Far across the lower, marshy end of Pike Lake on Friday morning two swan parents shepherded their small family of four cygnets, too distant to be seen with the unaided eye. It was only when I looked through a moderately long telephoto that I spied them paddling along the grassy edge of the prairie. Even then they were hardly part of the story of the golden light illuminating the tones of autumn in the Great North Woods of the Upper Peninsula.
A focal length of 105mm, somewhere in the middle of short telephotoland, gave me the angle-of-view I wanted showing a fairly large arc of the entire marsh and wetland pond. An aperture of f/18 provided depth-of-field and a shutter speed of 1/15th second at ISO 100 gave me an overall medium exposure.
The swans named “Spot” are wholly coincidental to the light of a new day in the UP. They don’t even provide scale, But they are certainly part of the larger tale that is the epic of these great forests and the creatures that dwell in and fly over them on their ways around the beauty we call Earth. They are reminders of what we are given to protect and what we stand to lose in the carelessness of our failed stewardship.
Howdy Don, OMG, that is epic peak foliage! I’ve never seen nearly 100% color and no bare trees either. Great composition with reflection and doubling the color. The dark blue storm sky and darker blue reflection is a beautiful border of complementary colors too. Keep them coming.
Wow! That looks familiar. The colors are amazing and the composition is spot on. We were lucky to have the swans there when we shot this scene. This is exactly the type of picture I was hoping for when I signed up for this workshop. You timed our arrival perfectly. Enjoyed scouting that location (and the others) with you this week and am looking forward to going back when our class starts tomorrow.
A beautiful image. But I’ll admit, I’d have felt compelled to start with my longest telephoto to play with the swans for a while, while they were still there.
That’s a WoW for sure. The color is really popping in this one. If it had been a bright, sunny day it wouldn’t be this saturated. Spotty and Dotty (I just kick-named your swans) are a welcome reminder that everything is not tethered and gold or blue. In fact, in the small world of this image, they look like royalty.
Thanks for sharing this. I can see what I am missing. Motivation!
Good Morning Don, I hope your adventure is going well. It is interesting how an image can invoke a long forgotten memory. When I first looked at your image, I immediately remembered my first long conversation with Dave Gorke as we stood on the Lakes shoreline.
Good afternoon Everyone and greetings from the Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore in downtown Munising in the land of the Upper Peninsula. We have bid farewell to our fellow adventurers and are enjoying a chilly afternoon on the shores of Kitchi-Gami.
Howdy Michael, it’s always a treat to have you join me. I hope the Rhode Island autumn has rewarded you with its beauty. We were able to take the data from two years of change in the UP’s peak foliage and put together an itinerary that found maximum color between October 6th and 13th. When I can do that, I know we’re going to have a wonderful adventure and we did. Thanks for your very kind comments. Be well.
Hey Kev. First I want to thank you and Elizabeth for being with us and for all of the excellent work you put forth with our logistics. Your assistance allowed lots of good outcomes to occur and everyone appreciated all of the effort. I hope your adventure in the UP was a success for you and that your creative efforts were duly rewarded. I look forward to our next collaboration. Walk in Beauty.
Hey Donald. It’s great to hear from you. I can well-identify with your expressed desire for this scene. Truth is, those swans were nearly a quarter of a mile away, and even my 400mm would not have been much of a match for that distance, except to make the spots you see here into bigger spots. We do have some loon stories from this adventure that are worth sharing. Take good care, my friend.
Hi Nancy T. It was so good talking with you. In the small world of this image, Spotty and Dotty were, indeed, royalty; and their cygnets were the Royal Family. They well-knew where their comfort zone lay and they did not venture beyond it. I surely hope the motivation achieves the result we both wish. We’ll talk again soon. Be well.
Hey John. Your ears must have been burning, for your name was mentioned on this adventure on more occasions than a few, especially when we were on that dirt road into Craig Lake State Park. The color was wonderful and the only thing wanting was was a bit of fog over toward the island.
The band is about to set up for an evening of music at Falling Rock, so we’ll be saying goodbye. Have a great week all.