Sunrises are difficult to do this time of year, especially for someone who is generally not a morning person! I had to wake at 4:00 AM in order to be on location in time to make this photograph yesterday morning. It looked pretty cloudy when I left the house, but I was hopeful because you just never know what will happen! Sure enough, just as the sun was rising a break developed in the clouds on the horizon right where the sun would be coming up. Most of the sky remained covered in clouds except for that break on the eastern horizon.
As the sun began to rise, light poured through that break in the clouds and lit up the bottoms of the clouds that remained. And, as often happens in the summer, that beautiful light lasted for quite a long time. When I saw the images on the back of the camera I was glad I made the effort to get out so early. It's only a few more days until the longest daylight of the year, then the days will be getting shorter again and we won't have to get up quite so early (or stay out quite so late) in order to catch the best light of the day. For now, though, the beauty of these long, early summer days is unparalleled!
Just a hint of northern lights last night over the Pigeon River in Grand Portage, MN. I went out to spend the night photographing the Milky Way but was pleasantly surprised in this photo to see a little bit of aurora action going on. Some faint purple and green colors low on the northern horizon mixed in with some slight light pollution from the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario which is about 40 miles away. This photo was made at 11:40 PM with an exposure length of 30 seconds, aperture of f/2.8 and ISO 3200.
When the weather allows (which has been a rarity in recent days), our views of the night sky along the north shore of Lake Superior continue to impress! Here is a recent image that I captured just 1/4 mile down the road from our house. The Milky Way over Pete's Island and Hat Point in Grand Portage Bay. The light that you see on the water between the point and the island is from the bell buoy which marks a reef just outside the bay.
Boy, we sure have had a lot of fog lately! Some years it seems we have hardly any fog at all, other years it seems foggy almost every day. This year is more like the latter. I captured this photo of Mt. Josephine and Hat Point on my way home from work one day last week. The fog was steadily rolling over the top of Hat Point and pouring down into Wauswaugoning Bay. Always a fascinating thing to see!
High Falls at Grand Portage State Park is looking pretty spectacular today! Come on up and check it out for yourself!
Question: Why did the beaver cross the road?
Answer: For a swim (and a snack!) on the other side :-)
Here is an image I've been saving to share with you. It's from the last new moon a couple of weeks ago. These clear and calm early summer nights are some of the most beautiful nights of the year! On a night like this you can't help but feel grateful for all the beauty that surrounds us here on the shores of Lake Superior.
