Tag Archives: 2013

Photography

Looking Back to Look Ahead

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reflectionIt is that time of year when you reflect back on the year you just experienced. Reflecting back on the past enables you to understanding from where you have come.  That is key in any plan for moving forward.

Creating photographs is one thing.  Blogging about these photographs is a whole other deal.  It take time, effort and thought.  It’s work.  But it is fun work.

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I began in 2011 without a clue.  A blog seemed like a fun thing – a way to grow my photography by sharing with a vast community.  I shared 1170 photos from Sept-Dec. and had 15,000 visitors.  I was fortunate enough to be Freshly Pressed three months into my new blogging experience.  It was an eye-opening to say the least.  The busiest day of the 2011 was November 17th with 3,043 views.  My post, PHOTOGRAPHY PURIST. WHATEVER…, netted 10,000+ views overall and lots of wonderful feedback.  This was just the boost I needed to keep me motivated and pressing forward (no pun intended).   //2011 full report//

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2012 was a great experience in photography and blogging.  I averaged just under two posts per week – adding 98 new posts, growing my total archive to 158 posts.  I think blogging  about my photography encouraged me to see photographs in almost every direction I would look.  There is no shortage of interesting subjects surrounding you.  All you have to do is see them; that is what I think 2012 was all about for me.  At 45,000+ views from 76 countries, I really feel like I reached out and shared a great deal of myself and my photography.  2012 was the year I began my monthly “revisited” posts where I would go back through my photos of the month and create black and white conversions on my favorite images.  //2012 full report//

outdoorguyphotography-3531In 2013, I added 179 new posts, growing my archive to 332 posts.  Cyndie and I traveled and photographed as much as we were able this year. Most notable was our two trips along Minnesota’s North Shore and our trip to Colorado when we were married.  2013 was the year I started my weekly photo posts in addition to my monthly reviews and black and white conversion posts.  That seemed more plausible as a 365 project was more than I could commit to then.  This was a great exercise in seeing my everyday.  I captured some interesting aspects of normal life.  A lot of my weekly captures were on the road as I commuted to and from work.  I had two hours a day to view things differently.  Two hours a day to see different compositions of the same/similar things in different light, weather and seasons.  At 49,000+ view from 96 countries, once again I feel like I put myself and my photography even further out there.  Another great year.  I thank everyone for the wonderful feedback and your continued visits to my humble little space on the Interweb.  //2013 full report//

InspirationEnough looking back.  What is in store for 2014?  A few Changes.  (1) I changed names.  I retired outdoorguyphotography and am now posting under my full name instead.  I feel like the name just didn’t fit anymore.  (2) I migrated away from WordPress.com and am hosting my blog.  I haven’t figured out what all this means just yet.  I don’t think you need to have everything figure out.  Sometimes you just need to go with.  With that spirit in mind, I did.  This venture has not been without challenges.  The biggest one so far is the separation from the WordPress community.  More on that later.

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For the time-being, if you wish to stay tuned, please subscribe via email in the upper right-hand corner of the page.  Another option; if you are a facebook user, you can follow me there by liking my Dan Traun Photography facebook page.

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Thank you all for your continued follows and feedback.  I look forward to traveling and photographing my way through 2014 with my lovely and talented wife.  I expect this new year will be full of all sorts of photography opportunities and adventures.  Here’s to living, learning and pressing forward!

Destination, Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 3 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Day 3 was the day – the morning actually – the sunrise shoot we had hoped for back in July when we planned this trip.  I love it when a plan comes together!  Hollow Rock was right outside our cabin; a mere 100 yards or so to the shooting location on the rocky beach.  That morning was absolutely gorgeous.  Everything came together nicely.  The clouds, color and sun all working in perfect harmony.

Gunflint Trail to Grand Portage

After an epic sunrise experience we set out to explore forest roads between the Gunflint Trail and Grand Portage.  The color around Grand Portage [although past prime] was better than Grand Marais.  I’ve never seen so many Ruffed Grouse in my life.  I seen as many birds on this trip as I had all the years I used to upland hunt.  We were also searching for the third waterfall, Partridge Falls, on the Pigeon River and eventually found it.  We were unable to find a decent falls vantage point down river for a good photograph, but enjoyed the location just the same.  It is quite peaceful out in the middle of nowhere.  Natures beauty really consumes and carries you around from one location to the next.  At one point our travels were impeded by the handiwork some busy beavers.

