Keweenaw Dark Sky Park Inaugural Night Sky Photography Workshop

The inaugural Night Sky Photo Workshop at the newly designated Keweenaw Dark Sky Park was a success. Admittedly, it took some perseverance and patience but many hours after the class portion of the workshop concluded the sky finally cleared (mostly) and offered beautiful views of the Milky Way in one direction and the glow of the northern lights in the other. This was Brad’s first time getting his own pictures of the Aurora and he was very excited about it.

The Night Sky Photography Workshops take place each month at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, on (or near) the date of the new moon. Check out the Lodge’s website and calendar of events for the next workshop. Call or email the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge’s Events and Education to get signed up.

Poster from the inaugural Night Sky Photography Workshop at the newly designated Keweenaw Dark Sky Park.

Mixed Emotions

The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) has adapted well to human civilization, nesting around park ponds, golf courses, farms, etc...; often being considered a nuisance. However, I think this photo harkens to a time when the species was considered a symbol of wilderness…a harbinger of the changing seasons in the northern Great Lakes region, as was so eloquently described by, author, Sigurd Olson, in 1956:

Suddenly out of the north came the sound I had been waiting for, a soft, melodious gabbling that swelled and died and increased in volume until all other sounds were engulfed by its clamor. Far in the blue I saw them, a long skein of dots undulating like a floating ribbon pulled toward the south by an invisible cord tied to the point of its V.

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

This is not a Chipmunk, chipmunks have dark stripes on their head and face.

Named after the golden-colored fur around its shoulders, as if it were wearing a shawl, the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) is a common resident throughout the Rocky Mountains at elevations between 5,000 and 11,000 feet above sea level. Right now, they are getting ready for their long hibernation and this one was searching among fallen pine trees for cones and seeds.

A hasty escape

This Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) did not like the idea of me having my coffee on teh deck of our cabin along Lake Au Train.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of having a fresh cup of coffee, in the early morning sun rising straight out in front of our deck. Many days the ducks, geese, and herons simply make their way into the cove (which is only about 50 feet from the edge of our deck), while we are sitting out greeting the new morning. However, today, this goose had arrived earlier than we did and it didn’t like our sudden intrusion of its space. Shortly thereafter, though the regular entourage of birds gathered in front of our place.

Please don’t feed ducks and geese. It unnecessarily habituates them to humans and such actions can actually be dangerous for the birds (especially when people feed them bread). Bread is nutritionally lacking for ducks and geese and, since it quickly fills their stomachs, they avoid eating healthier, naturally-occurring foods they normally rely upon.

Early Morning River Crossing

Each year, when Kay and I are back home for the summer, we always make sure to take at least one day where we get up early and haul our Wilderness Systems tandem kayak down to the Au Train River access in order to float down the river before “the amateurs” wake up and get out on the water. The Au Train River is a popular canoeing and kayaking destination and because it is a shallow, slow moving body of water, it attracts a large number of people who are somewhat inexperienced paddlers and are often very loud making it very hard to see wildlife. Every time we we are able to be the first people paddling down the river for the day, we are able to truly experience the tranquility of the river and we have always been able to have some amazing encounters with wildlife.

This year we had a beaver rise up immediately next to the kayak and swim along with us. I didn’t want to make any sudden movements and startle it, so I wasn’t able to put down my paddle to grab my camera - so, there was no chance to get a picture . However, it swam next to us, within touching distance for well over fifty yards.

This doe white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and its two fawns entered the river about about 75 yards in front of us and proceeded to make their way across. We stopped paddling and simply let the flow of water drift us toward them, while I was able to get this picture of their beautiful summer coats contrasted agains the lush greens of the mid-summer vegetation.

Sika Deer - Hokkaido

Whenever I plan on photographing with a specific goal, I always have something really great happen that was completely unexpected. In this case, I was at this location to shoot Japanese Red-crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis) While I was there, I became somewhat disenchanted with taking pictures of a ton of really big birds that were, for the most part, just standing around. One of the people that took us to the location pulled me aside and told me we should set up our cameras in a particular spot so we could get pictures of the cranes as they started to leave for their roosts as the sun began setting. I decided to practice shooting birds in flight, trying to get different effects of motion blur, either of the subject or the background, while I was waiting for the cranes. I took shots of ducks, swans, hawks, and eagles. At one moment, I looked across the field to see this male Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) moving through the brush. It stepped out into the light of the setting sun, paused, and looked straight at me. It was at that spot for 3-4 seconds, tops. Then it began running to find some more cover. However, that 3-4 seconds was enough for me to get this picture. It amazes me how often the concepts my Dad taught me, when I was a child, about hunting, now apply to a successful photo outing...practice, planning, patience, and pliability (adaptability).

Sunrise on the Setsuri

We took a trip to Hokkaido, Japan to see wintertime courtship displays of Japanese Red-crowned Cranes, known in Japan as "Tancho" (Grus japonensis). Tancho are an endangered species, having only about 2800 individuals living in the wild, with about half surviving in Japan. While we were on the island of Hokkaido, we stayed at the Hickory Wind Wilderness Lodge, operated by Makoto Ando (a certified guide, professional photographer, and accomplished blues guitarist), his wife, Shinobu (a Master Chef), and their assistant, Kenta Mori. Our first morning we were out the door early and greeted with a beautiful (and very brisk) sunrise to introduce us to the Tancho. This picture was taken at a nighttime roost in the Setsuri River just downstream from the Otowa-bashi Bridge.