Monday, June 22, 2009

From the Porkies

Have been spending some time in the Porcupine Mountains in the UP of Michigan. This area is also known as the Porkies. It has been a very interesting couple of days. I saw one bear butt - that is the rump of a bear crossing the road. Later I saw the whole bear. No pics unfortunately. I did get this image of the Presque Isle River. This has to be one of the most scenic rivers.




The next image is a sunset on Lake Superior. The weather was often foggy, but fortunately the fog cleared for an evening sunset on Lake Superior. Am still trying to get used to a new camera and new software for processing. It will be a struggle for awhile - especially the software. Unfortunately, the new photos from this trip will not be ready for the Elk Rapids Show this Saturday, June 27th. This is more a matter of being around to print in time to have them ready by Saturday.








Speaking of fog. Here is an image of thimbleberries (too bad they are not ripe yet, they are delicious) in a foggy pine stand. This was shot with the Nikon D700 set on a vivid color setting which mimics traditional Velvia Film.






There are at least two varieties of lupine. In Michigan there is the native lupine which is critical to the Karner Blue Butterfly. The other is an escapee from gardens. These escapees were all over the UP. Regardless, they are very photogenic.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Irises

Here are a couple of photos of irises taken yesterday. Fortunately, the wind was not too bad and the light was pretty good. If you have noticed, there are a lot fewer landscape images of late. The lower peninsula of Michigan is a difficult place for landscapes. Lots of private property, development, powerlines, buildings and in general difficult places to shoot. There is of course the lakeshore around Sleeping Bear Dunes and forest areas which shine in the fall. Light and skies become the keys then. Often it seems that the skies are all blue or all clouds - not good. Light in the fall is the best. Soft and colorful along with the fog and dewey mornings. Thanks for checking the blog. Comments are always welcomed.