September Sunset, Grand Portage Island

Last night while I was mowing the lawn the sky was beautiful.  The sunset had subtle yet sublime color.  I couldn't resist taking a break from mowing and walking down to the beach to make this photo.

Early autumn colors

I went for a drive in the woods yesterday and was surprised to find a lot of small maple trees were already at their peak fall color.  The large trees are all still quite green, just these little ones were vibrant red.  The warm colors were very welcome on a cold, windy day (the temperature was 39 degrees when I made this photo).  I'm looking forward to lots more autumn glory in the coming weeks!

Late Summer along the Echo Trail

On this cold and blustery September day my mind goes back to a beautiful late summer day spent along the Echo Trail in northeast Minnesota.  I spent part of the day driving the Echo Trail (which is actually a gravel road for those that don't know) to scout it out for photo locations.  It was my first time driving the trail, which some may find interesting considering that it's not that far from where I live.  However, we have plenty of roads similar to this one (Arrowhead Trail, Caribou Trail, Sawbill Trail, etc.) closer to where I live and those roads provide plenty of photographic opportunities as well.  Still, I was always curious about the Echo Trail and the scenery along the road certainly didn't disappoint!  Especially this location, the "Little Indian Sioux River" canoe access point.  I'm not a big fan of the name, but the view sure beckoned.  I was wishing I had more time and a canoe with me so I could paddle down this beautiful river.  Someday in the future Jessica and I will have to return so we can further explore this beautiful part of northern Minnesota.

Harvest Moon and Ancient Pine

Last night I went out in search of a photo-worthy sunset, which I did not find.  Thanks to thick cloud cover along the Lake Superior shoreline I chose to head to an inland lake hoping to find a clearing sky as the sun set.  Well, I found a clearing sky alright.  The trouble is, it cleared too quickly!  By the time the sun went down the sky was completely devoid of any clouds.  What I did find, however, was a very beautiful moonrise!  Luckily I was in an area that had several large pine trees that stood apart against the sky from the rest of the forest.  I found a pair of trees that I liked and photographed the rising moon in between the two trees.  I loved the subtle color in the sky and I decided to break one of the "rules" of photography and composed this photo with the trees and the moon in the center of the frame, because that composition just called out to me and I really liked it.  I hope you like it as well :-)

High Falls, the Big Dipper AND a moonbow!

Last night space weather forecasters were calling for a chance of northern lights so some friends and I headed out just before midnight in search of them.  We went to High Falls of the Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park.  We figured that with the moonlight it would be ideal conditions for photographing the lights over the waterfall IF the lights came out and were strong enough to be seen over the moonlight.  We were hoping for the moonlight to illuminate the falls and the river gorge and for the aurora to illuminate the sky.  Unfortunately, we never saw any northern lights.  We did, however, see a beautiful moonbow and the Big Dipper was bright and beautiful over the top of the falls.  All in all, it was a fun and enjoyable night even though we didn't see the aurora.   

Biking the Minnesota Northwoods

Last night we went for a bike ride under one of the prime maple canopies of northeast Minnesota.  This is arguably my favorite Cook County backroad to ride.  It has a very nice mix of rolling terrain which really makes for a fun ride.  In a few more weeks this route will be bursting with the glorious colors of autumn, making it even more fun to fly down on a mountain bike!  

I've been experimenting this week with a Sony RX100 "pocket" camera, and I have to say I am very impressed with the features and image quality of this small camera.  This photo was taken in very poor light (about an hour before sunset on a VERY cloudy evening under a dark canopy of trees).  This particular shot was at ISO 200 with an aperture of f/1.8 and a shutter speed of 1/25 since I was going for the motion blur effect.  However, I also shot several images at ISO 1600 and even 3200 and I was blown away by the results.  I never could have made this shot with my old Canon G11 camera, which is what I used to carry on such outings.  Sadly, the G11 is dead and I am looking for a replacement.  Could it be the RX100?  So far, I have been impressed by this performance-rich little camera!  

September Squalls

Yesterday we had a few rain squalls move through our area and the clouds were beautiful during that time!  This picture was made from the Grand Portage Community Garden not long after one of the squalls passed through.  When it wasn't raining there were quite a few native bees active on the goldenrod in the nearby field and the dragonflies were out in force as well.  You can even see one dragonfly just above the tree line on the left side of this photo.  It sure was a wonderful day to be outside!