MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2023 #11 - A TOUCH OF MELANCHOLY

Mississippi River, John Deere Marsh, Dubuque, Iowa

I guess I’m finishing my Mississippi River stories of 2023 at the same location where I started them this year, at the end of the dyke that protrudes far into the river, near the big John Deere factory north of Dubuque, Iowa. It’s the fog that tells today’s story. Cooler water comes slowly down from the north while the air temperature is way too warm for this time of the season. With almost no wind today there were no ripples on the water and the fog had a chance to stay in the valley. Some thin sheets of ice had piled up on a mud bank lately, but it was the only white spot around. The scene had a certain melancholy and proofed what I have said often before, the Mississippi River is never twice the same…

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #3

Great Blue Heron, Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, California

In March I had a chance to go back to one of my favorite wildlife shooting locations, the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, the well known laguna next to the Pacific Ocean in Southern California near Huntington Beach. I have been there numerous times before over the years and every visit holds another surprise. It is not difficult to find and photograph the Great-Blue Heron here in the Mississippi Valley or its side valleys. Well, we can’t offer a shot of breeding herons in a palm tree here, but for the first time I was able to watch Great Blue Herons building nests in these palms that grow at the edge of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands. While one bird was out to find sticks and other material to built a nest, the other one watched the nest site and made sure the neighbors from the next palm tree didn’t claim any of their possessions. Fascinating and worth to mention in this year’s RETROSPECTS…

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,…@600 mm, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 2000, image slightly cropped

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #2

Red-headed Woodpecker

It was a thrill to watch a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers working on the cavity in a tree trunk for their nest. It was my first time in spring at the Valley of Eden Bird Sanctuary over in Illinois, about an hour away from home. I really wanted to make this kind of image of a Red-headed Woodpecker since a very long time and all dreams came through this year. I wasn’t able to follow up on this later in the season, for example while the woodpeckers were feeding their offspring, but it is definitely on my list for 2024 to check out this great location again.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Sigma APO Teleconverter 1.4x EX DG, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head,…@850 mm, 1/640s, f/9, ISO 1600, image cropped

RETROSPECTS 2023 - #1

Anvil clouds, Sage Creek Valley, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

As the year comes slowly but surely to an end I already look back and start analyzing what have been the best photography moments in 2023. During the short trip to Badlands National Park in early June I had definitely some good opportunities for wildlife and landscape shooting. These cumulonimbus incus, also called anvil clouds, moved towards the campsite rapidly, but the thunderstorm was mild and only little rain hit the ground. The bison trail in the grass leads the eye nicely along Sage Creek Valley and towards the clouds.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 31 mm, 1/100 s, f/8, ISO 100, camera setting : Monochrome / red filter

HISTORY IMAGINED

Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota

It’s hard to believe that when someone travels across the fields, grasslands, and prairie here in the Midwest that there was only one valuable photo opportunity during the whole week. Sometimes things just don’t line up the way we photographers like…

Coming from Nebraska I crossed the Missouri River into South Dakota yesterday afternoon. Well, I guess it was photographers ”luck”, with not a single cloud in the sky (sigh!!!).

While standing there I imagined the time before the mass slaughtering of bison during the 1870s, long before this modern bridge was built, and bison crossed the shallow river at this place. Maybe the people that owned the land, the Native Americans who depended on hunting bison and lived along the Missouri River, may have enjoyed the same view from this hill above the river banks. Who knows?

Another historical moment happened already in late summer of 1804, when the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition came up the river by boats during their journey to the Pacific Northwest. Their over 8000-mile expedition trip for the US government took two years, four month and ten days. When this expedition moved upstream, most of the difficulties were still laying ahead of them.

COMBINING BOTH PASSIONS

VINYL RECORD SHELF THROUGH THE GLASS

Beside photography I enjoy listening to music from my collection of vinyl records, especially after return from a business trip or a long drive by car. Last night I just combined both passions. While the music of Fela Ransome Kuti’s LP ”Open & Close” from 1970 filled the room, I lined up my glass with the edge of the rug and the table and looked for a nice magnification effect of the vinyl records in the glass. Some new LED light bulbs in the lamps above the record shelf create a different light intensity than before and it gave me the idea for this photo.

