TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012

GRAND MARAIS 3501

"Steamy winter morning in Grand Marais, MN"

This photo was taken the morning of January 3, 2012. It was probably the coldest night so far of this winter, so I figured there might be some sea smoke (steam) rising off the lake in the morning. I was right! I headed into Grand Marais to catch the steam as it rose behind the lighthouse. When I first got there I was a little disappointed to see thick clouds and not much color. Soon after the sun rose, however, the clouds started to break up and color started to stream down from the sun, which was hidden behind the clouds along the top edge of this photo.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/125
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 50

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2012

FOREST 4323

"Snow Flurries along The Grade"

After my morning along the Grand Marais harbor, I took a drive up along "The Grade", a dirt road that connects the Gunflint Trail with the Caribou and Sawbill Trails. While I was driving along The Grade I went through several snow flurries, and during one of those snow flurries I noticed how the falling snow was adding depth to the treeline across a frozen lake, and couldn't resist stopping to photograph the scene.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/800
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 400

SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 2012

MOONLIGHT 4498

"Mt. Josephine Moonrise"

Here's a shot of last night's moonrise as I was heading home from work. I love it when the moon is passing right over the tree line. It was quite a beautiful sight!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/320
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 1000

SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2012

MOONLIGHT 4555

"Birch Tree Moonrise"

Taken yesterday at Grand Portage State Park in Northeast Minnesota. As I was leaving work I spotted the moon rising across the Pigeon River and it was BEAUTIFUL so of course I had to get the camera out and make some photos!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/7.1
ISO: 1000

JANUARY 9, 2012

MOONLIGHT 4574

"Dancing with the clouds"

Had great fun last night watching the moon dip in and out of the clouds as they passed by. The first thing I thought of was "It looks like the moon is dancing with the clouds!". Voila! Another image title :-)

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/4
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 800

JANUARY 9, 2012

MOONLIGHT 4580-2

"Moonlit Shoreline - Lake Superior in Grand Portage, MN"

Last night as the moon was rising the light on the surrounding landscape was sublime. The moonlight, clouds, stars and snowy landscape made for quite a memorable scene! I know I've said this many times before, but I can't help myself by saying it again: "I LOVE living here!"

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 17mm
Shutter speed: 30 seconds
Aperture: f/4
ISO: 1000

TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2012

SUPERIOR WINTER 4587

"Sunset on the bay"

Grand Portage Bay on Lake Superior - Grand Portage, MN. Here is a shot of the BEAUTIFUL sunset that we were fortunate to witness last night! Because of the cloud cover it seemed as though sunset wasn't going to be very good, but by the time the sun dipped below the horizon there was a small break in the clouds which allowed the sunlight to shine through and illuminate the underside of the clouds. SPECTACULAR!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 40mm
Shutter speed: 1/50
Aperture: f/5
ISO: 200

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2012

SUPERIOR WINTER 4634

"18 Below and BEAUTIFUL!"

Sunrise and Sea Smoke over the Susie Islands on January 19, 2012. This morning when I saw that the temperature was well below zero (a rarity this winter!), I knew that there was going to be plenty of sea smoke (steam) rising off the waters of Lake Superior. So, I headed to my favorite place to make photographs of the steam. It's difficult heading outside on such a cold morning, but the spectacular photos make it worth the effort!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 260mm
Shutter speed: 1/1600
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 200

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012

ANIMALS BY AIR 4699

"Waxwing and Mountain Ash Berries"

With the cold weather hanging on for another night, I figured I would get up early and drive to Grand Marais to photograph the steam behind the lighthouse. What I wasn't figuring on were the thousands of Waxwings that were hanging out in the various trees in the Grand Marais campground. I found one area where all the Mountain Ash berries had blown off the trees and down onto the ground. I watched as hundreds of Waxwings hopped around amongst the berries, choking them down just as fast as they could pick them up. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to isolate this one bird against the backdrop of berries. It is my favorite shot of the morning.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 1000

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012

AURORA 6283

"Wisps of Light"

Well, I've been suffering "Aurora withdrawals" since our last two opportunities for Northern lights viewing in Northern Minnesota were cancelled due to heavy cloud cover. As a way of getting my "fix", I went back to some photos from the night of March 10, 2011 and found a couple that I had not yet worked on. The photo you see here is one such photo. This was captured near the tail end of what I still consider to be the BEST Aurora display that I have ever seen.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 28mm
Shutter speed: 20 seconds
Aperture: f/4.5
ISO: 1600

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2012

SUPERIOR WINTER 6880

"Early winter sunset near Grand Marais, MN"

I haven't been out shooting a whole lot lately, so here's a photo that I took earlier this winter. This was back in December (the 7th if you really want to know) along the Lake Superior shoreline about 10 miles or so North of Grand Marais. We really didn't have any snow yet when I made this photo, but there was some ice along the rocky shore. What caught my eye in this scene was the way the rocks were sticking out of the waves as they crashed into shore. A 15 second exposure really smoothed out the wave action and created a dreamy look that I love to portray in my shoreline photos.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm
Focal length: 65mm
Shutter speed: 15 seconds
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 800

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012

SUSIE ISLANDS 4453

"Summer sun rays over the Susies"

On this chilly winter's night my thoughts wander to the warmth of summer days. So, I worked up a photo that I've long been wanting to put on my website but just never got around to it. This one is from the summer of 2005. I had spent the morning photographing around the Susie Islands and was heading back home mid-afternoon when a few summer rain squalls blew towards the islands from across Wauswaugoning Bay. Just moments after I made this photo I was caught in some pretty intense downpours, but they only lasted a few moments and once again the sun was shining. Gotta love those summer days!

Camera: Canon EOS 20D
Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm
Focal length: 20mm
Shutter speed: 1/400
Aperture: f/14
ISO: 400