Category Archives: Year 3

Lake Superior Lupines at Dawn

June 20, 2016Year 3MN North: Lakewoodrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Three nights ago I got up at 12:15 am to photograph Lupines in the moonlight. Well, the following morning at 4:45 am I was out on the shores of Lake Superior awaiting the sunrise to photograph my favorite flowers. The first photo was taken 20 minutes before sunrise, whereas the final two were a few minutes after dawn (about 5:15 am).

Given the challenging light, I combined 3 images via HDR into one photograph such that I could both photograph the sun (or sky), but also bring out the colors of the flowers. This leads to the question, which photograph best reflects reality? Surprisingly the answer is not as easy as one might think. Right after the sun popped above the horizon, if a person looked directly at the sun, the flowers would only appear as silhouettes. However, if one made sure not to look directly at the yellow orb, the color of the flowers would be obvious. Thus, in my mind all the photographs are realistic.

20 Minutes Before Sunrise: Lupines on the shore of Lake Superior

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5 Minutes After Sunrise: Lupines on the shore of Lake Superior

Lunar Lupines!

June 17, 2016Year 3MN North: Amityrichardhoeg@gmail.com

Lupines are a sure sign of Summer here in northern Minnesota. Last night I took a break from sleeping around 12:15 am and went outside to photograph some lupines in the almost full moon. ThIs was the result (15 second exposure at ISO 800 with an aperture of 2.7 … no flash used). Focus was dialed in to 1/2 foot.

Do You Have a Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device?

June 17, 2016Background, Year 3MN North: Hawk Ridgerichardhoeg@gmail.com

I speak Indigo Bunting, and Catbird … and even Wilson’s Snipe. Yes, via my Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device I speak many birding languages, and the birds speak back to me! Actually in my case I am using iBird Pro North America on my Android smartphone (also available for IOS). While $15 may seem like a lot of money to pay when many apps are free, the extensive database (940 bird species) which is always at your finger tips makes the cost worthwhile. In addition, to the app’s many other features which help in bird identification, the use of recorded bird songs in the field may be the difference between only hearing and seeing birds close up.

Over the past few days, I have used iBird Pro to attract Indigo Buntings, Catbirds and Wilson’s Snipes out of heavy growth to check out a singing bird they hear (i.e. me). If you hide yourself effectively, and remain motionless, good photographic opportunities often make themselves available. Actually, yesterday in the case of the Wilson’s Snipe, hearing the sounds from my app actually helped me make my initial positive ID.

Do you have your own Star-Trek Birding Universal Translator Device?! In the instance of iBird Pro I can even select a recording which is often from my own region. Thus, for the Indigo Bunting I used an Iowa song, not some bird from down south! With the Wilson’s Snipe the recording was actually of a Minnesota bird.

iBird Pro Main Menu – 940 Bird Species