Tag Archives: Minnesota

Drone, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes

RED WING BOAT HOUSES – Red Wing, MN #aerialphotography

Image March 26, 2019 Dan Traun 2 Comments

RED WING BOAT HOUSES

I Googled the interweb and did not find much information regarding the history of the Red Wing Boat Houses. The only thing I found was an article from the Winona Daily News from July 4th, 2009 – Book traces history of boathouses on the Mississippi. The book referenced in the article, The Floating Boathouses on the Upper Mississippi River: Their History, Their Stories is available on Amazon for $99.96. I probably will not be ordering that any time soon.

I did find some information regarding the Red Wing Yacht Club in an article from Post Bulletin March 13, 2015 regarding the lease to operate in Red Wing Bay. In the article it said:

Kevin Avery, commodore of the yacht club, explained that the club has been in the harbor for 112 years and has 275 members, about 80 percent of them from Red Wing. Nearly all the boats in the harbor are fishing boats or recreational runabouts housed in modest floating boathouses.

Now 116 years – that is some longevity. I’ll have to keep digging for more information on the yacht cloud and boat houses.

I did find a copy of Friends and Neighbors All: Brief History of the Red Wing Yacht Club Special Edition for $250 if anyone is interested in that. Yikes.

If anyone has any information about the Red Wing boat houses or any others on the Mississippi feel free to leave a link in the comments.

Vertical Panorama

Horizontal Panoramas

More single shots

Drone, Panorama, Photography, Steam-scapes

WHITE WATER RIVER VALLEY – Weaver, MN #aerialphotography

Image March 24, 2019 Dan Traun 2 Comments

WHITE WATER RIVER VALLEY

This last Friday morning I made my way south from Red Wing to Weaver to shoot the sun rising over the White Water River Valley. The color was beautiful despite there not being even a hint of clouds.

I flew from a small pull-off on 26 just to the west of Weaver.

Pre-sunrise color

Sunrise lighting up the valley

Drone, Panorama, Photography

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE, Red Wing, MN #construction

Image March 16, 2019 Dan Traun 1 Comment

HIGH BRIDGE AND LEVEE

The high bridge and levee are both under construction at the moment. This will be interesting given the rising water from the Spring snow melt.

Levee Construction

Bridge Constructions

Drone, Panorama, Photography

HIGHWAY 61, Red Wing, MN #sunrise

Image March 16, 2019 Dan Traun 1 Comment

HIGHWAY 61 – Red Wing, MN

I witnessed a nice sunrise along Highway 61 in Red Wing adjacent to Barn Bluff.

The launch Pad

Pre-sunrise over Red Wing looking upstream

Highway 61 — Pre-sunrise looking downstream

Drone, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes

BEFORE THE STORMS COME – Hager City, WI #lovelyafternoon

Image February 23, 2019 Dan Traun 1 Comment

BEFORE THE STORMS COME

Another finally Friday; the work week is done. I look forward to the weekends and photography sunrise/sunset. However, the forecast for this weekend looks like total crap. Freezing rain, snow, high winds – blizzard warning oh my. A recipe for a Netflix binge no doubt. I took advantage of the nice weather Friday afternoon before the storms come. It was nice to get out and fly.

First Stop

I didn’t venture too far; just across the Mississippi River from Red Wing into Wisconsin. My first stop was Pucketville right next to the Harbor Bar. There is a nice view of Red Wing from there and the Jamaican Jerk cuisine is fantastic.

Red Wing Riverfront

Red Wing Bridge Construction

Harbor Bar 360 Sphere

Red Wing Boat Houses

Second Stop

I wanted to get a shot of the Trimbelle River tail waters, but wasn’t able to get a close enough. It is a bit difficult to see, but it is out in the distance about center frame. You can see the bridge over the Trimbelle River on Hwy 35 or the right side of the frame. I will have to dress appropriately next time and go for a hike. The patches of evergreens are interesting. A few hundred feet up sure offers a different perspective.

Third Stop

I drove around a bit more until I found myself near the gravel pit on Cty Rd VV. This area looked pretty interesting while hovering over the bluff tops. The exposed rock from the gravel pit, the road through the valley and if you look closely, you’ll see the little town of Hager City, WI in the middle of the frame.

K Gravel Pit

K Gravel Pit 360 Sphere

I really love the bluff country where I live. I look forward to photographing it from the air in all seasons.

