Monthly Archives: August 2015

30 Superior Nights!

August 30, 2015Year 2MN North: Canal Parkrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Would anyone like to participate in a project I have planned for September named “30 Superior Nights”?

For this project I have created a Flickr group named 30 Superior Nights. Posting to that group requires an image include water in the Lake Superior Region (lake, pond, river, stream or creek) and be taken at night during September 2015. Night is defined as the sun being below the horizon. My personal goal is to improve my own night photography.

While my personal plan is to try and take at least one photograph every night, individuals participating in this project need not take a photo every night. Posting a photo just a few times during September is perfectly acceptable, but each image must conform to the project rules.

Group rules allow for the posting of two images daily. Thus, if you are away from your computer but with camera in tow for a few days, it is possible to catch up.

Here is an image I took yesterday morning around 4:30 am when a thunderstorm rolled through the Duluth area.

Sandhill Cranes on the March! (rural Duluth)

August 28, 2015Year 2MN North: Cloverlandrichardhoeg@gmail.com

I’ve never seen Sandhill Cranes in rural Duluth, but there is a first time for everything! This family was in a field west of Ryan Rd. (just north of Lizmore Road). I was able to watch them for almost ten minutes from a distance of fifty yards. Cool!

Sandhill Crane Family … Duluth Township

Aurora Borealis Bird Song!

August 26, 2015Year 2MN North: Lakewood, Northern Lightsrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Great night in northern Minnesota. My Aurora app went off last night and awakened me shortly before 2 am. (set for Kp of 5). Knowing that the moon would set shortly, and Ovation looked decent, I threw on some clothes and drove north to Boulder Lake (30 miles north of Duluth) arriving around 2:45 am.

I was rewarded! The Aurora danced and was easily viewable with the naked eye. Given the moon was down, it was very, very dark. This allowed me to even see faint red with my own eye.

While I was taking this photo the loons were going wild. Every loon for miles around was calling out through the night. In addition, an owl was hooting behind me! Very cool. Both man and bird were impressed with the celestial show!

Most of these photos had these settings … ISO:1600, Aperture:3.5 (wide open for my camera, a Sony NEX-5T mirrorless), and an Exposure of 15 seconds. This photo also uses the “kit lens” which came with my Sony.

It was 40F and damp when I finished up a bit after 4 am. Ground fog was starting to form; shorts and a wool sweater were not sufficient warmth. However, there was no way while the Northern Lights were dancing that I was going to give up and hike back to the car.

Oh yes … I’m still photographing birds! The hawk migration has started, and I found this Merlin while bicycling along Lake Superior yesterday afternoon (last image of this post)

View my Northern Lights photographs via Flickr

Northern Lights & Big Dipper Over Boulder Lake