Shooting location lists anyone? Please Read!

[Dbl]

Michael Cary brought up a great idea in another thread.

Quote:

---

I'm making it a personal project to come up with a list of locations for wildlife photography and the best times of the year to go. When you have limited time to get out taking photos, it's seems like it would be useful to know how to maximize your results.

---

I think this is a great idea, compile a shooting location list from forum members and we could turn this into a sticky at the top. It could be broken into Metro, Minnesota, and other locations. Any opinions good bad or indifferent?

[Steve Foss]

I think that would be a great service. I say go for it.

[finnbay]

Good idea! When would you like to start?

[Steve Foss]

I'd say Dan just go ahead and start the new thread with a specific location and details on how to get there and when to go and whatever other shooting details are important — and let everyone else chime in and build her from there.

[MN Shutterbug]

Yep, I'm all for it. Most people know of places that many others have never heard of. This could be invaluable to some of us, especially the ones living in the wasteland of MN. Let's share our secrets.

[Steve Foss]

Well, I look at it this way. Just as we on FM/HSO don't expect other members to share their fishing honey holes or the exact location they've seen that 14-point 180 B&C buck, we probably shouldn't expect any secrets to be divulged here.

I know several locations for rare orchids, for example, that I would not share, and I'm partly in the business of guiding other photographers to sweet locations. Most of these locations are small, intimate places I've discovered through a lot of hard work over the last four-plus years in the woods up here.

However, there are a few spots that, like where bald eagles stage along the Mississippi in winter, are roomy enough to accomodate a good number of photographers in a setting that does not disturb the eagles.

There's an eagles' nest up here right along the edge of a county highway that's well known locally. It sits atop a split white pine at the top of a low ridge, and a 400mm from the edge of the road will get a person some very nice environmental portraits including the nest and the top of the pine with eagles landing large enough in the frame to be quite nice. And, better yet, there's no point trying to get closer than the edge of the road because the ditch drops down, making it an impossible angle, and as the ditch starts to rise closer to the trees the angle gets even more obscured.

I'll be happy to post details about that location, but at the same time I will worry a little bit that someone unethical might take advantage of that and pressure the eagles. That would be bad.

So one of the things I'm also trying to say is let's make sure we take care in using locations given here.

I know we will, because those members on this board are a great and ethical bunch and we don't want to see nature abused, but we have many, many unregistered people who browse FM/HSO for the great info they find here.

So, Dan, waddya got, buddy?

[Dbl]

Well lets get a sticky started and folks can just add to it. Locations, times of year, directions, whatever you think will be beneficial to someone looking for a photo opportunity. As it grows we can deal with breaking it into different areas, such as Metro, Minnesota, etc.

I am sure we all understand not all spots need to be public just as some of our fishing holes and hunting spots but there should be more than enough materiel to give someone visiting one of those areas a place to start.

Lets try and follow a standard format to make it simple for people to get info.

1. City or Landmark name.

2. Name of location.

3. Directions if possible.

4. Type of subject

5. Best time of day or year.

6. Any tips to help enhance the experience at that site.

I will start a sticky tomorrow night (Thursday)that will give everyone some time to make inputs on the format presented here and to make any other suggestions. It doesn't matter whether you take photos or not if you know a spot chime in. How does that sound? Thanks Michael Cary for prompting the idea.

[Jim Almquist]

Dan how about GPS coordinates just in case it is off the beaten path?

[Dbl]

Quote:

---

Dan how about GPS coordinates just in case it is off the beaten path?

---

Great idea Jim. Most folks frequenting this site probably own at least one GPS Just add it to the location.

[Steve Foss]

Good ideas. While the experienced photographers consider light as a matter of course, newer photographers sometimes don't. As we know, if the light is harsh things don't go well, and in some cases it's not even worth tripping the shuttter. So we should probably make it a point to discuss lighting conditions under the "best time of day" category.

[mcary]

I am of the same opinion as Steve when it comes to publicly listing locations. There are some that I would happily list online and others that I would be willing to take a visiting photographer to (on condition that they not publicly share). Reason being is that some spots are not only sensitive to high traffic, but some spots are the livelihood of people that rely on photography for a living. I would not want to be the one responsible for interfering with another's livelihood. That said, I think it's a great idea to save each other a lot of leg work. Finding good spots can be very time consuming and finding great spots even more so.

I've already got a few spots in mind to list once Dan gets the thread running. Also I'd like to throw out an open invitation to anyone who wants to run to Duluth for a day. I'm always happy to have another photographer along to run around the city. A few of the people on this forum have already extended me the same courtesy and I plan to take advantage of it when I can.

