Found another stavkirke

 

I have visited almost all stave churches (stavkirke) in Norway during frequent visits in the 90’s because I’m fascinated by their architecture. There are a few replicas here in the US and a year ago Joan and I visited the one on Washington Island just north of the Door Peninsula. You can click HERE to see my post from last year about this beautiful stavkirke.

Just the night before Thanksgiving we found out that another chapel in this architectural style is located not far from Bailey Harbor. There was no question that we had to find it.

Boynton Chapel is a small wooden chapel built in a late 12th-century Norwegian stave church (stavkirke) style. Handcrafted by Winifred and Donald Boynton between 1939 and 1947 on the grounds of their summer residence, the chapel is modeled after the Garmo stave church at Maihaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. A popular site for weddings and a favorite stop among Door County tourists, the chapel contains 41 hand-painted frescoes and numerous exceptionally fine carved-wood furnishings. (source: website Lawrence University, Appleton WI)

The chapel is at Björklunden, a 425-acre estate on the Lake Michigan shore that belongs to Lawrence University, Appleton. It is in a very picturesque setting and with all the snow around we made of course quite a few clicks with our cameras. Boynton Chapel is closed in the winter for visitors, so we were not able to see the interior, but this didn’t spoil our experience with this wonderful piece of architecture.

Self assignment

 

There are definitely some reasons why we keep coming back to the Door peninsula in Lake Michigan in November and one of them is that we have it almost for ourselves. It is a touristy place in the summer but at this time of the year not too many people find the way up here. One of our favorite hikes starts at Cave Point County Park and leads on top of the rocky bluffs along the lake shore into White Fish Dunes State Park. Beside enjoying the crisp and clear air after an excellent Thanksgiving meal we watched out for ice sculptures that have been shaped by the waves and the surf of the lake. We have done this every time during the last three years and it is never the same experience.

I gave myself an assignment today by using only the wide angle zoom Sigma 10-20mm / f4-5.6 for all photos. I was looking for a way to challenge creativity on a subject I have worked on before under similar circumstances. Where is the challenge? The easy way is to zoom in with a longer lens, like the Nikkor 24-120, f/4, because the winter weather with ice and snow on the ground forbids to get really close to the edge of the bluffs. A fall into the icy water might be fatal. The challenge was finding the places where subject, light, and a safe way to make the shot coincided. You can certainly make a bet on the fact that the most interesting ice formations are right at the edge of the bluffs. It is obvious that the second photo wasn’t so difficult to make but above the bluffs it was a different game. Needless to say that cropping beyond keeping the horizon line straight was not an option for today’s assignment. I like to rework known photo subjects or situations with different technical means, during shooting as well as in the post process. I believe it is a valid way to improve… Give it a try! :-)

Recharging the batteries

 

We wish all of our family and friends here in the US a Happy Thanksgiving! Joan and I went again to Door County, the peninsula surrounded by Lake Michigan and the Green Bay in northeast Wisconsin. We try to ”recharge our batteries” by relaxing in a cabin, eating good food, and doing some hiking and photography.

After our arrival last night we went down to the lake shore in Baileys Harbor and watched for a few minutes how the magic of colors unfolded during sunset. Nothing spectacular but still worth a click…

Nature clicks # 247 - Woodland Vole

 

This photo, of what I believe is a Woodland Vole, can create mixed feelings in our house. We knew already since the late summer that the critter is back in our yard after a couple years of absence. The recent development of a system of underground runways just below the grass surface, and even some mounds, is a good indicator. The damage in the yard can be tremendous and Joan is already afraid that none of the flower bulbs in the ground will survive. The diet of a Woodland Vole is diverse and according to several sources it includes roots, bulbs, tubers, nuts, seeds, and even animal material.

I saw the vole for the first time November 17th, a day before this photo was made eating under one of our bird feeders. I kept watching the spot and finally was able to make this one image. I “nuked” the shot with the flash since the natural light was not sufficient anymore in the early evening. It is not really flattering, although it is a sharp image, but I wished I had reduced the output of the flash light a little more. Too much work in post processing... Well, next time… I’m glad I can add this critter to my Iowa wildlife gallery.

