View of the 270 Overlook from the Pigeon River

 

This stretch of the Pigeon River is on my list of top favorite places. I'm not giving it a number, I just know it's one of my favorite places in this world. You have to paddle about three and a half miles one-way to get here. As you round the corner of the river approaching this stretch, the bluff in the distance slowly comes into view.  Atop that bluff is the 270 Overlook, the starting point (or ending point, if you started on the southern end) of the Superior Hiking Trail. It is an awesome view, but I think I like this view from the river more. I have seen moose many times along this stretch, but on this day we weren't so lucky. The sky was amazing, however, with ever changing clouds and bursts of sunlight. As always, it was an amazing day to be outside. 

Pigeon River Evening

The other night my dad and I got out on the water in between rain showers for some picture taking and a little fishing. We sure timed it right. The conditions were absolutely beautiful during our time on the water. As I was driving back home it was a downpour for a couple of miles. Got off the water just in time!
 

Illuminated Hollow Rock and the Milky Way

 

Normally I'm not a big fan of light painting or artificial light intruding into a scene but in this case the reason for the artificial light is pretty unique and it worked out quite well. Some friends and I were shooting the night sky at Hollow Rock in Grand Portage, MN and noticed that there was a boat working its way down the shoreline.  The boat had quite a few lights on it.  As it got closer I realized it was the boat used by the tribal natural resource department to shock fish. Electro-shocking or electro-fishing is a common scientific survey method used to sample fish populations to determine abundance, density, and species composition.  When performed correctly, electrofishing results in no permanent harm to the fish, which return to their natural state in as little as two minutes after being caught. 

At any rate, they were sampling fish along the Lake Superior shoreline on this night and were working very close to the shoreline.  The boat passed very close to the back side of Hollow Rock, then worked its way around the rock to the side we were shooting from.  Then, it turned and continued down the shoreline. As it moved away from the rock, its lights illuminated the rock very nicely.  The light was nice and soft and made for a very "natural" looking illumination of the rock.  By natural I mean that the colors looked like how the rock looks in the daytime. It sure was a unique set of circumstances in how this image came to be, and I really like the end result. 

Blue Damselflies

 

Last week we headed to a local lake to look for damselflies along the shoreline.  We certainly found some and as always it was a lot of fun to see them. We also found quite a few wood ticks which were... less cool to see. The damselflies are quite small and difficult to photograph as they don't sit still for very long. I felt fortunate to capture these two perched on this blade of grass. 

June Sunset Clouds

 

Caught a cool sunset over the shoreline at my parents house a few days ago.  The colors weren't anything real spectacular but the cloud formations were pretty sweet. 

Superior Serenity

 

The Milky Way over the Lake Superior shoreline in the early morning hours of June 8, 2021. I met up with a couple of friends last night to do some night sky photography.  We couldn't have asked for a better night!  Lake Superior was so incredibly calm and the stars were as vivid as I've ever seen them. 

Grand Portage Bay from Mt. Rose

 

It sure was a beautiful evening to hike up to the summit of Mt. Rose in Grand Portage National Monument!  The spring green, blue sky and cool clouds all made for an awesome view.