Tag: Lake

Indiana Fall 2023, Part 5 – Sunrise Sequence – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana

Sunrise 1, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

Even though I’m usually sleeping well in the early morning hours, I force myself out of a warm, comfortable bed, because my favorite time for photography is in the early morning hours, especially in popular places, because the normal tourist don’t usually get out early and one doesn’t have to worry about people getting in the way of ones photography.

When I pulled into the parking lot at Ogle Lake, I was the only one there.  As I prepared my camera and tripod, a lady drove into the lot and stopped to ask me about the best place for sunrise here in the park.  She and her husband were staying in the park lodge, but they had apparently not had time to scout places for sunrise photos.  I told her I did not know what place was best, but it might be good here and it was too late for her to get to another good place before sunrise.  I suggested that she might photograph from the dam or from the north side of the lake for the best sunrise views.

She commented upon my camera, thinking it had an unusual lens.  I was using my large 14-24mm wide angle lens with a Progrey filter holder mounted on it.  Due to the bulbous 14-24mm lens, it is not possible to use screws in filters, requiring a bulky filter holder attachment. It is the filter holder that makes it look unusual.

I headed for the dam, where I thought I might have some fall foliage for foreground and good reflection on the lake, leaving the lady behind in the parking lot.

Sunrise 2, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

It was a cloudy morning, the sky color was spectacular.  Sometimes we get lucky.

Sunrise 3, Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

The morning color came on quickly and disappeared as quickly as it came, but the clouds in the sky still made it possible to get interesting photos after the color faded.

Ogle Lake Leaf Accumulation, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Sky Reflection, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023
Ogle Lake Forest Reflection, Brown County State Park, Indiana, October 25, 2023

After finishing my shoot from the dam area, I decided to take a short walk along the lake shore.  There is a hiking trail that goes all around the lake, which I’ve done in previous visits here.  I knew the south side might not have the best views this morning and it was probably muddy in portions, so I headed for the north side.

As I approached the trail head, I encountered the lady from the parking lot again.    We chatted for a few minutes.  She was thrilled with her sunrise experience.  She was shooting with a Canon R6, which she had not had for long.  She is a retired portrait photographer, previously from California, living in Kentucky with her husband.  I’m assuming her husband is not into photography or else he would have accompanied her this morning.  She asked about my filters and I explained why I used these for my landscape work.  I was surprised, when she revealed that she had not previously known anything about this subject.  I never thought that a professional photographer of any speciality would not know about the use of these specialty filters.  However, I have observed professional portrait photographers shooting in the outdoors without any filters.  I’ve also noted the over exposed backgrounds in many such portrait photographs.  I suppose some filters might be difficult to use for people subjects, but it can still be possible to compose outdoor photos and avoid overexposed backgrounds, unless one is doing that purposely.

Photos from my short hike around Ogle Lake next,

Ken

 

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma – Quanah Parker Lake and Little Baldy Scouting Photography

With a final destination of Badlands National Park, South Dakota, I needed stops in route to break up the long road trip.  I searched the maps of the states I would travel through to get to the Badlands for possibilities.  The first place that I noted in Oklahoma was the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, which is only a few hours drive from my home base.  I searched online for information about the refuge and looked for photos taken in the refuge.  The results of that research convinced me that I should spend a couple of nights in the refuge RV campground.

Prior to this visit, I had no idea that such a place was so close by and that there were actually old granite mountains in the southwestern part of Oklahoma.  Since I was traveling just after the busy summer season, there were plenty of RV sites from which to choose.  After consulting the online campground map, I chose a site that looked like it was conveniently located near the restroom facility and near hiking trails from the campground.

It turned out that my campsite was just across a campground road from the campground hosts.  I stopped by to chat with the hosts, let them know that I had arrived, get updates on the campground rules and conditions and get their advice on locations for sunset and sunrise photography.

I find that most non-photographers have completely different concepts about sunset/sunrise photography than do photographers.  Still it is good to get local knowledge, especially for first visits to a location.  After checking out the locations on the refuge map of the hosts’ suggestions, I decided that I should check out the area around the campground first and scout the suggested areas the following day.

I walked around the campground to get my bearings, find the trails originating in the campground and check out those trails.  The refuge map is sketchy.  Others that I encountered during my exploration of the large refuge area, expressed the same frustration with the refuge map.

Hole In One, Wildflowers, iPhone Photo

There were pretty wildflowers growing in the campground area.

Spider Like Wildflowers, iPhone Photo

After some effort and hiking much farther around the campground, than should have been necessary, I found the trail that I wanted to explore.  The trailhead was visible from my campsite, but the trailhead was not marked!  There were also branches along the trail, some branches clearly traveled trails, some branches not so clearly used and it was not even clear that those branches were actually trails and there were no markings along the trails.

It was not an area that one could get lost in, during daylight at least, so I did not mind exploring and I eventually found my way to my chosen destination.

