The Wandering Photographer

Dunes and Beaches of the Sleeping Bear

Some of the worlds most beautiful beaches and dunes can be found along the Eastern coast of upper Lake Michigan in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The park was designated a National Lakeshore in 1970 and administration was assigned to the National Park Service.

From the NPS website:

"The Park was established to preserve the 'outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena...for the benefit, inspiration, education, recreation, and enjoyment of the public.' "

The Park includes thirty-five miles of Lake Michigan Coast almost exclusively made up of ancient dunes and wonderful beaches. The park also encompasses a number of historic sites, including the Port Oneida Rural District and a nineteenth century US Lifesaving Station at Glen Haven.

The dunes are named after the "Legend of the Sleeping Bear" and the park took its name from the legend as well.

The heart of the park however are the dunes. Here is a few more views from various points along the shore.

It is no wonder that "Dr. Beach" named the beaches of Sleeping Bear Dunes as the best beaches on the Great Lakes.

Hope you enjoyed his look at one of Michigan's wonders.

© 2011 Tim Marks

Barns and Farms: Port Onieda Rural Historical District

In the mid 19th century a number of sturdy immigrant families settled and built farms along lake Michigan near Pyramid Point. By 1862 the people had built a dock and named their small settlement Port Onieda after one of the first ships to visit the village, the SS Onieda. By 1908 all of the original farms, except one, in Port Onieda had been abandoned. New families arrived and the village thrived until World War II. Today only a few families live in the immediate area.

Today the village is being restored as one of two historical districts by the National Park Service, in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I had the chance to spend an afternoon driving around the village and photographing some of the wonderful farm ruins and relics. I hope you enjoy the results.

The outhouse on the Carsten Burfiend Farm c. 1893

 

Here is a close up of closure hardware on one of the Burfiend farm out buildings

 

A small shed on the Martin Basch Farm c.1880s

 

A detail from the Miller Barn c. 1855. the Miller Barn is also shown in the picture at the top of this post.

 

This one is the detail of a shed on the Echart Farm built about 1862.

 

Detail of the old farm house on the Eckhert property. Obviously this one needs work.

 

This historical site is well worth the visit. I could easily spend hours here making images of an interesting past that was an important part of the Northern Michigan experience.

The Sleeping Bear Dunes are located in Benzie and Leelanau counties in Northern Michigan. the National lakeshore is a treasure of natural beauty and historic discovery. Visit them on the web at www.nps.gov/slbe/index.htm

© 2010 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Lake Superior Beaches

Walking along the beach is a favorite activity of folks in the Great Lakes region. There are no better beaches to walk than those along Lake Superior.

Known to the native Ojibwe as Gichigami, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world with a total area of almost 32,000 sq mi (82,500 sq km). The lakes beaches range from sandy to rocky and are often fronted by cliffs of copper bearing rock or sandstone.

Most of these pictures were shot along the beaches of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Shot during a hike on the Hunter's Point Trail at Copper Harbor, MI

Further along the same beach at Hunter's Point. As you can see the beach is made up of small stones rather than sand.

Just a few miles down the coast the beaches are very different.

A walk along any beach is bound to be photographically productive.

The Superior shore is dotted with numerous picturesque lighthouses.

There is no better way to end a day of hiking and photography than to sit on the deck of your motel and watch the sun set over the Lake.

© 2010 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Ohio's Cedar Falls in Hocking Hills State Park

You may remember my post about Upper Falls at Old Man's Cave in Hocking Hills State Park. Well, Upper Falls is only one of a number of falls in the park. Today I want to highlight Cedar Falls.

Cedar falls is probably the most photographed falls in the park. Therefore it can difficult to get a unique view, but any view will be wonderful.

Waterfalls are often best shot on cloudy days. The contrast and colors are often better and it is easier to use slow shutter speeds to get that great silky look to the water.

I didn't have one this day but it is helpful to have a neutral density filter in order to lengthen the exposure even more. Most of these were shot at around 1/5 to 1/2 second. Two seconds or more would be even better. You can get some silkiness even at 1/20 to 1/30 second.

Views of the entire falls are important and lovely but make sure you zoom in and get detail shots. They often turn out to be the best of the day.

Of course you have to realize that you aren't going to be the only people taking shots. This couple was having as great a time as I was. I'm sure they got some shots they can be proud of.

Hocking Hills State Park is located near Logan, Ohio. Logan is located on US 33 about an hour Southeast of Columbus between Lancaster and Athens, Ohio. A visit to Ohio University in Athens is well worth the side trip.

