FOLLOWING A STORM CELL

Storm cell, near Belmont, Wisconsin

I talked about drama in the clouds in yesterday’s blog post and using black & white to tell the story. Today I came across another dramatic weather development and that took a different approach. I was on my way to a business meeting with a customer in Wisconsin this morning and watched a small thunderstorm cell ahead of me during the first forty-five minutes of driving. Sure enough I drove right into it and a short heavy rain and even some hail cleaned at least the car. The light on the cell looked very impressive but I had a hard time to find a spot to pull of the road for a picture. Finally I found an exit and luckily this smaller side road had a nice curve that could be used in the photo as a foreground element. The rain still poured on the east side while a clean blue sky followed the dramatic cloud.

Almost always when I go on a one-day business trip I take the camera with me. Most of the time I never get it out the bag because not much happens, nothing interesting is waiting to be photographed, or time pressure dictates the course of the day. Today finally the passion paid off… Great moment!

NATURE CLICKS #533 - MONARCH

Monarch butterfly, Bowstring Wildlife Area, Eastern Iowa

In July the monarch butterfly was officially designated as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Scientists estimate that the species' population has dropped between 20% and 90% over the last several decades. This migratory butterfly is known for its spectacular annual journey of up to 4,000 kilometers across the Americas. We still see them at flower meadows, in patches of re-planted prairie, or along the edges of rivers and lakes, although this year I have not watched them in large numbers. Any time I see one I try to make a photo. I only had the 150-600 mm lens with me during a hike in the Bowstring Wildlife Area, located along Lytle Creek between Zwingle and Bernard, Iowa. Zoomed all the way in to 600 mm I like how the insect got backlit, pronouncing its colors nicely. This wooded area has several patches of restored prairies and would be a prime habitat for many butterflies. Unfortunately only two Monarchs crossed my way today. I have a hard time to imagine that this beautiful insect may disappear…

NATURE CLICKS #532 - RED ADMIRAL

As summer comes to an end I realize that we didn’t have a great year for larger butterflies here on top of the bluffs along the Little Maquoketa Valley. Yes, in early summer we had thousands of Hackberry Emperors again, most likely due to to the abundance of Hackberry trees around here, but a lot less of any kind swallowtail butterflies. However, today I saw this Red Admiral in the front yard. The photo was made at one of our Autumn Joy Sedums. This flower seems to be a preferred feeding plant for many insects. We see large numbers of bumble bees, different species of wasps, all kinds of bugs, ants, and for the first time in years even some real bees. This is good news. We have lots of other flowers but the nectar of the sedum must be good or they like how easy the access is. The admiral let me get really close with the Nikkor Z 24-70. Not a macro lens but capable to deliver the environmental shot I mostly prefer.

FIRST FALL PICTURE?

Giant Sunflowers beside the road, Green Island Wetlands, Eastern Iowa

These Giant Sunflowers swayed heavily in the wind while rain clouds still moved through the Mississippi Valley. A short visit to the Green Island Wetlands yesterday afternoon didn’t lead to a lot of wildlife sightings but these yellow beauties and color contrast with the dark clouds tell the story of a cooler day after some much needed rain the night before.

I wanted to freeze the strong movement of the flowers and and started shooting with about 1/1600 s, at f/6.3 and ISO400. While this worked somehow, I was not happy with the blurred clouds in the background. Drama was missing. After closing down the aperture to f/14 I was left with 1/800 s at ISO1000. Still good enough to freeze the action and adding much more pronounced cloud shapes. Warmer weather is coming back tomorrow but I guess I have my first fall picture of the season…😉

SELECTION FROM THE PRAIRIE

All photos: Pine Valley Nature Area, Jackson County, Eastern Iowa

We used Labor Day weekend for some scouting and exploration of nature areas we had never visited before. One of them was Pine Valley Nature Area in Jackson County, located about 3 miles northwest of Maquoketa Caves State Park. I’m posting the location below for those who like to discover it as well. This 676 acre woodland and prairie area is a gem for any nature lover. It is a great place to study different types of prairie grass and at this time of the year you will find an abundance of wildflowers on the prairie. I’m sure in spring and early summer we can find a lot more birds than we saw last Monday. It looks promising for wildlife photography.

I traveled light, with just the Nikkor 70-200, f/4 lens on camera, during our hike on some of the trails. This is not a macro lens but I tried to isolate certain flowers, grasses, and other plants from their dense surroundings. Not my usual kind of photography, but thinking about how to place the subject in the frame or trying to find a good background was a lot of fun during this hike. I hope you enjoy this little selection of images.

All photos: Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4

SUMMER AT ITS BEST

Giant Swallowtail

Pleasant temperatures allow for all kinds of activities at the moment. I spent some time this afternoon at the flower garden in front of the house. Plenty of hummingbirds are frequent visitors, but wait, this is for another blog post.