One bit of advice whilst out and about in strange lands and big wilderness – study a map or two before you set out.  GPS, on more than one occasion, failed to provide adequate direction.  A little bit of mystery is fine, but having a general idea of where you will be traveling – starting and ending up – is paramount to a good trip.  “Ready to Navigate” displayed on the GPS, although humorous, is not helpful at all.  As you can see from the Lightroom Map Module below from GPS data, we covered some ground over three days.  It was a fabulous trip and experience with my betrothed.

MN North Shore

Here are some photos from Day 3.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

The In-Between, Day 2 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Day 2 on MN North Shore began exquisitely.  We made our way down to waters edge for the Sunrise @ Grand Marais shoot.  Nature cooperated nicely.  From there, we back-tracked a bit to Cascade River State Park for a beautiful morning hike up the river gorge among the picturesque cascades.

Park History

Years ago, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp at the Cascade River. The men in this camp worked on a variety of conservation projects. Today, you can see some of their handiwork on the trails that wind along the river. One enrollee told how they cut and moved the large pine logs from Cascade down to Gooseberry Falls State Park to finish buildings in that park. From the beginning, Cascade was thought of as a state park, but it wasn’t until 1957 that it was officially designated as such. -wikipedia

Cascade River State Park photos

Next we got off the beaten path (Hwy 61) and made our way towards another destination (Hollow Rock Resort).  After checking in we were off on the Gunflint Trail to drive a loop through the forest in search of Devilfish overlook.    We got closed, but missed a road and stumbled on a Red Fox – cute little bugger; then just continued on our way.  We decided to take another run at a sunset at Honeymoon Bluff that overlooks Hungry Jack Lake off the Gunflint Trail.  The second attempt yielded better results than the first.

Another full day on the MN North Shore.  Love this place.  There is a surprise around every corner.

The in-between photos

Destination, Nature

North Shore Abstracts – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

You can find yourself doing all sorts of things when you are out and about along MN North Shore.  We made good use of our midday going to and from locations.  The lovely Autumn colors provided some great backdrops for some abstract shots.  It is something different to do photographically and some time you get some pretty interesting shots.

For those of you who have never done anything like this, you can get shots like this with a small aperture (f/16 – f/32) and a slow shutter speed.  Click the shutter and move your camera either up or down from where you started.  Side to side works well to.  You can also zoom in or out to create a pretty neat effect.  Go nuts; there is no wrong method.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Sunrise @ Hollow Rock | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Hollow Rock

resortlocationHollow Rock is located a handful of miles South of Grand Portage, MN on MN North Shore.  Hollow Rock Resort is situated in between Hollow Rock Creek and Hollow Rock Road.  The rock formation is located right off of the shore from the resort.  Cyndie and I stayed in Cabin #5 – Moose; Hollow Rock was right out the cabin’s front door.

Being right on location was certainly nice.  All that was needed was to wake up, have some coffee and then set up to shoot.  The in-floor heat was a plus; it made the cabin nice and cozy.  I was also happy to see the tank-less water heater.  It is always good to have hot water.  This is what I like to refer to as remote/comfortable.  There is no cable TV, cellular service or Internet here.  It was quite peaceful.  A great place to get lost for a few days.

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Here are a few other shots from the cabin and around the immediate area outside the cabin.

At this particular time of year, the sunrise lines up nicely with hole in Hollow Rock.  We had a picture-perfect morning for a sunrise.  The weather, clouds and color came together quite nicely.  Here are four frames from that magnificent sunrise shoot.

I continued to practice my time-lapse photography at this location as well.  I had the same issues as before, but I am pleased with the results.

Part One

Part Two

Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Honeymoon Bluff – Gunflint Trail | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Honeymoon Bluff

There is a very picturesque place not so far away from Grand Marais, MN; just up the Gunflint Trail approximately 30 miles on MN North Shore.  Honeymoon Bluff overlooks Hungry Jack lake; if honeymoonbluffmappyou are lucky you will witness a beautiful sunset.  This site is easily accessible by a well-mark and maintained trail.  Steep as it was, it is over very soon.  A quick 1/2 mile and you are looking out over pristine wilderness.

Our first attempt during our stay in Grand Marais/Grand Portage was met with cloudy conditions – not optimal for a sunset.  You come all this way and you sometimes make do with what is available.  I took the opportunity to shoot some time-lapse photography.  Since we were relatively close the second day we decided to have another go at it.