Keep on shootin'!!!

Thanks to Debbie at Delicious Baby for facilitating Photo Friday.

© 2009 Tim Marks all rights reserved

Copper Harbor Lakescapes

The Keweenaw Peninsula is as far from Detroit as you can drive and still be in Michigan.  At the tip of the Keweenaw is the tiny town of Copper Harbor (year round population 75).  The town sits on Gitchigumi (Lake Superior) and is the gateway to Isla Royale National Park.  We spent some time there in 2006 and I got some very nice “lakescape” shots while hiking along the town maintained trail on Hunter’s Point.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 78mm,  ISO 100,  1/640 @ f/5.6

As we got out to the lake the rocky beach was still shrouded by fog, presenting us with the opportunity for this eerie picture.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 65mm,  ISO 100,  1/1000 @ f/5.6

Turning 180 degrees dished up this classic beach scene.  The brown pebble beach, deep blue sky and lake and the dense forest is quintessentially Upper Peninsula.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 60mm,  ISO 100,  1/30 @ f/13

Just up from the beach the large rock formations were made up of many minerals including quartz, iron and, surprise, copper.

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 200mm,  ISO 100,  1/750 @ f/6.3

As we hiked, the wind kicked up and confronted us with this view.  I think the waves add a dynamic element to the image.  By the way, these are very small waves for Lake Superior.  The power of the lake is legendary as recounted in the Gordon Lightfoot hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

Nikon D200,  Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 @ 32mm,  ISO 100,  1/13 @ f/4

After a post hike dinner at one of the local restaurants, we returned to our 1950s style motel and were blessed with the scene above.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a day.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Small Boat Cruise to Alaska

Back in 2000 when we decided to head to Alaska on vacation we decided that we wanted to spit our time between a cruise and a land portion.  (You can see pix from part of the land portion here.)  We began looking at “small ship” cruise lines as we didn’t want to be lost amongst thousands of other travelers.  A number of companies with 70 – 100 passenger ships looked interesting and I was about to call one of them when I came across the web site for Discovery Voyages. 

Dean Rand captains the MV Discovery on 5 and 6 day cruises in Prince William Sound.  The MV discovery has a passenger capacity of 12, that’s right I said 12.  The six cabins on the 65 foot boat are small but the cruise and the experience of Prince William Sound are well worth it.  The food is wonderful and the scenery is breathtaking.  It is admittedly a cruise for people who like people.

Each day we would take the zodiacs ashore and explore the wild surroundings of the sound.  From Icebergs to waterfalls we explored them all.

The view from the deck of the boat was magnificent and the view from land was often even better.  Wildlife that we saw included humpback whales, orcas, sea otters and black bears, all seen right from the deck of the boat.  The orcas were so close my moderate telephoto lens was too long to capture the large mammal's face.

If you want a real adventure consider a cruise on a small boat, a really small boat!  It is the best way to see Alaska.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photographs of Isle Royale National Park

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 86mm,  1/800 @ f/7

Isle Royale National Park, in the northwest corner of Lake Superior, is one of the least visited and most interesting of our national parks.  Visitors to the park must arrive either by boat from Michigan or Minnesota or by float plane from either state.  Once on the island opportunities for hiking, camping, kayaking and photography abound. 

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 35mm,  1/320 @ f/9

For our 2006 trip we departed Copper Harbor, MI on the Isle Royale Queen IV.  The Queen is a 100 foot, steel hulled diesel powered passenger vessel that regularly travels at full capacity, so reservations are required.  The trip is generally quite comfortable even in moderate seas.

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 52mm,  1/160 @ f/7

Upon arriving on the island we checked into our cabin at the Rock Harbor Lodge.  The lodge is the only non-camping accommodations available on the island.  Accommodations available include 60 lodge rooms and 20 duplex housekeeping cabins.  We chose a cabin overlooking Tobin Harbor, an easy quarter mile walk from the dock.  As you can see from the image above the sunsets over Tobin Harbor are magnificent. 

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 18mm,  1/350 @ f/7

Most of our time in the park was spent hiking along the numerous short trails emanating from the Rock Harbor area.  This image is at the end of one such trail.  Wildlife we saw along the way included pileated woodpeckers and jackrabbits.  The wildlife we did not get to see were wolves (rarely seen) and moose (commonly seen but we didn’t get lucky). 