It seems the number of large butterflies is lower this year, but let’s wait until August is over before I may give a final verdict. At least this Giant Swallowtail gave me a number of opportunities today. It feeds on the purple coneflowers with very fast wingbeats and in the past I tried to make this kind of a picture with the 150 mm macro lens. Since I was actually out for the hummingbirds, the Sigma 150-600 was on camera and that allows much better tracking of a fast moving butterfly in the viewfinder. A few clouds made for quick changing light conditions and so I used the Nikon SB800 speed light with the MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender to add a hint of light for boosting colors, in particular when the sun disappeared for a minute.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S, Induro GIT 404XL tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, MAGMOD MagBeam flash extender      @ 600 mm, 1/160 s, f/8, ISO 640

DETAILS FROM THE HOLLOW

Stream at the bottom of the canyon, White Pine Hollow State Preserve, Eastern Iowa

White Pine Hollow, a densely wooded state preserve, is said to be the only old-growth patch of white pines still growing in Iowa. (source: Wikipedia) It is not very far from our home and last Sunday I thought it was time to revisit this interesting place of wilderness again. The old pines are impressive but it is the surrounding deciduous forest that gives the visitor at the bottom of the hollow a jungle-like feeling. A little caution is advised, especially if you hike with a dog, because at this time of the year you may have a good chance to pick up a tick in the woods. A nature lover who can overcome this fear is treated with a great wilderness experience. White Pine Hollow is said to contain 625 species of plants and two endangered species of animals. If macro or detail photography is your field of interest you will be in photographers heaven. A day with a slight overcast is perfect and I recommend to travel light, because it can be very humid in the canyon. Also a pair of good hiking boots and the use of common sense in this wild environment is not a bad idea for a trip to White Pine Hollow.

All images: Nikon Z6II, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4, FTZ adapter

Wild Geranium, easy to find almost everywhere

A mossy log of a fallen tree provides the base of life for this mushroom

 

WITH A LITTLE IMAGINATION

The snow is almost gone and it takes a little imagination to make a photo with bare trees and vegetation from last year that is more or less brown and grey. When the sun sets above our ridge and the wind has calmed down, it’s time to pour a glass of wine, sit down in a chair on the porch, and enjoy the first evenings of the year with mild temperatures. With at least one f-stop underexposure and white balance settings at 6000 Kelvin or higher, the colors of decaying grasses in the front yard don’t play a role anymore. The setting sun and the backlit silhouettes of grass, swaying in the wind, are enough to let us forget about the dull colors that dominate the landscape after the winter…

YELLOWSTONE - 150 YEARS

Black bear mother with her two cups, October 2007, Nikon D200 with Nikon 80-400-D VR

On March 1st, Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, was created 150 years ago. I had the pleasure to visit the park with its beautiful mountains, over 10,000 hydrothermal features, and abundant wildlife, together with my wife Joan in 2005, 2007, and 2018. In 2005 I still used mainly a Nikon N2020 35mm film camera but played a little with a 3.2 Megapixel, Minolta Dimage Xt digital camera. At the second visit I just had started with serious digital photography and little did I know how to create an image with some impact. But it is nice to have these old images as a memory. It was interesting to see in 2018 how the National Park had changed and how the park administration tried to deal with the vast number of visitors that pour in the park every day, even in the off-season. It still remains a magnificent place to visit and to photograph. Yellowstone National Park has inspired conservation efforts around the globe since its inception in 1872 and in order to celebrate this event I pulled a few pictures from the library and like to share them with you.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, September 2018, Nikon D750 with AF-S Nikkor 70-200, f/4

Wolf watchers, Lamar Valley at Slough Creek, October 2007, Nikon D200 with Sigma 18-50, 2.8

Mammoth Hot Springs, September 2018, Nikon D750 with AF-S Nikkor 70-200, f/4

ICE UNDERGROUND

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 24mm, 6s, f/18, ISO 100

Here in the region of the Driftless Area we can enjoy deeply carved river valleys and a karst geology with spring-fed waterfalls, underground drainage systems, sinkholes, and a number of caves. Inspired by a recent post on Facebook from the Dubuque County Conservation about a cave with ice in it, Joan, dog Cooper, and I went on a hike into Whitewater Canyon Wildlife Area today. We were there actually already last week but hiked on a different trail. Today it didn’t take us very long to find the cave we were looking for, located in the Lost Canyon. It was still quite cold last week and we found these beautiful ice formations that look like stalagmites, built from the ground by dripping water. It will be much warmer this week and it may not take long before they are gone.

I had seen photos from that cave before and tried to prepare well for this little adventure. Good boots are a must for climbing up the slippery slope to the entrance at the canyon wall and for some grip on the icy floor. I made sure my speed light had fresh batteries before it went into the backpack and took also the small Gitzo GT2931 tripod on the hike.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S, GITZO tripod GT2931 Basalt, KIRK BH-3 ball head  @ 24mm, 2.5s, f/14, ISO 100

It was not really necessary to go deep into the cave. Both photos were made near the entrance. It is easy to break off one of the ice formations accidentally, but we were carefully and managed to leave the place as we found it. With the camera on tripod, about half a meter above the ground, I started shooting by using the flash light, which was connected by cable with the camera and allowed me to direct the light as wanted. Didn’t really like what I saw on the camera screen and continued to photograph with longer exposure and without the flash. We were at the cave in the very early afternoon. Some snow was still on the ground in the canyon and bright sunlight bounced nicely through the entrance and into the cave with the ice. The photos made with the use of flash from different angles were not really bad, but at the end natural light was the winner for this blog post.

ICY ART CONTINUES

Life prevented me from getting out and shooting a lot of pictures this week but there is always something on the hard drive of the computer that deserves to be published. Earlier this month I tried to draw the attention to one of my winter projects, called ICY ART. Here is another image that I like to contribute.

ICY ART IN 2022

The long time readers of my blog may remember that I started a little gallery project on the website in January of last year, called ICY ART. I tried to contribute to this gallery during the last two months with some new photos, but just didn’t find the right subject worthwhile for being published. Today I discovered a promising ice pattern but the water beneath was actually quite murky. I gave it the ‘artsy-fartsy’ treatment with white balance and contrast enhancing measures and got a result that satisfied my artistic sensibilities. Here is a shortcut to the ICY ART gallery. I hope you enjoy. You all have a great weekend!