Storm Brewing

My wife and I were blessed with a baby girl, Addison (Addie) Mae, on 9/8/11.  We couldn't be more excited about here and I've been spending most of my time just staring at her while she explores her new world and learns to use her new body.  I can't get enough of her "Baby of 1000 Faces" routine she puts on when she is wide awake.

But, Dad found a little time to make it down to the Lake Superior shoreline as a storm was rolling in over the Big Lake.  I was able to grab a handful of shots before I had to run my gear back to the car and dry it off, one of them is here and the others can be seen in my Lake Superior photo gallery. 

Split Rock Lighthouse Sunrise

It's getting to be that time of year when the sunrises are coming late enough in the morning for me to be in a good spot at the right time without questioning my sanity for being up so early.  I set all of my gear and clothing for the day on the kitchen counter so I could get out of the house without rousing my wife or the dogs at this ungodly hour.  My alarm went off at 4:30 and I was on the road 20 minutes later.

I pulled into the parking lot at Split Rock Lighthouse right as the first light started to peek over the horizon - right around 5:45.  I would have loved to be there 10 minutes earlier so I wouldnt be so rushed to set up, but there was nothing I could do about it now except learn for next time.

Over the next 30 minutes or so, I was rewarded with a brilliant orange sunrise over Lake Superior that backlit the landmark beautifully.  I was a little disappointed with the lack of clouds in the sky because they usually make for a more colorful show, but it was still a great morning. 

See my North Shore Lighthouses Landmarks and History gallery for more images from this shoot.

New Images Added - French River Falls

I've visited the French River Falls just north of Highway 61 right outside of Duluth a couple times in the last couple weeks, however it wasnt until last night that I managed to get the image I was looking for.  As usual, it was kind of a rushed ordeal to get out there, but when all was said and done I was taking pictures by 7:30.  I like this time of day for pictures in the woods because the shadows that have been hanging around all day have disappeared for another night.  

This particular spot on the French River has an especially "natural" feel to it, despite it's proximity to the highway.  Climbing down in between the rock walls surrounding the river rewards you with a temperature drop of nearly 10 degrees.  The giant pine trees that loom over your head and the rushing sound of the river make you forget the Highway is less than 100 yards behind you.

Here's one of the images I made of the French River Falls that day - the rest can be found in my North Shore Waterfalls gallery.

Last Minute Decisions...

A couple nights ago I said to hell with working any more, I'd had enough.  It was almost 9PM and there wasn't much sunlight left so I needed a location close to my house.  I started to head down to the lake but decided a more secluded location would fit the bill a bit better for me that night and changed course for Seven Bridges Road instead.

I knew of a hidden, un-named, three fingered waterfall that was down a narrow and steep trail from the main road.  It was a bit of a treacherous trail, especially with a bunch of photo gear on my back and in my hands so by the time I got there I only had time for a few different compositions before it was  after dark.  Here's my favorite from the evening:

Fourth of July Fireworks Display in Duluth, MN

It was HOT over the 4th of July weekend and as I mentioned earlier, we spent most of the time hiding in our basement where it was at least semi-cool.  But, we decided to venture out for the fireworks display on Monday and I'm glad we did - they put on a great show!

Here's one of the several images of the Duluth, MN Fourth Fest Fireworks that are available on my Duluth, MN photo gallery page.

Un-expected Thunder Storm over Lake Superior

Hello everyone!

There were blue skies and weather pushing 90 degrees on my way home from work on Friday night so I retreated to the basement of my non-air conditioned home to find some respite from the heat.  After 30 minutes of loafing on my couch, I heard the rumble of thunder outside and was amazed to see black clouds rolling over the horizon.

Never one to miss an opportunity for a photograph, I hopped in my truck and headed to the Lake Superior Shoreline.  Much to my dismay, it was already raining at my normal spot so I hopped on Highway 61 to get ahead of the storm.  I ended up at Stoney Point before it was dry enough to get my camera gear out - minutes after the shutter snapped, it was an absolute downpour.  Here's the image I got on this July 1st storm over Lake Superior.