Washout Out, iPhone Scouting Photo
Wildflowers, iPhone Photo
Wildflowers, iPhone Photo

One branch of the trail went around nearby Quanah Parker Lake.  After hiking portions of that trail, I could see no good views for sunset photography, so I chose a branch that went away from the lake.  That branch took me through woods to the other side of the lake, which looked more promising for photography.

Quanah Parker Lake, iPhone Scouting Photo

There were plentiful Prickly Pear Cacti in this area.

Prickly Pear Spikes, iPhone Photo
Looking towards Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo

In addition to checking out the lake, I was interested in the map feature referred to as Little Baldy.  I was not really sure what to expect of Little Baldy nor where exactly it was, given the sketchy map, but I figured I would know it when I saw it.

On the way to Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo

There were many granite rocks and boulders scattered around, so I experimented with using those as foreground objects and tried to visualize how the scenes would look at sunset and sunrise.

Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo

When I spotted Little Baldy, I explored around and up its slope, trying to pick vantage points from which to shoot at sunset today and for sunrise the following morning.

Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo
View from Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo

Shooting with the sun low in the sky, one’s shadow often becomes a problem to deal with.  Sometimes a desired composition just can’t be obtained without one’s shadow and compositional adjustments have to be made.

View from Little Baldy, iPhone Scouting Photo

Now that I know where I want to be at sunset, I just have to figure out the timing for departing my campsite and getting into place prior to sunset.  I’ve now got a good idea of the most direct path from my campsite to my intended location, so all I have to do is time the hike.  Doing so as I returned to my campsite, it turned out that the hike is only about 10-15 minutes.  That is really convenient and means that I can return to camp after sunset shooting without hiking in the dark and I can even hike back for sunrise photos and not have to hike in morning darkness, either.

Standby for the sunset shoot,

Ken

 

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 12 – Yellowwood Lake

After my unsatisfying photographic outing in Yellowwood State Forest, I waited for sunset on a little boat dock that barely jutted into Yellowwood Lake.  It was mostly calm and the lake surface smooth and reflective of the sky and surroundings.

Clouds and Lake

The photographer and young couple, that I had encountered as I returned from my woodland hike, had walked past me and into the area on the right side of the photo above.  I had to watch carefully to keep them out of my photo, even though I doubt that they would have been very noticeable, anyway.

I made a series of photos as the light, sky, clouds and reflections in the lake surface changed.

Softly Reflected

There were small, almost inconspicuous plants or floating, natural object in the water that made subtle foreground in my compositions.  These photos are best view on a large screen to appreciate the details.

Yellowwood Lake Fall Reflections
Radial Sunset
Radial Clouds
Yellowwood Sunset

I alternated shooting directions from along the lake to across the lake as sunset approached.  The forest blocked the actual sunset, but the cloud color and lighting changed as the minutes ticked by.

Yellowwood Lake
Radial

This end of the day shoot was much more satisfying than the hike in the forest, so I’m glad that I decided to hang out here for sunset.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 10 – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park

Early Fall Reflections

It was a relatively calm morning as I hiked around Ogle Lake in Brown County State Park, Indiana. As the morning advanced,  enough of a breeze developed to sometimes make small ripples in the lake, distorting the reflections of the trees and sky.

Fall Reflections

Fog remained just above the lake surface in the shadows near the end of the lake.

Fall at Ogle Lake
Lake Pointer
Cornered
Fall at Ogle Lake
Fall Lake Scene
Autumn Lake
Squiggly Reflections

This ends my hike and morning photography at Ogle Lake.

Until next time,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 9 – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park

As I had coffee and a light breakfast early one morning in the Indiana cabin, I noted that it was a foggy morning and if I got out soon I might get some interesting photos before the fog burned away.

As I drove the main road into Brown County State Park, I was regretting not getting up a little earlier this morning.  I could see that the early morning fog would be good for photography and it was lifting rapidly.  The park does not officially open until 7AM, but I was told at the entrance the prior morning that the gate was always open, so I could come and go whenever I liked.  The gate keeper even offered that  getting there early would let me avoid the entrance fee, which at $9 per day was a bit steep compared to many such parks, but I never got there before 7AM, even though it would have been best for photography had I done so.

When I arrived at the Ogle Lake parking lot well after sunrise, I glimpsed the fog coming off of the lake, and I hastened to grab my gear and walked rapidly to the dam.

Early Morning Fog on Ogle Lake

My first composition this morning is my favorite one of this morning shoot.

Lake Fog

After shooting a few images from the dam, I walked on to the hiking trail around the lake.

Early Morning Calm
Sereneness
The Stick and Rippleness

A small tree limb in the lake caught my eye and I shot a couple of compositions with it as a focal point.  These images are best view on a big screen to see the details.

