Category Archives: Waterscapes

Water scenes

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The Big Purge


It has been a long time coming now.  Backing up to the cloud takes time even with plenty of bandwidth.  My recent back up revelations have led to incessant purging of files.  It is a very long process.  2011, not a complete year (Aug – Dec), has been reduced to approximately 1000 shots retained; I am sure that could even be reduced further if I really had to.  I will leave some for a likely future last round of digital cleansing.  I guess when I first started to dig into photography I kept everything.  For the most part I am glad that I did.  When I look back it is very clear to me what worked and what didn’t.  I know a few more tricks in salvaging an image that was less than perfectly exposed, but that isn’t the ultimate goal.  Shoot and learn; shoot more and learn even more.

I am hoping with further review of subsequent years to see a style emerging; your style isn’t so readily apparent to you – at least it isn’t to me.  I have spent the last few years experimenting with many different things photographically.  It is interesting to look back at what you have shot. Remembering why you shot something is my biggest challenge (thankfully the memories are still fresh).  These are a few photos from 2011 that caught my eye while sifting through the nearly 4000 shots.

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Shooting Swans
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Shooting Swans


Last February I posted information regarding the swans in Monticello, MN:  Feb/Mar Trumpeter Swan Mating Rituals

Cyndie and I didn’t make it last year to this spectacle, but this year we did.  This is an absolute site to see.  The $10/hr./photographer for private deck access just off the water was more than worth it.

View from the Private Observation Deck

View from the Private Observation Deck

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For reservations:

Rich Thurman
201 Mississippi Drive
Monticello, MN. 55362
richthurman@fnmmail.com.

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There is a public area to observe the swans adjacent to the residence with the private deck if you would rather go that route – Monticello Swan Park.  Either way, please consider making a donation to carry on what Sheila Lawrence stared.

Between my two camera’s I have a little bit over 1000 frames to look through.  I’ve gotten better at trashing the obvious non-winners.  Here are the 41 frames I kept.

Public observation area
private observation desk – 4 slots for photographers
Feeding Time
private observation deck
Looking for a snack in advance of feeding time…nom nom nom nom nom
Bright Orange Feet – somewhat rare.
View from the Private Observation Deck
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Assorted Photos – 2013: Week #8


It was an eventful weather week.  It started out windy and cold and ended with lots of snow.  The wind really whipped down Lake Pepin on Tuesday; it was quite the sight.  The eagles were out in numbers fishing away in the wind.  There was a magnificent rainbow sherbet sunrise mid-week.  I spied a pile of discarded household crap on a country road.  What the hell are people thinking when they do that?  And to wrap it all up, Friday brought several inches of white-fluffy-commute-lengthening stuff.  Eventful week.

Lake Pepin
Lake Pepin
Minneiska
Minneiska
Rainbow Sherbet
Big Stupid Head
Refinery
St. Paul
Road I live on
Wabasha St Bridge
Halfsies
Plowed
Dead Ends
St. Paul Skyline Pano
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The American Queen


American Queen

There was another reason for going to the farmer’s market the other weekend.  The American Queen is said to be the largest river steamboat ever built and it was docked at Levee Park.  It is always fun to see these riverboats come to town.  These boats usually draw a pretty good crowd.  That can make it a bit challenging to shoot with people everywhere.  They are grand floating structures to say the least.  I have only had the pleasure of being one of  these paddle boats once - The Mississippi Queen; that was back in the last 1990′s.

Cyndie & Linnae on the RipRap

Cyndie and I shot the queen from Levee Park, across the river, from the Eisenhower Bridge and also just down stream [and wind] of the waste water treatment plant.  That is where the last seven shots where from as it backed its way under the bridge and then swung around to head downstream.  The smoke stacks where still down at this point and only one was completely up as it passed by Colvill Park*.

