The Missing Munising Post

Oops!  One more Munising from July that got lost in the shuffle!
We are on our way west later today, but enjoy this little flashback in the meantime.

I thought about taking the ferry over to Grand Island but once I saw that the price was $15 I changed my mind.  I thought it was pretty steep for a half a mile ride which doesn't include a bike or vehicle.  In my younger days I could have swam that distance without even getting out of breath.

So I finished up my return visit to lovely Munising by seeing a few more waterfalls including Scott Falls which is right on the side of the road on M-28 on the outskirts of Au Train.

From M-28 I turned onto Forest Lake Road and took it to the gravel road just before it met up with M-94.  There was no sign that this is the road for Au Train Falls, but if you're coming from M-94 there is a sign making it easier to find.  Just park at the lot a little further along and walk the other 530 feet to the falls.

I don't know whether it was due to it being Sunday morning or because of the rain that was threatening to start up again in the area but I had the falls all to myself.  I walked around and got them from many angles.

A hydroelectric station is located there and this is actually the smaller lower falls.  The upper falls has pipe right across the top of it and I didn't see a way to easily find it .

My favorite shot was of the station from down the river.

It's a great little spot to have a picnic and beat the crowds who are hanging out at Pictured Rocks, I bet that water would feel great on a hot day too!

Sister Power

Here's the results of my "practice" photo shoot with the neighborhood kids.

I was down to the day of my other photography engagement and still hadn't been able to pin the family down so I settled for tagging along with them when they took their dog for a walk.

Midday in the summer is not the optimal time for taking photographs but I made do by finding a shady spot under a tree by our subdivision entry sign!

After walking the dog they made a quick outfit change and we picked a spot down by the lake to take some more.  Of course getting a squirmy 6 year old boy to settle down and pose presents some challenges.

 But I got a few shots in before I had to negotiate by letting him push the button a few times.

 Of course that backfired on me when he had a hard time letting others have a turn, including me!

Patient but firm, that's the secret, and keeping it light, positive and above all fun.

I can't take credit for the photo above, I'm pretty sure the other sister took that one.  Tripods make letting the kids have a turn much easier!  I used the Canon 24-70mm lens for all of the pictures, but have decided it is just too heavy for hiking and returned it at the end of the day.  If I ever quit hiking and start shooting not far from my car I would definitely invest in it though.  I'm thinking for the price and the weight I will prefer the 300mm lens that I haven't even tried out yet, I'm saving that for the wildlife in Colorado and South Dakota coming up.  It's a lens that won't be in my backpack often, more likely to be used not far from the car capturing large wildlife or birds during our travels.

My favorite shot is this one of the girls in black and white, but it really could benefit from Lightroom to fix the shadows on the faces.  I'm kind of digging their "Sister Power" pose below that they came up with too.

I tried researching free photo editing software, but didn't find anything that sounded any better than the Windows Photos app I currently use, and I discovered the "retouch" button which took care of a few blemishes.  Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop and Lightroom) wants $9.99 a month with a one year contract for their software and last time I tried their free trial it kept freezing my computer so I had to take a pass on that even though these midday photos could benefit from the ability to lighten or darken specific sections instead of the whole image. Tomorrow I'll post the shots from my other shoot, I think they turned out kind of terrific for someone who usually has insects and wildflowers for subjects!

Wild August

Getting my walking in at least twice a week in the hot and humid Midwest summer can be challenging, but the worst of the heat broke and some cloud cover helps too.

Restored prairie in Genoa City

The wildflowers are hanging in there despite the wilting heat, and a drier than normal summer has meant less mosquitoes.

I've really enjoyed using the 24-70mm Canon lens I've been trying out, but have decided that it is a little bit heavy even though they make one that is even heavier.  It is very versatile as you can see from the pictures in this post, but for someone who has to carry it for miles along with other equipment every pound counts.

So I've decided to get the 40mm lens that I enjoyed from my previous kit and I'm going to test out the 24mm pancake lens Canon makes as well.  They both weigh about a 1/3 pound each but of course it will mean that I have to switch lenses more often.  But they are so small one could easily fit in a pocket for quick access.

For a switch from the prairies I headed out to Volo Bog to see what it was like in August.  The answer was hot and humid of course, but I've never seen so much wild Bee Balm.

I had a chance to pull out the 300mm lens and get a pretty good hand held shot of a dragonfly.  Unfortunately it flew off before off before I could get a better angle.

I also spied a Monarch butterfly gathering nectar.

This is what it found so attractive.  I can see the appeal.

I didn't see any birds in the bog, but there was certainly no shortage of turtles.

One thing that was surprising was the abundance of Purple loosestrife. Purple loosestrife is a very hardy invasive perennial which can rapidly degrade wetlands, diminishing their value for wildlife habitat.  When purple loosestrife gets a foothold, the habitat where fish and wildlife feed, seek shelter, reproduce and rear young, quickly becomes choked under a sea of purple flowers.

The best time to control purple loosestrife is in late June, July and early August when it is in flower. Plants are easily recognized and it has not yet gone to seed. Once flower petals start to drop from the bottom of the spike, the plant begins to produce seed.

If you see any and you want to help out, pulling and digging the plants is the way to control the spread.  Chemical use at wetland sites is not advised!

Scouting a Portrait Shoot

As  you all know I tend to focus on nature and landscapes with my photography, but every once in a while I get an itch to try aiming my lens at people. A friend asked me to do some family portraits for her next weekend and since I have a new camera and lenses I thought I better take them out for a test run first.

#1 - behind the visitor center, Sweet Joe Pye Weed

My friend lives almost an hour away so I'm going to borrow the neighbors' grandchildren tonight and set them loose at Glacial Park in Ringwood, Illinois, which is only a 15 minute drive away.  Last night I drove over with my new 24-70mm lens on my new Canon 70D to test out the lens and the light.

