Category Archives: Photography

Grand Portage State Park – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

October 23, 2013 Dan Traun 1 Comment

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

A favorite destination along the MN North Shore – actually all the way up to the northern tip – is Grand Portage State Park where the Pigeon River flows over the tallest waterfall in Minnesota. It is a pretty spectacular site. It is one of the destinations along the shore that Cyndie and I very much enjoy photographing. A great attribute of the park is that it is handicapped accessible with a paved trail, boardwalk and ramps to a viewing platform. The path the falls is a short distance through the forest. It was overcast that day, but that didn’t seem to dampen the glow of yellow and orange of the Autumn color – it was quite brilliant.

There is a 3.5 mile trail out to middle falls as well. We found the third waterfall on the pigeon river too (Partridge Falls). Partridge Falls is pretty good size, but it lacks a decent down-river vantage point. More on that later…

Here are two views of the high falls and another of the pigeon river flowing toward Lake Superior.

Destination, Nature

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

October 21, 2013 Dan Traun

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

October 20, 2013 Dan Traun 4 Comments

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Hollow Rock

Hollow 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.

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, Photography, Time-lapse

Sunrise @ Grand Marais | MN North Shore #exploremn

October 19, 2013 Dan Traun 1 Comment

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

As luck would have it, our first morning of MN North Shore yielded a spectacular sunrise. The clouds and color were quite wonderful. I am very fond of Autumn sunrises as they happen much later than they do in the Summer 🙂.

Since we would be in position an hour or so before sunrise, I took this opportunity to practice some time-lapse photography again.

There are two parts. I was having issues with exposure; part way through I needed to adjust and that doesn’t bode well for a seamless end to end video. The two parts captured the clouds and color pretty well. I need to do more research on this and practice practice practice.

Part 1

Part 2

Here are a few frames from that lovely morning sunrise.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Honeymoon Bluff – Gunflint Trail | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

October 17, 2013 Dan Traun 1 Comment

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 you 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

July 24, 2013 Dan Traun

MN North Shore

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, Nature

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

July 23, 2013 Dan Traun

The In-Between, Day 2 | MN North Shore

The second day started much like how the first ended – heavy think fog blanketing our surroundings. The fog certainly added an extra element to the photos though. After a bit of breakfast at the lodge we made our way out to the fish house and then out to the point. The hike was great – especially in the fog.

After leaving Cove Point Lodge we went back South to visit Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. It was too late the previous afternoon to go to Split Rock Lighthouse. We spent a great foggy morning there before heading back North and stopping at Palisade Head. There essentially was no view at Palisade Head, other than a ship heading for shore in some very dense fog. Tettegouche State Park was the next stop. We ended up skipping Gerorge Crosby Manitou State Park. The entrance isn’t right off of Hwy 61 and we just plain missed the turn. We continued on our way and visited Temperance River State Park as well as Cascade River State Parkbefore arriving in Grand Marais. We secured a room for the night at The Shoreline Inn and made our way to My Sister’s Place for a much anticipated evening meal. Traveling & photography are hungry business.

Here are my shots of the Minnesota North Shore – The in between, Day 2

Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 1 | Minnesota North Shore

July 23, 2013 Dan Traun

This was a complete impromptu kind of trip. Being the planner that I am I still put together an itinerary of possibilities. We did plan to focus on photographing waterfall in the state parks this trip. We no sooner made the plan and were met with a potential hurdle. Just outside of Duluth on I35 we were met with a wall of fog. If you have ever been to Duluth or been there multiple times, there is a good chance you have experienced this king of fog of epic proportions. Visibility was nil. All was not lost as Duluth was not the destination, but rather a blip on the trail of this particular journey. Little did we know the fog would run the whole length of the North Shore and only really clear one morning during our visit. It made for an interesting trip photographically, that is for sure.

This post and the next few after will recap the details of each day of our trip to the North Shore. I will highlight where we went, what we did and saw and where we ate and stayed.

Knife River, MN was our first stop. You couldn’t see much of Lake Superior, but you could smell the fresh air and the lake. Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse is always on the itinerary. Cyndie isn’t a fan of smoked fish, but I am. I got a quick fix in the parking lot and even shared a bit with the seagulls. Just down the road from Kendall’s on the opposite side of the road are some fantastic old vehicles. I photograph them every trip.

