AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #12

Bear Head Lake, Minnesota

Exactly a month ago we spent part of the day 2341 feet below the surface in the Soudan Mine, the deepest and oldest iron ore mine in Minnesota. It was operated until 1962. It is hard to imagine that the miners quite often didn’t see the sun at all during their working week. Thinking about that made us even more enjoy the crisp and clear moments around sunset, back in our camp at Bear Head Lake State Park.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head

WILDLIFE AT HOME (2)

Virginia Opossum

Since a few days we have another visitor in our front yard. Although mostly nocturnal this Virginia Opossum used the daylight in the early afternoon to feed below our bird feeders during the last couple days. They can vary in size but this one is rather small and so we believe it is a young one. Opossums are omnivorous and eat a wide range of plants and animals. Probably due to their relative low body temperature they are resistant to rabies. The possum helps also to limit the spread of lyme disease because they successfully kill off most disease-carrying ticks that feed on them. (source: Wikipedia) 

Yesterday I made a number of clicks but wasn’t really happy with the results. A gray overcast and snow just don’t go together very well, especially with a critter that has some white and gray in its fur. Today the sun was out and that was a game changer. The sun didn’t have a lot of power and with an exposure compensation of +1.33 EV the highlights were still in a healthy range.

As I’m writing this blog post I just read that one Virginia Opossum can kill and eat up to 5000 ticks in a single season! I tell you what, this little guy can live here as long as it wants…

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head

WILDLIFE AT HOME

White-tailed Deer, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

With snow on the ground since late October things are a little different this year. It feels like January and I’m almost sure the critters in our woods think the same way. The White-tailed Deer are in the rut and during the last few days I have seen a couple bucks roaming around down at the river and here up on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley.

Today a doe with her fawn were hanging around the house in the late afternoon. It is the time of the year when I have the camera always ready to use in combination with the long lens. We see the deer not just during the winter but it is a lot easier than during the summer to make a photo, if the light is just right. I made several clicks with each of them being the subject in the photo, but in a few shots the faun tried to fondle with its mother. Gesture wins over technical perfection in my books, and today’s photo tells the story about their presence this evening the best.

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #11

Bear Head Lake, Minnesota

I admit, this photo was made with some quick instructions shouted across the water. I told Joan to paddle very slowly in front of the tamarack tree, that was for a brief moment perfectly illuminated by the sun. It could have been a great fall shot with its color contrast between the beautiful tamarack and the blue kayak, and as the ice on the cake a nice reflection on the water, if… Yes, if there wasn’t the dead trees in the picture. To be honest I didn’t even see them until I was back home and viewed the pictures on screen. Sure, I can invest another hour and remove all the dead wood from the photo. Photoshop and other software gives us endless possibilities to tinker with an image. But is it worth the time? I clean up a landscape picture if necessary, especially around the edges (called “border police” by other photographers), but I rather go out and shoot again instead of removing a bigger flaw in post process. Every photographer has to make their own decisions about how much time to spend for fixing a problem. Unless I try a new technique in post process I hardly ever exceed ten minutes for working with a RAW file and bring out the romance in the photo. Life is too short and the world doesn’t come to an end if a photo doesn’t get published…

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #10

River Otter, Bear Head Lake, Minnesota

We didn’t come across with the big animals that have their home in northern Minnesota this time, like moose, black bear, or wolf, but we had a good number of wildlife encounters during our trip last month. The best and most memorable was a brief meeting with a River Otter at Bear Head Lake in Bear Head Lake State Park. I went for an early morning walk with the Nikon D750 and 70-200 attached. There were some deer in and around the campground and I was hoping to get a glimpse at them. As I approached the lake an otter just entered one of the logs in front of me. What a surprise! I have seen otters here in eastern Iowa before, but never had a wild otter in front of my camera. I made a number of clicks but should have dialed in an ISO beyond 1600. A shutter speed of 1/100 s was just not enough to freeze the action for a tack sharp photo of this fast moving beautiful otter.

Ruffed Grouse, Lake Vermilion State Park, Minnesota

Movement didn’t play a role with this Ruffed Grouse a couple days earlier, but it was the same kind of low light from a heavy overcast. The grouse just sat at the edge of a parking lot and let me get very close. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep the blacktop out of the frame.

White-tailed Deer, Bear Head Lake State Park, Minnesota

The deer are usually not very shy in and around many campsites. For them it is a relative safe place because predators, like wolfs or coyotes, stay away mostly from busy human places. None of the campsites were really busy in October anymore, some of them we had for ourselves, and the deer can graze pretty undisturbed before the snow covers everything up. This photo was made near our campsite from the kayak during a paddle tour on Bear Head Lake. I liked the environmental aspect of this setting, with the white bark of the birches, some fall colors, and the big pines on the right.

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

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 #8

Between seasons, Big Bog State Recreation Area (North Unit), Minnesota

The snow from the morning was melting away quickly when we entered the Big Bog for a second time. We had been there the day before (without snow) and were totally fascinated by this landscape and its plants. Before you enter the small part that is accessible of this 500-square mile peat bog you walk along a lake. The colorful leaves, mirrored in the lake, stood in a nice contrast to the white stems of the birches and of course the fresh snow. The clouds moved rapidly and a hint of blue sky added to the scene and made for a nice color contrast. A photo that tells the story of the changing season.