Time-lapse is interesting to play around with; clearly I need to perfect the process more.  The output is a bit crude as I had some dust and dirt issues and I still have the trial version of the software.  Sunset I think is easiest as you just end up with a black frame eventually.  Sunrise is a whole different thing; more on that in a future post.

Cloudy version

Sunset version

Here are my shots from both days – clouds and sunset.  Cyndie and I really enjoyed this spot.  It is easy enough to reach if you are in the area and it looks like there may be a good sunset.
Destination, Nature

The In-Between, Day 3 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

MN North Shore

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Grand Marais to Grand Portage

Ahhhh beautiful Grand Marais, MN.  This (and points North) is my favorite area of the MN North Shore.  We got off the beaten path and explored a few forest roads on our way to Judge CR Magney State Park.  The wild flowers were incredible as were the butterflies.  One of the forest road dead-ended out in the middle of nowhere.  That wasn’t terribly convenient and it forced us to backtrack back to where we started.  It could have been worse; we could be at work.

We spent a fair amount of time at Judge CR Magney State Park and generally took it a bit easier than we had in the last two days.  That pace we initially set was pretty aggressive pace initially and we were both starting to slow down some.  We arrived in Grand Portage in the early afternoon.

Lodging

Cabin lodging in these parts of the MN North Shore typically insist on a 2-night say minimum.  We had hoped to stay at Hollow Rock Resort so we could just wake up at sunrise and walk out right onto the shore for sunrise, but the two-day stay stamped that plan out.  The Grand Portage Lodge & Casino is a suitable solution to your one night stay needs.  Hollow Rock Resort is part of the casino and there wasn’t an issue gaining access to do a sunrise shoot there.

We checked in and then explored the surrounding area some as a late afternoon thunderstorm rolled on through.  An early dinner at the Casino and some much-needed shuteye seem like the perfect end of another full day of traveling the North Shore.

Here are my shots of the MN North Shore – The in between, Day 3

Destination, Photography

Judge CR Magney State Park | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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Judge CR Magney State Park

Judge CR Magney State Park | Minnesota North Shore

Judge C.R. Magney State Park is the seventh park you will encounter along the North Shore.  Devil’s Kettle Falls is the main draw here. This is a very unusual, and even mysterious waterfall.  As you can see in the featured image, the river is split in two as it goes over the falls.  The section on the right, lands at the base of the falls and continues downstream.  The section on the left vanishes into a pothole known as the Devil’s Kettle and no one knows where it goes.  It is believed that the water makes its way out to Lake Superior by means of underground passages, but the exact details are unknown.   They have thrown dyes and logs and other things into the pothole, but apparently nothing ever comes out. If you have ever worried about falling over a waterfall, imagine falling into the Devil’s Kettle.  Read more on Devil’s Kettle…

History

Concrete foundations in the campground and picnic areas of the park are remnants of a transient work camp built there in 1934 by the State. The camp provided work and lodging for men displaced during the Depression years. In addition to building trails, logging, and completing public service projects, these men helped fight a fire in 1935 that burned more than 10,000 acres in the area. Later the men set up a sawmill and began to salvage fire-damaged wood.

In 1957, a 940-acre parcel of forest along the Brule River was set aside as Brule River State Park. The park became Judge C. R. Magney State Park in 1963 when the Minnesota legislature selected this park as a memorial to the late Judge Magney, a lawyer, mayor of Duluth, justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and a strong advocate of Minnesota State Parks, especially those along the North Shore. With his influence, he was instrumental in establishing 11 state parks and waysides along Lake Superior. Over the years, parcels of land have been added to the park which today totals 4,642 acres.

Park Features

More than half of those 4,642 acres have no trails.  The upper two-thirds of land this park occupies has almost no trails.  The only trail runs parallel with the Brule River and eventually veers off to connect with the Superior Hiking Trail.    There are 9 total miles of hiking trails in the park.  This park has a good amount of semi-modern drive-up campsites.  Fishing opportunities are plentiful here on the Brule River or a tributary, Gauthier Creek, for Brook and Rainbow Trout.  The Spring time brings on the Steelhead run and Fall host the Salmon run.

Here are my shots of Judge C. R. Magney from a recent visit.

