LIGHTHOUSES

Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Minnesota, put into service in 1910

It doesn’t matter what kind of weather we have or how good or bad the light treats me, I like to photograph lighthouses. As you can imagine there are quite a few around Lake Superior and any time I had a chance a click was made. For me it is the fascination of the technical side that every lighthouse bares, combined with the fact that not even two are exactly alike. It is story telling about our heritage and a great chance to work with architecture, quite often embedded in a natural environment.

The bivalve fresnel lens of Split rock Lighthouse was built in Paris, France. While operating, the lens made one revolution every 20 seconds, floating on a thin layer of mercury. Light for the beacon was provided by a kerosene vapor lamp, which was replaced in 1940 by a 1000W electrical bulb. (source: Visitor Guide: Split Rock Lighthouse)

Agathe Bay Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Minnesota

 

SUBJECT AND AMBIENCE

Lake Superior, Silver Bay Harbor, Minnesota

Over the years I discovered that making an image of just “the ambience” of a landscape seldom leads to a reasonable, story telling result. The lack of a clear subject is usually the reason for these frustrations. Sometimes it works but more often not. Imagine the photo above without the ship. The rocky islands did not offer enough to make it interesting and the “angel rays” coming through the clouds were not strong enough to make them a good subject. No waves on the lake didn’t help either. But there was this very soft, warm light and subtle reflections on the water creating a special ambience that I liked. The “LAKE GUARDIAN” came to my rescue as it approached the islands and rocky pier of Silver Bay Harbor, Minnesota. Suddenly the picture made sense to me…

 

BACKCOUNTRY MOMENTS

Bensen Lake, George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, Minnesota

Some of the great moments on our tour around Lake Superior happened not necessarily at the big lake but a few miles away in the backcountry. When the sun is about to disappear behind the trees and the last light of the day touches the dense woods that surround a small lake , and there is no noise at all in the air, you just know that you are in the right place, at the right time. All what it takes is to watch where and how the light unfolds, and finally make the click…

 

AMNICON FALLS

Amnicon Falls State Park, Wisconsin

In almost every corner along the shore of Lake Superior we found creeks and streams that feed the lake with huge amounts of water every minute. Our first night near the lake we pitched our tent in Amnicon Falls State Park, Wisconsin. A series of waterfalls and rapids along the Amnicon River are worth spending some time there. The area has an interesting geological history that goes back more than half a billion years ago. After flowing over the falls the water runs only a few more miles until it enters Lake Superior.

I used the tripod to make a series of images at some of the water falls. The clicks were made mid morning and the sun was quite high already. To get the sense of fast moving water I employed the technique of multiple exposures for each image, without using a neutral density filter. My NIKON D750 can only do 3 exposures for one image but this is obviously enough for a picture of a waterfall. I learned about this technique already last year and had written about it here in the blog before. The light reflects different in each picture and so I shot a series of images. Back home I just had to find the one I like the best showing the motion of the water.

 

LAKE SUPERIOR - A ROUND TOUR

Lake Superior, Two Harbors, Minnesota

Hi friends, we are back from our travel. This time we made a tour around Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world, the world’s third-largest freshwater lake by volume, and the largest by volume in North America. We first touched the lake in the northwest corner of Wisconsin, went along the north shore in Minnesota, crossed the border into Ontario / Canada, explored parts of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, and finally headed south again, back to Wisconsin and Iowa. It isn’t always possible to stay exactly along the shore during this tour but the forested terrain, the lakes, and rivers that surround the rugged coastline of Lake Superior are probably some of the best wilderness and nature areas we have ever experienced.

We have seen the lake as quiet and peaceful as it can be but we also witnessed its wild side with roaring waves hitting the shore.

During the next few weeks, and maybe months, I like to share with you some of the photos I made. It will not be necessarily in chronological order but I will give you information about locations.

The ship above was approaching Two Harbors, Minnesota, with its massive ore docks, just 20 miles north of Duluth, MN. 

