Now of course the point of going rain camping is not to simply experience rain while sitting under a tarp (see my previous post if this makes no sense). A three day camping trip to the dunes means three days of hiking and nature photography. As it turns out however, rain does in fact produce some of the best conditions for both hiking and photography. So rainy weather really is a win/win.
The following is a sampler of the photos I took over during these camping excursions.
Bailly Calumet Trail – Day One Before The Rain
The False Solomons Seal is fading fast.
I love the intricate detail and depth in this spider webbing.
Great Marsh – Day Two, Constant Rain
(I mean what beats a wetland ecosystem for rain hiking?)
Spider webs in the rain are simply beautiful and provide a never ending source of wonder. Notice how the water drops tend to collect at the vertices where different threads come together. They really highlight the structure of the web. Click on the image to see a full resolution version and zoom in, each drop also forms a perfect image of the world around it.
Dunewood Campground – Late Afternoon Rain
Relaxing with a coffee beverage after an afternoon spent in the Great Marsh. Here is the view from my camping tarp rain shelter. When I was not looking over the images from the day, I simply sat and took in the campground vibe.
Cowles Bog – Day Three, After The Rains
Not the brightest or most saturated colors among the wildflowers along this trail. But one of the most compelling for sure.
I am guessing that mid September is getting late in the year for bumble bees. Of the few that I saw they all seemed pretty lethargic. Earlier in the summer they are very active and almost never sit still, so it is difficult to get a good clear image of their faces.
The carcass of a dead hawk, lying just off the trail. I smelt it before I saw it. No idea how it died. It was right alongside a recently fallen tree branch, but it is difficult to imagine that it what killed it. I could not figure out if it’s head was missing or just twisted underneath the rest of the body.
More rapidly fading False Solomons Seal. I like to capture the foliage when it is decaying as much as when it is at it’s peak. It is all part of the cycle of nature and no less beautiful.
Early signs that autumn is approaching.
Cowles Bog has been undergoing an extensive restoration for at least the last 10 years. Although it may not look like it, the ground in this area is very soft and marshy. I always knew that the park’s resource management teams did a lot of work in the heart of the marsh. This photograph of a Marsh Master vehicle shows how they gain access to these areas.
The view across the wetland which is Cowles Bog with the forested dunes in the background.
Can you spot the young buck in this photograph? He is standing up and looking back at me. A nice illustration of how tall and lush the vegetation is.
How is that color popping on an overcast, rainy day? Are you working with the images in an app? The “buck” looks more like a mouse. “Coffee” and “beverage” is redundant. I like the web.
It is counter intuitive, but grey overcast days are the best for getting great color. Bright sunny days are much more difficult to work with photographically. Direct sunlight is more likely to make the colors look washed out. You also get big differences between the brightest parts of the image and the darkest shadows, so you either underexpose the darker shades to keep the brights from blowing out, or you lose the brights to retain color depth in the shadows.
Yes I do post process, but the colors are not artificial. An experiment you can try on one of your own images is to open it in any photo program or app, then raise and lower the brightness a lot. You should notice that as you make an image brighter the colors become washed out, making everything darker causes the colors to appear deeper and more intense. Or look at an array of red pastel sticks and see which have the most intense color, the lights or the darks.