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.
Maiden Rock Panoramas
The ice is pretty fascinating as seen from above.
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Bay City Beauty – I never tire of the beauty of this shoreline, this bay, the bluffs and the sunrises that happen here. Another work gone and an early morning spent marveling at the palette of colors mother nature painted the sky with today.
It was also another opportunity to practice drone photography. I’ve always leaned toward portrait orientation in my photography, but I am really liking the result of the vertical [portrait orientation] panoramic images from the drone.
Two more panoramas.
And a few more single frame shots.
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When I arrived at my favorite sunrise location this a.m. the sky was quite clear; so clear that you could see Jupiter (bottom) and Venus (top) easily next to the silhouette of the tree.
January starts out with Venus shining above Jupiter in the morning sky, yet the month ends with Jupiter shining above Venus. Day by day, Jupiter climbs upward, away from the sunrise, while Venus sinks downward, toward the rising sun. The two will meet for a conjunction in the morning sky on January 22, 2019. ~EarthSky.org
As the morning progressed the clouds cooperated wonderfully even though a completely clear sky was in the forecast for this morning. This morning started out like most other mornings at this particular location, but the situation changed dramatically. The new perspective is courtesy of a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone I received for Christmas from the best wife ever.
I am pretty happy with the results given this was my third flight and first ever attempt at shooting the sunrise with a drone. The shots are a titch grainy given ISO 400 . The vertical panorama is my favorite drone photo of the day. This morning without a doubt spawned an enthusiasm for drone photography that will not likely subside any time soon.
Mavic 2 Pro| ISO 400 | f/9 | 1/60 seconds | 10.26 mm | 12 Frames
Two more panoramas.
A short video clip from this a.m.
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There is nothing quite like the the palette of color nature displays prior to the sun rising above the horizon. Pre-sunrise color can be quite spectacular; as was the case this morning.
Don’t forget to look all around before the sun comes up and the vivid color is gone.
Once the sun broke the horizon the pinks/reds disappeared; the blue and yellow became more defined.
A constant stream of ducks doing flybys pre-sunrise; if you look close enough you can see them in one of the shots. There were lots of geese honking. A single pair a swans swam close by. Two eagles chattered on and on in a nearby Cottonwood Tree. What a great morning and start to the day.
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Bay City is a village on the Mississippi River in Pierce County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 500 at the 2010 census. It is one of my favorite places to shoot a sunrise. It’s close proximity to Red Wing makes it an easy distance to travel. This isn’t such a big deal in the Winter when sunrise is 7:30 a.m. In the Spring and Summer months, though, sunrise is closer to to 5:30 a.m.
I made the trip to this very spot yesterday a.m. and it was less than colorful.
That morning was more suited for photographing the hoar frost.
This morning was a completely different.
It was a chilly morning, but it wasn’t too bad at 19 degrees. Always a good time with nature, cameras and friends.
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Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota badlands to hunt bison in September 1883. During that first short trip, he got his bison and fell in love with the rugged lifestyle and the “perfect freedom” of the West.
Following Theodore Roosevelt’s death in 1919, the Little Missouri Badlands were explored to determine possible park sites. Civilian Conservation Corps camps were established in both of the future park units from 1934 to 1941, and they developed roads and other structures in use today. President Truman established the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park on April 25, 1947, the only National Memorial Park ever established. In 1978, in addition to boundary adjustments and the establishment of 29,920 acres of the Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness, the park’s designation was changed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. -wikipedia
I recently had the pleasure of spending 3 nights/4 days in TRNP with two other photog friends. My goal was to photograph the wild horses in the park as well as capture a sunrise and sunset. I also wanted to photograph the Elk and Bison in the park. We accomplished all of that an more.
We arrived late afternoon on a Tuesday in early October. It was windy and cold. Watching the forecast leading up to the trip was interesting to say the least. Weather, though, can change at any moment; it did. There was no freezing rain to speak of and only a dusting of snow on the first and last morning we were there – all of which added to the already incredible beauty around us. The frost on the second morning was epic. At 19 degrees in the a.m., it stuck around for a long while even after sunrise.
A truly rugged and beautiful landscape awaits you at TRNP. The vast open expanses of land inspire awe and wonder to those that gaze upon it. Looking out across the land today it is hard to imagine the forests and swamps that used to be there. [More on the geologic formations]
We spent the majority of our time in the South Unit looking for the wild horses. There was plenty of time between sightings given the weather to take in the scenery. So much beauty; so many acres.
There are coal veins burning in the park. They were hard to detect the first few days because of the wind. Once things calmed down some, the smoke was easy to see. We first noticed it at sunrise on day 3 when it was 19 degrees. We didn’t realize what it was until we got closer and could smell it; then we saw exactly where it was coming from.
I saw a smaller coal vein burning pretty close to the road
We took a short [long] break from the South Unit and headed to the North Unit. It’s a quick one-hour jaunt one-way through the grasslands. We did find an old cabin along the road to photography along with two dandy longhorn cattle. The pronghorn’s were laying in the field until sensed I was stopping – off they ran.
The North Unit landscape if very pretty. It is much like the South Unit, but seemingly with more trees; especially along the river. The road is out and back; not a loop like the North Unit.
The North Unit is home to bizarre cannonball rock formations.
Mineral-rich water deposits minerals as it seeps through porous sediment layers. The minerals act like glue, binding the sediments together and forming concretions. Concretions form in many different shapes and sizes. Those that are spherical are called “cannonballs.” For now, scientists can only guess why some concretions take on such a spherical shapes.
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Eagle Nest
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Farm Sunrise
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