Lake Superior Weekend

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A couple of years ago I went on a weekend workshop to the north shore of Lake Superior.  I did the trip again last weekend with five photography friends.  The venue was the Rock Island Lodge, just outside of Wawa on the North shore of Lake Superior.  We drove up Wednesday, stayed in Sault St Marie overnight, then finished the drive to the lodge on Thursday.  The scenery on the drive was beautiful, so we had to make a few stops along the way.

The goal of the trip was to photograph beautiful fall landscapes, with bonus marks for bad weather.  (Overcast stormy skies are great for nice soft diffused light and dramatic photos).

The weather was fantastic (for photography), big stormy clouds, but very little rain.

On the drive to Wawa on Thursday.  Great stormy skies, fantastic mood. 

Another image from the drive on Thursday.  This time a long shutter speed to smooth out the rough water.  Another fantastic mood shot.

Waiting for sunrise one morning.  Taken from the lodge, looking up the Michipicoten River.

Another sunrise shot, this time facing west toward the lodge.  I loved the pink skies and calm water and reflections.

Reflections in the rocks, while visiting Katherine Cove. 

Another image from Katherine Cove.  Beautiful reflections and textures in the rocks.

A visit to High Falls, taken with a slow shutter speed to smooth out the water.  A very moody shot.

The drive back from High Falls took us through a blueberry patch that was an explosion of colour and texture.  And the birch and aspen trees were incredible focal points.



An image taken from the lodge.  The focal point is the beacon where the Michipicoten River feeds into Lake Superior.  This is the same beacon captured in the photo taken on the first trip to the lodge that I use at the top of the blog.

A great weekend to spend time with friends, doing the things we love to do.

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If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Mark

Heading Home - Day 21

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Today was our final day in New Zealand.  Chris is flying back to Queenstown for another week's vacation, and Mary Ann and I are headed home. :(

We stayed in Hamilton last night, so our drive back to Auckland was only a few hours.  Since we had some time to kill, we did what most tourists do, we headed to Hobbiton.  This "village" was the film set used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy.

Originally built in 1998 for the Lord of the Rings, the set was built out of styrofoam and plywood, and was torn down immediately after the filming was complete.  At that time, the owner of the farm had no idea how big the Lord of the Rings would become.

When the owner of the farm was contacted again about the filming of the Hobbit trilogy, he realized what a tourism magnet he had, and insisted that Hobbiton be rebuild out of permanent materials and the grounds maintained afterwards.  Essentially it is now a joint venture between the owner of the farm and the Lord of the Rings owners.

Some of the Hobbit holes were made full scale to make the Hobbits look small, and some of the Hobbit holes were made at a .6 scale to make Gandalf look huge.

Only the exterior scenes were filmed here, none of the Hobbit holes have interiors.  All of the interior scenes were filmed on a sound stage in Wellington.

Even though it was a tourist trap, all three of us enjoyed the tour.  Our guide Clare did a great job showing us around, and telling stories about the filming.

Here is Mary Ann standing in front of Bilbo Baggin's house. 

After the tour, we made our way to Auckland and returned our rental car.  I was surprised to hear that we had put 5,020 kilometres on the car in 3 weeks.  Good thing the rental included unlimited mileage.

Saying our goodbyes to Chris we made our way to the International Terminal.  Chris was flying domestic to Queenstown from another terminal.

This was my best shot of a Kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand.  I know what you are thinking, "...that's not really a kiwi..." and you would be right.  We didn't see any.  Kiwis are nocturnal and not generally seen.  Chris saw one at the zoo, but the enclosure was dark, and they move very fast.  He does't have a shot of them either.

I'm writing this from the airport lounge.  We will board in a couple hours.  By the time you are reading this, we will be over the Pacific somewhere on our way to Vancouver.

For all of my photography friends, Mary Ann and I recorded 4,482 images.  I'm not sure about Chris, but don't forget he's been here for nearly 5 months...

That's it for this trip... thanks for reading.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Mark