 

LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD...

Wild Horse, Theodore Roosevelt National Park ----

It is a summer full of lushness. I don’t remember any other year when the leaves on the trees around here have been so much full of green in August as we still have it right now. Sure, the first leaves come down already, but I remember other years when the prairie grass along the roads was already yellow and dry and many of our trees gave up on keeping the leaves green. This may be totally different in about 18 days when we will return from our vacation trip. I usually don’t reveal where we go, but let me give you a hint. We will head north and we go in a circle. Got it? 😉 I don’t know if I will be able to post here in the blog, we may not have internet connection most of the time, but I assure you that the cameras and gear is packed and that we will have our eyes, ears, and mind open for everything that may cross the path of our journey…

For today I leave you with a shot from last year’s trip through the badlands of the Dakotas. This is one of the feral horses, roaming free in the grasslands and valleys of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. The colors blended in to each other, making it not more than a snapshot, but the light had a quality that was hard to resist. Black & white tells the story so much better in my humble opinion. The highlights on the horse’s back tell you that there has never been a saddle placed and continuing the observation on the prairie grass, you may certainly recognize this was not shot in a farmer’s back yard… As always, click on the image for a better view!

NATURE CLICKS #341 - EASTERN PHOEBE

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

An Eastern Phoebe shows up around the house once in a while. This relatively quite flycatcher perches for a few seconds on a branch, or like in this image on top of a shepherds hook, catches an insect, and lands on the next elevated spot. We usually see them every year in early spring and their appearance means most of the time ‘winter is over’. Seeing the bird frequently means hopefully they had a successful breeding season in our part of the woods. The Eastern Phoebe will migrate late September, early October to the southern part of the US or northern Mexico. It happens every year, but I will be excited as always if the first one shows up again here next spring. There is no better message at that time than ’winter is over’….

EMPHASIS

This Great Blue Heron changed position many times but stayed in the same spot the whole time I was able to watch it yesterday. Hence that a series of pictures was made of this beautiful bird in the Green Island Wetlands. It was the last one I chose for today’s blog post. The heron stretched its left leg and wing to the side. Suddenly the dappled light wasn’t my enemy anymore and gave this pose and gesture of the heron some emphasis. Went home with a smile on my face… 😊

NATURE CLICKS #340 - EASTERN KINGBIRD

It has been a while since my last visit in the Green Island Wetlands, one of my favorite shooting locations along the Mississippi in Iowa. In August it is relatively quite there in comparison to spring or early summer, but I came never back with empty hands from the wetlands so far. It took me a while before I was able to make my first click today. This Eastern Kingbird was perched on a dead branch hanging over the duck weed covered water. I assume this was a juvenile because it seemed to be smaller than other Eastern Kingbirds I have seen before. We had some good wind today after the rain of the last couple days moved away and getting the kingbird in focus was a little bit of a challenge. I guess I’m a little “rusty” too, since the number of keepers after the shooting was below my expectations.

SNIPER MODE

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird --- 

I spent a little time with the birds in our front yard this evening. In about 45 days the hummingbirds will head south, taking the long journey to the south of Mexico and beyond. It is not difficult to take the picture if the bird is perched on a branch. The story lies (at least for me) in the gestures that can be captured and using all the technical means that are at my disposal while shooting is essential.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

I shoot in “sniper mode”, means one picture at a time, because I want to use flash fill to bring out the colors in the bird and still maintain the environmental aspect by not making the background totally black. Another way to make the click would be to utilize the high speed capabilities of the camera, the NIKON D750 can do 6.5 frames per second, but these days 12 fps is what the most sophisticated bodies can deliver. However, a higher speed and shorter exposure time would have rendered the background totally black with today’s ambient light. So where is the challenge? The pictures were made with the SIGMA APO 1.4x EX DG teleconverter attached to the SIGMA 150-600 mm Sports lens, giving it a total focal length of 850 mmm. I used 1/60 s for both images and this is of course not shot from your hip…😉