[jonny_redhorse]

I also will add to the list ....a large percentage of my "photo" areas were done by a great deal of "foot work" and not "happenstance"....a lot of hours spent searching(alone) went into those areas..and the seclusion and privacy of such areas is what makes them so pristine and photogenic...not meant for the crowds....but as everyone here has stated ...a few spots certainly wouldn't be a problem ....the quietness and serenity of the total photographic experience is what it's all about to me...but that's just me ...maybe I'm a loner ... .....certainly would be nice to share a day or two with a fellow photog in those "special" spots!...trust is certainly involved and once that special spot has been revealed ,one has to be able to believe it will be honored...kinda like that "secret" crappie hole

[finnbay]

I agree totally with Steve and Mike. Well said. On another front, because this is an idea thread, I think another direction we could go with this is either to share suggestions by those that have, say, backyard songbird blinds, or stobing strategies for photographing hummingbirds, etc. There is a lot of wildlife that we have right in our own back yards that we could be taking better advantage of. I really like the idea of this being a learning forum for those of us who have an interest, but not the experience. Whether it's in tutorial form or a thread to have people throw ideas out there, either will work. Steve, has done a good job of providing these threads in the past and I'm glad to see Dan pick up the ball and seriously run with it. I'm particularly interested in some of Dan's expertise in using remotes. Just a thought.

[Steve Foss]

Good ideas, Ken.

Whether to post a tutorial (like the cold-weather camera thread stickied up here) or a general thread asking everyone for their ways of doing specific things is an open question. Sometimes the how-to threads just sit there and die, while an open thread with "how do YOU do this?" stimulates more discussion.

I think the backyard blind setup thread is a good one to do.

[Dbl]

Keep those ideas and opinions coming. Again please no one will be asking for spots that people would like to keep to themselves. There are many PUBLIC places that even as a local you may not have even realized existed. If you are looking to travel or spend a day or two finding a spot that would make it worth your travel this list may give you some ideas.

I travel for a living, I'm used to hitting the Internet and finding out what is out there that may be of some interest. My recent post about Indiana Dunes National Park is one example. I had no idea the place even existed until I was literally 15 minutes away and did some searching on the net. This has the potential to make some of that searching easier. As I mentioned before good photo spots are much like good hunting and fishing spots, we don't always want everyone to know about them.

Ken your suggestion on different techniques is great, IMHO the easiest way to get that info is to just ask. Post and someone is bound to have answer or have done it before. Trade e-mails if you don't want to take it to the forum, though I think we all learn something when we have a discussion on technique. A photo shoot is always a nice way to learn new ideas and meet nice folks, though that is tough with the diverse locations from everyone. I think we have all areas of the state pretty well represented here.

[jonny_redhorse]

just a note:...I'm "very" familiar with entire Sax -Zim bog area and the bazillion back roads in it's entirety...literally spent hundreds of hours in it the last few years....got some great spots for those "birders" out there and am very willing to show those spots as they are frequented by many photographers....blackbilled magpie areas...sharpies....boreal chickadees....northern shrikes...boreal owels ,hawk owls ....come across all the species occasionally but that doesn't mean your're going to get a pic ... ...not that easy!...lot of weekends coming up this winter...certainly would be available...Christmas week I have 9 days off.....and I certainly will accomodate anyone willing to go along for the Sax -Zim Bog drive....

[finnbay]

Oh, I like the idea of a photo shoot. Schedules are always tough, but a couple of days a year to get together (Zim bog for owls, or Hawk Ridge during the migration, Walton's Mountain during the deer migration, etc.) would be something I'd try to make time for!

[buzzsaw]

VERY VERY good post guys! A good thread made great by the thoughts added by Steve and Mike Cary about being sensative to special locations. I have numerous locations, some I'd be happy to take people to for photo's and others not as likely to divulge info on. I for one would be happy to host another summertime Hummingbird photo op in my backyard and I'd hope to be able to make a trip up north and experience the scenery up there sometime. I've spoken with Mike Cary about getting together sometime and have gotten together with Dan on a few occasions... this is a good thought.....

[Steve Foss]

Jonny, I know you and I talked about getting together just the two of us on the bog last winter but we couldn't make it happen.

Now that I'm working for myself on my own schedule, I can definitely plan on it. Shoot me an e-mail if you'd like and we can figure some things out. Could even be a get-together for FM/HSO shooters, although it's very difficult to get close to the bird species you mentioned in groups of more than two or three.

Probably a bit later in the winter would be better, but anytime is good, really.

[finnbay]

jonny,

Would love to meet you in person, and I've got some time at Christmas too. If interested, you can get in touch with me from my HSOforum.

[Steve Foss]

Ken, Jonny willing, I think it would be great to get together for a tour of the best spot-on-the-spots for specific bird species at Sax-Zim Bog. While there may be half a dozen or even more folks involved, that just means it wouldn't be a gathering aimed at landing excellent image of wary birds but one that would allow the shooters to mark specific spots on the map so we can come back alone later. It's about an hour from Duluth and an hour from Ely.

Thoughts Jonny?

[jonny_redhorse]

Sounds great!....maybe get a few guys together as Steve mentioned and go from there....meet at a predetermined area,day etc....I'm off from the 22nd-30th...excluding christmas day of course.. ...

[Steve Foss]

I'm busy the weekend right before Christmas and will be unavaible until about Dec. 28, so if it's to be over the Christmas break (best for Ken and probably Mike Cary) I'd like it to be the weekend of the 29th if possible.

[finnbay]

I could go anytime between Dec 26th and Jan 1 except for the 29th (gotta shoot a wedding).

[jonny_redhorse]

Sat 29TH....would certainly be fine with me...I may even take off the following monday and go right into new years day.not sure yet...but the 29th is just fine...just start working on the details from here on out ..I will be out the rest of today so won't be able to answer any more posts till late tonight....plenty of time for where we would meet, etc....