Foxy

A portrait of one of the parents of the fox kits that I posted a picture of yesterday.  Such a beautiful face!

Green Glow

Here is another photo of the northern lights from the early morning hours (12:24 A.M.) of May 28, 2017.  It was such a still night, the reflections on the water were perfect.  The sound of the spring peeper frogs in this location was deafening!

The race is on!

Two young fox kits taking turns chasing each other around a pine tree :-)

Northern Lights and High Falls

There was a surprising amount of aurora activity last night!  I had no idea that any displays were possible, I hadn't been paying attention to the space weather forecasts lately.  Luckily on a whim I decided to check the aurora soft serve news website; it showed that the aurora activity was at "STORM" level!  Once I saw that I knew I had to go out and look for some photos.  I decided to try High Falls at Grand Portage State Park again.  Shooting was a little tricky because there is still a lot of mist from the falls, so I had to wipe my camera lens after every shot.  It sure was a beautiful night!

A Magical Night under the Milky Way

Lake Superior along the Superior Hiking Trail lakewalk section just north of Grand Marais, MN.  An unbelievably beautiful night along the big lake in the early morning hours of May 25, 2017!  The Milky Way was reflecting amazingly in this small stream flowing into Lake Superior.  I love the night sky this time of year!

20 second exposure at f/2.8 and ISO 12,800.  Shot at 20mm with a Nikon D750 camera and Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. 

A touch of color over Hollow Rock Creek

After my bike ride last night I stopped by Hollow Rock Creek and caught this subtle yet beautiful sunset over the meadow.  The spring peeper frogs are out in full force and their song was deafening in this location!  

Swamp Tea

Labrador Tea or "Swamp Tea", as it is known to some, is a beautiful plant but one that I find very difficult to photograph. While out and about in the rain yesterday I came across a huge area that was full of it and just begging to be photographed.  The forest is so beautiful on a rainy day!  I set up my tripod very low to the ground to get this angle of the tea and also show a hint of the trees in the background. 

Mother's Day Treat

Here's a throwback to Mother's Day 2016 and the incredible aurora storm that graced our sky on this most special of days.  Hope all the mother's out there are having a wonderful day!

Four Fox Kits

Here's another photo of the fox kits I saw earlier this week.  There was a 5th kit just outside the frame, off doing his own thing while these 4 climbed all over each other at the entrance to the den.  So hard to get a good shot of all of them together!  They are usually running around so quick they don't gather together like this but for just a few moments at a time.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there :-)

May Sunset, Northern Minnesota

The clouds sure were pretty the other night as the sun was setting!

Siblings

The spring babies are starting to show up!  These fox kits were being adorably cute yesterday as they played and cuddled at the entrance to their den.  

Reliable Rainbow

Grand Portage State Park, MN - When the water is high and it's a clear, sunny day you know there's going to be a fantastic rainbow at High Falls! (or two... see the double rainbow?  It's faint, but it's there!)

Beautiful End to a Gray Day

It seems like we've had a lot of dreary weather lately.  Lots of rain, snow accumulation on a few occasions and even some ice build up preceding one of our snow storms.  This past Friday evening, though, the pattern changed.  It rained all day long but as the day drew to a close the rain stopped and the clouds started to break up.  As the sun dropped below the horizon a beautiful sunset was revealed.  Now this weekend the weather has been beautiful!  We'll see how long it lasts :-)  I love all the changes in weather that we experience, though.  Without those changes photos like this would be much more difficult to come across!

Spring on the Fall River

It's waterfall season and I've been out photographing a few waterfalls the past couple of weeks!  This one is on the Fall River just west of Grand Marais, MN.  A short walk from Highway 61 leads you down to this beautiful waterfall just a stone's throw from Lake Superior.  

Abstract River

Grand Portage State Park, MN: A close-up shot of foam on the Pigeon River makes for a very abstract image.  I made quite a few photos of the foam as it drifted past.  No two photos were alike as the patterns were constantly changing.

Spring Foam on the Pigeon River

Foam floating downstream on a spring day in Grand Portage State Park, MN.  The Pigeon River never fails to fascinate.  It has so many different moods and characters.  In some places it is wide and meandering, in other places it is wide and tumbling down rapids and in other places it is narrow and plummeting over dramatic waterfalls.  One of the widest sections of the river is just downstream from the High Falls gorge.  I find this area of the river super fascinating to photograph in all seasons. The other day it presented a view which is rarely seen.  A large section of water was filled with some of the most intriguing foam patterns I've ever seen.  It was a calm spring day and the water was flowing slowly past this location along the shore.  I was mesmerized by the constantly changing patterns in the foam. I could have easily watched it all day long :-)