Some years ago I shared an Image from Price Lake, one of my favorite locations in the Upper Peninsula. It was a single frame. Today I’d like to share a five-image panorama I also took on that occasion. The individual images were composed vertically using my typical approach to panorama composition and then stitched together using the “Automate” and “Photomerge” tools in Adobe CS6. The Land of Kitchi Gami lends itself very readily to panorama construction, as it does to every other compositional construction you can imagine.
Each of the five frames was composed as a vertical with a focal length of 108mm, still within short-telephotoland. Each frame was exposed with an aperture of f/22 to maximize depth-of-field and a shutter speed of 0.3 second at ISO 100 for an overall medium result.
Single frames or a multitude, the amazing fall color of the Upper Peninsula is, in my humble estimation, matchless.
You really are teasing me now about the upcoming UP workshop! What an amazing image. Part of me wants to turn the calendar forward to October so I could be in the middle of this scene, but as my grandmother always said, “Don’t wish your life away”. Two things I rarely work with are panoramas and reflections, and I am hoping practice them in the UP. It is always nice to work on new skills.
For me, the composition choice in this was key. By including the grass in the foreground, you were able to minimize the amount of sky in the picture. Maybe on a day with more defined clouds and some blue, you would have changed and had more sky. The grass really helps frame the reflection though, so even with a stunning sky, I may not want to change. Hard to say until we encounter it.
Absolutely beautiful. What a story of peace that tells.
Don, I admire your significant restraint and selectivity. Just the occasional panorama — and what an image it is. A colorful feast. The curve of the treeline and its reflection could be a human figure, wine bottles on their sides, and more. And that little row of grasses marching along to frame the bottom is nice. Thanks!
Beautiful! This should be a mural! This might make someone think there could be a “perfect world” out there. There are beautiful lines and layers all working together to create the harmony. The UP is calling me now:-)
Love the image! I spent a week up in that area some years ago. What a great place to photograph Autumn color!
Beautiful image Don! I love the pano view of this scene.
Good morning Everyone. Thank you all very much for joining me for this conversation. Although our weather in the Southern Appalachians doesn’t impact the foliage in the Upper Peninsula, we’ve had some decent rain events this week which encourages me with regard to our own fall color. May it be the same in the Great North Woods of Michigan.
Hey Kev. It’s always good got have you join me. I am very excited to think about sharing this amazing landscape with you and Elizabeth. So I keep sending up weather prayers for a UP fall season this year like the one when this Image was made. And as much as I might wish for the time to be tomorrow, I have to agree with your grandmother, it will arrive exactly when it should. The UP is a world of reflection and panorama opportunities and we are going to revel in them. I think that even if I had blue skies and puffy clouds here, I would have framed this panorama just as I did, because the grass does add such an interesting foreground. Of course I probably would consider doing two panoramas, one being as you suggest with a different sky. October is definitely coming.
Hey J Warren. I wish you were going with us on this adventure. I know how much you would love the Upper Peninsula. I really appreciate your kind and thoughtful words. There are, indeed, many places in the North Woods whose stories ring with the deep silence and stillness of peace. Price Lake is very much one of them. Be well, my friend.
Hi Ray. Your kind words – and thoughtful ones as well – are always enlightening. The metaphorical possibilities of the fall images in the Upper Peninsula make it one of my favorite locations anywhere. This October will be my 14th adventure in the Land of Kitchi Gami and I think I’m more excited about that than I was the first time I went. Hope you are thinking about enjoying the color in some beautiful national forest somewhere. The choices are almost infinite.
Hi Nancy T. I so well remember sharing the UP with you. We had an adventure. The harmony of lines and layers you evoke is one of the many harmonies of this beautiful land, as you well know. One of these days I hope you will be able to answer that call. All of our beautiful places miss you. Walk in Beauty.
Howdy Ron. It’s great to have you with us, my friend. I knew that you have had a UP adventure, and I am grateful for it. I hope you and the folks in the Pioneer Valley are looking forward to a fall color season as spectacular as you’ve ever seen, which I know, is nothing short of incredible.
Hi Corrin. It’s great to hear from you! We so enjoyed having you with us in the Smokies last fall. I hope you are thinking about having an autumn adventure somewhere this coming season and also about visiting us again. I very much appreciate you kind words, and I completely agree, the panorama view of Price Lake is something that adds to an already amazing beauty.
Thank you all, again. Your thoughtful comments make me realize how grateful I am to be able to do what I do and to be able to share that with good folks like y’all. I hope we can all work together to preserve this beauty so that it is here for generations who come afterward.
Hey Ray, I just noticed your reply on the back end. I appreciate your taking the time to respond. It would be great to have you with us, but I certainly understand the constraints that work imposes. Hopefully somewhere down the road. I’m looking at putting together an adventure to the Southwest in September 2020 or 2021. Be well.