ON THEIR WAY

Immature Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Shortly after my return from Orlando yesterday I checked the traffic at our hummingbird feeders. Well, there was no traffic at all. Every year the last hummingbirds come through by the end of September and it will take until about May 1st next year before we see the first ones again. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird spends the winter in southern Mexico and even further south. Fall migration starts as early as mid-July and there is almost a complete exchange daily at the feeders and in the gardens. With few exceptions, during migration all the birds seen at feeders one day are gone the next. It needs a great deal of energy for this long flight and besides nectar eating small insects is crucial for their diet.

Today’s photo was already made September 19th, the last time I had a chance to point my lens at these tiny birds in our garden.

RETRO AND CLOUDS (AND SOME FINISHING THOUGHTS)

Orlando, Florida

Looks like vacation again, doesn’t it? No, I just returned from GraphExpo, the annual trade show of the printing industry in North America. This year it was for the first time in Orlando, Florida. Attending the show as an exhibitor does not leave much time to enjoy the city or visit any of the big entertainment places, like Disneyland or SeaWorld.

Busy places like Orlando are anyway not my cup of tea and I’m definitely not a fan of the heat and humidity down in Florida. But there is one weather related feature I really like. Clouds and giant thunderheads showed up every day and this can always lead to some interesting pictures. The photo was made through the glass of my hotel room window in the Cabana Bay Beach Resort - Universal Orlando, which features a retro theme that takes you back to the 1950’s and 60’s. 

These were not the most impressive clouds we saw, but I like how the twilight goes together with light and colors of the hotel. The RAW file was developed in Adobe Lightroom and afterwards the photo was finished as a smart object in Adobe Photoshop, with some filters of Google’s NIK collection for tonal and overall contrast applied. Usually I do noise reduction in Lightroom if necessary, and that works pretty well for me. Shooting with ISO 500 and through the thick glass of a window created more noise in the picture than I like. As a remedy I used NIK’s Define 2 noise reduction filter and that took care of the problem.

THE TREE AT GOOSEBERRY RIVER

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota ----   

While hiking up the trail from the waterfalls along Gooseberry River this tree and its roots, nestled into the rocks, caught my attention. On the way back the light was in my favor and I stuck the legs of the tripod in the sand and made the click. How about the waterfalls? Sure, some photos were made as well. Everybody does that. Sometimes looking away from the main attraction of a known location leads to a photograph that is special. At least it was for me at this time.

 

TAKE OFF SHOTS

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

As mentioned in an earlier post I have been brave a few times and took the camera and long lens with me in the kayak, despite some choppy winds at times. One of the best rewards were some shots of this adult Bald Eagle, taking off from its perch at Marie Louise Lake. The photo would not be very difficult to make on solid ground with the lens supported by a tripod. Handholding the heavy SIGMA 150-600 Sports lens in a kayak is quite a challenge and I’m very happy about this shot. The image is not cropped and was shot with 1/1600s, f/6.3, ISO 320, at 600 mm.

 

CHANGING THE SUBJECT

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ---  

When I looked across Marie Louise Lake I thought that Sleeping Giant, the mountain range in the back that gave this provincial park its name, would be a good subject for a photo. While evaluating the scene I became aware how rough the wind made the lake surface and how the reflections on the water played a role how we saw the lake. Suddenly the lake with its subtle reflections was a lot more interesting and the Sleeping Giant played just a second role for this image. Sure, the eye will go briefly to the bright parts of the clouds in the back, but the clouds are not interesting enough in this matter and the eye will return to this beautiful light and the rough surface of the water in the foreground. It became one of my favorite shots from this trip around Lake Superior…

 

NATURE CLICKS #341 - COMMON MERGANSERS

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada --- 

During our travel around Lake Superior we had the pleasure to watch over 30 bird species. I was of course not able to photograph all of them, but the best opportunities came while on the water. We had our kayaks with us and made some nice paddle tours on lakes that surround Superior. 

This family of Common Mergansers had actually ten members but they didn’t always stay close together for having them all in the frame. Mergansers are a lot more tolerant with humans than ducks. Several times we just paddled with them, always keeping a safe distance, and when they sticked their heads under water to look for fish, we just knew that they had accepted us.

Shooting with the long lens from a kayak in windy conditions can be quite a risky maneuver. My practice here at home on the Mississippi River helped me a lot to learn how to handle the boat in the wind and work with the camera at the same time. It is important to keep an eye on the birds and watch the direction of the light, but also make sure your own safety and equipment is not at risk. It is easy to get stuck between rocks or on a log in shallow water.

As you can imagine it takes a few more clicks to get a sharp shot. The first day on Marie Louise Lake in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park we spent over an hour with the mergansers. We tried the same the next day but got distracted by some other birds. But this is for another story later…

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.