2016 RETROSPECT / 3

Cloud over corn crib, Northwest Iowa, March 2016

Clouds are one of my favorite subjects in landscape photography. I like it when they are in some context with the rest of the image. Here the corn crib on one side and the barn on the other side frame the bright part of the cloud. The eye can actually wander in a triangle between the bright spots in the picture, the cloud, the trailer in the foreground, and not so obvious, the illuminated barn in the background. It doesn’t matter where you start exploring this photo, the eye will come back to the cloud and how it unfolds in the background.

SUPERIOR’S WATERFALLS

High Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada ------------

Nothing really new today. I have been on the road almost all week and the camera has been used only for business purposes. The good thing is that I still have a lot of photos from previous shootings on my hard drive that have not seen the eye of the public yet.

Lake Superior is considered the world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area and the third-largest by volume. The lake is fed by over 200 rivers and as you can image there are numerous waterfalls that are accessible for visitors.

Middle Silver Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada

Probably almost all landscape photographers are attracted by waterfalls and I’m no exception. They are a good subject to hone the technical skills and it is just fun to find a good composition and to manage exposure and sharpness. All three images were made near the town of Wawa, Ontario.

Middle Silver Falls, Magpie River, Ontario, Canada

LAKE SUPERIOR - THE WILD SIDE

Lake Superior, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Upper Peninsula Michigan ------

Most of the time during our trip around Lake Superior the weather was relative calm or at least moderate. This is nice for camping, kayaking, and a lot of activities, but it just sucks when you are eager to make photos with some dynamic. Towards the end of our tour, at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, we found what I was hoping for…

LAGUNA AT SUNSET AND THOUGHTS AROUND IT

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, California ---------

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve is full of life but it isn’t a prime area for landscape photography. The water of the laguna looks clean and clear but the land around is still bare and muddy. Few trees can be found. However, these wetlands are under restoration and this will take time. It may not yet be the prettiest, but it is one of the most interesting restoration areas where I have ever put the legs of my tripod in the sand. Behind the beach buildings is the Pacific Ocean, between the beach and this part of the laguna is the busy Pacific Cost Highway, and behind me and the camera is the larger part of the laguna. Oil wells are within the borders of the reserve and the laguna is surrounded by rows of expensive looking homes. It is always kinda noisy from the highway and of course air traffic. Three major airports are not very far. And still, it is an oases within a densely populated area that provides food and breeding grounds for many species of birds, some of them rare, and other wildlife. In Bolsa Chica I always realize how fragile our ecological systems are. A single oil spill can be devastating. Bolsa Chica’s restoration to a functioning wetland has been one of the biggest attempts on the west coast. Sure, this is not inexpensive but the progress I have seen since 2010 and meeting very many people enjoying the wetlands last Sunday tells me that this is money well spent. Here in eastern Iowa we have similar projects on a smaller scale (i.e. Mud Lake and Deere Marsh at the Mississippi River), and they all make sense if we want that our children and grandchildren have still the chance to watch wildlife at its best in the years after our generation is gone.

Pointing the lens towards the sunset over the ocean and exposing strictly for the highlights makes all the clutter disappear in the photo. It still shouldn’t blind our eyes for the environmental problems this world is facing…

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STORIES 2016 #11 - FALL COLORS

Mississippi River overlook near Guttenberg, Iowa ----------

My business commitments required a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin today and driving the “Great River Road” along the Mississippi towards Minnesota is probably my favorite drive from Dubuque, Iowa. Last weekend Joan and I where just up in this most beautiful part of Iowa again for another camping trip. We had great weather, still warm and sunny, but I didn’t bring home many pictures that told the colorful story of fall.

Four days can make a big difference here at this time of the year. We had a lot of rain in the last days and many of the leaves in our valley came down. Most importantly those leaves still hanging from the trees got finally a real color change. On my way back this evening I stopped at several places at the big river to look again for migrating birds and took the time to capture the essence of autumn. We had a heavy overcast and even some rain sprinkles today but the range of light was reduced to 3-4 f-stops, which to me means “great light” for revealing the warm colors without glare. 

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

The water level of the Mississippi raised again after all the rain of the last couple days. Many islands and parts of the backwaters are submerged in water. I have seen this fallen tree sticking in nothing but mud before and would have never thought of getting the camera out of the bag. Well, it is impossible for me to just walk by if nature reveals its beauty in such artful way. I know, some may see only a dead tree sticking in the muddy waters of the Mississippi…

OUIMET CANYON

Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ---------

Back to our Lake Superior roundtrip in August / September. Ouimet Canyon is a gorge, cut into the rocks of Lake Superior’s northern shore. Ice, wind, and rain, the architects of time, have chiseled deep into the Canadian shield to form one of the most striking canyons of eastern Canada. (source: Information board at Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park). There were two theories discussed how this canyon was created, and the geologists among us may have their own ideas (Anke?), but for the photographer the story telling about the magnificence of the place has precedence. We got there mid morning, too late for the lifting fog of that day, but still early enough to beat the high contrast of an average summer day. As much as I dislike places where tourists like me gather in large numbers (yes, I throw stones out of the glass house.. ;-) , we had this canyon view surprisingly all for ourselves.

The bottom of the canyon is about 100 meters deeper (more than 300 feet) and the flora and fauna below is about the same as you’d find on the shores of Hudson Bay, 1,000 km to the north. This is mind boggling, but facts like this enhance my appreciation beyond any photographic expectations…

LIFTING FOG

Rabbit Blanket Lake, Ontario Canada

If an area of rain-laden clouds moves out of the area overnight and the weather forecast promises nothing but sunshine for the next day, you better get out of your sleeping bag early and put the legs of your tripod in the sand wherever you have spotted a good photo opportunity ahead of time.