Nature, Photography, Wildlife

COLVILL BAY – Red Wing, MN #exploremn

Image January 27, 2019 Dan Traun 2 Comments

COLVILL BAY

After missing sunrise and quick drive down the lake and back I stopped in to Colvill Bay. Per usual this time of year, there was a flurry of activity. Ducks in the water and eagles flying overhead and perched in trees.

I was greeted right away by a mature eagle perched close by. The snow was falling pretty good at this point; it sat there eye-balling the ducks below.

There were quite a few very active eagles there this morning. As I was shooting, a poker theme emerged.

It was tough shooting with the steam rising off the water and snow falling from above.

It is always interesting to see what variety of ducks will be in the bay.

Red-breasted Merganser

Common Mergansers

Mergansers

Mallards

Mallard

Drone, Nature, Panorama, Photography, River-scapes

ELEVATED GOLDEN HOUR – Lake City, MN #sunset

Image January 5, 2019 Dan Traun

ELEVATED GOLDEN HOUR

Having had so much fun this a.m. shooting sunrise, I decided to head out this afternoon and see what I could do with the afternoon golden hour. I brought the best wife ever along so she could see how much fun this is. Here she is standing next to me for a selfie.

The light was wonderful. The limestone faces of the bluffs on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin glowed orange as the sun went down.

Panoramas

The practice continues on drone panorama photography. It’s all completely manual at this point as I have not delved into the automated features of the Mavic 2 Pro.

The wayside rest next to Hansen’s Harbor between Frontenac and Lake City was an interesting location. I was a nice wide open expanse to practice flying around. The ice on the lake was very interesting, colorful and full of texture.

A few more single shots

Destination, Photography

COVILL PARK BAY, Red Wing, MN #exploremn

Image December 14, 2018 Dan Traun

Covill Park Bay

Situated on the southwest bank of the Mississippi River, the floodplain forest of Colvill Park is one of the most popular spots in Minnesota to watch wintering bald eagles. In the spring and fall migrating ducks such as mallards, common mergansers, and common goldeneyes can be seen feeding. White-tail deer, mink, and gray squirrels are also common sites. ~#exploremn

There were not many eagles this a.m., but the light, shadows and reflections were wonderful.

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

FORT SNELLING STATE PARK – St. Paul, MN #whitetaildeer

Image November 12, 2018 Dan Traun 7 Comments

Fort Snelling State Park is a great place to go to photograph Whitetail deer. My wife Cyndie and I, along with our photog friend Linnae, made the chilly early November trip to in hopes of photographing deer.

In previous years, it seemed that we started out seeing smaller bucks and worked our way up. Not this year. When we arrived around 8 a.m., we found the big guy with a single doe in a ditch along side the road. We didn’t have much time with this guy. A truck pulled up shortly after we did and was a bit close for his comfort. The doe trotted off with him closely behind.

We never pass over the boat landing on Picnic Island. There is usually something interesting there to see.

It didn’t take long into our walk on Pike Island and my wife spotted another big fella laying down in the thick stuff. Another fine looking buck. He had a couple of does next to him.

There was just as much photographer activity as deer. Another photographer told us about a piebald spike buck he had seen earlier. It wasn’t too long after that and we have the fortune of seeing him as well.

Pike Island is pretty large, but not so large that you cannot cover the area at a leisurely pace. It seemed like we saw way more deer this trip compared to years past.

There is quite an abundance of other wildlife and nature to behold in the park. Here are a few other things that caught my eye.

Another great visit to a wonder Minnesota State Park. If you have never been, I highly recommend this experience.

Previous trips to Fort Snelling State Park

Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

BARN BLUFF – Red Wing, MN #exploremn

Image July 29, 2018 Dan Traun 1 Comment

BARN BLUFF

Barn Bluff is a bluff along the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Minnesota, United States. The bluff is associated with Dakota legend from hundreds of years ago. During the 19th century, the bluff functioned as a visual reference for explorers and travelers. The bluff overlooks the downtown area and towers about 400 feet above the Mississippi River with an extensive view of Lake Pepin to the south. It is one of hundreds of bluffs in the Driftless Area, which covers parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, in addition to the southeastern toe of Minnesota. -wikipedia

Barn Bluff aka Mount La Grange and He Mni Can, is 3100′ long, 800′ wide, 334′ above the river and 1001′ above sea level. There are two main lookouts (red dots) on either end of the bluff; both equally spectacular. The main trailhead can be accessed on the East side; off of East 5th Street (blue dot). See Map for trail details. More info on Barn Bluff here. If you even find yourself in Red Wing, plan on spending a couple of hours hiking the bluff; you won’t be disappointed.