We should have just called it a day from there, but we didn’t.  I really wanted a photo of the American Queen on the river and away from the levee with both smoke stacks up.  Not sure why, I just did.  We headed down river to a favorite location in Old Frontenac to wait for her to paddle by.

My Double Knee

Old Frontenac has a nice public boat landing to park at and you can walk along the beach for a pretty good stretch.  This stretch of beach leads out to a point; that’s where we were going to wait.  At this point, there is a pretty good size rock pile.  Nothing insurmountable; not even close to what we walked down at the waste water treatment plant (pictured above; our photo friend Linnae joined us).  The rocks weren’t as big either, but my oh my did they leave a mark.  I am not even completely sure how it happened, but I took a bit of a spill.  I had a camera in each hand at the time of the tumble.  There were no hands breaking my fall.  Cameras came through mostly unscathed and one lens hood was broken.  It probably would have been two lens hoods, but I already broke the other one earlier in the day :-/  Bad day for lens hoods.

My Double Knee
Cyndie & Linnae

Upcoming Red Wing riverboat schedule:

American Queen
October 18—Dock at 10AM, Depart at 5PM
October 21—Dock at 8AM, Depart at 5 PM
October 23—Dock at 10AM, Depart at 5PM
November 4—Dock at 8AM, Depart at TBD
November 6—Dock at 10AM, Depart at 5PM

Queen of the Mississippi
October 26, Dock at 2AM, Depart at Noon
October 27, Dock at 7PM, Stay Overnight
October 28—Depart at Noon
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*Colvill Park in Red Wing, Minnesota is named for Colvill, and he is represented by a statue in the Minnesota State Capitol. In addition, a section of Minnesota State Highway 19 from Gaylord to Red Wing is named in his honor.
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Binford, ND (Area) Abandoned Farmstead


After some much-needed rest in Jamestown, we set out on day two of our North Dakota abandoned hunt.  The Jamestown Reservoir provided for some lovely early a.m. scenery as we meandered away from the populated city and into the vast and open country of North Dakota.

There were numerous wetlands as we made our way west of the reservoir.  Some of which were not so wet, but extremely or completely dry altogether.  There wasn’t a shortage of wildlife despite these dry conditions.  There were still plenty of areas that still held water along with your typical fowl for this time of year.  Although this isn’t consider prime pheasant country, I was a bit disappointing that I only saw one the whole time.

With this type of scenery between abandoned farmsteads the miles just fly by.  I have several photos of all the points between here and there of this trip that will soon become our North Dakota Safari post.

We stumbled on this farmstead out in the middle of nowhere near Binford.  This must have been a musical household as there were sheet music strewn about the place.  There was also remnants of a piano at the bottom of a heap of yesteryear.  There was also a skeleton of an acoustic guitar on the second level surround by more sheet music.

Troy Larson and Terry Hinnekamp  of Ghost of North Dakota have a book project; if you are interested in abandoned buildings, history and photography please consider contributing to their effort.

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Spring Lake Sunrise


Another picture perfect Saturday morning on the Mississippi.

I scouted this area out on my way home from Work on Friday.  A short half mile walk from the parking lot down a well maintain trail – easy peasy.  I found a nice little point where we could set up and take in nature’s color.

Spring Lake Regional Park is located a few miles North and West of Hastings, MN.  There are two parts, an upper and a lower.  The upper part is Schaar’s Bluff; this is a great sunset location.  The lower part of the park was pretty great for sunrise.  Mother Nature cooperated once again and laid out some clouds just above the horizon.

The lower part of Spring Lake Regional Park has an archery trail.  If I were into bow hunting I’d think it was pretty swell.  Next to this archer trail is a half mile hiking trail down to the river where you’ll find a nice point that protrudes out into Spring Lake.

