Category Archives: Photography

Nature, Photography

GO ANYWAY – Don’t trust a forecast #sunrise

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GO ANYWAY

I know better.  When in doubt…go anyway.  Even in sub-zero weather.  You can always go back home.

This last Friday I looked at the forecast and figured I should pass based on the cloudy forecast and pending snow.  The Photographer’s Ephemeris  Skyfire, however, was predicting a good sunrise.

I elected to sleep in.  By the time I woke up and looked outside it way beyond sunrise and it looked like I missed a good one despite the forecast.

By the time I reached Bay City, the snow clouds were moving in and the sun was barely visible.

2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1613
Bay City
2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1612
Bay City

I drove to Maiden Rock to see how the ice looked there.  The ice heaves are nothing closed to what they have been in years past.  I stopped by the Warrentown Coulee Wayside before Maiden Rock to capture the wide-open vastness from that location.

2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1620
Warrentown Coulee Wayside
2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1621
Maiden Rock

Lots of ice fisher people.  The clouds were closing in and the light fading fast.  It didn’t take long for the sun to disappear altogether.  By the time I arrived back at Bay City is was almost a complete white-out.

2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1624
Bay City
2019-01-26 Bay City, Maiden Rock & Birds-1623
Bay City

 

Views: 147

Nature, Photography

TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE – Super Blood Wolf Moon?

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TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE

The eclipse will happen on the night of the year’s first of three straight full supermoons, meaning the moon will be nearly at its closest to Earth for this January, as the eclipse takes place.

Many are calling it a Blood Moon eclipse. Why? We’re not entirely sure, but you can read more about Blood Moons here.

Now here’s a single, sad last thing. This will be the last total lunar eclipse to grace Earth’s sky until May 26, 2021.
~earthsky.org

I don’t care what you call it, shooting the moon is something to experience.  The weather can be challenging and then there is always gear performance.  Camera batteries do not like the cold; when they get old, they only go down hill faster.  I can relate.

It was -7 to -11.  I switched out batteries once.  Covering the camera with a blanket helped tremendously.  A bonfire would have been wonderful.

I am pretty happy with the time, effort and results.  It was worth enduring the bitter cold.

The composite

2019-01-20 Blood Moon

Views: 409

Panorama, Photography, Time-lapse

DANCING STEAM – Bay City, Wi #sunrise

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DANCING STEAM

Every time I see the steam rising off of the open water one of Abbas songs starts to play in my head with queen replaced with steam.  You know the song I am referring to.  Good luck getting that out of your head now.  You are welcome 🙂

This a.m. I remembered my spotlight and managed a short snippet of the steam.  It was -11 and the camera froze up in just under an hour.

2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1378
Nikon D700 | ISO 800 | 150mm | f/7.1 | 1/160 second
2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1373
Nikon D700 | ISO 800 | 150mm | f/7.1 | 1/40 second

It was a pretty spectacular sunset this a.m.  The color was beautiful.

2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1925
Pre-surnise

 

2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1399
Just before sunrise
2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1455-HDR
Sunrise

Here is a panorama I shot; you can see the long line of steam

2019-01-20 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1379-Pano

No drone photos/video this a.m.  Too cloud to stand around for very long.

Views: 236

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes

SUBZERO SUNRISE – Bay City, Wi #sunrise

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SUBZERO SUNRISE

It was a subzero sunrise this a.m.  Albeit only by a degree, it was enough to bite your exposed fingertips and slap you in the face.  The camera bared most of the cold atop the tripod just outside my toasty warm car.   You can see that Jupiter and Venus have ventured significantly closer to one another.

2019-01-19 D700 Bay City Sunrise-1570
Nikon D700 | ISO 200 | 16mm | f/7.1 | 6 seconds

I forgot my spotlight this a.m. that I use to aid in obtaining a focal point.  I ended up with a short and out-of-focus time lapse sequence.  It is still a bit interesting; especially the steam rising off the opening in the ice.

Drone Video

Drone Photos

2019-01-19 DF013 Bay City Sunrise-0558
Critter Trails

Panoramas.

360 converted to sphere

 

Views: 175

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes, Time-lapse

MIDWEEK SUNSET – Maiden Rock, WI #sunset

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MIDWEEK SUNSET

The conditions were favorable and I was able to get home at a reasonable enough time to get out and enjoy a midweek sunset.  Maiden Rock, WI is another favorite spot; mostly for sunsets given the angle of sunrise throughout the year not being as favorable in this location.  There are typically large ice heaves just off the shore, but not this year.  Plenty of cracks and other interesting designs in the ice though.

Fellow photog, Jeff Marcus, joined me this beautiful afternoon.  We had the beach all to ourselves this fine January afternoon.

The ice on Lake Pepin was smooth and had no snow cover.  There were a handful of ice fishermen trying their and people ice skating too all over the bay.