The first day we milled about in Two Harbors a bit and then made our way to Gooseberry Falls State Park. It was this first day that we noticed the abandoned building, but we didn’t photograph it until we returned later in the trip. This was a long day filled with many miles and great sites. Cooter Pottery and Two Island River/Taconite Harbor were great destinations of the day. We settled in at Cove Point Lodge for the night. We had a wonderful dinner just up the road at Cove Point Crossings Bar & Grill.

As you can see by the satellite view there is a nice point to observe the bay and lake from. There is a trail all the way out to the point. This was an interesting and picturesque hike after breakfast the next morning in the fog .

Here are my shots of the Minnesota North Shore – The in between, Day 1

Nature, Photography

Two Harbors Waterfront | Minnesota North Shore

July 22, 2013 Dan Traun

It was a beautiful morning with a touch of fog rolling about on the lake. A quick visit to the waterfront and a stroll out along the breakwater was in order. From this vantage point it was easy to get a better view of the exterior of the abandoned site we just came from. The left behind Polaroid made you wonder – who was she, where was she from and what did she think about the beautiful place. The lone fisherman set against the lake and fog was interesting as well. The stroll was short, but pleasant. There is only one bad thing about traveling the North Shore of Minnesota; that is realizing it is time to head back home :-/

Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Two Harbors Abandoned site | Minnesota North Shore

July 22, 2013 Dan Traun

On our way back down the North Shore we stayed in Two Harbors. Lou’s Fish House has some very tasty morsels for the smoked seafood connoisseur. The smoked jumbo shrimp were fantastic!

If you are into architectural antiques, be certain to stop by North Shore Architectural Antiques and check out the inventory. There are lots of interesting old pieces there to browse. They offer a deconstruction service – three levels in fact. I see this becoming more and more popular as society is taking to the repurpose, reuse, reclaim and recycle movement.

You can head down to the waterfront and observe a working ore dock by walking out on the break-water. Also in the immediate vicinity are four locations operated by the Lake County Historical Society: Two Harbors Lighthouse, The Depot Museum, Edna G. Tugboat and 3M Museum.

This is a great town to spend some time in.

The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) is a railroad operating in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that hauls iron ore and later taconite to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota. Control of the railway was acquired on May 10, 2004, by the Canadian National Railway when it purchased the assets of Great Lakes Transportation.

— WIKIPEDIA

The Duluth, Messabe and Iron Range Railroad began in Two Harbors with a 6-stall wooden roundhouse, but it didn’t take long for the railroad to expand. By 1930, a machine shop, boiler shop, car shop, boiler house, storehouse, foundry, engine room and a 50-stall brick roundhouse blanketed the 30 acres of DM&IR’s lakefront property. 109 locomotives were maintained by the shop, half of which were overhauled annually, while 30 or so received light repair. The roundhouse and machine shop ran 24 hours, maintaining the fleet for both a long ore season and abusive timber season, in addition to limited passenger service.

Out of the 30 buildings that comprised the historic shops, 8 still exist today, although the roofs of many are failing catastrophically. Historic roundhouses and locomotive shops all over the Midwest have been destroyed, but these are still preservable, in spite of the damage. With a little social-historical consciousness and the desire to save those reminders of bygone days that mark the American timeline.

— SUBSTREET.org

This site was absolutely fantastic! I must say that it is my all-time favorite abandoned site to date that I have had the privilege to shoot. The lighting inside was amazing and the graffiti outstanding. I shot this location with my trusty Nikon D60 coupled with the Tamron 18-270mm @ 7.1 on auto ISO. This is the camera that is by my side at all times. You’ll notice the grain in the photos. I think it adds character to the images. I was going to process this location all in B&W, but the colorful graffiti, moss and other aspects of the building dictated otherwise. On some level I wish I would have spent more time and used a different camera, lens and tripod. Different gear and more time would have allowed for a more complete exploration of the light and angles of this relic and captured some rock-solid exposures. I think some really amazing HDR photography could be produced here.

An extensive account of the history of this location is available via Sometimes-Interesting.com’s Ghosts of the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Railroad.