At Rabbit Blanket Lake in Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario we camped right next to the lake. When the fog lifted in the morning the clicks were made quickly, while the gorgeous light of the raising sun was present. You can’t start better into a new day…

 

COASTAL HIKE AT NEYS

Lake Superior, Neys Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ------------

I like to take you back to our trip around Lake Superior about a month ago and show you a couple more pictures. One of the most interesting trails we hiked along the rocky coast line was the “Under the Volcano Trail” in Neys Provincial Park. Beside being a good terrain for adventure with great photography it reveals Neys’ unique geologic, glacial, and volcanic history.

These abandoned old boats cannot be ignored for a photograph. Joan and I spent quite some time there and tried to find the best way to make the click that tells the story.

All images: Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4

 

FIRST FALL PHOTOS

We pitched our tent in Wyalusing State Park, Wisconsin this weekend and were rewarded with wonderful and sunny fall weather. Located at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers, the bluffs and valleys of Wyalusing belong to the same drift-less area we call home. The leaves just started to change colors although many are still green. The air was crisp and clear, other than the haze we see often during the summer, and this gives the light a different quality. I wanted to challenge myself and took only one prime lens with me during our hikes in the park, the SIGMA 150/ f2.8. My older version of this lens is a little slow with focus, but this doesn’t play a big role when hunting for light and colors in the woods is the goal.

 

RETRO AND CLOUDS (AND SOME FINISHING THOUGHTS)

Orlando, Florida

Looks like vacation again, doesn’t it? No, I just returned from GraphExpo, the annual trade show of the printing industry in North America. This year it was for the first time in Orlando, Florida. Attending the show as an exhibitor does not leave much time to enjoy the city or visit any of the big entertainment places, like Disneyland or SeaWorld.

Busy places like Orlando are anyway not my cup of tea and I’m definitely not a fan of the heat and humidity down in Florida. But there is one weather related feature I really like. Clouds and giant thunderheads showed up every day and this can always lead to some interesting pictures. The photo was made through the glass of my hotel room window in the Cabana Bay Beach Resort - Universal Orlando, which features a retro theme that takes you back to the 1950’s and 60’s. 

These were not the most impressive clouds we saw, but I like how the twilight goes together with light and colors of the hotel. The RAW file was developed in Adobe Lightroom and afterwards the photo was finished as a smart object in Adobe Photoshop, with some filters of Google’s NIK collection for tonal and overall contrast applied. Usually I do noise reduction in Lightroom if necessary, and that works pretty well for me. Shooting with ISO 500 and through the thick glass of a window created more noise in the picture than I like. As a remedy I used NIK’s Define 2 noise reduction filter and that took care of the problem.

THE TREE AT GOOSEBERRY RIVER

Gooseberry Falls State Park, Minnesota ----   

While hiking up the trail from the waterfalls along Gooseberry River this tree and its roots, nestled into the rocks, caught my attention. On the way back the light was in my favor and I stuck the legs of the tripod in the sand and made the click. How about the waterfalls? Sure, some photos were made as well. Everybody does that. Sometimes looking away from the main attraction of a known location leads to a photograph that is special. At least it was for me at this time.

 

CHANGING THE SUBJECT

Marie Louise Lake, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada ---  

When I looked across Marie Louise Lake I thought that Sleeping Giant, the mountain range in the back that gave this provincial park its name, would be a good subject for a photo. While evaluating the scene I became aware how rough the wind made the lake surface and how the reflections on the water played a role how we saw the lake. Suddenly the lake with its subtle reflections was a lot more interesting and the Sleeping Giant played just a second role for this image. Sure, the eye will go briefly to the bright parts of the clouds in the back, but the clouds are not interesting enough in this matter and the eye will return to this beautiful light and the rough surface of the water in the foreground. It became one of my favorite shots from this trip around Lake Superior…

 

LIGHTHOUSES

Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Minnesota, put into service in 1910

It doesn’t matter what kind of weather we have or how good or bad the light treats me, I like to photograph lighthouses. As you can imagine there are quite a few around Lake Superior and any time I had a chance a click was made. For me it is the fascination of the technical side that every lighthouse bares, combined with the fact that not even two are exactly alike. It is story telling about our heritage and a great chance to work with architecture, quite often embedded in a natural environment.

The bivalve fresnel lens of Split rock Lighthouse was built in Paris, France. While operating, the lens made one revolution every 20 seconds, floating on a thin layer of mercury. Light for the beacon was provided by a kerosene vapor lamp, which was replaced in 1940 by a 1000W electrical bulb. (source: Visitor Guide: Split Rock Lighthouse)

Agathe Bay Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Minnesota

 

SUBJECT AND AMBIENCE

Lake Superior, Silver Bay Harbor, Minnesota

Over the years I discovered that making an image of just “the ambience” of a landscape seldom leads to a reasonable, story telling result. The lack of a clear subject is usually the reason for these frustrations. Sometimes it works but more often not. Imagine the photo above without the ship. The rocky islands did not offer enough to make it interesting and the “angel rays” coming through the clouds were not strong enough to make them a good subject. No waves on the lake didn’t help either. But there was this very soft, warm light and subtle reflections on the water creating a special ambience that I liked. The “LAKE GUARDIAN” came to my rescue as it approached the islands and rocky pier of Silver Bay Harbor, Minnesota. Suddenly the picture made sense to me…