With some of our snow finally starting to melt, we are beginning to see signs left over from warmer seasons. Some plants that were covered in snow for most of the winter are reemerging as the snow level diminishes. I found this sweet photo opportunity while out snowshoeing a few days ago.
Thanks go to my dad for capturing this "behind the scenes" image of me making the previous two photographs.
While out snowshoeing the other afternoon we saw a lot of cool things but it's always a special treat to see evidence of otter activity. This time of year the waterways are slowly but surely trying to open up as warmer days struggle to push the last of the cold winter days away. As we snowshoed along this local creek there were little pockets of water here and there. Otter tracks were running between almost all of them. While we didn't see any otters in person, its fun to imagine them running along in their playful way as they inspect the various water sources.
This afternoon and early evening my dad and I got out on the snowshoes for a hike along a local river. The cooler temperatures lately means the snow has become very firm, making walking through the woods much easier than it is any other time of year. It also increases accessibility to areas that are normally very inaccessible, such as this river meadow. In any other season it would be a nightmare to walk through this area, but today it was a joy.
As we walked along the hard surface of the snow it was easy to forget that we were walking about 3 feet above the normal ground level. Yep, that's right... we still have an average of about 3 feet of snow depth here in the very northeastern tip of Minnesota. And, it sounds like we're due to receive another foot of snow this week. This winter just doesn't want to let go, and I'm completely okay with that.
The morning after last week's snow storm was so beautiful. Trees coated with a fresh blanket of wet snow and a clear blue sky hovering overhead. It was hard to go to work on that morning. I could have easily spent the whole day out and about making photographs!
I can see why, Smokey, I can see why. After 20 inches of extremely wet and heavy snow this week on top of the large amount of snow depth we already had, I'm not surprised one bit.
The past few days sure have given us some crazy weather. It snowed VERY hard for almost two whole days, dropping roughly 20 inches of some of the wettest and heaviest snow that I've ever seen. Then today it was sunny and in the mid 40's. By midday most of the roadways were dry. One thing's for sure, we have a LOT of snow and it looks like the weather over the next week is going to be a little cooler so it's not going anywhere anytime soon!
Spending time with this fellow was so cool. We were deep in the desert in the middle of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in Arizona and sat right beneath this small 8 to 10 foot tall tree while the raven preened itself and watched us curiously but without any sense of nervousness or alarm. It was one of the best moments of that trip.
I was looking through some photos from 2017 last night trying to find a particular shot for a client when I came across this owl photo that I never did anything with. I do remember the day well, it was hunting in a field just below the eagle monument at the Grand Portage Veteran's Memorial. I was able to get quite a few photos of it in various places around the field.
Another scene that I couldn't resist making a photo of while driving home from work last week. The muted colors of the clouds over Lake Superior and the soft textures of the sky and water really caught my eye.
While driving home from work last night, the view out the windshield revealed a dull, gray colorless sky. A glance in the side rearview mirror as I was heading up Mt. Josephine, however, revealed a pocket of colorful clouds illuminated by the setting sun. I just had to turn around and drive a half mile back to the overlook of Pigeon Point to capture this image.
Another cool piece of ice that we found on a recent hike along the Lake Superior shoreline. All these air pockets trapped inside this ice chunk were super interesting!
I haven't been out shooting the ice as much as I have in past years and the main reason for that is I sold my Nikon D750 and my new camera (a Nikon Z7 II) was on backorder for about a month. Well, the Z7 has arrived and I've been getting to know it a little these past couple of weeks. I really like the form factor compared to the D750. And, so far, I've been really impressed with the image quality. I haven't really challenged it yet with any low light shooting, but the daytime shots have been pretty great. I did miss having a full frame camera for a good chunk of the ice season, but there is still some good ice to be found. Such as this "Ice Castle" formation along the north shore of Lake Superior.
While out snowshoeing the other day I came across this really interesting piece of ice. It was only about 6 inches wide and sticking up about 4 or 5 inches from the surrounding ice, supported only by the small leg on the left where it was connected to the ground ice. I set my camera right down on the ground ice in order to get this vantage point of this interesting natural sculpture.
The ice around the Susie Islands looked really interesting on my drive home from work yesterday. It looked like a flowing river of ice... or the surface of a glacier... or a lava flow... or...
From our outing last weekend snowshoeing the Lake Superior shoreline from my mom and dad's house. It may have been a gray sky day but it was gloriously calm with the finest snow falling from time to time. A perfect late winter day to be outside!
The ice is pretty interesting along the Lake Superior shoreline right now. This particular section is near my mom and dad's house. We discovered it this past weekend while out snowshoeing. It looks as though the ice got built up then undercut by waves. Once it was undercut it couldn't support it's own weight anymore so it tipped down towards the lake.
Looks like we're in for some more winter weather this weekend. Winter certainly has put on a good show for us this year!
Lake Superior was so incredibly calm the other day. We had been out taking photos under an intriguingly cloudy sky that afternoon but the highlight of the day was coming across this scene as we made our way back home. It was one of those rare times with barely a ripple on the surface of the lake. The horizontal layers of the clouds with Isle Royale floating on the horizon made for my favorite photo of the day.
