Fall Colors in NE Minnesota

[WCS]

We went on our annual North Shore fall colors trip last weekend. We explored as far north as the Gunflint trail down to Jay Cooke State Park. Friday was a washout. It rained steadily all day. Saturday was better, but still drizzled most of the day. Sunday was great, but as luck would have it, that is the day we got to go home. Found some great colors along the way. Clouds aren't always bad for the fall colors, but the rain made it hard to keep the gear dry. Here are some of the pictures.

Scenic drive on cty rd 60, just off the Gunflint Trail

Nice colors on the Temperence River

A hike through the woods to Section 13 near Little Marais

The St. Louis River at Jay Cooke State Park, South of Duluth

[Steve Foss]

Nice work man. I especially like the second to the last one. Nice comp. The foreground rock really adds to it.

[WCS]

Thanks for the kind words Steve. That second to last photo has a bit of a story to it. We hiked to the Section 13 overlook on Saturday. It was very windy with a constant drizzle. As luck would have it, the wind was coming from the direction I wanted to shoot, so that I couldn't keep my lens free from water droplets. We always carry an emergency blanket in our backpack, so we rigged up a canopy using the blanket, 2 hiking sticks and a couple small trees. I set up the camera and tripod under the canopy and got a few shots before the canopy and my new hat almost blew off the cliff. That blanket also came in handy when changing lenses and filters in the rain.

[Swimmer]

Very nice photos. Thanks.

[Andrew Erickson]

awesome pics

[Steve Foss]

WCS, thanks for the story. Rain sure can make it tough to be a photographer.

For the next time you'e shooting landscapes with significant portions of the sky, like in that second to the last image, a graduated neutral density filter will darken the sky quite a bit, evening out the exposure and and adding drama to that portion of the image without darkening the land.

[WCS]

Steve,

Your right, a graduated ND filter would have been great. I do typically us it in these situations, however I just purchased this lens a week before the trip and the pennies in the cookie jar only allowed for a circular polarizer. I have the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for my Canon 300D so the filter size is larger than my old kit lens. So far I am very happy with the new lens, just need to replace all my filters.

[Steve Foss]

I figured you knew about those. It never ends, does it, this equipment upgrading?

[WCS]

Now that I have a walk around lens that I'm happy with, I need to start saving for a long lens. Still using a 70-300mm Quantaray lens. Unfortunately, that is going to take a bit more cash to replace. Of course I would also like to upgrade my 300D as well. Oh well, back to looking around the house for stuff to sell on hsolist.

[Swimmer]

WCS: I too have the Tamron, but the 28-75/2.8 with lots of gold letters on the lens. I'm super happy with it as well as a walk around lens...it seems very sharp. Like you, I'm gathering the pennies for a decend tele or supertele lens. I've read some pretty favorable reviews of the "new" Tamron 200-500/4.x and like the reach. I looked at Sigma too, but you got to love the light weight of the Tamrons...and the sharpness for the price. The 100-400 L (Steves baby) may have to wait until my skills can justify its purchase. Good luck.

[Dbl]

Nice photos WCS. Love that area, nice job with tough conditions.