July moon at sunset on Pete's Island

Pete's Island (also known as Grand Portage Island) is the only island in Grand Portage Bay, the Lake Superior bay on which I live. This island is about 3/4 of a mile straight out from my house and is named after Pete Gagnon, who used to operate a store on the island in the days before a highway came up the shore... the days when the lake was the highway. Because Grand Portage Bay is such a shallow bay, when the steamer "America" used to deliver supplies up and down the shore from Duluth, MN to Thunder Bay, Ontario the only dock it could land at in Grand Portage Bay was the deep water dock on Pete's Island (which also explains why the store was on the island!). To this day the cribs from the dock can still be seen a few feet underwater, extending out into the bay. The "America" provided service for 26 years along this route, until June 7, 1928 when she struck a reef in Washington Harbor on Isle Royale and sank. Today, the America is a popular dive site on Isle Royale, her bow resting only a few feet beneath the surface.

Getting back to the creation of these images... on the day these images were made, we had a series of several very intense thunderstorms pass over Grand Portage. Each storm produced fairly heavy rainfall and lasted about an hour, with the sun shining bright in between each passing storm. As sunset approached the last of these storms was breaking up as it headed out over the lake. I could see that sunset was going to be a good one, so I backed my boat off its slide on my beach and headed out to the island to make some images. When I got to the island there were some small waves breaking along the rock spit on the north side of the island. In order to get the vantage point seen in these images, I had to walk a few feet out into the water and shoot back towards the island. I had my regular shoes on (forgot to throw some sandals in the boat) and since the clouds and the light were changing so fast I didn't have time to take my shoes off for fear of missing the good light, so I just walked out into the water. The resulting images were worth the soaked shoes and wet pants :-)

July Sunset, Rock Cove

These images of Lake Superior were captured on the shoreline in front of my parents house. The big lake is without a doubt my favorite subject to photograph and I love capturing the many moods that the lake displays. Almost every day for the past two weeks we have seen countless thunderstorms roll through the area. The showers typically last for about an hour, with sunshine and clear skies in between each passing storm. When I made these images one of those thunderstorms was in the process of breaking up as it moved out over the lake, making for some dark and ominous photos.

Susie Island Sunsets

For the past couple of nights the lake has been so calm I couldn't resist taking the boat out to the Susie Islands to do some shooting despite having clear, "boring" skies. On days where there aren't any clouds I find the most interesting light to be either the hour before the sun comes up or the hour after the sun goes down. Cloudless days can produce a rather beautiful glow in the sky during these times.

(Above and below: Sunset from Lucille Island)

(Above: Sunlit trees on Long Island)

(Above: Twisted tree on Big Susie Island)

(Above: Evening light on Big Susie Island)

(Above: Lichen on Lucille Island)

(Above: Small rock island off the western tip of Lucille Island)

4th of July from Mt. Josephine

For years I've been wanting to watch the Grand Portage fireworks from the summit of Mt. Josephine. This year, I finally had a kindred spirit who had the same desire... my friend Roger (www.rogernordstromphoto.com). Roger and I hatched a plan to hike up to the summit in time to catch the sunset then wait until the fireworks started and photograph them as well. We both figured that it might provide for a cool vantage point to view the fireworks, and boy were we right! It was interesting to be looking down on the fireworks show rather than craning our necks skyward.





After the show was over, we were treated to a couple of hours of very nice moonlight over Grand Portage Bay and Lake Superior. We sat on the rocks high above the bay and watched as the moonlight shimmered and danced on the waters of the lake. After a while we figured we better get some sleep, since we were planning on shooting sunrise from the summit as well. So, we pulled out our sleeping bags and each found a spot on the rocks that wasn't too rough on our backs, then slept under the stars.





I woke shortly after 4:00 a.m. to a chilly wind from the north. I looked at the sky... hmmm... not a cloud in the sky. Kind of a bummer for sunrise photos, but it'll be beautiful to see nonetheless. I sat and watched the first bit of pre-dawn light on the horizon for a few minutes, then woke Roger and we both set up our tripods and started making images. Even though the cloudless sky wasn't the best for photos, the reflections of the sunlight on Wauswaugoning Bay made up for it.

Blue Dawn, Sunset on Magnet Island

Roger (www.rogernordstromphoto.com) was up again this weekend for some more shooting. I first met Roger last October when he contacted me asking if I would be willing to take him down to the Spirit Tree to shoot a sunrise. We did just that, but the morning that we went there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Ever since then Roger has been wanting to get back to the tree for another sunrise, hopefully with clouds this time. Well, we went down to the tree this morning and this time we had some beautiful clouds!





We arrived well before sunrise so we could make plenty of images in the low light before the sun broke the horizon. My favorite image of the morning is the one at the beginning of this entry, which I call "Blue Dawn". This image is a 90 second exposure, and the streaks in the sky are from clouds that were being pushed across the sky rather quickly by the wind.





After shooting the sunrise I had to go to work for the day, but Roger and I made plans to meet up again after work. I told him if the lake was calm that evening, we would head out to the Susie Islands to shoot the sunset. As luck would have it, the lake was nice and calm that evening so we loaded our gear into the boat and I headed for Magnet Island, which is probably my favorite place in Grand Portage to shoot the sunset. This was Roger's first trip to the Susie Islands, and after our evening of shooting he said "I decided that anytime you want to head out to Magnet Island, I'm game!" I guess that means he liked it :-)

Bald Eagle on the bay

Just a quick post today to share a few images of the Bald Eagle that was perched across the road from my driveway. It was kind of a rainy day, and this eagle sat out there for about an hour.

My new boat!

Well, after 10 years of wanting a kayak I was finally able to get one! I went down to Duluth this week and picked up a Wilderness Systems Tsunami 165. I could barely contain my excitement as I drove back from Duluth with the kayak on top of the car. This evening I went for my first paddle in the new boat.



It was a sublime evening on the bay, perfect for trying out the boat and getting a feel for it. I was just going to goof around right in front of the house with it, but it was so nice I decided to actually "circumnavigate" the bay with it. The first thing I noticed was how much easier it glides through the water compared to my canoe. I played around for a little while in front of the house, practicing turning and getting used to the feel and balance of the boat. Then I headed over to the Hat Point Marina and paddled up to the Isle Royale ferry "Wenonah", which looks positively gargantuan from the seat of a kayak! Next, I headed for Pete's Island. After only about 10 minutes of paddling, I was at the island (I thought it would take longer to get there!). I landed and got out for a minute to stretch my legs (not used to the sitting position yet!).

For the next leg of my "trial paddle", I went from Pete's Island to "The Pines", a picnic area on the east side of Grand Portage National Monument. As I crossed the bay there was a gentle swell rolling into the bay and every now and then one of the swells would give me a little push, causing my speed to increase. As the boat rose and fell on the backs of these swells, it was a wonderful feeling. It felt like I could feel the lake breathing. I can tell I'm going to love this sport! This wasn't my first time kayaking, but it had been awhile so the sensations all felt new again. After reaching the pines, I turned and followed the shoreline back to my house. This part of the bay is very shallow and almost entirely sand bottom. It was fun gliding along and watching the ripples in the sand as they passed beneath the boat. When I got back to my place, my brother was sitting there waiting for me. He had seen me paddling and wanted to give the boat a quick try. I pulled up parallel to shore and in my haste to climb out, promptly tipped over on the lakeside of the boat and got completely wet. Oh, well! I also got to try out my new bilge pump :-) I can't wait until the next outing!