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Monday, March 25, 2013

The Northshore in March

This past weekend I took a day trip to the North Shore ( March 23rd).  I had never been to the North Shore during the winter months, and was curious to see what the landscape looked like.  My first stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park, then Split Rock State Park.

Gooseberry Falls.  There was a small area of open water at the base of the falls, and I could see a small flow of water behind the frozen falls as well.

To the right of the falls, there was an area of ice completely frozen yet.  I liked the interesting formations along the cliff.

A bit of the river thawed.

The bridge crossing the lower falls.  The landscape looked so different that how I've seen it in the summer and fall!

On my way out of Gooseberry Falls Park, I stopped to take some shots of chickadee birds feeding at the birdfeeders around the park.  I managed to capture a few good shots of them.  A shooting option on my digital called "Al Servo" keeps a moving object in focus the entire time.

I caught this guy in flight; though blurred, I still like the outcome!

A red squirrel was feasting upon the seed that the birds spilled on the ground below the feeder.  He didn't seem to mind me snapping some shots of him.

More shots of chickadees

My favorite!

I went up to Pebble Beach in Split Rock State Park after Gooseberry Falls.  Here, Pebble Beach shoreline.  

Icicles forming along the banks of the shore. 

Just a few steps further along the shoreline, and one can view Split Rock Lighthouse from a distance.

Closer view of the lighthouse.

A small island off the shore of Pebble Beach.  


The Island and Split Rock Lighthouse in the distance.


More of the shoreline at Pebble Beach.

A glacier feel to this landscape...

I liked the look of this boulder covered in ice.

More views of Split Rock Lighthouse.




A small path through the park led to beautiful views of birch.

Birch forest in B&W

The fog horns at the Lighthouse.

Superior Shoreline

A cliff near the lighthouse


Split Rock Lighthouse



Thursday, March 21, 2013

Minnehaha Falls in March

I did some hiking around Minnehaha Falls on St. Patrick's Day.  It's always cool to see the falls in their frozen state.  It was quite the adventure to get down to them; I had to scale a lot of the stair railings because the steps leading to the falls were completely covered in ice and snow.

The Falls

A little closer view of the falls.

Minnehaha Falls from above (before the steps adventure).

Love the blue tint!



Just a tad of free flowing water behind the ice.



I also did some hiking around the Falls area.  The ice had formed all the way to the top of these benches!

A nice day for a walk in the woods.  :)

Three Amigos

I took some random shots of the cats to test out my digital.  I snapped a couple of Hershey while he was sprawled out on the rug.

He's most comfy stretched out on his back...what a face!

This shot of Jakki aka "Fluff" is a little washed out, but the reflection in her eyes are cool!

Hershey and Tic... chilling out in the chair.

Hershey... what are you looking at?!  

Close Encounters?

I finally went digital!  I purchased a new digital Canon a few weeks ago.  I've been reading up on the settings and programs, and playing around with some shots.  I took a couple funny randoms last evening with a macro lens. 

 Close encounters of the 3rd Kind?  Ha ha ha

It's an alien invasion!  J/K... I took a macro shot of this little plastic alien toy staged in front of an image I captured of Devils Tower this last fall.