Serenity

It's officially the first weekend of the summer season.  Docks are going in, boats are gently cruising the lake.  I arrived to calm waters and night light of the setting sun.  It only takes a few minutes of this before the stress of the week begins to unwind.

A Classic Ford

This weekend I'm back up in Menomonee County at my Legend Lake retreat.  The weather is quite cold but calm.  We were greeted with blue skies and bright sunshine which made the 10 degree temperature feel tolerable.  I was mad at myself for leaving my tripod at home which meant no sunrise or sunset pictures this weekend.  Wouldn't you know it but there were some nice sunrises and sunsets!

I did a little driving around the lake and surrounding areas and came upon this classic old Ford pickup.  Now, I'm not one for knowing the exact year of this model but I do know I can't pass on an opportunity to photograph and old beat up truck with rust and peeling paint.  It just gives us that sentimental feeling of days gone by.  In this case, the way the light was hitting truck really emphasized the rust and textures.  I kept the exposure underexposed by 1.5 stops and added vignette in Photoshop Lightroom

Boat Trails

Labor Day weekend brings the end of summer and with it the end of another season on the lake. While there's plenty of good boating weather left in September it seems that most people are distracted toward other activities and so the crowds thin out very quickly. I like our lake in September. There's often fog in the morning, the fishing is great and the colors of sunrise are crisp as cold mornings become more the norm and a sign of things to come.

Return to Legend Lake

It's been a long winter. With my move to downtown Milwaukee, I haven't been 'up north' since November. While the lake is still frozen, the weather is starting to warm. However the ice is still thick enough that trucks still ride across the lake to enjoy ice fishing. For me, it was a chance to 'walk on water' or at least frozen water, camera in hand. The weather was mostly overcast creating an all too common winter scene.

The birch trees stood out more than anything else in the landscape. Even with the bright white of the frozen lake, these trees appeared to rise from the ground like white veins popping from the shoreline against the darker trees. Although the light was even and flat, the contrast was most striking.

Been Way Too Long . . .

It's been a long stretch since my last post but work and life have been extremely busy. I finally am getting slow down a bit and currently vacationing at my favorite spot, Legend Lake in Menominee County, Wisconsin. Sunrises have been particularly beautiful and I have been out capturing the pure beauty of this scene.

I've also traveled about the area to shoot some of the waterfall scenes along the Wolf River. Keshena Falls and Bear Trap Falls are two that are shown here. There are others along the Wolf but two of them I could not find the entry point.

Legend Lake Sunset

I've spent the last several weekends on Legend Lake. I absolutely love the serenity of sunrise and sunset on the lake. The image here is a typical scene yet every time I capture one of these sunrises or sunsets, they are completely different.