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

REFLECTIONS - PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION AT THE DUBUQUE MUSEUM OF ART

During opening reception

I start today’s blog post with a quote from the exhibition brochure:

REFLECTIONS is the 7th consecutive photography exhibition by the Dubuque Camera Club at the Dubuque Museum of Art.

Reflections may be discovered in landscape, nature, still life, architecture, and portraiture. Twenty club members used digital photography to interpret this year’s theme. Each photographer brings an individual viewpoint to the click.

Qualities such as composition, color and vibrance, mood, symmetry, or choice of subject come into play to make a photo meaningful for the photographer, and hopefully, for the viewer. You are invited to reflect upon this selection of photos from our club members.

Tonight was the opening reception, which had a nice turnout. I had a picture in last year’s show and I’m proud to mention that again one of my photos is on display in 2019. You can see the photos through November 10, 2019. Here is a hint for the budget minded. Thanks to a sponsor admission to the museum is free every Thursday during 2019. If photography is not the only thing you like, the DMA has a couple other exhibitions at the moment. Visit their website for more information http://dbqart.org


IN ANTICIPATION

Tipi between aspens, Ashcroft, Colorado, 2014

In anticipation of our soon starting vacation I’m looking through older photos with fall colors. As mentioned yesterday already, we don’t have any here yet, but we will head north and October is probably the best time to be there for the colors of autumn. 

This aspen covered slope in the Rocky Mountains was gorgeous by itself but the tipi between the trees added another point of interest to the image. This photo was made in the ghost town of Ashcroft, an old silver mining town founded in 1880.

FALL LIGHT, UNBEATABLE…

Bankston County Park, Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River, Iowa

It’s definitely fall, the leaves started to come down, but we don’t have really the fall colors yet. It needs a cold snap to make that happen but at the other hand we are not unhappy that temperatures are still in the “summer range”.

I love autumn, its colors, and the quality of light that follows the haze of summer days. Bankston County Park is located in a lovely valley along the Middle Fork Little Maquoketa River and was the destination for a short hike with the dog this evening. Every location where the rocks are exposed here in eastern Iowa reminds us that this was once just the bottom of a shallow sea millions of years ago. Just before the sun disappeared behind the ridge a shaft of “killer light” hit the layered rocks on the other side of the small river.

I underexposed by 2/3 of a stop. This hides some of the debris from recent flooding and brings out the colors of the rocks. An easy click that put a smile in my face…

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

AGAIN: 10 OF SOUL (PART 2)

Hard to believe it was already five weeks ago when the band 10 OF SOUL from Minneapolis, MN was in town, playing a concert for the “Dubuque and… All That Jazz!” concert series. I promised to show a few more photos from this great event. Well, it took me a little longer than I thought, but here is finally my second post with portraits of the musicians. If you missed the first post back in August with more details about this concert, here is a LINK that will open it for you. 

PREPARATION

Great Sand Dunes, Colorado, 2014

We still have a couple more weeks to go before our vacation starts. Beside getting all the camping and photo gear ready I try to prepare mentally for what I like to accomplish with the camera. I look at older photos and recall some of the great moments we had in past years. One morning at sunrise in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado is definitely among my favorites. No, we don’t head out in this direction this year, but finding these memorable light situations and vantage points is always a top priority no matter where we go.

GOING FOR THE SEEDS

American Goldfinch

When Purple Coneflowers are in their prime they are a good food source for many butterflies and other insects. Later, after they are withered, they become a food source for some birds. The American Goldfinch is primarily a seed eater. There is a reason why they raise their offspring later than most of the birds we have here during the summer. Seeds are available in abundance and beside thistles the faded coneflowers are in high demand. This photo is from last weekend and while looking for hummingbirds I saw this male goldfinch feeding on coneflower seeds. He did not stop until each flower he visited was almost bare. Most of the time the head was down and it was difficult to get a clean shot. But the bird was aware about my presence and had a look at me ones in a while. These were the moments to release the shutter button of the camera…

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender

A MORNING WITH THE SMALLEST

Immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and behind the camera after a busy week on a Sunday morning is hard to beat. We still have a number of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds around and as far I have seen it, they are all juvenile males. These young rowdies have the endless battle about the best feeders and bully each other whenever they can. Their ruby throat is not fully developed yet but the first feathers that look almost like scales start to peek out.

This summer the tiny hummingbirds have nested relatively early here and have probably already left towards the tropics some time ago. What we see are immature birds that have only recently hatched further north and that are now on their first journey to the south.

It had rained overnight again and an overcast still covered the sky this morning. I like this kind of soft light for my hummingbird photography. The MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender was used to throw some extra light at the birds and use the reflection of the feathers to bring out some colors.

There were many keepers on the memory card today but I always look for the special pose or gesture that makes the difference between a good picture and a photo that tells a story.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender

FROM THE ARCHIVE WITH A NEW APPROACH

John Hancock Center, Chicago, 2012

We are in the middle of a rainy and gray Sunday. Time to read, watch some photography lessons, or work on images. I pulled this photo from my photo library this morning. This shot of the John Hancock Center in Chicago was made already during summer 2012. The Nikon D300S and the still well trusted Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF with manual focus was the equipment of choice at that time. The intend with the original photo was always a black & white version but at the end it looked kinda flat. Probably one reason I never showed this image here in the blog. Today I tried a new approach and gave the photo some kind of fine art look. I just learned this technique over at kelbyone.com in their latest course. I always liked architectural photography and have a deep admiration for the masters of this genre. Maybe it’s time to do more of it myself…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2019 #12 - GREEN HERON

Green Heron with prey, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, iowa

Sometimes it is not possible to shoot with a low ISO setting if you want to capture what is in front of your eyes for just a brief moment. The moment can be as great as it gets, if you don’t have enough light, increasing the ISO setting in camera might be the only choice. I’m a big advocate for using the lowest possible ISO in order to have as much detail as possible. For my wildlife photography ISO100-200 is the standard, sometimes up to 400, very seldom beyond that.