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 25mm,  1/640 @ f/5.6

Paddling Tobin Harbor is another activity we undertook.  A half day rental of a canoe (I know the boat in the picture is not a canoe) was included in our cabin rental and we took advantage of it.  The paddle up the harbor and back was easy and relaxing.  We saw only a couple of other paddlers on our excursion, though we did get to watch the floatplane depart.

Nikon D200,  ISO 100,  Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 @ 25mm,  1/350 @ f/7

On what was supposed to be our morning of our departure we packed up our stuff and headed down to the dock.  The sign on the dock announced that the Queen would not be coming that day because of high seas caused by a violent thunderstorm the night before.  We had watched the storm from the comfort of our cozy cabin.  The weather had cleared but the waves on the often treacherous Lake Superior were still above 10 feet, so no boat would be coming that day. We had to extend our stay in the cabin and got a bonus day on the island.  A chance for one more hike.

If you have a chance to spend some time on Isle Royale National Park take it, you won’t be disappointed.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photo Friday: Sandhill Cranes

Earlier this week I mounted my 150mm macro lens to my D300 and went out the Kensington Metropark to practice my close-up photography.  Little did I know that the best pictures of the day would be wildlife shots.

Nikon D300,  Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro,  ISO 200,  1/500 @ f/5.6

As I entered the nature study area of the park I noticed a fellow photographer pointing his camera at a spot down the walkway that runs in front of the nature center building.  As I rounded the corner I saw what was interesting him.  About 20-30 meters away was a family of four Sandhill Cranes.  I had seen Sandhills in the swampy areas of the nature study area before, but only at a distance.  This was the first time up-close.

First I cursed the fact that I had brought only one lens, and then I started shooting.  The lighting wasn’t particularly good but I was getting a number of what I thought would be pretty good images.

Nikon D300,  Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro,  ISO 200,  1/500 @ f/5.6

We were being very quiet and stealthy in an attempt to avoid scaring the beautiful birds away.  All of a sudden we were in for a very nice surprise.  All four of the cranes started walking right toward us.  They showed no fear as they walked between us and headed to the other side of the center’s courtyard.  At one point a crane was so close I would have needed a wide angle lens to get the picture.  The birds were not begging for food but simply ignoring us as we snapped away.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photographing the Kennecott National Historical Landmark

Last week’s Photo Friday showcased the view from the porch of the Kennicott Glacier Lodge.  Just down the way from the lodge is the intriguing Kennecott National Historical Landmark.  This assemblage of old mill buildings, built by the Kennecott Mines Co., is now a part of the Wrangell St-Elias National Park.

The oxide red painted buildings form a photo friendly landscape in which a photographer can revel for days.  Opened about 1911 the mine produced copper ore valued at in excess of $200 million by the time it closed in 1938.

The National Park Service is currently working to restore the mine buildings and develop a National Landmark that will educate the public about the history and culture of Alaskan industry.

The buildings are an opportunity to produce photographs that both express that storied history and make an artistic statement about industrial evolution.  Are these structures a scar on the wilderness?  Are they a testament to industrial might?  Well maybe they are a little bit of both. 

Whichever way you fall on that question, the structures are undeniably a photo opportunity that is not to be missed.  The deep red color, deteriorating condition and the unintentional symmetry of the buildings’ design make this site a photographer’s paradise. 

All of the photos were taken using a Nikon N90s camera on Fujichrome Provia 100F slide film.  Exposure information was unrecorded but the camera was likely set on aperture priority automation as that is the way I often shoot.

A note on the spelling discrepancy:  The official name of the glacier is spelled Kennicott.  The mining company, to this day, spells their name Kennecott.  The NPS states that the founder of the mine, Stephen Birch spelled it Kennycott.  Confused? Me too.

© Tim Marks all rights reserved

Photo Friday: Room with a View

Some hotels have fancy restaurants, olympic size pools, and well equipped fitness centers.  Some have a view.  Such is the case at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge in McCarthy, AK. 

The lodge overlooks the old mill buildings from the now defunct Kennicott copper mine.  In the distance, spread out around you, is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  Wrangell-St Elias is the largest national park in the U.S. and offers opportunities for hiking, fishing, and mountaineering.  The Old mill buildings offer wonderful photographic opportunities. 

In the end the best thing about this fabulous lodge is the view from the front porch.

Thanks to Debbie of Delicious Baby for organizing Photo Friday and spreading such wonderful images across the Web.

Visit here Monday for a look at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

© Tim Marks 2009 all right reserved