Colorado landscapes: Last call ;-)

 

We did not see the peak of the fall colors in the Rocky Mountains during the first half of the month but with every day during our journey in September we saw the winter coming closer. The first snow on the summits, and finally on our little tent, left no doubt about that winter approaches earlier in the higher altitudes than here in Iowa. Colorado is a very pretty state and I’m certain you can’t go wrong at any time of the year to create some photos or just enjoy the wonderful nature there.

I like to conclude my little photo series about landscape and wildlife in southern and central Colorado with today’s images. I hope you enjoyed it and if someone picked up a tip or two about how to shoot and where to shoot, I will be more than happy. :-) Thank you to all of you, especially my friends on Facebook, who always encouraged me to keep going and publishing a new blog post during the last two months. I really appreciate your support.

Colorado Railroad Museum, part 2

 

A few more about Colorado's railroad heritage...

Colorado wildlife: The Sage Thrasher - a first sighting for us

 

Traveling through bird habitats that are different than what we have here around the Mississippi Valley will necessarily lead to new encounters. The dry sagebrush plaines in the San Luis Valley, not far from Great Sand Dunes National Park, are the ideal place for the Sage Thrasher. There they can find insects, other invertebrates, and berries on the ground and in vegetation.

We saw them on fences, wooden posts, and in the bushes along small irrigation channels in this high-elevation desert. Needless to say that this was a first sighting for us and it took me a while to identify this bird. The Sage Thrasher is the smallest of the thrashers. Generic studies suggest that they are more closely related to the mockingbirds than true thrashers (source: iBird Pro app).

Colorado Railroad Museum, part 1

 

The tip came already some time ago from my German photography friend Maren Arndt. Don’t miss the Railroad Museum in Golden, if you are in this part of Colorado! Well, we finally used the last day of our journey through the southern and central part of Colorado for a visit. The kids were already back in school and so there were not very many visitors beside us. Good for photography in such a place! ;-)

I grew up in Germany traveling by trains that were pulled by steam locomotives. The smell of smoke and coal and the noise of the steam engine are deep in my memories. As a kid I often stood together with my grandpa Willy Stock on a bridge, west of the train station in my home town Bautzen, and we watched the busy traffic in the train yard. I don’t know if this had somehow influenced my decision to become a mechanic, and later a design engineer, but the technical and logistic side of railroads have always fascinated me. Going to the Colorado Railroad Museum stirred up all these good memories and I felt a little like a kid in a candy store…

I could bubble here about the technical aspects to make photos in a museum, but who cares? The bottom line for my style of photography is to keep the elements out of the frame that cry “museum”. I just want my images to tell the story about railroad heritage.

A last word about the people that work or volunteer in the railroad museum. We hear these days a lot about passion, passion in life, passion about photography, you name it. Everybody we had a conversation with in the museum, from the people at the reception desk and in the museum store to the engineers that kept some of the locomotives running, they all had a spark in their eyes, the spark of passion for railroad heritage… Love it!

Yard visitors

 

Last Sunday we had again a flock of Cedar Waxwings around here. They were joined by a large number of American Robins. Both species seem to enjoy the heated bird baths for sipping some water between their meals in the red cedars around here. I wasn’t home for the last couple days and don’t know yet if the cold weather has forced them out of the area. We don't have snow on the ground yet but a few snow flurries made clear that winter isn't far away...

Getting the last seeds

 

I still have a few images from our Colorado trip but today I like to show you another, more actual photo. The American Goldfinch has long changed to its winter plumage. It is not as colorful as during the summer but it is still a very pretty bird. Joan left the dried up Black-eyed Susans in the yard so that the birds can get the seeds, and they do not need an extra invitation for this offer…

I tried to make this kind of a shot since quite some time already but did not like the outcome always. It is not so easy to separate the bird enough from other distracting elements, like dried leaves or other plants. Sometimes the head of the finch was behind a flower stem or the gesture was just not right. Today’s photo gets a little closer to what I have in mind, There is even a seed flying through the air, leaving no question about that the goldfinch has some serious business going on…