Lake Superior Trip – Day 4
September 17, 2011
NOTE – Sorry for the delay in getting this one posted. I was on a quick backpacking trip at Pictured Rocks NLS and couldn’t get this posted as soon as I wanted. I’ll tell you about that trip another time – it’s a doozy!
Sunday, August 14th 2011
We got a little later start today, but were still out well before the crowds. I can’t get over how busy this place is!
We started in nearby Temperance River State Park and spent most of the morning scouting the area. There’s some real potential down by the lake, especially if there’s any good light in the sky.
There are also several waterfalls, but the water flow is low right now, and all but the upper falls show very little potential for a good photograph. Grant and I did have some fun chasing frogs though, and he was particularly fascinated with the minnows trapped in the little pools of water next to the river.
He also enjoyed making “thrones” (the king kind, not the bathroom) out of the dry bowls carved out of the rock.
After lunch, we decided to continue our journey northward and paid a visit to Partridge Falls. It’s a bit tricky to find, and the road isn’t the best, but wow – the falls are impressive.
The trail (if you can call it that), leads you to the base of this enormous waterfall, but frankly, I’m not sure how photogenic it is. I’m going to keep it in mind, but I’m not 100% sure if it’s worth trying to photograph. Still, quite a site to see and quite a feeling being so close to such an enormous waterfall.
From there, we went back down south to our campground for some dinner, then off to Split Rock Lighthouse again. With all the driving I’ve been doing, I have to believe the oil companies must have a photo of me in their board room with “Customer of the Year” embossed under it.
Unfortunately, the sky didn’t co-operate and I don’t think I got anything worthwhile this evening. I did shoot the (mostly) full moon as it rose, but I’m not optimistic. I think this is probably a better sunrise location.
Oh how wrong I was when I wrote that! Turns out the clouds and moon made a pretty good shot. The moon popped up just behind that lowest layer of clouds (I think it’s a fog bank) you see in the photo, then disappeared in the layer above. I only had a few minutes, and only took two quick compositions, but I’m glad I did. Read more about it here
Sometimes, the shot you have in your head gets in the way of the (sometimes better) shot that’s right in front of you.
BTW – maybe you can help me. I’m STILL trying to figure out how the moon appeared to be in FRONT of the clouds. My only theory at this point is that the clouds were thin enough for it to shine through and give the “look” of being in front of them. What’s your take?
Here’s a closeup of an unprocessed RAW file of the moon and clouds.
(NOTE – RAW is like a digital negative – instead of the camera processing the file with a bunch of presets – like a typical point and shoot – the photographer processes the file manually for better control. Straight out of the camera, RAW files are pretty flat, colorless, and lifeless – and in need of sharpening. I tend to overexpose my files just a bit then bring them back down in post to cut out some of the “noise” in the shadow areas, that’s why the image below appears brighter than the one above.)
At any rate, the moon really kind of does appear to be in front of the clouds, not just shining through – although it’s not as tack sharp as I’d expect either, so maybe it was actually behind a thin area – I just don’t know…
Weird huh?
~Steve
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19 Responses to Lake Superior Trip – Day 4
young and on such trips
i am totally envious
love
joy
wonderful Pictures
I love the picture. The fog bank reminds me of the trip I took to the Washington coast. The fog bank is so intense that the thinner layer of clouds seem to disappear by comparison. It is interesting to watch the moon come and go and also shine through the thinner layers.
In your second picture where you just show the moon, I think the moon looks like PacMan. Fascinating.
I am not sure, but I think that your speculation that it was mist or fog is correct. I lived in the Great Lakes area for decades and often saw the sun or moon show through mist or fog lying low over one of the Lakes.
beautiful photo
Very nice I just love lighthouses.
Great pictures! I love them all. The one of the moon looks like Pacman just starting top open his mouth.
I agree with Linda!
Absolutely gorgeous! ab
Another beautiful photo and I always love to see lighthouses. Grant always looks like he is having lots of fun and that is great.
Wow awesome shots Which one was your favorite from the trip?
Thanks so much for the photos! They are awesome!
I would say the moon is definitely shining through thin clouds or fog. The giveaway is the “pacman” effect of the thicker cloud obscuring part of the moon. If the moon were in front of the clouds, it would have to have a chunk missing for it to look like that.
Absolutely beautiful picture!
Wow, lighthouse and everything. Great pic!
Beautiful! Thanks!
wonderful shot of the moon/lighthouse. The colors you captured are beautiful.
First off, I LOVE this picture! Has every element that I like in a great photo. Secondly, I am so jealous! I have such trouble with exposure for moon shots. I was trying to take a picture of a spider in her web with the moon in the background, and it just would not work. If the moon looked right the spider was just a dot. If the spider looked OK, the moon was a bright dot. I always have trouble if the moon is involved in my composition. Any hints? I really admire your work…will you be publishing a book anytime soon?
Actually, I got lucky on this one. The exposure for the moon was pretty much the same as the sky – I’m sure the clouds robbed it of some luminescence.
Normally, the moon needs about 1/125 of a sec at ISO 100, F/5.6 ~ F8 (depends on how hazy the air is, how full the moon is, etc).
Usually the rest of a scene at dusk needs a LOT more exposure than that, so the moon blows out. The truth is our current camera gear just can’t handle the range of exposure. The only good way to handle the situation is with 2 blended exposures in Photoshop to overcome the camera’s limitations. One shot for a proper moon exposure, the other for a proper foreground.
Hope this helps
~Steve
Another breathtaking photograph. Thanks for sharing!