A mile-long boardwalk leads into the bog. It allows visitors to get a good look at the unique plants and wildlife and at the same time protects the fragile ecosystem below. The open-work plastic grates let sunlight reach the plants under the boardwalk. Without light, they would die, and a shallow water trench would form. It would take many years for the plants to recover.

This photo was made at the end of the boardwalk. Another shower of sleet and rain came down on us. I had the camera on tripod and wanted the snow and rain be visible as trails in the picture. The new 3-stop Breakthrough graduated neutral density filter was mounted in front of the 16-35 and prevented the burnout of the highlights in the clouds. I shot in aperture priority mode and at ISO100 and f/18 the exposure went to 1/40s, long enough to produce some subtle snow trails.

This grassy trench is the result of human efforts to drain the bog many years ago but this project luckily failed. I used the compression effect of the long lens and made this photo at 400 mm focal length. The light on the tamarack trees, whose needles had turned already yellow, caught my eye.

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #7

Tamarack River, Big Bog State Recreation Area, Minnesota

The most memorable morning during our tour through the Northwoods of Minnesota was in the Big Bog State Recreation Area. Big Bog has been called Minnesota’s last true wilderness. The 500-square-mile peat bog is the largest in the lower 48 states. We had pitched our tent right at the Tamarack River, not far from where the river enters the Red Lake. Winter can come early in this part of the country and on October 12 we had our first snow fall of the season. It wasn’t really cold, the light was just gorgeous, and we enjoyed the transition between autumn and winter very much. A few hours later it all melted away…

The “queen” leaves the “snow palace”

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

 

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #5

Lake Itasca, Minnesota

On our first evening, just before sunset, I watched this angler paddling to shore at the campsite of Itasca State Park. A little bit of rim light from behind made him standing out even in front of the darker background. A peaceful scene and an easy click at 200 mm focal length.

Ozawindib Lake, Itasca State Park, Minnesota

We brought our kayaks with us on top of the car but during the next two days we had some doubts if that was a good decision. Heavy winds during the day kept us on land. This photo was made at Ozawindib Lake, which is a lot smaller than Lake Itasca, and the whitecaps and blurred leaves tell the story about the weather. With or without boat, the fall colors were just stunning.

Lake Itasca

Finally during our third and last evening we were able to launch the kayaks at Lake Itasca and enjoyed the beautiful scenes from the perspective of a paddler. Our dog Cooper knows this game very well. He jumps into Joan’s boat before it is even in the water…

This time I took the 70-200, f/4 with me. This lens is a lot easier to handle in the kayak and better to protect from the wet elements than the Sigma 150-600.

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

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #3

Fall colors, Itasca State Park, Minnesota

When you go in October to the Northwoods the colors of autumn will probably be on your mind. We definitely wanted to be amongst the leaves and suck up every drop of light pouring through them. Two ingredients, a wet spring and a cold snap, are necessary for a good fall color show. When we left Iowa it was very warm but we were hoping to find colors further north in Minnesota.

Already at our second camp, in Itasca State Park, we found what we were looking for. Fall is a great time at Lake Itasca, at the headwaters of the Mississippi River (more about this in a later post). We hit the peak, while later, further north, more trees had already lost their leaves. I hope you enjoy this photo and some more that will follow in the next time…

 

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #2

Winniwissa Falls, Pipestone Creek, Pipestone National Monument, Minnesota

Back from another trip to Dallas, TX I finally find some time to work on my photos from our travel through Minnesota.

Long before I moved to the US the life, traditions, and history of the native people has always interested me. I read many books about the Indians of North America in my younger years. Pipestone National Monument has been on the list to visit since quite some time. This location was the preferred source of pipestone among Plains tribes. The soft stone (catlinite) was quarried by Indians since a long time, possibly 2000 years. Still today Indians quarry the pipestone during late summer and fall. This is done by hard manual labor with sledge hammers and wedges. The red stone is under a very hard layer of quartzite that needs to be removed first. The sheets of catlinite are lifted from the pit and cut into smaller blocks, from which the pipes are carved.

A trail leads the visitor through the park, to old and active quarries, to quartzite cliffs, along Pipestone Creek, and to a waterfall. We visited Pipestone NM on a sunny and very windy day. Dealing with harsh light and high contrast was the challenge for anyone using a camera.

Pipestone is a sacred place and quarrying is accomplished with respect for the Earth. Prayer flags can be found at many locations.

Detail of quartzite cliffs

The Three Maidens boulders, American Indians traditionally leave food and tobacco beside these stones in return for this land’s gift of stone.

(source used: Pipestone National Monument brochure)

 

AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA #1

Split Rock Creek State Park, Minnesota

Just back last night from a 16-day trip through mainly the north of Minnesota we have hardly time to unwind. I’m flying out to Dallas, TX for another trade show of the printing industry tomorrow, but like to keep the readers of my blog in the loop. Joan, our dog Cooper, and I went on another tent camping vacation. With fall colors in mind we searched again for the quite and joyful moments in nature and did not get disappointed. I will post photos during the next few weeks about this trip, but due to business travel it might be infrequent at times.

We started out in the southwest corner of Minnesota and pitched our tent for two nights at Split Rock Creek State Park, Why? I will get to this point in a later post.

Split Rock Creek is dammed up and many geese use the lake as a safe resting place during the night. Scouting the lake shore the morning before led to this photo at sunrise on day two. The Canada Geese stayed together for the night and gaggle after gaggle took off shortly after the sun was up in its full beauty.