The storm has passed...

We've been having rain almost every day for the past week or so, and to make matters worse I had a brand new lens burning a hole in my bag - the Zeiss 21 2.8 ZE.  Today, the rain finally cleared and I had the chance to take my new toy out for a test drive.  First, I headed down to my old faithful Brighton Beach which is just a few minutes from my house.  I added a couple of new images to my Lake Superior Photo gallery from this leg of the trip.

It was a bit crowded here so I decided to try my luck walking the banks of the raging Lester River that was swelling from all of the rain we've had recently.  I added a couple of images to my Venture North picture gallery from this little hike.

I think I may have caught the "Zeiss Bug" because I couldn't be happier with my new lens.  The image quality is un-believable  and the useability factor of a lens with a REAL manual focus scale is priceless.

A quick teaser image from the hike today:

Re-Edit of Split Rock Lighthouse 100th Anniversary

When life gets in the way of pursuing images of Lake Superior's North Shore, like it does more often than I care for, I'll satisfy my photographic urges by trolling my archives for images that could benefit from a re-edit.  Many times, I've taken the image so long ago that my post-processing skills have improved since I originally took the picture was originally made, other times I just end up with a different result because I'm in a different mood or mindset the second time around.

This weekend I came across the images I took in June 2010 of the Split Rock lighthouse on one of the Friday evenings where the light was turned on to commemorate its 100th Anniversary.  This particularly foggy evening was a perfect oppotunity to capture a unique moment for the Split Rock Light house.

The rest of the images from the Split Rock Lighthouse 100th Anniversary can be seen in my "Lighthouses, Landmarks, and History" gallery.

New Images Added - SHT and Crosby Manitou State Park

At the end of May, some friends and I took a backpacking trip that took us on a leg of the Superior Hiking Trail and into Crosby Manitou State Park.  Friday night, we hiked into the first campsite after Beaver Bay and camped along the Beaver River.  Then, Saturday morning, we hiked along the rivers edge and through the hills to Silver Bay.  It was a moderately difficult section of trail, but it afforded us some amazing views of Lake Superior and inland. 

Once we hit Silver Bay, we took a quick drive to Crosby Manitou State Park.  For anyone familiar with the park, we took the Yellow Birch trail and connected with the Cedar Ridge Trail that led us to the beautiful campsite #13 situated on a ledge above the Manitou River.

Sunday morning we took the Manitou River trail back to a short trail that connected us back to the Yellow Birch and back to the vehicle.  Not everyone from our group is in the greatest shape, including myself, so the 13 miles we put on through all those ups and downs was a bit hard on us but the scenery was worth it.

See my Venture North gallery for more of the images from this trip.

Can't wait to head out again later this summer.

New Image Added - Storm Over Lake Superior

My in-laws were in town for the weekend and true-to-form, the weather in Duluth was - to say the least - un-predictable.  However, we noticed one of the storm cells coming in and decided to head down to lake to have a look.

Our good timing was rewarded with a beautiful view of the storm swallowing the last remaining bit of blue sky over Lake Superior.  The shot was a 70 second exposure using a 3 stop Graduated Neutral Density filter and a 10 stop Neutral Density filter.

The image can also be found in my gallery of Lake Superior images.

Welcome to the Northern Captures Blog

Hello everyone!

I've been running the Northern Captures website for two years now and although I love sharing my work in my galleries, I sometimes feel as though I'm a bit disconnected from those that view my site.  I decided I wanted to create a place where I could share a little bit more about the pictures I have on my site - how and where they were taken, under what circumstances, etc.

After much debate, I think maintaining a simple blog such as this one is the best way to do this.  Look here to find out when I post new material in my galleries, discuss the North Shore of Minnesota and landscape photography in general.

Additionally, I intend to create a series of "workshop articles" discussing my landscape photography and post processing techniques.

Please feel free to make comments and suggestions or just drop a line to say you've been here!