Small details

OK, sorry, but I didn't make any photos again yesterday. I know...that's the point of this blog. Fortunately (for me at least) I have a couple more photos from my canoe trip last week, so I can cheat and post at least one more.

This photo was made along the US / Canada border next to a big, brawling waterfall named Curtain Falls. You can Google it if you want to see what it looks like, I'm sure there are decent photos out there. It is a very fun place to take a break, eat lunch, and just watch the water. We were there near mid-day, when the sun was highest, and the light is the worst, at least for things you are shooting that are in bright sun. I snapped a couple of shots of the top of the falls, but I didn't bother trying to work it real hard, since I knew the light wasn't good.

After spending some time helping the others with shots, getting some food and drink and just enjoying the falls, I noticed a few very small blossoms in the shade, nestled in right next to a massive red pine. I have since determined that they are Harebells, also known as Bluebells. Thinking these blossoms might be something that would be fun to shoot (and with favorable shade, which moderates the light), I grabbed my camera, tripod and macro (close up) lens, and tried a few.

The breeze and the delicate stem of these flowers made for difficult conditions since they were moving substantially, but by waiting between gusts I was able to get a couple of keeper shots. My favorite part of this shot is that I can't look at it without thinking of the roaring waterfall directly adjacent to this flower. That, and a reminder that the biggest, loudest, most spectacular sights aren't always the only ones worth paying attention to...

(click the photo to view larger)

EXIF: Canon 5D, EF 100mm/2.8 Macro, f/4, 1/80, ISO 200
Exposure Date: July 29, 2008

Pictographs

For those of you that haven't seen Pictographs before, you are really missing out. Some people dismiss them as merely old graffiti, but most people I have tripped the BWCA and Quetico with think that they are at a minimum, pretty cool, and some have definitely had a spiritual experience. Basically the pictos in the BWCA and Quetico are thought to be somewhere around 500 years old, and were probably made by mixing fish oil with iron oxide (rust) and painting on vertical rocks by hand. There are so many vertical rock faces in that area that I often wonder how many pictographs are covered up by lichens. Fortunately, some are still fairly well preserved.

Here is a photo of some of our party checking out the pictographs on the Canadian side of Lac La Croix (you might have to full view this one to see the pictos, but the most obvious one is the moose above the packs in the canoe):

(click the photo to view larger)

EXIF: Canon 5D, EF24-105mm 4L IS @ 60mm, f/8, 1/200, ISO 800
Exposure Date: July 28, 2008

Here goes nothin...

Alright, so I'm going to try this photo a day thing. As much as possible I will try to post fresh (one day old) stuff, but to get things going I'm going to post a few images from my recent BWCA Canoe trip.

I recently completed a photography tour / workshop with Boundary Waters Journal as one of the two Photographic guides. We were blessed with good weather, tailwinds, and really great travelling companions. At our first campsite we were visited by one of the locals in search of a handout. Despite attempts to get him into a Pringles can, we was pretty much unfazed by all of us, as you can see in this photo:

(click the photo to view larger)

EXIF for the photo geeks: Canon 40D, EF 70-200mm 2.8L IS @ 200 mm, f/2.8, ISO 400, 1/320

Exposure Date: July 27, 2008