Ashland Wisconsin..

I made it to Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay in Ashland Wisconsin half an hour before sunset.

 

The photo above is actually half an hour later just after the sun dropped below the horizon. Just wanted to lead with some color.

 

 

There were big driftwood logs washed up on the shore, so I sat down and set up the tripod.

 

 

It was nice to be early, with enough time to set up and enjoy my surroundings.

 

 

I used split neutral density filters to even out the light between the sky and reflections on the water.

 

 

The wind was blowing when I got there, then really died down, allowing for better reflections.

 

 

It was a warm and calm night. I felt lucky to be sitting on the shore watching the sunset unfold.

 

 

I had a comfortable seat and only had to pay attention to the clouds, sky, and reflections, find interesting compositions, focus and shoot.

 

 

The colors were all taken care of and it was just going to get better.

 

 

it's a pretty easy gig when it works like that.

 

 

Just keep an eye on composition, watch the focus (which got kinda tricky after looking through the lens right toward the sun earlier) and keep shooting.

 

 

 

 

These images are just a smattering of what I got.

 

 

This was one of the more colorful sunsets I've photographed in awhile. I'll post some more photos soon.

It's only rain...

It's only rain, but it sure looked cool.

 

It was storming after midnight with wind gusts pushing the rain against the house and windows.

 

 

So I set up a tripod and camera on the inside, and captured these images looking out.

 

 

 

Most of the exposures were about a second.

 

 

I used a macro lens and isolated an area of rain drops.

 

 

There was a light on outside and the lights were off inside. Whatever I chose for a background determined the color of the image.

 

 

 

I was tired and didn't mess around for long.

 

 

 

 

Just long enough to make these cool photos.

 





Sunday..

I spent Sunday in Ashland Wisconsin. I was out by 5am and at the shore of Lake Superior hoping for some clouds and color.

 

No luck. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, crystal clear with a sliver of orange along the horizon.

 

 

 

I walked along the shore looking for any kind of interesting foreground element and tried to do something with these trees.

 

 

It was 25 degrees and the wind picked up from the north. I was getting cold and decided to drive down the road and see if I could do anything with some old dock pilings.

 

 

I wanted to shoot from water level but the waves were about a foot high now and splashed off the rocks getting me and the camera wet every time I tried. I got cold and frustrated and this was the best I could do.

 

 

The sun made it above the horizon and there were small pockets of steam on the water for just a few seconds.

 

 

Since I wasn't having much success there I drove back near where I started and walked a trail so I could put the sun behind this biomass power plant.

 

 

I kept moving myself so I could get the angle and put the sun where I wanted it in the scene.

 

 

Then I was ready to drive to where I had seen some red foxes the day before. I saw one fox on the road when I got close, but I wasn't able to get any photos. after waiting about an hour and a half it was time to give up until the afternoon.

 

 

I saw two kits right when I got there in the evening, but they quickly ran to the den and didn't come back out. The only fox phot I made was this adult waiting on the side of a road to cross to its den. I waited for more than two hours until the area fell into shadows but the foxes never cooperated.

 

 

So I drove to the Ashland marina to try and make some sunset images. I used these dry docked sail boats as a foreground to the sky and clouds.

 

 

As the sun dropped below the horizon it was cold and the wind hadn't died down.

 

 

I stayed until the color mostly disappeared.

 

 

Then headed back to get the pictures off the camera and onto the computer and then start editing and deleting. Nothing really came easy, but all and all it was a pretty good day.







 



More Lake Superior ice....

These images were taken on the same day as an earlier post.

 

 

 

 

All the photos are of ice in a twelve foot high 'push pile' on Chequamegon Bay, Lake Superior. A push pile is a mound of ice made when the wind blows sheets of ice onto the shore or into shallow water.

 

 

 

I climbed up onto the ice and also worked from the water around it until after sunset.

 

 

 

Two tundra swans flew by low and close enough for me to make this image with the short lens I was using for the ice and landscapes.

 

 

I played around with focus, framing, and the contrail from a jet passing overhead.

 

 

I liked the colors, light, and lines created by shooting the ice with the sun behind it.

 

 

 

These were the only clouds in the sky, so I did what I could with their reflection on the water.

 

 

 

After a few images I went back to the ice.

 

 

 

Even after the sun dropped below the horizon the colors looked great.

 

 

 

I couldn't believe those same three little clouds stayed around to catch the light and color after sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

Another good afternoon in Ashland, Wisconsin.