Two Harbors - Sunrise Silhouette #2

 

I knew the Bigger Cahoona and I were in for a productive shoot upon seeing this the first morning of our stay at Two Harbors.  The shot below was taken a few minutes after the one above, when there was a little more light:

Two Harbors - Sunrise Silhouette #1

Ah, and now for the creme de la creme...the sunrise pics from our cabin on the lake.  We were blessed with clouds and calm seas that allowed for this and the shots posted in the next few days.  Naturally, since I was always up before everyone else, I took my time each morning to snap hundreds of shots (including bracketing) to carefully select and process at home later.  The difficulty here is sorting through them, as almost all are beautiful and of decent technical quality.

Two Harbors - Fishing Boat Silhouette

There was a surprising lack of boats out there on Lake Superior, at least from the vantage point of where we were at the cabin.  On the morning of our last day saw this fishing boat and was glad for the Bigger Cahoona's high resolution, as the frame above is highly cropped-in.  Wider view of same shot below:

Two Harbors - Leafy Carpet

The contrast here between the leafless trees springing from a bright green carpet of undergrowth reminded me of this shot, one of my favorites from Galveston.  The pic above was captured adjacent to the small parking area next to our cabin.

Two Harbors - Best Apple I've Ever Eaten

As stated at the beginning of this series, our hosts on this Minnesota journey were an awesome couple from Minneapolis, the parents of our daughter-in-law.  Ellen's mother is a singing teacher, and one of her students has an apple tree on her property.  It is from this tree that the best apple in the world was picked!  Never had anything like it, and store-bought will never be the same...

Two Harbors - Solo Fir Cone Shots

I was in a bit of a hurry to take advantage of the "golden hour" in capturing these shots, but remained relaxed enough to compose the shot above, my favorite as a keeper of these little cones...

Two Harbors - Fir Cone on Deck Board

Had to create a separate layer of just the cone and sharpen a bit on this one, as there was some camera shake due to my awkward position.

Same shot with square dimensions below. 

Two Harbors - Fir Cone Pile

Saw thousands of these little fir cones laying around as I explored the area around our cabin, and on a lark decided to pick some up and do an little experimenting.  Next time I have the opportunity, will snip them directly off the tree before making a pile (as opposed to picking them up from the ground).  Note the reddish-orange glow created by the rising sun.

This is where they come from:

Two Harbors - Deck Chair

Though loosely, the shot above resembles this post from North Carolina.

Two Harbors - Viewing Deck

A very nice deck enabled great views of the lake and environs; shallower depth of field in shot below:

Two Harbors - North View of Shore

Swinging the Bigger Cahoona north revealed this view, the first among many panoramas captured during our stay at Two Harbors.  This is best viewed on a larger screen, then clicking to zoom in.

Below is another 3-shot panorama which includes the cabin.  Thanks to the D850's sensor capabilities, either of these pics would make acceptable prints five feet wide.

 

Two Harbors - South View of Shore

I am always up before everybody else, which afforded some real time capturing landscapes lit by the sunrise every morning.  The first day I was busy snapping away, and had been at it for a while before noticing that Hey, there's a person in many of my shots!  She was sitting quietly, absorbing nature's vibe during the best part of the day.  After realizing she was there I made it a point to say Hi, then tried to avoid pointing the camera in her direction...though I couldn't resist keeping and posting this one of a beautiful moment now shared with the world.

Two Harbors - Our AirB&B Cabin

Our AirB&B was an awesome abode mere steps away from the north shore of Lake Superior, occupying the right-hand side of what you see pictured above.  It was well-insulated and had a rustic feel even though recently renovated.  The perfect place from which to base our daily excursions.

View from the inside lakeward below:

Artist Point - Flowers on the Wall

This is one that goes to show that it pays to carry your camera everywhere.  We were awaiting our turn to go into the Angry Trout to eat when I spied the flower-covered wall below and knew it was a ringer for the Glowing Edges effect in Photoshop:

This being the last post of Artist Point, time to visit the cabin we stayed in at Two Harbors, the base from which we made all these excursions.  Then lastly, the crowning jewels of all pics taken on this journey - the sunrises!

