All about ice fishing today...

Ok, today’s post isn’t so much about photography or nature. I posted already a couple landscape images a few days ago, but Brian, my German photography friend from Texas, wanted to see more about the ice fishing we did last weekend. So, here are some pictures and a few words about the fishing itself.

First we had to remove some snow and drill the holes with an ice auger. The ice was about two foot thick and that took about a minute before the drill touched the water underneath. Whatever you do on the ice, there is a lot of joking going on as you can see here. Our friend Doug swung the shovel while Bryan got ready to drill the next hole, and I was waiting to clean the snow and ice out of it with a ladle.

Since a few years our buddy Dale brings his dog Tucker along, who enjoys to run around in the snow and check out the deer tracks along the lake shore.

In Wisconsin every angler can have three fishing lines in the water and we use so called “tip-ups” for fishing. If a fish bites and pulls the line, a flag goes up and a little bell rings, indicating that there is some action going on. Sometimes that never happened during the whole weekend but this year we caught nine Northern Pikes (German: Hecht!!). As soon a flag goes up everybody who sees it yells”tip up!!” and the owner runs to his hole and tries to get the fish out of the water. Well, this is sometimes easier said than done… My friend Bryan got this one onto the ice and tried to get the hook out of its mouth.

Well, the rest of the time you hang around “base camp”, talk smart, drink some beer or German style “Glühwein”, eat unhealthy food from the grill, and have a good time with friends… ;-) Every year since 2007 we meet for a weekend in January up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and our TEAM ICE adventure became a nice tradition everybody looks forward to. Bryan, Dale, Doug, and I know each other through business in the graphic industry and my brother in law Don joined the group three years ago. Don, who is a farmer, wasn’t able to join us this year because of some problems with his livestock (we missed you Don!) but I’m sure he is sharpening the hooks for 2015 already… ;-)

Snow patterns

 

While here in Eastern Iowa the mild temperatures took care for some of the snow we had on the ground, a fresh layer of the white stuff covered the landscape up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It was my traditional ice fishing weekend with friends and as always I took the camera with me. The fishing was good this year but a strong overcast made for gray snow most of the time. Nevertheless, there were some brief moments when the sun was covered only by a thin layer of clouds, creating at least some luminosity.

The patterns of snow on the trees were wonderful and I just tried to integrate them in my compositions. The deer tracks in the snow that covers the ice on Popple River are a different kind of pattern but they add to the story about a nice winter day in a great landscape.

Nature clicks #181 - Common Loon

 

I spent the weekend in Northern Wisconsin and worked on a project that I had in mind since a few years already. My plan was to photograph ospreys, also known as "fish hawks", at a location that I had bookmarked during previous visits. The nest can only be reached by boat and I used my kayak to get there. To make a long story short, I saw the ospreys but rain and other circumstances did not allow to claim victory and come home with some good images. With other words, I got skunked! Wildlife photography requires sometimes a lot of patience and so the project remains on the list for another try maybe next year.

It wasn't all bad, I saw Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and just before I returned to the boat ramp a family of Common Loons came out of the reeds. The male positioned himself between me and the female with her two chicks and he made a hell of a noise. The call of a loon is very loud and impressive. The light situation was everything but good. Behind me were huge thunderstorm clouds moving in and the only chance to make the click was to shoot into the sun. In order to maintain a fast shutter speed I dialed in ISO400 (as you know not my preferred way to photograph wildlife). A fill flash would have been helpful but because I try to take as few items as possible into the kayak, the flash light was, of course, in the car... :-o It was the first time that I had the Common Loon during summer in front of my lens. The only pictures I had so far were made during the winter season in Southern California. Their plumage looks much nicer during the breeding season and just watching them was very exciting. Both images are not cropped and the low perspective and clean background make them good keepers in my books.

I wished I would have had more time with these beautiful birds but the thunder was already rolling and I just wanted to get off the lake. Playing it safe is mandatory and dying for a picture isn't worth it...

Wintry mood on Stevens Lake

 

I had a business meeting last Friday in Northern Wisconsin and decided to spent the weekend in the Northwoods for some more ice fishing with my friend Bryan. Mostly blue sky made for fantastic weather to be on the ice on Saturday and this time we even caught some fish :-). We went to Stevens Lake where the ice was covered with a layer of fresh snow. The cold temperatures since our first trip two weeks ago doubled the thickness of the ice (~20" = 50cm) and we were able to drive onto the lake. The camera stayed in the bag until late afternoon when big cloud formations moved in that created some nice patterns and light. Nothing spectacular but I like how the peaceful and wintry mood is pictured in the photo.

Tail up!

 

Butt shots are rude, this is a general rule that applies in wildlife photography too. But as always in life there are exceptions from the rule. I have quite a few pictures of White-tailed Deer on my hard drive but what I didn't have until now is the shot of a White-tailed Deer with its signature element, its white tail, up in the air.

Last weekend, deep in the woods of Northern Wisconsin, a group of deer came very close to the cabin of my buddy Bryan. I stayed close to a corner of the building in order to blend in and the deer, only a few yards away, didn't seem to mind my presence for some time. Finally something spooked them and they ran away. Usually that would have bothered me but this time I just pressed the shutter and let the camera rattle with six frames per second. It was already after 4PM, the light was worse than just mediocre, and the autofocus was at its limits. I know there is room for improvement but the motion blur tells the story about a deer on the run. To be honest, I like the second image the best despite its flaws because of its story telling. Got back into the warmth of the cabin with a big smile on my face...