ALWAYS ASK FOR A HIGH FLOOR

I made it a long time ago a habit to take the camera with me when I travel, even if a very tight schedule during a business trip may not allow to spend time behind the viewfinder. If nothing else, there is always a chance to have a view from the hotel window and one good reason why I always ask for a room on a higher floor. This time it was only the second floor but it was still high enough for this shot across a busy road in the foreground.

BIRDS AND A NEW TOOL IN THE BAG

Black-capped Chickadee

I haven’t produced much with the camera lately, mostly due to a busy travel and work schedule, and this won’t change much for the next couple weeks. We had some snow on the ground this morning but it melted away quickly and made for a gray and drab rest of the day. I had in mind to do some bird photography, just shooting away from a tripod on the porch, while the birds approach our numerous bird feeders. With the lack of quality light it was the perfect time to practice with a new tool that is in my camera bag already since October. I just had no chance until today to use a new speedlight, the Westscott FJ80 II, for any wildlife photography. It has delivered good results so far for taking pictures of machinery during a trade show in October and for family photos during my recent trip to Germany.

Male House Finch

Of course, I was excited to see what it can deliver for color enhancement of birds on a gray day like today. I tested a lot today but will talk about the technical side of this speedlight in a future blog post. More practice with the new tool is definitely required, but so far I have been impressed with the quality of light it can deliver with a diffusion dome attached.

All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Westscott FJ80 II speed light, Westscott Magnetic diffusion dome

Female House Sparrow

Male Downy Woodpecker

DIFFERENT WETLANDS, DIFFERENT SMELL

Tauerwiesenteich, near Förstgen, Saxony, Germany,

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, Panoramic image created from 4 single photos,

This photo is best viewed at a computer. Click on the picture for a larger image on screen.

No, this is not any of the backwaters along the Upper Mississippi River here in Iowa. A week ago, back in my home town Bautzen, Germany, I had the chance to make a short trip to the biosphere preserve ”Upper Lusatian Pond and Heath Region”. This area stretches to the north of town, away from the mountains, and is a mix of woods, heath, wetlands, agricultural land, and includes 240 ponds. Many of them are used to raise fish. One of the treasures in the preserve is the high variety of plant and animal species. This all happens in harmony with agricultural and fish farming.

Today, over there, they received the first snow in the ”Upper Lusatia” (so did we here in Iowa), but a week ago some fall colors were still present in the woods. An observation tower that overlooks this part of the wetlands was used as a shooting platform. A single image seems not to do justice to the wide view from the tower and therefore I took five overlapping photos. I used four of them for the final image and stitched them together in Adobe Photoshop. This used to be a time consuming, sometimes tedious task but with today’s computer power and state-of-the-art software capabilities it is only a matter of a few seconds to obtain the panoramic view.

I love it here in the Driftless Area along the Upper Mississippi River Valley, with its deciduous forests and wildlife, but I definitely miss the smell of resin from pines and mushrooms in abundance, as it was present in my old stomping grounds a week ago…

A FAVORITE VIEW

Fischerpforte (Fisher gate), Bautzen, Germany, Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S

I wasn’t sure if I get this shot sharp enough because a tripod wasn’t with me that evening in my home town Bautzen in Germany. This over 1000 years old city holds many interesting views for the photographer but this stairway from the Spree River up to the old town is among my favorites. The place where the photo was made is called Fischerpforte (Fisher gate). Back in the old days the fishermen living down below used these stairs to bring their fresh catch to the market in town. Part of the old city wall is visible at the right hand side and at the upper end of the stairs was a gate that could be closed in the matter of defense.

Back to the exposure time for this image. It was shot at ISO3200 but still required an exposure time of 0.4s. Despite image stabilization in cameras or lenses, stabile handholding and exhaling the air from the lungs is still mandatory for a sharp picture at night time.

