Well … sort of. Earlier this week I snowshoed into the backcountry. My goal was to photograph the full moon rising over the snow encrusted trees. As I had never gone into this particular spot before at night in the Winter, I decided it would be best to reach my destination before the sun set. This would allow me to scout out the best location for my photoshoot while I could still see, and more easily figure out my planned route back to the trailhead. 

Although the skies were starting to clear when I set off from the trail head, when the moon was actually scheduled to rise … after standing in the cold for over one hour, the clouds socked me in. Thus,  a failed photoshoot! However, here is one picture I took right at dusk of a small creek which empties into the Knife River at my photoshoot location. Even in failure I had a great time, just no moon! (click upon the image to view at full size and resolution)

This week has been a great one for Nordic skiing. Although the daytime highs rarely reached positive numbers, and the winds howled, a true Northener knows that if you find cross-country ski trails that reach deep into snow encrusted pine forests, all will be good! Here are a few GoPro photos from some of this weeks ski outings on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Duluth, Minnesota.

Korkki Nordic Trails (click upon any image to view at full resolution)

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Photo taken of the entry to the Duluth Harbor 
(Temperature was -9F not including windchill on Wednesday morning!)

Molly and I spent the day along Minnesota's Northshore. Our first photoshoot of the day started in the pre-dawn light near the mouth of the Cascade River. After the roaring storm of the prior evening with winds gusting greater than 50 mph, the mild light before dawn was magical. Please enjoy just a few photos from our trip down the North Shore. Click upon any image to view at full size and resolution. (more photos from this photoshoot)

Ice Blue
(rocks encrusted with ice at the mouth of the Cascade River reflect the pre-dawn light)

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Dawn Approaches
(30 minutes before sunrise near Grand Marais, Minnesota)

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SplitRock Lighthouse
(a North Shore classic … photo taken from backpacker tent site #1)

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Early Season Ice
(my wife, Molly, pauses during our hike along the Temperance River)

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Splashing Waves at the mouth of the Split Rock River
(photo taken from Split Rock State Park trails)

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The Roger Blough beats a snow squall into Two Harbors
(we watched this ore boat all day while it steamed down the NorthShore)

The NorthStar Nerd is a member of the Great Lakes Aurora Hunters! This intrepid group has members from all around the North Central States, with a focus on Lake Superior. This weekend we met in Two Harbors, Minnesota and reviewed tips and tricks for watching (predicting) and photographing the Northern Lights. 

Now imagine this scene … 30 miles from the nearest paved road on a dirt road deep in the northern Minnesota forest … 40 photographers all with tripods and camera gear in the deep, deep dark night trying to take photographs of the night skies. While the Aurora Borealis did not appear, given the new moon and clear skies, beauty was all around us. 

I took these two photos around 10 pm on Saturday night. The first photo is looking at the ridge behind me, while the second photo looks out over Little Stone Lake. Thus, you are seeing almost a 360 degree view. Click upon any image to view at full size.

In the pre-dawn light this morning I wondered if the combination of clouds and clear sky might make for a beautiful sunrise over Lake Superior. The answer to my question was yes! This video reduces 22 minutes to 22 seconds and uses a CHDK Time Lapse Script on a Canon SX40 camera. The important item about that data is that I am NOT using a super expensive high end camera. My SX40 retails for Amazon at present for $320. However, by having installed CHDK I was able to enable many hidden features on my camera. Canon, like many vendors uses the same software on many of their camera, but often chooses not to makes certain features available. CHDK allows me to access those capabilities!

• Learn more (past NorthStarNerd.Org posts explaining / demonstrating CHDK)
  • Creating a Dual Boot Digital OS Camera
  • Northern Lights Photoshoot

• And a still photograph taken this morning!