NEW TENANT

As reported here in my blog the young House Wrens left the nest box July 27. Well, a new tenant has moved in and takes advantage of the free rent. One of our Gray Tree Frogs (German: Laubfrosch) seems to enjoy the view from the entrance hole. I saw him already twice and having a safe “summer cabin”, hanging high up and located between two bird baths, is indeed not the worst choice a little frog can make… 😊

THUNDERSTORM, GONE QUICKLY

We had a busy weekend attending the first birthday party of our grandkids Anthony and Teegan and finally today the baptism of the twins and their dad Danny. This all took place in Jefferson, a small town in central Iowa just northwest of the capitol Des Moines. With the possibility of some thunderstorms this weekend my landscape gear was always with me. 

Finally a small, very local thunderstorm approached the area yesterday evening. The picture was made through the glass of a surprisingly clean window from the third floor of our hotel. I would have preferred to go outside, close to the little pond behind the hotel, but the light spectacle lasted only a few seconds. Despite the “extra filter” between the lens and the subject, the click had to be made and I think the photo tells the story of a very common little thunderstorm approaching. By the way, it dissolved as quickly as it came up and we didn’t even see any rain at our location...

ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION

No opportunity for new pictures this week because of business commitments in Omaha, Nebraska. Instead I like to show you another photo from the shooting at dam #11 in the Mississippi last Sunday. The two birds look intimate with each other although there is a sense of competition about the best fish in the air. The eye of the pelican is taxing and carefully watching while the cormorant seems to ignore the bigger bird. I like when a photo tells a story sometimes that leaves room for interpretation. It is one thing what we may see and another one what the birds really have in mind.

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #10 - FOOD ENVY

Two American White Pelicans and about a dozen Double-crested Cormorants seemed to go along with each other very well below dam #11 in the Mississippi River. Both species fished peacefully side by side, the pelicans using their big bill and the cormorants diving for the fish. There wasn’t any problem until one of the cormorants got a pretty good size fish out of the water.

One of the pelicans was obviously struck by food envy and suddenly attacked the cormorant pretty aggressive. Looking at the image a little closer on my screen at home I realized that the pelican had the poor cormorant in its bill and obviously tried to bite him. I’m very happy to catch this moment. As you can see the cormorant got away with its prey…

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

The photos were made on the Wisconsin side of the river, right below the dam between Dubuque, Iowa and the state of Wisconsin. Usually it is not a good place to shoot in this direction during the afternoon hours because the sun is just across the river. We had some heavy overcast and that muted the sunlight quite a bit. To overcome the gray from above and reflected off the water fill flash was used to reveal the colors of the birds.

NATURE CLICKS #339 - EASTERN COMMA

Summer doesn’t get any better as it was today. I will never get used to the high humidity that we have here around the Mississippi Valley in parts of the summer. For my friends in Germany, I tell you, this can wear you out! Today it was warm, but by far not so humid as during the last couple weeks. Real summer joy!!!

My friend Maren Arndt, a very environmental conscious photographer who lives in the northern part of Germany, reports on her Facebook site about the fact that they see a lot less insects on the windshields of cars and trains in comparison to just a few years ago. Some light-minded people may think this is great, because it saves them from cleaning their windshield so often… As much as some insects can become obnoxious for us humans at times, but they still serve an important role in the food chain… The scary part of the story.

We watch the population of any critter, and of course butterflies, here in our neck of the woods very closely since twelve years. We don’t panic if in some years we don’t see the same numbers of a species as the year before, but whatever we monitor, I don’t see a better picture. Ok, I still try to stay positive!

According to my sources the Eastern Comma is a common butterfly in the eastern part of North America but the first and last time I took a picture was in 2013. Glad to have the Eastern Comma back in our yard, but overall it hasn’t been a real good year for butterflies yet.