2019-01-16 D700 Maiden Rock-1541-HDR
Nikon D700 | ISO 200 | 16mm | f/11 | 1/160 second
2019-01-16 D700 Maiden Rock-1550-HDR
Nikon D700 | ISO 200 | 16mm | f/11 | 1/60 second

Drone Photos

Drone Video

D700 Time lapse Video Clip

 

Views: 228

Drone, Nature, Photography, River-scapes

A FLEETING MOMENT – Bay City, Wi #sunrise

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A FLEETING MOMENT

That was definitely the case this cold January morning.  It was just under 30 degrees, but the 5 mph breeze out of the east (across a huge sheet of ice) made it seem significantly colder.  It was mostly cloudy upon arrival and after a bit, there was only a hint of color on the horizon; them boom!  The color came.  And just like that the color was gone just as quickly as it appeared.  It was a fleeting moment of spectacular color.

Some moments are nice, some are nicer, some are even worth photographing in the cold January weather.

Here are three frames captured 40 minutes apart.

A 4 second clip that encompasses those 40 minutes.

I am really happy with both the vertical and horizontal panorama shots.

2019-01-13 DF011 Bay City-0461-Pano

Mavic 2 Pro | ISO 100 | f/3.5 | 1/20 seconds | 10.26 mm | 7 Frames

2019-01-13 DF011 Bay City-0468-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro | ISO 100 | f/3.5 | 1/20 seconds | 10.26 mm | 7 Frames

I shot my first automated drone 360 sphere this morning.  The images looks interesting.

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Mavic 2 Pro 360 sphere

After a bit of manipulation in Photoshop – viola.  Sunrise-o-sphere.

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360 sphere

EXTRA

Out low across the ice and back high

2019-01-13 DF011 Bay City-0502
Bay City Campground

Here is an aerial view of Bay City Campground.

A shot of two fellow photog friends capturing the sunrise this a.m.

2019-01-13 DF011 Bay City-0477
L. Jeff Marcus | R. Kevin Gardiner

 

Views: 213

Drone, Panorama, Photography

RIVER TERRACE PRAIRIE SNA – Welch, MN #exploremn

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RIVER TERRACE PRAIRIE SNA

2019-01-11 River Terrace SNA-0370-Edit
Mavic 2 Pro | ISO 100 | f/4 | 1/25 seconds | 10.26 mm | 8 Frames

River Terrace Prairie Scientific and Natural Area at sunset Friday January the 11th, 2019.

Even viewed from a mile away, is a striking feature on the landscape. This site was protected as an SNA for its dry sand – gravel prairie (Southern subtype), which is ranked as an imperiled native plant community in the state. It occurs here on glacial outwash atop an isolated terrace of the Cannon River that rises sharply 30 feet above the surrounding lower terrace.
~MN DNR

River Terrace Prairie SNA

Views: 226

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Photography, Steam-scapes

PINE CREEK – Maiden Rock, WI #aerialphotography

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PINE CREEK

After shooting sunrise in Bay City Friday morning  and heading further down river to Maiden Rock chasing the sunrise, I went to a favorite spot of mine close by to explore it from a whole new perspective.   I have many fond memories of Pine Creek as child.  There was a pretty amazing restoration project in this area and the recreation area open to the public is very nice.  Here is an article about the Pine Creek Project from August 2018.

2019-01-11 DF006 – Pine Creek-0327-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 100 | f/2.8| 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 5 Frames
2019-01-11 DF006 – Pine Creek-0343-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 100 | f/2.8| 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 7 Frames

The views directly overhead were pretty great.  Love capturing this new point of view.

 

 

Views: 222

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes

RISING SUN – Maiden Rock, WI #sunrise

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RISING SUN

After shooting sunrise in Bay City Friday morning, I headed further down river to Maiden Rock.  I made it there just in time to see the sun rising over the bluffs.  The sunlight warmed up the blue-cold landscape instantly creating a lovely scene.

2019-01-11 DF005 – 2019-01-05 DF006 – Maiden Rock-0273
Mavic 2 Pro | ISO 100 | f/5 | 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm

Maiden Rock Panoramas

2019-01-11 DF005 – 2019-01-05 DF006 – Maiden Rock-0272-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 100 | f/5 | 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 7 Frames
2019-01-11 DF005 – 2019-01-05 DF006 – Maiden Rock-0279-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro | ISO 100 | f/4.5 | 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 9 Frames
2019-01-11 DF005 – 2019-01-05 DF006 – Maiden Rock-0309-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 100 | f/3.2 | 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 5 Frames
2019-01-11 DF005 – 2019-01-05 DF006 – Maiden Rock-0314-Pano
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 100 | f/3.2 | 1/640 seconds | 10.26 mm | 8 Frames

The ice is pretty fascinating as seen from above.

 

Views: 134

Photography, Time-lapse

FADE FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT – Bay City, WI #timelapse

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FADE FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

No sunrise to speak of this a.m.  Only a fade from darkness to the light as the clouds rolled in overhead.

Views: 147