A morning smile

Flat light, gray colors, and a quiet woods; a dull morning
until I looked down
isn't photography grand

Water in Transition

It is not really winter or is it autumn, just a prolonged transition to cold. This waterfall was nearly dry last December but was a great location to explore over the weekend. Southwestern Minnesota has a number of waterfalls that are not as high as those as the north shore but are dramatic in relation to the stark prairie that surrounds them.

Spring at Squaw Creek

 I recently watched a course on filmmaking at creativelive.com and learned about different storytelling techniques. A light bulb was turned on with the realizaton that a nature story does not need to be told in a linear format. This format is aptly named the teaser format.

Ice Flower

It's March and I am thinking (dreaming) about spring. No snow this winter but it is still getting long. When I crawled into a cave on Lake Superior and looked up I saw an ice flower. This time of year the imagination starts going wild.

December Thaw

I went to one of my favorite county parks last week. With no snow or color I recorded the slow moving water under the ice. The mood of the creek seems somber while it awaits a blanket of snow.

December Textures

It's another tough month to find shots, a real test of creativity. With the recent thaw and refreeze there are some interesting ice patterns on puddles and along creeks. White balance of 5500k was used to enhance the mood of the ice.

Bald Eagle Dinner

I spent the the entire afternoon watching a flock of ducks and several bald eagles with no action. Suddenly about 15 minutes before sunset an eagle swooped down and grabbed a mallard. I missed the grab but hit the record button a second later to get this footage. This might be amazing to me but the background sound reminds me that is a normal day in the lives of ducks and eagles.

Technical: slight cropping of birds on ice

Change of Plans

I arrived at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Mound City, MO, well before sunrise intent on being in place for flocks of snow geese flying in front of the rising sun. On the way in this cloud drama caught my attention and the geese were forgotten about until their voices became overpowering.  Of course by then the best light had passed for my original plan. So much to photograph and such fleeting light, the bane of photography.

Perplexed Coyote

On morning I was watching ice melt (I'm retired). Imagine my surprise when a coyote appeared in broad daylight. To be honest I was hoping a deer would cross the ice like it had a few days earlier when I didn't have the camera set up. 

The sandhills are back.

Cranes have returned to Crex Meadows and are busy on the ice. This pair has selected a corner of Grettum Flowage to raise a family. If you look closely you can see a band on the female's leg. I contacted David Fronczak (Migratory Bird Management) who said this bird was hand raised at Necedah NWR in 2011 as part of a whooping crane project. Necedah is about 200 miles southeast of Grantsburg. What a story she could tell!

Technical: Recorded with Canon C100 using 100-400mm lens. 

The season of change

Spring's transitions can be hard to capture in a single image, especially in March, so I have started using time lapse to show change. Time lapse is a faith driven exercise since there is no predicting what will occur over a 6 hour period that is recorded in a 10 second video. 

Technical: 1 minute intervals for 6 hours, manual exposure, Giga Pro T used as the intervalometer on a Canon 30D, JPEG capture. Edited in iMovie to half speed, deer further reduced to 25% speed.

Ice Lattice

The season is changing! Ice is one of nature's mysteries I return to time and again. The patterns and colors amaze me each time I look at it. The challenge is getting an image to show emotion. Frequently color and design just don't translate to an image. However, I keep trying which is the joy of photography. I like this image for the illusion of depth.

Frozen Falls

I hiked into Wolf Cr. Falls to use a slider for the first time in the field. After practicing at home I thought it was time to give it a try outdoors. There is a learning curve for smooth movement and some planning is needed to put a series of clips together.  It has opened a new world of video by creating movement in an otherwise static scene. 

Cathedral Ceiling

I have seen a few cathedrals with their intricate designs and architecture that are a testament of man's creativity. However nothing I have seen compares to the fascinating patterns of ice and sandstone seeping through the roof of an ice cave. 

Technical: wide angle lens, image rotated of produce symmetry, shade WB (7500k)

Watching the light

After wandering along the shoreline for an hour it was time to settle down and find a location to follow the light into the night. This portal had earlier been filled with people sitting on the ice bench getting their photos taken. As the afternoon passed it became quiet with only a couple photographers, Gary Leeper and myself, enjoying the changing light. Quiet and beauty missed by those using a clock to control their lives.

Technical: HDR image merged with Photomatix. Three images at 2 stop intervals.

Sea Cave Ice

Where do you start? How do you turn awe and amazement into images? The sea caves along the  south shore of Lake Superior are the current rage for photographers.  After a five year absence of enough ice to get to them, they were opened to the public last week. A moderate walk along the shore to reach them is rewarded with otherworldly sights.  If you are going dress for the wind. I'm starting with this iconic location shot, more images to follow.

Christmas Lights in Nature

Not all Christmas lights are LED bulbs. These out of focus ice drops were recorded a few years ago. The ice prisms caused a rainbow of color that was captured using a telephoto lens and placing the drops out of focus to accentuate the color spectrum.

Be Careful

This young deer had its first experience with ice a few days ago. Another deer also slipped in front of camera trap the but was too close to get a good recording.

This pair of deer got out a little further out on the ice and had to be rescued. I noticed one is a buck. My wife and I frequently talk about my creative route finding. I wonder if this discussion took place between them. Deer Rescue

Green is Coming

Happy Easter!

Ice Feather

Another macro shot from earlier this week. Technical: contrast increased using Nik Color Efex Pro 4