Early Morning Fog, Reflections and The Stick
Through the Trees Softly
Misty Lake

Enough for now.  I will continue this hike and photography in the next post,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 8 – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park

I continued hiking the trail around Ogle Lake and shooting images in and around the lake.

Fall Forest

The big lens allowed me to zoom into the edge of the forest across the lake, eliminating the sky and the lake from the scene.

Early Fall Color
Dreamy Reflections

Reflections in water are always a good subject.  The scene above drew me to it as soon as I noticed how the log divided the reflections and calmed the surface just enough to create the impressionist forest reflection.

Leaves and Trunk
Red Fall
Tattered

Before I left the park, I stopped and hiked along a trail through the forest.  I shot many images, but most were not all that appealing, so I’m just sharing a few of the better ones.

Forest Light
A Touch of Red
Big Red Mittens

Thanks for following,

Ken

Indiana, Fall 2021, Part 7 – Ogle Lake, Brown County State Park

Brown County State Park, near Nashville, Indiana is a lovely park with hardwood forest, lakes and miles of hiking and biking trails through the forest.  We were staying just a few miles from the park, making it an easy place to access for Autumn photography.

Possibly my favorite place to photograph in this wonderful park is around Ogle Lake.

I regret that I did not get out as early in the mornings as I should have for the best of sunrise.  Even though I got up early enough to get into the park at or before official opening time, I lingered over my coffee and light breakfast too long, as it was so pleasant doing so in the cabin.

My first morning in the park, I decided to use my big lens, a Nikon 80-400mm with a 1.4 extension.  With the fall color still not being near peak, I figured I would try to get more intimate shots, rather than wide angle images.

Walking along the dam at the end of the lake, I took time to get close ups of some of the colorful leaves, back lighted by the early morning sun light, on small trees or bushes at the waters edge, before hiking on the trail around the lake.

Yellow and Brown
Green, Red, Yellow

From the dam and the hiking trail, I shot across the lake into the forest on the opposite side.

Fall Lake View
Early and Late
Leaning Into Fall
Fall by the Lake
Fall Impression
Across the Lake
Spindly

That’s enough for now.  I will continue this photography hike in the next post.

Ken

July 2019 – Vaughan Lake, Colorado – Sunset

I walked from the campsite down towards the lake for sunset photography.  This was not a really easy place to shoot the landscape, since it was so wide open and I could see details in the far distance, which I knew would only be visible in the wide angle shots, when really zooming in on the image.  A long zoom lens would be necessary to see the snow covered mountain to the south of the lake.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 17mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.

The snow covered peak is in the notch in the hillside in the upper center of these photographs.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 17mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.

Compositions here were challenging.  I wanted to include foreground objects like the large, lichen covered rocks scattered about and the wildflowers.  The wildflowers were so small compared to the grand scenic scale that they are almost not noticeable.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm (before crop), f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.

The image above is a crop from a wider angle  view, bringing out the reflection in the lake surface.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.

One can see that there were many of the large rocks that can be included in the foreground of these wide angle views.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64.

Turning the camera to the left, one gets another view of the far side of the lake as the sun sinks lower in the west, extending shadows onto the hillside.

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64.

Moving a little closer to the lake, allows one to see more of the lake surface with reflections of the hillside.  Note that I am still anchoring the foreground with one of the large rocks.  Otherwise, I think the foreground in such a shot would be too monotonous.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 19mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.

By getting down into a marshy area very near this little channel through the grass around the lake, I got this view, which I really like.  The channel acts as a diagonal leading line from the bottom right corner into the lake with a clear reflection of the far hillside on its surface and the eyes tend to move on through the image from there.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64.

I worked around the shoreline, continuing to use leading line elements in the images.

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64.

The sun is now getting really low to the west, putting most of the images into shadow.  Mountains to the west are blocking the sun light well before the sun actually sets.

The leading line in the photo above is subtle.  There is a trail through the grass from the bottom right going diagonally towards the upper left.

 

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 15mm, f/11, 1/4, ISO 64.

There was a swimming animal, probably a beaver, that swam back and forth throughout my shots near the lake.  If one looks very closely in the water just to the left of center in the image above, one can just make out a line in the water going towards the left.  That is the v shaped wake left by the swimming animal.

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 64.

I moved back close to the channel in the marshy area to get the shot above as the sunlight was fading fast from the scene.  Looking closely at the notch in the hillside on the left of the image, one can just get a hint of the snow covered mountain peak in the far distance.

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.

Turning the camera to the left, again using the leading line of the channel, one can see the clouds in the east beginning to acquire their sunset color.  And again the beaver’s (or whatever’s) wake is just visible in the lake as a streak of light.  Just follow the channel line out into the shadowy reflection to see the brighter line of light reflected from the wake near the center left of the image.

Vaughn Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/1s, ISO 64.

And the final scene of the day, above, with sunset colored clouds in the far distance.

The images in this post are all on Flickr, so just click on the images to view them there and, preferably on a large screen, where they will look much better.

Ken