FALL COLORS, LATE OCCURRENCE

Maple tree, Dresden Neustadt, Nov 12, 2023, Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S

Hey everybody, I’m back from a trip to Germany where I spent time with family and friends, hence the silence here in my blog. Before the airplane even touched the tarmac in Dresden earlier this month I realized how many leaves were still on the trees and foliage just started to change colors. This is not common for early November but warm temperatures without any cold snap had delayed the changes that usually come with autumn.

The photo of this beautiful maple was made from a balcony in Dresden. The sun peeked from behind a cloud for a moment and revealed the brilliance of the leaves colors. The Nikon Z6II was set to ”vivid mode” to get the most out for this shot.

MINNESOTA NORTHWOODS - #14

Split Rock Lighthouse, Lake Superior, Minnesota

The last day of our trip through the Northwoods of Minnesota in September came with strong winds and rain. Big waves broke into the rocky shore of Lake Superior and it was a challenge to find moments with the camera when gray was not the only color visible at times. Split Rock Lighthouse is probably one of the most photographed landmarks along the north-shore and even in not so popular weather conditions, lots of people liked to see it.

No, this wasn’t my model, posing for pictures below the lighthouse, but I couldn’t resist to ”steal” some color on this gray day from the person who took pictures of this young lady in front of rough water.

I know this blog post comes ”a little late” but life stood in the way too many times lately. I hope you enjoyed my photos about some of Minnesota’s beautiful and wild places and maybe it inspired you to get the camera out of the pocket more often…

WEEKEND IN WISCONSIN’S NORTHWOODS

Popple River, Forest County Wisconsin

I spent the weekend in the Northwoods of Wisconsin at a friend’s cabin, to be more precise, in the woods north of Crandon and Laona. With every mile I drove further north fall colors appeared more sparsely. In addition gray skies dominated the weekend’s weather. I still tried to find ways to tell the story with the camera about the changes at the end of the fall season.

I have photographed from this bridge, crossing the Popple River, several times in the past. My older photos show it mostly frozen, with a layer of snow on top. Most leaves were gone already but the patches of grass lead the eye to the background, where some fall colors tell us, it’s not all over yet.

Full moon revealed, near Double Bend Road, Forest County, Wisconsin

The rain had moved out of the area and the almost full moon started peeking through the clouds. The light and mood of the scene reminded me of paintings by German Romantic landscape painter Casper David Friedrich (1774 - 1840). A light at the cabin to my left gave the tree trunks some structure. It is very subtle, but made the difference instead of rendering the trees just as a silhouette and nothing but black on the lower part of the photo.

Most of the maples had lost their leaves already but I found this young maple on an island in a bog. I removed carefully everything bright below this branch to keep the background as dark as possible. After this little bit of preparation it was an easy click.

I’m always amazed about the variety of different tree species up north. On the small island in the bog near the cabin we found pine, fir, spruce, maple, birch, arborvitae, and others. With the absence of popping colors, even in the sky, the camera was set to black and white with a red filter effect applied, making the shape of the trees the subject of the image. Although the arborvitaes are evergreen trees, the may shed some of their leaves. Here they covered the forest floor and gave me another reason to make this photo.

Cascade in the Little Popple River, Forest County Wisconsin

The tinted water at this cascade is a good indicator that the river flows through a boggy and peaty landscape, shaped by the glaciers a long time ago. This was shot handhold at 190 mm focal length and 1/20 sec. exposure time. I wanted movement in the water but also keep some of the details and not making it just some ”chocolate milk” flowing over the rocks.

WAITING IS NOT ALWAYS BORING…

Sunrise at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport

Yesterday morning I was waiting for my next flight in the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport in Texas. The glass of the airport window was not very clean, to say it mildly, but so close to the lens it worked like a diffuser. The light was ”killer” on the fuselage of the plane parked at our gate. The second photo was taken 2 minutes earlier, just before the sun came up at the horizon. I thought that shot works as well, with three airplanes in the sky at the same time and gorgeous light. Waiting for a connection flight is not always boring…