When we arrived this a.m. the gate was closed across the access road.  Bugger. I hadn’t considered that yesterday afternoon in the middle of the day.  We parked alongside the road, shouldered our gear and hoofed it to the trailhead.  It was a beautiful morning, mild weather, with only a few thousand mosquitoes.  They weren’t too vicious, but they were buzzing all around us.  After the fiery ball was well in the air we hiked back to the car.  There was something on the windshield.  A (Warning)/Citation outlining some sort of weird parking violation (no no parking signs anywhere in sight) and written on the other side was a phone number to call for access prior to 6 a.m. (no trail hours signs posted either).  I am supposed to automatically assume the park is closed if the gate is across the road?  I guess so.

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PSB – Photographers in the Mist


The sunrise looking out over the Weaver bottoms was absolutely beautiful.  This wasn’t my first choice of locations for the shoot, but rather an afterthought – a quickly formulated audible to the morning playbook after looking out over the original destination 3 miles up the road on Cty Rd 26.

We started our day extra-double-super-duper early (that’s a titch before 4 a.m.).  We readied ourselves and packed our gear whilst guzzling our barely morning brew.  After meeting up with a fellow RWPC photography, Jeff Marcus, at 4:45 a.m. our course was set for Weaver, MN.  We arrived at the overlook on Cty Rd 26 – just a bit East of the river and Hwy 61 – plenty early.  The first morning’s light was arriving and the view of the fog in the valley was epic.  The angle just wasn’t optimal for sunrise and the fog would likely be more of a hindrance as this level.  We all agreed that this would be the place for some hopefully fantastic post-sunrise shots.  We were correct.  It was PSB, a.k.a Post Sunrise Bliss!

This is the same location of a pano I did back in March.

This area is one of my favorites in Southeast Minnesota.  The Whitewater river valley is very picturesque.   Hwy 74 from Weaver to Elba parallels the Whitewater River the whole distance.  The scenery is fantastic and the opportunities to see wildlife are almost guaranteed.   How much wildlife you see depends greatly on the amount of vehicle traffic.  This morning was busy for some reason or other, but we saw a good bit.  The Sandhill’s are in the area now and the waterfowl will be moving into this sanctuary very soon.

A great sunrise and epic fog; the day was just beginning!  After making our way to Elba and a quick pit stop at the local convenience store, we were on our way to Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park.  A few other RWPC photographers were taking part in the photography cave tour this same morning.

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Mississippi Sunrise – Weaver Bottoms


Another gorgeous morning for a sunrise on the Mississippi River.  This Saturday’s location was the Weaver Bottoms where the Whitewater River flows into the Mississippi River.  There were just enough clouds to add some substance to the sky and the fog was an extra bonus…as was the train streaking through the scene :-) .

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Chippewa River – Low & Fast.


Another 2x kayaking weekend – woohoo!  Cyndie and decided to check out the Chippewa River.  Our in/out point was off of Hwy 35 just East of Pepin, WI.  There is a nice landing just East of the bridge.  The right side of the first island up from the bridge is hardly navigable (most of the way); we quickly turned around an opted to go around the other side.   The water was very shallow which made paddling in this swift current rather difficult, hence the very short up-river paddle.  There are plenty of sandbars on this river to stop and rest at and take in the beautiful scenery.  The eagles really like these shallow tributaries to the Mississippi; at the furthest point North that we went, there were no less than a dozen eagles flying about and hanging out on the shoreline.  There were another dozen of so down by the railroad trestle.  As you can see by the map, we didn’t make if very far.  It was a lovely day with great weather and big white poofy clouds filled the sky.

I think our next trip to the Chippewa will be coordinated with Will ‘n’ Jill’s Great Adventures.  They offer a shuttle to two points up river:  Ella, WI (8 mile run) and Durand, WI (15 mile run).    They also rent tubes, kayaks and canoes.  They also offer outings on Lake Pepin.  Reservations are highly appreciated.

Will ‘n’ Jill’s Great Adventures
210 Lake Street, Suite #3
Pepin, WI 54759
715-402-0104
willnjill@yahoo.com