Yesterday evening I took the Nikon D750 with the 70-200, f/4 with me while going for a walk down to the Mississippi River with our dog Cooper. When I saw this little Green Heron, who had just caught something and posed nicely on a piece of drift wood, I knew that 200 mm was really not enough focal length and light was critical. I still gave it a try, cranked up to ISO1600, and made the click. I shot in DX mode (with just part of the sensor), which already limits the amount of pixels to play with and still had to crop the image a little bit in Adobe Lightroom to make it work. The image needed of course more noise reduction than what is usually applied. With every little bit the noise reduction slider was moved to the right, more details in the bird’s feathers went away. I think the photo still tells the story of that moment down at the river and it works somehow here on the website, but making a nice print for the wall…? I guess not.

COLLECTING FOSSILS (YEP, LEGALLY!)

If you look at the second photo first, I don’t blame you if you ask me, have you been back in Badlands National Park, South Dakota again? No, not at all. Joan and I stopped on our way home from Pilot Knob State Park last Monday at the incredible Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve in Floyd County, Iowa, located just a few miles west of Rockford, Iowa. The park includes an abandoned shale pit, preserved kilns, and a large area of native prairie. Our time was limited and so we just explored the former shale pit.

Shale pit at Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve, Rockford, Iowa

The rocks in the park are Devonian formations and about 375 million years old. At that time Iowa was still located near the equator and seas covered most of the land. As a result we can find many small fossils between the relatively soft limestones and shales. And here is the cool thing, fossil collecting is encouraged within the park. And that’s what we did and enjoyed (beside making a few clicks with the camera). I found mostly Brachiopods as you can see in the first photo, but Joan had also some Gastropods, little snails that scavenged the ancient sea floor.

If fossils and rocks are not “your thing”, well, the native prairie area with some wetlands and a pond looked very promising. Unfortunately time was too short to explore all of it, but we definitely “bookmarked” this area in our brains for another visit sometime.

(source used for some details provided in this blog post: Park brochure by Iowa Geological Survey)

FROGS IN THE WOODS

Northern Leopard Frog, Pilot Knob State Park, Iowa

Pilot Knob State Park near Forest City, Iowa has without any doubt a lot to offer for nature lovers. Two lakes are within the park and one of them, Dead Man’s Lake, is a floating sphagnum bog, the only one of it’s kind in Iowa. It is surrounded by flowering plants, native trees, and shrubs. The natural features of the park are significant and most of the park is dedicated as a nature preserve.

We were delighted to see a large number of small Leopard Frogs jumping all over the place while we walked on a trail. If you are close enough the frogs sometimes change their survival behavior and just sit still, using their camouflage skin pattern in hope not to be seen and preyed on. The challenge for the photographer is to find a “window” between the grasses and plants that allows an unobstructed view of the frog. When you were in the park last weekend and saw a man in the middle of the trail, lying on his stomach or on his knees with the butt in the air, well, that was me… All photos were made with just natural light and ISO settings between 320 and 1000.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

PILOT KNOB

Tower on Pilot Knob, Iowa

I hope my friends here in the US had a great Labour Day weekend and those of you who enjoy using a camera had a chance to make some extra clicks on your Monday off. We pitched our tent for a couple days at Pilot Knob State Park, located near Forest City in the north-central part of Iowa. Other than where we live, in the drift-less area, this landscape was formed by glaciers. They deposited the rocks and earth that formed the hills and valleys that are now Pilot Knob. Dedicated in 1923, it is one of the oldest parks in Iowa. The tower on top was built by the Civil Conservation Corps in the 1930’s (source: Iowa Department of Natural Resources website).

A little bit before sunset we hiked up to the tower. While I was still trying to make the best possible click of the warm sunlight on this old structure Joan lifted our little dog Cooper up on the wall that surrounds the observation deck. 

From the top you have a gorgeous view over some of the most fertile land in the world. Wooded little hills, small lakes and potholes, some wetlands and patches of restored prairie make this part of the state very charming.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4

RESTORED PRAIRIE

Three photos from our hike through Proving Grounds Recreation Area near Dubuque yesterday evening. I don’t know how this all looked when it was still a testing ground for excavators, bulldozers, and other heavy duty machinery built by John Deere Works, but the open areas have been nicely restored as a prairie and the variety of wildflowers, grasses, and other plants is really great. John Deere Works donated this land to the Dubuque County Conservation Board in 2018.

It was a little windy, which was good for keeping the mosquitos down in the grass, but less helpful for closeup photography of insects or wildflowers. Nevertheless, a few sharp pictures emerged.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150mm / f2.8 APO EX DG HSM

WHEN THE LIGHT IS RIGHT…

Last light, Proving Grounds Recreation Area, north of Dubuque, Iowa

Joan, our dog Cooper, and I went out for a mini hike this evening again. I only took the SIGMA 150, f/2.8 macro lens with me because our destination was the restored prairie areas in the new Proving Grounds Recreation Area north of Dubuque, Iowa. We have been there lately a few times and wanted to look again at the great variety of wildflowers before they are all gone.

We made some clicks and Joan tried to identify flowers and different kinds of prairie grass. The macro lens was the right choice today. However, my favorite photo of the day was made when we just started our return to the car and the last light of the sun over the ridge put some magic out. When the light is right it’s good to be ready for the click. The macro lens worked just fine for this unexpected nice moment.