Dec. 2, 2012- Photo Workshop – Part 8 - Nature Photos

During the photo workshop I attended at North House Folk School we spent a lot of time outside taking interesting nature shots. Here’s a group of Alder cones photographed along the Gunflint Trail. Getting a soft, clean background is the key to a photo like this.

AlderConesGunflintTrailCookCounty20121006

Three weeks ago I showed you some snow photos taken during the workshop. As we drove along the Gunflint Trail to get those photos, we saw this Sundog. When there are ice crystals in the air, they can act like a prism and reflect the sunlight in a rainbow pattern. Sundogs can occur on both sides of the sun and they are at the same distance above the horizon as the sun.

SunDogGunflintTrailCookCounty20121006

The sky was dark and cloudy this day but the sun was still able to break through and make interesting patterns on the clouds. The Sawtooth Mountains are in the background.

SunlightcloudsHwynorthGrandMarais20121006

One morning I awoke to this beautiful sunrise. I quickly grabbed my camera and was able to capture it before it faded. You don’t have much time with sunrises and sunsets.

SunriseOutpostMotelGrandMarais20121007

Here’s a panoramic view from Honeymoon Bluff. This is more than the camera can take in one shot. With my camera on a tripod, the first shot included about the left quarter of this panorama. I took five more shots, moving the camera to the right each time, and overlapping the previous shot by about a third. Photoshop has a feature that makes it easy to “stitch” the six photos together. Next year I want to get to this spot when the leaves are colorful and still on the trees. This would be a spectacular fall color photo.

HoneymoonBluffpanoramicCookCounty20121006composite

We also practiced taking photos of waterfalls. This was taken at Cascade River State Park. My camera settings were ISO 160, f 6.3, and 1/30 sec. At that speed, the water is slightly blurred but still pretty realistic.

WaterfallCascadeRiverStatePark20121004

Then we tried taking longer exposures which blur the water and make it look “smoother.” The settings for this photo were ISO 160, f 36, and 1.6 sec. I’d like to know which one you prefer: realistic, or “smoother.” Click on “Add comment” below and tell me what you like and why.

WaterfallCascadeRiverStatePark20121004