Back from the UP

Walked in about 9pm last night from a 4-day, 2,000 mile, 26-light journey of almost the entire UP. I'm WIPED. It's going to take a couple days to catch up to the happenings and sift through all my images. I talked to my Fran on the WILD cruise last night on my way south and she said they had a good day yesterday, although the itinerary was changed due to wave troubles, since Lake Superior was still running 4-6 footers yesterday morning after a front went through on Saturday night and all day Sunday it was 10+ foot waves out there. Needless to say, I got some INCREDIBLE shots. Went wading at Au Sable and Crisp Point both, got evening light on Whitefish and sunset at Iroquois, late evening light and sunset at Menominee with fireworks to boot, and to top it all off, I found out by trespassing (that's another story due to some posted sign mix-ups) that 7,500 feet of shoreline was opened up for public use and designated a nature preserve in front of Bete Grise and Fran and I walked 1.5 miles down the beach at sunset Sunday night and got some unheard-of Bete Grise low-light, lantern room with Fresnel lens lit, along with some moonrise images over Bete Grise Bay. All the lack of sleep, running on adrenaline, and dirty windows from bug juice was worth every minute of being up in the UP. More to come...

I can't wait for your images, Jen, it sounds terrific!!

Converting them all from RAW to JPG now as we speak, Paul. Did I mention that I took Mary with me on this adventure, and what a real trooper she was???? Oh my! I have stories to tell!

Preview! Preview!
Sounds great, we can't wait.

Well, at Fran's request (she won't be home until late Thursday night), she wanted me to post one of the sunset light at Bete Grise with the lantern lit after the 1.5 mile beach walk that we weren't planning on doing!

Bete Grise, about 1/2 hour after sunset. This was captured at ISO 1600 with my 70-200 lens, handheld since I didn't have the tripod with me. Too tired and it was too far and too late to carry it, although the image wasn't too shabby! Sorry if this looks a bit pixelated due to the smaller size needed for web posting.


The moonrise and reflection across Bete Grise Bay on the walk back to the car.


And here's a shot of those above-mentioned waves on Monday afternoon near Au Train in the roadside park for Scott Falls along the Lake Superior shoreline.

A couple more from last Thursday night in Munising. I'd always wanted to go and check out Miner's Beach in Pictured Rocks, and I knew there was a (LITTLE) waterfall there, so Fran, Mary, and I went down to the beach at sunset and got some absolutely stunning shots.

On the way to Miner's Beach we stopped at Miner's Castle about 20 minutes before sunset, and for those that didn't know, it's now missing one peak from the drop this spring.


Next is of Miner's Beach Falls, with it's low volume summer flow. Worked alright for me! I added some color to this shot, since I was shooting east, and all the color in the sky was to the west. I also dodged and burned the waterfall in to make it pop out a little more and provide some contrast.


This next shot is about 20 feet west of the waterfall, looking west into the sunset and towards Munising. I think I had around a 30 second exposure time for this image.

Always just gorgeous Jen! Were you on the WILD tour?

Breathtaking Jen! Love the picture of the waves. Love Lake Superior! Look forward to the rest. Hope you have some that include Mary?

Thanks, ladies. Lorie, I didn't do the WILD tour this year due to money and time - new house and new baby, plus I was gone 5 days already and with the WILD tour it would have been a week. Michael went to Grandma's house while I was gone and Matt took a three day motorcycle trip!

I am home. Had a great time. Havent had a chance to check out my pictures. If I dont have pics that came out like that I am comming after you. I think I am the only one who did not notice the waves were Um BIG. I think I took a few naps and only noticed it was a little bad one time. I loved it. I got very little sleep and it is hard to keep up with Jen and her daughter. I climbed and waded through waterfalls and lake, a few black and blue marks, bites from a black fly(ours are GREEN) nats and mosquetos. The airport going was a nightmare(Detroit closed for storms for 3 hrs almost couldnt get to Marquette) and comming home (terror alert). Its is back to work another horror. Time for bed.

Most excellent pictures Jen!

YAY! Fran made it home!! I was thinking about you all day today. You say you might not keep up, but I think you did pretty darn good! I exhausted Mary and myself, LOL! HOw many people puked on the boat?! :p

Puking people, that brings back memories of a Shepler's lighthouse cruise I was on a few years ago. We were hitting 10-12 foot waves on Lake Michigan and many people were very seasick. The cruise was shortened because of this. We missed seeing Skillagalee light.

Hello,

We got home a few hours ago. After a long drive on Sunday, three days of 7 - 9 hours on a boat, and another long drive today, I still feel like I'm moving. Though the boat was rocking quite a bit on Monday, I didn't see anyone get sick. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the trip. The chairs on the top deck tipped over once, and my most expensive lens dropped, but it still seems to be working. (Thanks to another passenger who caught a second one.)

Jen, great photos! It was nice to see you briefly Monday morning. Wished you could have joined us on the trip.

Tammy

Tammy, it was so great to see you and Randy, too! Wish we'd had more time to catch up. I dropped my 200mm prime on the rocks at Eagle Harbor two years ago and it was alright - Canon's L lenses seem to be pretty durable, that's for sure! I'd love to see some of your shots!!