Chilly morning at Jersey Valley

I drove to Jersey Vally a couple of days ago when it got to be in the higher 30's at night.

I thought I might be able to see some mist coming off the water and I was not surprised.
However the very cold Northeastern breeze did chill me to the bone.

On the ridge the sun was already blazing away, warming the morning up.

However deep down in the valley it was quite cold.

Althought when the sun began to just peek over the tree tops, the valley started to brighten up with colors.

I stayed a few more minutes and tried to rub some warmth into my hands. Finally my patience ran out.

I headed back towards the car and decided to just head home.  

Next time, I am coming with finger-less gloves and something much warmer to wear.

Morris, and our Adventure.

Morris on top of footbridge #2

After our visit with Dr. Piper and a rabies shot [yes, his teeth do need cleaning and he has to have some medicine first...], Morris and I headed to Duck Egg Park in Vernon County WI.

We parked at the lower parking lot in the valley.  I thought we'd walk past the Duck Egg Dam and get to the other side of it and get some shots of the Bad Axe River the Springville Branch.

Alas.  It was too late in the afternoon.  By 4pm we made the dam and Morris introduced himself to some Vernon County Land and Water Conservation workers that had been working on the dam.

They were very pleasant and it seems that we were the only people plus one dog in the whole valley.  They gave me tips about getting back to where I wanted to take some photographs.

Morris is pictured on one of the foot bridges provided for hikers.  This park has a lot of hiking and equine trails.  Sidie Hollow has an easy hiking trail and some very challenging mountain bike trails.

There are more parks but I want to stick with this one for now.

The rock formations at Duck Egg are incredible.  In fact the views were so beautiful that I couldn't hike very far without stopping and taking photos.

Water under footbridge #2

Bad Axe, Springville Branch

under footbridge #3

On top of footbridge #3

The trail winds around two ponds that I found just as captivating as the Bad Axe itself.

Duck House in pond

The trail and the late afternoon light really lit up the Eastern end of the valley.

Looking slightly eastward from the second pond

As I said just before 4pm we got to the dam.

You can see it from the lookout above the valley, but to see it from the valley floor is more impressive.  Other county dams are not as huge.  

If you look very hard in the shadow on the top of the dam there is one of the Land and Water Conservation people working there.

Duck Egg Dam

I figured I'd better turn around and march back to the car, it would be after 5pm before I got back to town. To save some cooking time, I'd grab a pizza for supper.

Morris led the way, he is such a trooper.  At our 'favorite' bridge, the one I call #2, he stopped and stood for a while as if taking in everything around him.

Morris stares wistfully 

at his favorite trail.

Looking back

We probably made it in record time back to the car.

I know it will only be a matter of time before we get back to where I really wanted to get some shots.

Morris will always be up for the adventure.

Although, I must say he was a bit stiff and tired last night before we went to bed.

Happy October!

After two fairly cold nights I expect that the trees will do some rapid coloring and changing.

For those who like fall this is the opportune time to get out and enjoy the weather.  We are expected to have nice sunny days and temperatures in the 60's for the rest of this week.

After Morris and I visit Dr. Piper for his check up and rabies shot...also an exam of his teeth ~ we will be heading out to Duck Egg for a walk together.
My assistant loves riding in cars and hiking.

Have a wonderful day.

Day Hike

It has been way too long since Morris and I took a long hike through our woods and through the neighbor's woods.

Yesterday afternoon I grabbed some water, my pistol [hubby had watched a coyote run through our pasture yesterday morning, ... thus the pistol], Morris, his leash, and my camera back pack.

I took along my micro/macro lens, and the 35mm lens. Now one would say those two lenses are too close to do me any good but, I ended up making good use of each lens.

My trusted camera assistant was able to find our trails even though they were hidden by fallen leaves and a bit overgrown.
Of course he has travelled these trails with me since he was a pup.  Good Morris, you are a fabulous navigator.

One of the first very cool things we found was several trees that were surrounded by fungi!  I kept expecting a woodland faerie to appear.

Silly me, I didn't check to see if the dead trees were all the same kind of trees.

