away the buoys that mark the access to the marina started blinking, a fact I totally forgot and first wasn’t too happy about. But looking at the results on the camera screen I saw that it had some potential to be part of the story telling.

So how did I know exactly where the moon would appear over the bluffs on the other side of the river? I’m using THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S EPHEMERIS®, an app on my phone that shows exactly, for example, where the sun goes down or the moon comes up, with times and a lot of other helpful data for landscape photographers. Highly recommended! There is also a free web version that can be used in your computer browser, which I think is good for planning a photo shoot at home. Here is the link to the website: https://www.photoephemeris.com .

VEGAS AT NIGHT

The most interesting time in Las Vegas is at night, with all the lights, shows, glitter, and glamor. The strain of sensual perception is hard to deny. Joan and I had a great time the night before the wedding, just walking around, having a drink here and there, and shooting some pictures... I didn’t bring a tripod for proper camera support and wasn’t able to experiment with real long exposures, but I had fun chasing the light at night. It helps to use a lens with vibration reduction, and except for the picture with the light and water show in front of Caesars Palace, all photos were made handheld. Exposure times were between 1/4 s and 1/60 s and in most cases I took multiple shots, sometimes leaning against a wall to stabilize the camera. You can click on each image for best viewing.

ENDLESS SKY

This is the tent of a campsite neighbor at Sage Creek Campground in Badlands National Park. We had of course no control over the brightness of the light in their tent but I gave it a try anyway and included the sky with all its stars. The campground is in a remote location but there is unfortunately still some light pollution from the town of Wall, known for the “World famous Wall Drug store”.

If I remember this right, we had only two or three nights without seeing the stars during our trip through the Dakotas, but in the Badlands we probably enjoyed it the most.

A black background may help to view this image, and if you click on the photo you can see all the stars that were recorded by the sensor in the camera.

NIGHT GLOW

Last night it was the first time that we managed to be at the Great Galena Balloon Race over in Galena, Illinois. We arrived in time for the famous night glow of the balloons. Photographing balloons at night was a first for me and it was an enjoyable learning experience and some “candy for the eyes”. Having a tripod is a must for a halfway decent photo, unless you like to use blur as an artistic mean of expression, which IMHO is a valid way to go. As with many events where people gather by the hundreds, if not thousands, keeping the picture free of clutter (other people, golf carts, picknick coolers, etc.) is difficult, but something you need to have an eye on.

I went out with the Nikkor 24-120 mm, f/4 attached to the D750 and this was not a bad choice. The glowing of all balloons at the same time is announced over loud speakers but you only have a few seconds to make your shots. The zoom lens allows for quick changes.

Back home and in front of my computer I try to analyze where the mistakes were made and what really worked to tell the story about this event. I enjoyed this challenge very much and hope to have another chance to try it again soon.

On our way back to the car we saw this constellation of “heavenly” bodies above the road and trees. The moon was behind a thin layer of clouds while Jupiter and Venus were clearly visible despite the light pollution from nearby cities.