Hiking at Gooseberry Falls

For those who enjoy a good hike, there is a trail that takes you from the visitor’s center at the Gooseberry Falls rest area to the falls, then down the Gooseberry River where you can cross the bridge over the river, followed by a climb back up the other side to complete the circle back to the visitor’s center.  The entire hike is less than two miles, but does involve navigating a lot of stairs,  If you want to see more before returning to the visitor’s center, you can also follow the trials to the upper falls area and beyond, or take the trail to Lake Superior.

Visitors do not need a state park pass to visit the falls as long as you park at the rest area.

Early Morning at Gooseberry Falls

A Bad Stack…

or accidental art?

When blending this stack of images, I did not align the images first.  Although not what I was expecting, it turned in to an interesting piece of art.

Rain and Mud

It’s always fun to head outside with a group of students interested in nature and photography.  Although doing it in a cold, persistent rain does take away a bit of the fun.  I am onboard as a photographer for the Document Spring project, which is part of iNaturalist.  The program is part of the work being done at the Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community.  The outing took place at Jay Cooke State Park.  As usual, there were some poor clothing choices considering the weather.  Many of the students wore only thin cloth shoes and no socks.   A few of us had appropriate rain wear and foot wear and could have stayed out longer.

 

 

Focus Stacking

As time permits, I am continuing to learn more about focus stacking.  Since spring is doing it’s best to finally make an appearance in northern Minnesota, the garden is doing it’s best to respond.  A few small flowers have sprung up and it seemed a good opportunity to try capturing two small clumps of blooms.

The first group is a stack of 22 images, the second was 19.  If you look closely on the first, you will notice the tip of one leaf in the foreground where I missed focus.  I missed several on the second.  I’m excited by the possibilities of using focus stacking and look forward to applying it in other ways.

My set-up: Canon DSLR, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro, ASUS Android tablet running DSLR Controller (works with most Canon DSLRs).  I export images from Lightroom as Photoshop layers, then use the Auto-Align if needed and Auto-Blend for combining the stack.  There are many videos on You-Tube that describe the technique.

Harbor Reflection

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I love a good reflection! Duluth’s entertainment complex with antenna hill in the background. Sony RX100 Mk5

One of Those Mornings

It’s been awhile since I’ve roused myself early enough for a sunrise, almost missed this one too.  The chunks of ice are remnants of Lake Superior ice that blew in during our most recent storm.

Safe On Shore

Stormy Lake

High winds are blowing down Lake Superior today creating large waves at the western end of the lake.  At the time this image was taken, winds were running around twenty five miles an hour.  Later in the day, the winds are predicted to grow in intensity and I will try to return to see how things look.

Fluid Dynamics

Another visit to the St. Louis River as it flows through Jay Cooke State Park.