It's been a great week for the Milky Way. I went out a few different times to make some photographs and came away with some beautiful images each time. This time of year, however, the window of opportunity to capture images like this is pretty short. The daylight hours are so long you have to wait until almost midnight for the sky to get dark enough to see the Milky Way really well. And, by the time 3:00 rolls around, the sky is already beginning to get bright enough that it starts to wash out the view of the Milky Way. I made this image at 12:30 AM and was lucky enough to catch a meteor near the upper right corner of the image.
A recent sunset while out fishing on a local inland lake. Its always so nice to be out on the water. You are pretty much guaranteed to see something beautiful.
As we were driving home last night after fishing we noticed that there were a LOT of fireflies in the meadows alongside the road. Once I saw this I knew I wanted to come back after it got darker and the Milky Way showed up nice and bright. Luckily by the time I got back to this spot the fireflies were still plentiful and put on quite a show. I was able to catch quite a few streaks from their lights as they flew around in the meadow during this 30 second exposure.
"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."
-Sarah Williams
I love coming across great quotes having to do with the night sky. Recently I came across this one by English poet Sarah Williams (1837-1868), from her poem "The Old Astronomer". I can certainly relate to her words, as I cannot remember a time when I was ever afraid of the night.
Bathing in the glow of the night sky is very restorative for me. From the stars I receive energy and a sense of peace. They keep me centered and focused. They also keep me filled with a sense of wonder and spark my imagination. Making photographs of the stars and the night showing the connection to the Earth is my absolute favorite thing to do with a camera.
I was lucky enough to spend about 15 minutes watching this Moose yesterday after work. He was hanging out alongside Highway 61 and thankfully was not on the roadway at all except to cross the highway one time. He seemed to be very mindful of traffic. Whenever he heard a car approaching on the highway he would retreat a few feet into the woods. Only 3 cars went by in the 15 minutes that I watched him and each time a car went by he did the same thing.
About 5 minutes elapsed between the the time the 3rd car passed and when he crossed the highway. During that time he was hanging out in the ditch taking an occasional drink from the marshy areas, his ears constantly moving as he listened to what was going on around him. When he crossed the highway he went immediately into the woods and wandered off.
It's always a treat to see these beautiful animals. I think we all have something we can learn from them. When given an opportunity to observe them you can quickly notice that many animals, moose included, move slowly and deliberately most of the time. They pay attention to every subtle nuance of their surroundings. Their situational awareness is something they depend on for survival and they only hurry when they have to. I think watching wildlife is a great lesson in slowing down. If we slow down, it's amazing how much more we can see and hear. In doing so, we enrich our experiences and strengthen our memories of those experiences.
While out fishing with my dad for Father's Day we were treated to an amazingly calm evening on the water. The clouds were pretty surreal as well. It sure looked like some rain was on the way but we only experienced a few sprinkles while out on the lake. The fish were biting and we caught a few nice Walleye for supper!
While out walking along a stream recently I was lucky enough to see a pair of Mergansers fly in and land in a pool below a small waterfall. I've seen these birds a lot on Lake Superior over the years and on the Pigeon River but never on a small stream such as this. They didn't seem to mind me and I was able to get some nice close-up photos of them.
More images of the Ruffed Grouse that I shot a few weeks ago. I was meaning to share these earlier but I haven't been spending much time at the computer lately. The weather has been much too nice for that! I found out about this particular grouse from my friend Paul, who nicknamed him "Rusty". I like the name. It's very fitting!
It rained a bit today. Looks like we're in for more the remainder of the week as "Tropical Depression Cristobal" likely becomes the first post-tropical cyclone to cross Lake Superior.