Artist Point - Downtown Grand Marais

Similar to this post from Duluth, one of the streets leading into the "downtown" section of Grand Marais.  Such a quaint little town...looking at this it's hard to imagine the same scene during winter, when everything's white and the harbor is frozen over.

Another view of town, with more of the harbor included, below:

 

Artist Point - Ripple Effect

 

Artist Point - Reflection Shot

Reflection shot taken as we hiked among the rocks of the Point.  Had to lighten shadows quite a bit since the mid-afternoon sun was out full.

Artist Point - Panorama

At some point during our excursions we stopped at Artist Point, a peninsula that juts out from the town of Grand Marais there in Minnesota.  This I believe was the northernmost part of the trip, as it was situated only a 45-minute drive from the Canadian border.  When you're that close to Canada, the urge is strong to keep going and cross the border, but we'll save that for another time.

What you see above is best viewed on a larger computer screen to catch more detail in this 3-shot panorama.  It was a nice hike out there, and fascinating to see the scrapes and patterns made by glaciers in the not-so-distant past (geologically speaking).

Split Rock Lighthouse - Photo Mosaic

Really like this method of using photographs to form a mosaic, creating a discernible picture based on the colors in the "tiles".  This was displayed in the Split Rock visitor center, and will serve to conclude the miniseries on that point of interest.  Think we'll go to Artist Point next...

Split Rock Lighthouse - Fall Colors

 

This is fall, after all, so why not get some of these in?  Cropped to 8x10, this was captured at the end of our visit to the lighthouse, on the way out to the parking lot.

Split Rock Lighthouse - Birch Bark

 

Split Rock Lighthouse - Neighborhood Environs

A couple of pics from the lighthouse grounds, where at one time a small neighborhood developed for those working at the facility.

Split Rock Lighthouse - Window Shot Bookmark

Very much like the earth tones captured here, with the sunlight coming through; reminded me of this post from Austin.  Being inside a lighthouse, this pic was taken as we wound our way up the circular staircase toward the light itself at the top.

Split Rock Lighthouse - Window Shots

In many places in this blog I've named "window shots" those pictures that are framed somehow, usually with a dark foreground of foliage with a naturally lit subject in the middle.  These, however, are window shots in the most literal sense in that they are pictures of actual windows.  And in this case, not only do we have a real window, but focus shifting is used in the pic below. These were snapped from inside the lighthouse once we began the tour.

Split Rock Lighthouse - Iconic View with Bookmark

Split Rock Lighthouse - First Views

When you're as close as we were to Split Rock Lighthouse you have to spend some time there.  And we did just that on the afternoon of Sunday, October 3rd.  Not a whole lot of keepers, as the mid-afternoon sun was out full, but managed a few blogworthy pics, to be posted in the next few days.

The shot above was captured from inside the visitor center; the one below was extracted from the same frame, and a similar view from just outside is at bottom:

Oberg Loop - Shoe Cleaning Station

And finally something I hadn't seen before, a place to clean your shoes/boots before entering the trail.  As stated in the sign this was to prevent the import of invasive species, which makes sense.

Closer view of the business end below.  Had to bring the shadows up quite a bit due to the full afternoon sun:

So this'll end the Oberg series - think we'll go to Split Rock next...

Oberg Loop - White Bloom

Aside from the fall colors there was other beauty to be captured, to be sure.  Would have spent more time with these kinds of shots, but had to keep up with the group...

Oberg Loop - Oberg Trail

Here we have Oberg Lake, one of the star attractions of the Oberg Loop Trail.  A week later the colors would have been more brilliant, but we were happy with what we saw at about sixty percent.

2-shot panorama of same below, from a slightly higher vantage point a little further down the trail.:

Oberg Loop - Our Retirement Home

Our slightly higher elevation provided views of Lake Superior once in a while, such as this one.  And it just so happens that we spied my dream retirement home (emphasis on singular my, as the wife wanted nothing to do with it...will work on that in the future).

An acquaintance from work once asked to see the range of zoom that my vacation lens is capable of.  Here is an example, as the shot above was zoomed all the way out at 28mm, and the shot below was taken from the exact same spot at 300mm: