Ever since I was a little tyke, I have always had a camera in my hand. I may be young, but I am old enough to have owned a film camera. It wasn’t a fancy SLR camera (or single lens reflex), it was your standard film camera. I bought my film, or should I say my parents bought my film and we had it developed, again, my parents paid for that. I would have loved to have an SLR camera and a dark room so I could roll and develop my own film. However, it was just something fun for me to do and occupy my time when travelling.
My sister and I would always travel with my grandparents. On long trips, short trips, staying at their house for a week. I always had my camera. I think that’s where my love of travelling came from. One year, my grandparents, sister and I were on the west coast one month and the east coast the next month. June of 2006 we were in Oregon and July of 2006, we helped move my cousin from Georgia to South Carolina. Again, I always had my camera and believe it or not, I still have those pictures somewhere. Let me tell you, I had some interesting techniques.
Like I said, I love travelling. I have been to Europe, the Caribbean (on a cruise) and Alaska/Canada (once again, on a cruise). My last big trip was to Alaska. However, I have done mini trips around Minnesota, most of them happening this year, in 2020. My most recent trip was with my husband to Grand Marais. Well north of Grand Marais by forty minutes.
We stayed at a place called Nor’Wester Lodge and we were literally off the grid. Neither of us had cellphone service. At first I was freaking out because I didn’t know how we were going to let anyone know that we had made it safely. But it also forced us to stay out and continue exploring the North Shore of Minnesota. As a result, we were able to see fourteen waterfalls at seven locations. There are technically five more locations that I need before I can start working on my book. One of the locations will be it’s own book because the bridge is out and you have to forge the river and I am not doing that. I can wait to do that one until the bridge is completed. So the cascades at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park will have to wait.
My coworker also told me that I should take pictures of the waterfalls through all the seasons and put them in the book. I loved that idea and I want to take pictures of the waterfalls during every season. So I thought, what if I created four separate books for the four separate seasons of the waterfalls. That way, they all have their only glory during a very different aspect of the year.
I have a niche when it comes to waterfalls. I love making the water look soft and when I say soft, the water looks blurry and sometimes almost painted. Or as a friend of mine said, the water looks like silk. I’m not sure how else to explain it. Everything around the waterfall is crisp and in focus and the waterfall itself is blurry, but doesn’t look blurry, if that makes sense. How I get this effect is by using neutral density filters on my camera lens that helps slow down my shutter speed. The longer the shutter speed, the more the effect will show. Sometimes you can cause too much blur. There is a fine line when it comes to this type of photography, but when done right it’s amazing.
Below I have added photos that will more than likely be featured in my book of the North Shore waterfalls. There are also pictures that can be viewed under the waterfalls tabs on website. The book may take a while to put together and produce, but I am hoping it will be worth it in the end.