#2 - Rattlesnake Master , Visitor Center garden

The Canon 70D is the same body that I had before the theft, a little bit of research and a conversation with a salesperson at Camera Casino in OshKosh convinced me it was still the right balance of sharpness and weight for what I want out of my photography.  All of the pictures in the post were taken hand held with the Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM Lens which was pretty pricey at $899 but half the price as the 2.8f version and weighs 1.3 lb versus 2.1 lb for the more expensive lens.  $900 savings and almost a pound lighter, not a hard choice for me to make.

#3 -Compass Plant, behind the Wiedrich barn

While I enjoy shade for flower and insect photography, a little bit of late day light is what I was after for a portrait location so the flower beds up under the oaks wouldn't work.  And while the idea of shooting by the barn and outbuildings seemed like a good one, the light wasn't right in most of the spots there either.  I found myself wishing for a wooden bench to place where I wanted one to be, but who could lug one of those around?

#4 - camelback kame view

Still in search of the perfect spot I headed up through the woods behind the visitor center and then through the shoulder high plants that enveloped the path out onto the camelback kames.  While it was fun the plants were too thick and would likely hide the children, not to mention mess up their hair and clothes!

#5 - Prairie Coneflowers in the sun

I found my sweet spot at the base of the camelback kames.  The light was strong and the area more open with clumps of wildflowers along the mown path.  The Prairie Coneflowers are a bit past their peak, but I loved their bright yellow petals even if they were a bit tattered.

#6 - Cairn on the fencepost

A cairn on a fencepost caught my eye here too, and the other side of the rail looks like a promising spot to set up a posed group shot without the dappled shade.

#7 - Queen Anne's Lace against the sky

Queen Anne's Lace is everywhere these days, but hard to get an interesting shot featuring them.  I liked this one with the angled stem across the blurred out background.

#8 - Compass Plant by the bridge

There is a great bridge over Nippersink Creek here also, but the banks are so filled with plants taller than I am that setting up a shot with the kids on the bridge might be impossible.  I'll bring my new zoom lens and give it a try if we have time.

#9 - Nippersink Creek

I was able to climb down under the bridge and get a nice shot of some trees reflected in the water.

#10 - Backlit prairie grasses

Having scouted most of the property I had a long walk back to my car, but now knew where I wanted to shoot and to park to save time when I returned.  As the sun came close to setting things got even more interesting in the prairie alongside the dirt service road I was walking on.

#11 - backlit Thistle gone to seed

 I was almost to my car when I saw another service road that looked less used jot off to the right.  I am such a sucker for spur trails...

#12 - Oak trunks aglow

It was a lovely spot for catching the sunset light bathing the oaks, and I got to watch some Sandhill Cranes fly over as well.

#13 - Sandhill Cranes at sunset

#14 - Milkweed pods at dusk

I'd like to capture some barns at sunset but never seem to be in the right place at the right time for that.  Maybe someday I'll make the time to scout good locations for that too.

#15 - Pond at dusk

All shots were cropped only and shot hand held with the 24-70mm lens, which was as versatile as I thought it would be and I think will work especially well on the hiking trails and in the woods.  It would also work with my extension tube I used the most which happened to be in a zipper of my other backpack so it might end up working for macro-like photos also.  I bought a 60mm macro lens and took a couple of shots the other day but am not sure I am sold on it yet.  I will wait until we get to Colorado and experiment a bit more before I decide.

Tonight we will see how different things are with live subjects and a tripod! Which shot did you like best?  What location would you choose for outdoor shots of children?

Munising Wrap Up and Kidding Around

When I was in Munising I started catching up on blog reading but haven't even looked at blogs including my own in the past 10 days.  Been busy binge watching Netflix, cleaning out the closets and going to work.

I also helped Katrina try to get girls and adults interested in Girl Scouts at our local National Night Out here in Twin Lakes.  While we sat at the table in the shade we watched the firemen run up the ladder all suited up in the heat.  Better them than me.

Someone was making balloon animals and the kids were having a good time showing them off.

Now is the time to get your girls signed up for the coming year, contacting your local Council and get them in on all the fun!

As for my recent trip up to Munising I do have a few more things to share including some info about the North Country Trail.  Here's a general map of it's locations in Michigan.

Like the Ice Age Trail there are some gaps, and some road connections.

And due to the recent heavy rain there was a re-route at the Munising Falls parking lot where I tried to connect up with it, I'm assuming the trail washed out.

So with the trail washed out in one direction and pavement in the other I had to settle for a moment enjoying Munising Falls instead.

Back at the Bay Furnace campground I was cleaning up from my whitefish dinner when a USFS employee came around and let me know that an owl presentation was about to begin at the Bay Furnace.  Was I interested?  You bet!

After he talked about the owls of Michigan he offered up owl pellets for the kids to enjoy.  The two little ladies that I watched dissect theirs were the only girls he'd ever seen do it bare handed, even though he alerted everyone the pellets were sterilized and then offered latex gloves.

 I looked at him and said that was weird, why should boys not be afraid to touch them and girls are?  Of course he just looked at me like I was the weird one, but I thought it needed to be said to encourage the girls to keep proving they can get dirty just as good as the boys can.  More dirt gets under the fingernails making sandcastles on the beach for goodness sake.

rodent skull!

Speaking of sandcastles on the beach...

And that is all from the U.P., now I'm counting the days until we head out to Colorado and South Dakota.  Today my new camera equipment came in the mail so I'll be experimenting with portraiture this weekend.  A friend asked me to do their family portraits so I'm taking the neighbor kids out to the park to practice first.  I'll review my new equipment and post the photos next week!