Anyway, we finally made onto the ridge on PeeWee's Land.  This area has been not been pastured now for 10 years and it is becoming quite the chore to get through certain areas.

But the view of the East hillside was pretty beautiful.  I used a polarized lens in this shot to bring out the color and to keep the sky from washing out.

The meadow was so overgrown that Morris and I had to fight our way through the weeds on what used to be an old cow trail.  
The area is now choked with Wild Parsnip and the Golden Rod is taller than I am.

We used the snow mobile trail to get around because cutting through the woods is no longer possible.

The creek crossing was hidden in lush weeds.

I heard Morris plop into the water and take a long cool drink.

Eventually we made it out of the woods and onto the crop land.  The walking was easier.  I can see by this corn, it looks ready to harvest.

Morris and I made it back home after hiking about 2 1/2 miles of hills.  I was tired and so was Morris.
He went into his crate and literally looked as though he were dripping out of it.

Today is our rest day, tomorrow Morris visits the vet to get a shot and check up.  I think he needs his teeth cleaned also...his breath is pretty foul.

After our appointment Morris and I are going to head over to Duck Egg Park and see if we can't get some shots of the dam and the Bad Axe River.

So today, we rest.

Fun with Infared

Getting a Hoya IR72 filter was something I considered for quite a while.  I was pretty sure though that I wouldn't be able to figure out the processing part of it.

With many hours of experimentation, I am getting some fun results.

Some are quite stunning and of course others are quite the flop.  The flops go into the digital trash bin and I learn from the mistakes.

I forgot one day and shot in .jpeg, but still was able to get some interesting results.

For the above shot I had to rely on Topaz Adjust tones to help out.

This shot was red and I thought I would not be able to save it in any way.
I did shoot in RAW so was able to work with colors and tones.

Finally, something I could live with. It is still somewhat a 'flop' as it has a slight white area in the middle of the shot.
I think that may have been some reflection on the lens.
With some deft dodging and burning I could have it cleaned up in no time.

My newest thing is to try a long exposure with water.  This was a bit trickier because the leaves are turning colors and it makes for a very different result.

However, I like it as an 'almost black and white' shot.  The greens are white and the other colors are varies shades of the selenium tone I chose.

Happy Shooting!  Fall is here.  It is one of the happiest times of the year for me and my cameras.

Silliness abounds on the Farm

Really?  What IS the hold up?

Mustang Sally

So you've got a camera and I want to be a star!

Is this my better side?

Or perhaps you want a face on?

As you can see none of the other herd members are interested in getting portraits done!

There is of course...that lazy no good Jack Russell...

35mm Prime Nikon Lens

I went ahead and did it.  I ordered a new Prime lens for my Nikon cameras.
I received it yesterday, a 35mm lens.

I ran a quick test on it when I got home, shooting in very low light in the house.

Here is my test subject wrapped in camouflage.  I couldn't get a good shot in anything other than an f stop of 1.8 but the hairs on his nose came out crystal clear and I was rather close to him.

Morris really wasn't too excited about having a camera lens shoved in his face.  But he allowed me to wrap him up in the sheet for the photo.
Good dog.

So this morning I decided to take the lens for a test run on my Nikon D3200.  

I was not disappointed.
However since I didn't check the status of the camera's battery before I left, I had to pick and choose my shots very carefully.
Reminder to self.  Check your battery!  I thought two bars was good enough but very quickly it became one bar.

Here is a shot that is cropped shot at f4, 320, ISO 100. The colors came out wonderfully accurate and very little noise for shooting predawn.

With a slight edit, I was able to pull out some more detail.

So I did a few more shots.  These are cropped a bit specifically to take out a bit of the foreground.
I did purchase the lens for both portraits and landscapes.

[The horizon is not crooked this is a hilly area!]

I'm perfectly happy with this lens.  For landscapes it gives me a broader view.  This of course leaves me in a quandary.  
I have a harder time deciding which lens to put on the camera for taking a hike.

Thank goodness for my new little sling backpack, I can pack two lenses along with the camera and change them easily.

The colors are beginning to look bright in the trees so I guess you can figure out what I am going to try and do today.

Yep, laundry, house cleaning, and ... a field trip to look for cool fall things.