My Falls Is Falling Again!

Hello again from Devil's River!

Yes, I've written already from this place but with so much beauty to be seen, a single postcard just didn't seem like enough!

One day soon I'm going to come back here and maybe leave the camera in the backpack for a bit so I can just sit and quietly soak all this in over a cup of coffee or some yerba mate.

Amazingly, I've rarely encountered others when visiting here so solitude is almost guaranteed.

This river is my escape. And luckily, being just 17 miles from home, I can escape just as often as I like.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...or possibly right back here!

Spring Can't Be Far Off Now

Hello from SPRING! The birds are singing, the bugs are buzzing, the rivers are flowing and I'm finally out on the lonely road again! Wish You Were Here!

It's amazing to think that it was just one month ago today that I made my first trip of 2010 to Devil's River and found only stillness, the river still firmly in the grip of Old Man Winter. What a difference 30 days and the past week's spring-like temperatures has made! It was such a thrill to arrive here today and even from a distance be able, once again, to hear the water crashing over the rock ledges of my favorite waterfall.

My first ever visit to this place happened just about this time last year as I worked on my 365 day photo project and though it remains relatively unchanged, I tried to approach photographing the scene with fresh eyes. In doing so, I worked out the angle you see here but in other cases I found myself arranging compositions very similar to those I'd done before. However, my extensive time behind the camera last year, and especially shooting these sorts of places so often, taught me a thing or two that made the shooting of this familiar place in this season much more productive and satisfying. As always, I got lost in my "work" here and when all was said and done I had spent nearly two hours clicking away. And I have to say that if what I did here today could be called work then the compensation for my time spent could not be more satisfactory.

So, it's been a good day! I feel like this outing has awakened my wanderlust and I suspect I'll write again soon.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road!

Brrrrr!!!

Hello again from frigid Lake Michi gan! Wish you were here...although I'll bet you'd prefer the warm place you're reading this in right now. I'm back at the lake today at the city of Kewaunee which is a bit further south than when I last wrote. And unlike my last visit to the shore, this day began with out a visible sunrise and lackluster in color other than a bluish tinge to everything that made it feel even more cold that it already was.
But however grim, this day was not without a notable happening or two. I arrived here at the shore under full darkness and it was really cool to see the lighthouse lamp really shining brightly out on the pier.
Then, as light began to slowly creep into the sky, I could see that the water in the harbor was covered with smallish, floating ice chunks and as large waves washed in, the surface seemed to shift and convulse like it was alive. Very weird!
I walked along the pier to the lighthouse shooting from here and there as I went. BIG waves pushing in at nearly the same angle as the pier whooshed along the edge, often catching in the corrugated metal pier wall causing frothing, bubbling plumes of water to shoot up over and travel along the edge as the wave moved further toward the beach. As always I spent way too long out there, pushed it until I was too cold to function any longer.
So, it was not the most memorable day at the lake but still worth having gotten up early to make the drive out, for no matter what the mood of my great lake she's always a pleasure to visit.

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

Tim

Sometimes it pays to wake up at 5 o'clock...

Hello from the Algoma Pier and Lake Michigan! Wish you were here..with your heavy parka! ha!
It was bitterly cold as sunrise approached this morning but so worth suffering through in order to see the amazing color the sky took on just before the sun broke the horizon. A far off bank of clouds delayed the appearance of the sun for about ten minutes which gave me a little extra time to play around with various angles and compositions in the camera before I absolutely had to be in position. I've learned the hard way that sunrise happens surprisingly quick so it's important to be all set before the sun pops up. All told, I spent about an hour out on the pier before and after sunrise and was enjoying shooting so much that I only quit when I could no longer feel my fingers to squeeze the shutter release! Call me crazy, but it was an amazing time... I'd be lying however if I said it wasn't nice to get back to the relative warmth of the car!
Sorry you could be here to "suffer" with me but I do hope you enjoy this view :)

That's all for now...
See you somewhere down the road!

Tim

Hello From Cave Point !

Hello from Cave Point on a wild and wonderful day!
Wish you were here!
I tripped up the peninsula this morning hoping for one of the really dramatic winter days that the point can offer. Well, lucky me! The moment I threw open the car door and heard the roar of the waves crashing in to shore I knew I had chosen the day well! When I walked down to the edge of the cliff, not only did I see those powerful waves pounding the shoreline but also spied the most amazing ice formation just below me on the cliff wall. Water streaming down the rocks had formed an entire wall of icicles. Bearing witness to this scene was definitely one of those wooooooow moments I live for! I worked my way below by following the trail down the shore to an ice-free section of rock and climbed down closer to the water's edge. The waves crashing into the edge of rock shelf I now stood on threw water into the air. In order to remain dry, I had to do a not terribly graceful slipping, sliding, stutter-stepping, duck and cover dash over the slick surface back toward the ice formation I wanted to photograph.
The icicle wall was even more amazing up close...like something you'd see in Superman's Fortress Of Solitude. I spent some time shooting the ice while trying to avoid the spray from the surf just behind me (and the photos are the best!) before I turned to capturing the waves that you see here.
All in all, this was one of the most memorable days I've ever had in this place that I have already enjoyed so many times before. I'd have been happy to shoot here for hours more!

So, goodbye for now...
I'll see you again somewhere down the road!

Good Morning from Kewaunee!

Wish you were here...will write soon!

Hello from Cana Island!

Hey! Hello from Cana Island!
What an amazing day it is here on the Door County Peninsula. Wish you were here!
This could quite possibly be the most beautiful day before the day before the end of summer in the history of the day...umm...before.
A sunny sky, a nice, warm breeze, big waves rolling in off the lake. PERFECT.
I made the trip up here early and spent the morning at the nearby Ridges Sanctuary photographing the last of the wildflowers for this year. Then, after lunch, I drove up the shore and crossed over to the island for more shooting at the lighthouse. I wandered around the island with the camera for an hour trying this angle and that before coming down here to the water's edge for more pics which eventually led to me losing the shoes and socks and wading along the shore to get a particular photo I wanted. I'm a little embarrassed to say it's the first time I've been IN the lake this year. Strange considering how often I'm here or there along her shore. Anyway, it's been a good day! Soon I'll get ready to return home but for now I'm sitting here on this shelf of rock just out of reach of the waves, enjoying a few extra minutes of sun and surf and solitude on a day that might not be repeated for a long while.
I hope that wherever you spent your day it was as pleasant as all this!

I'll see you again somewhere down the road...

Tim