Skyline Parkway is a scenic drive through the hills above Duluth Minnesota. It is a 28 mile route that was begun in 1889 and a must drive for visitors to the area. The route has many scenic overlooks and passes by the Enger Tower park where you can climb to the top for an even more spectacular view of the city of Duluth and Lake Superior. In the summer, the gardens are in full bloom.
A dry summer has kept most local streams to just a trickle. But, with a background such as this, the trickle is a minor part of the composition.
My third shot on my recent outing was of a frozen bubble. This was the most difficult image and I still need to perfect the process. Wind played a role in shortening the life of my bubbles and trying to get an image before they popped was not easy. Of the attempts, this was the best and I’m not overly excited by it, but I will continue to try.
This image uses a bit of forced perspective. To get the image I was lying on the ice and doing my best to line up the rising sun with the pieces of ice. The slabs were thin enough to glow as the sun back lit them. Fire and ice.
This was also a five shot bracket using my Canon 5D Mk4, Tamron SP 28-75mm f/2.8, ISO 50, 75mm, f/10
The temperature was around -20 when I arrived at the shore of Lake Superior this morning. Many had already headed out on to the ice to set up portable shelters for fishing. Besides myself, several photographers were waiting for the sun to break the horizon. This was the first morning of our extended cold spell that I have ventured out to do some photography. We have been mostly below zero for over a week and I have not felt inclined to endure the weather if I did not have to. However, knowing that the weather was going to be warming in a few days, I layered on the winter wear and braved the cold.
I have three shots in mind for the morning. The first was to use my lens ball, the second was an ice composition and third, a frozen bubble. The lens ball image is today’s featured image. I felt safe inverting the image due to the blurred background and I like how the ball appears to be hanging from the snow. In case you noticed the black shapes to the right of the sun, those are fishing shelters.
This is a five shot bracket from a Canon 5D Mk4, Tamron SP 28-75mm, ISO 50, 75mm, f/10, 1/1– sec.
Sometimes you have to make a run for the lake when you think there might be a good sunrise. Today was pretty good.
A view of the entrance to the Duluth harbor. Ships from all over the Great Lakes and the world visit the port every year.
Light the gap.
Catching a few rays along the shore of Lake Superior.
In winter, Lake Superior creates with ice. Whether it’s by flinging it up on shore with gale force winds or simply by letting the surface freeze, something wonderful will result. On this particular day the sun was absent and the air was hazy, this spoke to me as perfect for monochrome imaging. This set of images were taken from the shoreline at Leif Erickson Park in Duluth. By the way, if you want to wander around the shoreline, bring ice grippers.
Every year in Duluth the city creates a lighting spectacle in Bayfront Park on the harbor. Bentleyville draws thousands of visitors from all over to witness this event and it was recently featured on The Great Christmas Light Fight!
The December full moon was on the 11th and I hoped to capture an image of the moon, Bentleyville and the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. After first using Photopills to scout possible vantage points to shoot from, I settled on a spot along the Superior Hiking Trail that offered a view of all three. I went out earlier in the day to inspect the site, felt it would work well. In the light, it seemed like it had everything I was looking for.
However, come night, it did not live up to my expectations. It had too much foreground, the moon was higher than I had hoped for and overall, seemed to be lacking something.
Sadly, the weather the next day would be snowy and cloudy so no re-shoot was possible. I did take one of the images and crop to a panorama that, again, not great, but fun and colorful to look at.
