TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013

SUPERIOR SPRING 2116

"April Ice Land"

Well, I never thought I would be photographing beautiful ice on the Lake Superior shoreline this late in the spring! Speaking of spring, only 4 more days and it will be one whole month since spring officially arrived. Not like you can tell around here this year. Heck, in the past week we've received about 16 inches of new snow! At least we can take comfort in the fact that it melts quickly this time of year. Before we know it we will be getting rain instead of snow and everybody will be complaining about the rain :-)

The photo you see here was taken this morning along the shores of Grand Portage Bay, just a half mile from our house. Yesterday all these ice chunks were pushed into the bay by the waves, making for an incredible foreground for a landscape image. We took a few photos of these ice chunks last night but the sky was pretty overcast and gray. This morning at sunrise the sky was much prettier! I am as anxious as everybody else for the snow and ice to melt and be gone for the year, but in the meantime as long as there are still scenes like this around, I am going to enjoy them while they last!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 17mm
Shutter speed: 1/40
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 200

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013

SUPERIOR SPRING 2130

"Spring Reflections on Grand Portage Bay"

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 40mm
Shutter speed: 1/30
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 200

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

SUPERIOR SPRING 2215

"April moonrise over the Grand Marais Lighthouse"

Last night after work we headed to Grand Marais to photograph the rising full moon behind the lighthouse. At first it looked as though we may not see the moon much if at all, because there was what appeared to be a cloud bank forming on the eastern horizon. As it turned out, though, we were able to see the moon completely and once it rose a little ways into the sky the thin clouds started to illuminate from the moonlight and really complemented the scene. I made plenty of photos as the moon passed behind the lighthouse, but this one where the moon is just above and to the right of the lighthouse is my favorite. I really liked how the reflection of the moonlight and the reflection of the lighthouse light are side by side on the water. What a magical sight!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/6 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 800

SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2013

ANIMALS BY AIR 2254

"Tossing Chips"

This time of year, wildlife is abundant as many animals are busy preparing for the coming summer season. As is the case with many creatures, this means building a nest in order to raise their young. Today at Grand Portage State Park (which is where I work for my day job) my co-workers told me about a large bird that they had seen climbing out of a hole in a tree. Based on their description I told them it was probably a Pileated Woodpecker. They showed me where they had seen it and sure enough, that's what it was. He was diligently working all afternoon on carving out a nest cavity in a tall aspen tree. When we first got to the tree the bird was nowhere to be seen, but we could hear a muted tapping sound. After a few moments the woodpecker stuck his head out of the hole and promptly threw a mouthful of wood chips to the ground. We watched him do this over and over again.

I knew I had to get some footage of this activity, so after work I went back to the nest and he was still hard at work, tapping inside the tree then throwing the wood chips out. I watched and photographed him for about an hour. Hopefully this means that they will be having babies soon and we will be able to see them being fed by the parents. This is an easily accessible location at the park so it would be neat to share this wildlife encounter with park visitors :-)

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/2500
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 800

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013

PIGEON RIVER 2326

"Finally Free"

After a VERY long winter with lots of late spring snow and cold temperatures, the rivers are finally opening up! This was the scene today at High Falls of the Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park. The ice on the river has completely opened up over the past few days and the river is raging! With plenty of snow cover still on the ground up around the headwaters of the river, the water level should stay high for quite some time. This has got to be one of the latest ice-out dates on record.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm
Focal length: 17mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 200

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013

PIGEON RIVER 2351

"Finally Free"

Rainbow at High Falls - Grand Portage State Park, MN

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm
Focal length: 75mm
Shutter speed: 1/800
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 800

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013

ABSTRACT 2375

"Iceberg stuck in the Pigeon River"

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 320mm
Shutter speed: 1/6 sec
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 50

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013

ANIMALS BY LAND 2457

"Beavers on the ice"

Last night I drove to a local lake near my house to see if the beavers were active yet. As I approached the lake I could see an opening in the ice near the beaver lodge and figured they would be out. Sure enough, as I got closer I could see two large lumps on top of the ice near the water... it was the beavers! I spent about an hour sitting on the bank of the lake watching and photographing the beaver family. There were four total... the parents and two young ones. They sure were fun to watch as they took turns sitting on the ice and going for a swim. We got a bunch of rain this morning so yesterday may have been the only opportunity to watch them on the ice. The ice might be gone today!

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/250
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 1600

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013

ANIMALS BY LAND 2464

"Beavers on the ice"

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Shutter speed: 1/200
Aperture: f/10
ISO: 1600