Destination, Nature, Photography

Temperance River State Park | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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Temperance River State Park

Temperance River State Park | Minnesota North Shore

Temperance River State Park is the fifth state park you will encounter along the shore.  In 1957, Minnesota organized 539 acres into the Temperance River State Park.  This park is a gorgeous.  The river plunges through a narrow gorge just before reaching Lake Superior; the surround tails provide ample opportunities for viewing the wonderful water.  There are several miles of hiking trails to explore and direct access to the Superior Hiking Trail.  The Superior Hiking Trail passes through the park, along the river gorge before climbing to the top of Carlton Peak, almost 1000 feet above Lake Superior.  Two campsites grace the shoreline here, one on either side of the river.

History

Pierre Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart, Sier des Groselliers, were probably the first white visitors to the North Shore when they traveled up the shore of Lake Superior during 1660. Along with the Ojibwe Indians, the French controlled the North Shore area until 1763. The first white settlers in the area were probably clerks at American Fur Company posts located along the shore in the 1830s.  It is said the park got its name because, unlike other North Shore streams, the river had no bar at its mouth. At one time, the waters of this particular river flowed so deep and so strong into Lake Superior that there was no build-up of debris. This meant that there was no “bar.” What could you call a river without a bar?  For an appropriate, if slightly tongue-in-cheek selection, “temperance” fits perfectly. The area became a state park in 1957. Campsites on both sides of the river, plus the park’s hiking trails and picnic areas, draw a steady stream of visitors to this North Shore park.

Here are my shots of our visit to Temperance River.

Destination, Nature, Photography

Tettegouche State Park | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

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Tettegouche State Park

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Tettegouche State Park is the third state park you will encounter on the MN North Shore of Lake Superior.  It sits 58 miles northeast of Duluth in Lake County on scenic Minnesota Highway 61. The park’s name stems from the Tettegouche Club, an association of local businessmen which purchased the park in 1910 from the Alger-Smith Lumber Company. The club’s members protected the area until its sale in 1971 to the deLaittres family. In 1979, the state of Minnesota acquired 3,400 acres from the Nature Conservancy, including Tettegouche Camp. The land was added to Baptism River State Park, which was renamed Tettegouche State Park.

The park covers some 9000+ acres which is home to six lakes and the Baptism River.  There are four waterfalls total, but the 70 foot High Falls is the jewel of the park.  There are 22 miles of hiking trails and access to the Superior Hiking Trail.  Shovel Point and Palisade Head cliff’s offer climbing directly over Lake Superior.  Diverse camping opportunists await you here as you can drive-in, walk-in, cart-it and even kayak-in to a campsite.

There is a new visitor center under construction and the main park entrance has shifted to a new location temporarily as a result.  Read more…

At this park we photographed Two Step Falls and High Falls; we didn’t venture around to the other side of the river to capture the staight-on view of High Falls.  There wasn’t any fog at this park as it was far enough off Lake Superior and it was quite bright.  These were not good conditions to capture the falls without ND filters 🙁  High Falls is the highest waterfall entirely inside Minnesota’s border whereas High Falls in Grad Portage State Park on the Pigeon River is the tallest in Minnesota (on the border with Canada).   I completely missed Illgen Falls on the map – next time.  There is a rental cabin right at Illgen Falls.  I would love to stay here some day and catch the sunrise through the stone arch on the beach.

History

In 1898, the Alger-Smith Lumber Company began cutting the virgin pine forests of Northeastern Minnesota. A logging camp was set up on the shores of a lake the loggers called Nipisiquit, an Indian name from a tribe in New Brunswick, Canada, the logger’s native country. They took the Algonquin names for New Brunswick landmarks and gave them to the lakes in Tettegouche.

In 1910, after removing most of the Norway and white pine, the logging company sold the camp and surrounding acreage to the “Tettegouche Club,” a group of businessmen from Duluth who used the area as a fishing camp and retreat. One of its members, Clement Quinn, bought the others out in 1921 and continued to act as protector for the area until 1971 when Quinn sold Tettegouche to the deLaittres family. The deLaittres continued Quinn’s tradition of stewardship for the land, beginning negotiations several years later for the preservation of Tettegouche as a state park. During these years, the Nature Conservancy, a private land conservation organization, played a vital role (along with other concerned individuals and groups) in the transfer of ownership. Finally, on June 29, 1979, legislation was enacted establishing Tettegouche as a state park.

Here are my shots of our visit to Tettegouche.