Electric Sky

Well, I am still without my camera (going on two weeks now), but it is in transit and should be here in 3 more days.  I have also been busy preparing for my upcoming photo exhibition at the Johnson Heritage Post in Grand Marais, MN.  Those two factors mean that I essentially have not had any new photos to post from the last two weeks.  So, here is one from 2006 that I would like to share.  This was a lightning storm that hit in the middle of the night and woke me up from a deep sleep.  I actually shot this photo from my open bedroom window.  The storm and the lightning were VERY close, so I didn't want to risk going outside.  As it turns out, the best lightning was happening directly over my driveway which was perfectly visible from my upper-level bedroom window.  I opened the window, popped the screen out and set up my tripod.  For the next half-hour I had a blast capturing photos of the lightning.  This is not the "best" shot of the night, but it is a favorite.  I will have a print of the "best" shot on display at my upcoming show.  Be sure to check it out, the show runs from August 17th to September 8th!

Water Abstract - Pigeon River

I haven't been posting many pictures lately.  My apologies to those that might be missing my posts.  I have been busy going through a selection process to determine which photos I want to display in my upcoming "Visual Stories" exhibition in Grand Marais.  Also, I have been without my camera for the past week!  It turns out it got a little too wet during my last outing (remember the lightning photo at the Spirit Tree from a week ago?) and would not let me shoot anymore.  I was getting an "Error 30" message and had to send it in to a Canon Service Center.  I should have it back sometime this week.

In the meantime, here is a photo from this spring.  This was taken at Middle Falls on the Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park.  The water just above the falls has many areas where the flow is silky smooth, which makes for some very intriguing abstract images when shooting with a telephoto lens.  Another interesting thing is that the water here often nicely reflects the colors of the sky.  On this particular day there was some blue sky along with patchy clouds and you can see both reflected here in the water. 

Pigeon River Otters

Jessica and I were kayaking on the Pigeon River the other day when we had an incredibly fun experience with an Otter family!  We were exploring the small islands in the wide part of the river just downstream from the rapids below High Falls.  Jessica was paddling ahead of me and I was looking down a channel between two of the islands when I heard Jessica say in a loud whisper "There's otters right over there!"  I looked and sure enough, not more than 25 feet off the bow of her kayak, a family of otters was swimming around against the bank along the side of the river.  I slowly paddled over to get a closer look.  They didn't seem bothered by us at all, probably because they are used to boats in this section of the river (it is a popular area for local fishermen).  We watched them for a minute or two then realized that there was one otter that was a lot smaller than the others.  The little one was adorable as he/she bobbed up and down in the water, trying to get a better look at us.  We enjoyed their company for about another 10 minutes then they all swam off down one of the channels in between the islands.  We were glowing from the experience as we paddled back to the boat landing :-)

Midsummer Storm at the Spirit Tree

Yesterday throughout the day and all through last night we experienced one incredible thunderstorm after another.  Some particulars from the weather warnings throughout the day: 70 MPH winds, possible golf-ball size hail, heavy rainfall and flood advisories.  To top it off the power was out for most of the night as well.  We ended up with anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain, depending on where the measurement was taken.  The Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park went from a discharge rate of roughly 4,000 gallons per second yesterday morning to about 28,000 gallons per second today.  The storms also produced the best lightning show that we've seen so far this year.

As day turned to night I couldn't resist the light show that was going on all over in the sky.  I ended up spending about two and a half hours standing on the Lake Superior shoreline trying to capture photos of the lightning.  I went down to the Spirit Tree, which is not far from my home.  I've always wanted to capture a "knock your socks off" photo of lightning behind the tree (similar to a shot that my dad captured on slide film years ago), but the photo I dream of still eludes me.  I am getting closer, however.  Last night's storms yielded my best results yet at photographing lightning behind the tree.  The photo you see here is the result of two hours of standing in the rain trying to capture the perfect bolt of lightning while thunder rumbled all around me.  It was definitely one of the most uncomfortable periods of time I've ever spent outside with my camera, but an effort that I consider worthwhile when I view this image. 

Summer Sandhill Crane

Boy did we ever have a nice surprise today!  We headed across the border to Canada this morning to pick our own strawberries at Belluz Farms then we spent the afternoon in Thunder Bay.  We picked up delicious sandwiches from an Italian deli then went to Kam River Park for a river-side lunch, followed by a matinee movie.  About half-way through the drive home Jessica exclaimed "Whoa!  There was a sandhill crane standing in the ditch back there!"  I swung the car around and we went back for a look.  Sure enough, there was a crane just off the road!  It had walked away from the highway through a thin line of brush and was standing out in a swampy area less than 100 feet from the road.  We watched it walk around in the tall grass for a while, all the while taking photos of it.  Eventually we saw a second one a short distance away from the one we had been watching, which leads us to believe they might be nesting in that swampy area.  Very exciting to think there could be a young colt somewhere out there in that tall grass!  

Painted Turtle, North Lake

It's turtle season!  This time of year the turtles are very active as they leave the relative safety of their lakes and rivers in search of a place to lay their eggs.  Just the other day at work we had a huge snapping turtle crawl out of the Pigeon River and walk right up the path behind our visitor center and lay eggs in the soil right next to the building.  And, the last couple of times we've gone for a drive up in the woods, we've seen painted turtles all over the gravel logging road that passes by Turtle, Swede and North Lakes.  The painted turtle shown in this photo was sunning itself on a log along the shoreline of North Lake.  This log has been there for many years and each year I see several turtles sunning themselves on it.  They sure are cute!

Loon on Elbow Lake

Here is a shot of the loon that we saw during our kayak outing on Elbow Lake.  We were paddling very close to shore and almost ran into this loon as it was not moving at all.  All of a sudden I looked ahead (I had been looking directly at the shoreline as I paddled) and there was the loon, floating not more than 50 feet in front of me.  I stopped paddling and pulled out my camera, snapping pictures as I drifted by.  I got to within 20 feet of him/her as my momentum carried me past.  After drifting by the loon we turned around and slowly paddled back.  The loon stayed where it was for a minute or two, then slowly swam down the shore a short distance before swimming out towards the center of the lake. Encounters with loons are always very special.  I treasure the moments when I am able to see these beautiful birds up close!