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.

Lake Superior springtime...........

It really is springtime in northern Wisconsin.

But you wouldn't know it by the ice still covering Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior in Ashland Wisconsin.

The only open water was at the west end where Fish Creek enters the lake at long bridge.

I made a few images, then drove north along the lake to see if I could find any open water.

Ice was piled up along the shore and there was a bit of water just beyond it.

I really lucked out, as some interesting clouds worked their way across the sky shortly after I got there.

It was windy and 33 degrees, I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. In order to get the low angles to highlight the ice and clouds I needed to lay on various blocks of ice for extended periods of time.

I was getting wet, cold, and occasionally hurt as some of the ice broke beneath me and I fell into larger sharp pieces below.

The sun occasionally went behind the clouds and it felt much colder as I waited for the light.

Madeline Island is in the distance on the right.

I kept looking for interesting shapes and good color.

Just before sunset, light filtered through the trees to the west and lit a small piece of ice at the edge of the lake.

 I worked quickly as darkness neared.

And just like that. The sun slipped behind the trees and the light disappeared.

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.

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.