Waiting on sunset.....

I've been having better luck with sunrises and sunsets lately.

By that I mean there's been light most of the days I've tried to photograph sunrise or sunset. 

Tonight in Ashland Wisconsin was a good example. 

I got to the shore of Lake Superior a couple of hours before sunset with mostly clear skies and fairly calm water.

It looked likely there would be sunlight and just the right amount of clouds for decent photos.

After about half an hour a breeze picked up and I needed to find a more sheltered spot. I drove around looking for a place with calm water near the shore to use for reflections. 

The picture above is from the place I found. It was still early and I got quite a bit of lens flare shooting directly at the sun.

I tried a little different view, but you can still see all the flare in the image. 

There were some clouds and the scene looked pretty to the eye, but I was having trouble capturing it with the camera. So I had to get a little creative.

With the lens I was using I could just barely reach far enough out in front of the camera to focus on my hand. 

I liked the silhouette and played with the placement of the sun on my fingers. A few minutes later with the sun on the horizon I attempted more standard sunset photos.

I hoped for lots of clouds to catch the colors at sunset and was a bit disappointed with what I got.

The clouds just kept disappearing and the colors were a bit muted.

A sapsucker landed in the tree above me and went to work. Pieces of bark fell to the ground near me as I sat at the edge of the lake with my feet right up to the water.

The good news was; I had sun, some clouds, calm water, reflections and a beautiful night.

So I did the best I could with the conditions as they were.

I waited until the last color started to fade, then put my camera away, folded up the tripod and walked back to the car. Though it wasn't the dramatic sunset I'd hoped for, it was a pretty good way to spend a couple of hours.

Finally some fall color...

It hadn't been a very good year for fall color in Madison Wisconsin. So after I saw a few colorful maples at the UW Arboretum I went and got a camera and headed over.

There were a few trees with good looking leaves, while others had already lost theirs, and still others hadn't even started to change color.

Many of the trees I had photographed in years past didn't look good at all, so I started walking to the group of trees I had seen from the road.

It was a warm afternoon with a slight breeze and many leaves were falling as I made these images.

There was such a small group of trees with decent looking leaves and color that I just kept working that one little area for the hour and a half until sunset.

I had all I could do to try and find an interesting composition and create some images I liked.

Accessible and undamaged leaves with good color were in short supply.

So it was really great when I'd find one. 

Then it was just a matter of isolating the leaf, choosing a clean background (working the angles) and making some photos.

I switched lenses several times and found myself lying on my back on the ground in order to get the proper working distance and angles.

They weren't the easiest fall photos I've ever made, but I was glad I spent the evening in the woods finding a little color.

West Thumb. What a morning...

When I got to West Thumb it was still snowing heavily. I took a walk around the Geyser Basin and along the boardwalk near the shore of Yellowstone Lake.

I stopped at Black Pool and made images of the turquoise water and the snow falling.

A few other visitors were enjoying the weather.

It was like a winter wonderland with snow covered trees and steam from the thermal features.

It was a lot of fun standing in the snow making images, wiping the lens off and looking for more.

About an hour later there was a hint of sunlight through the clouds and I couldn't wait to see what the light would bring.

A woman from Spain told me it seemed like a different world.

It was easy to agree as the clouds started to part and the light made it through.

I didn't want to get to far from Black Pool as the water and steam made for great images, but I did walk over to Big cone Geyser as the sky cleared.

I liked how the clouds and Yellowstone Lake looked with the new snow.

This was the view as I walked back towards Black Pool.

I was smiling the whole time and glad I hadn't made it to the Tetons.

The clouds were beautiful over the lake.

It just kept getting better and better.

As the sun hit the water the colors seemed almost tropical to me.

I kept shooting as tourists walked through the steam giving the scene scale and perspective.

Nearby, Abyss Pool looked beautiful as well. 

What an excellent way to spend a morning in Yellowstone National Park.

Glad I knew it was there..

A month ago I was driving on a highway just a bit faster than speed limit and came up behind an unmarked police car. Rather than risk a possible problem, I got off the highway at the next exit and drove to a nearby lake.

 

That day it was overcast and windy and I didn't take any pictures, but I found a new place.

 

 

So jump to last night, and I find myself driving the opposite direction on that same stretch of highway near sunset.

 

 

There were a few clouds in the sky and the sun was getting low, so I got off at that exit and drove to the lake.

 

 

I pulled into a gravel parking lot at a boat launch, grabbed my camera, and went to get my tripod from the trunk, but it wasn't there.

 

 

I'd forgotten it at home. No problem though, I'd just pay attention to the ISO and shutter speed and do the best I could.

 

 

As I stood there shooting; the clouds were getting more interesting and the breeze started to die down.

 

 

The sun came out from behind the clouds and poked through the trees on the right side of the frame.

 

 

Compose, check focus, shoot. Compose, check focus shoot. Repeat.

 

 

There was a pier out into the water that I started to use in the foreground.

 

 

I tried different compositions, always paying attention to the clouds.

 

 

 

I couldn't believe my luck.

 

 

As the sun dropped lower, the sky got more and more pink.

 

 

I kept shooting until the shutter speeds were too slow with no tripod, then put the camera away and watched the sky for a few more minutes. It was pretty unlikely, but I'm glad I knew it was there.