Photographer – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

Native

Red Pine on the level

July 2, 2020June 20, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

Red Pine is a tree native to North America, yet it is called “Norway Pine” in Minnesota. Famously settled by Norsemen, the misnomer may originate with a sense of homesickness in these first settlers. The tall and straight trunks grace the trails of Treman Park, one trail is eponymous.

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I break away from household chores on a week day for exercise, arriving am impressed by the COVID-19 mitigation.

The new one-way trail rules, posted on the Rim Trail sign, means my planned route must change. Today’s COVID-19 strategy is to use the Red Pine trail, a very steep climb, a pine woods ramble, ending with descent to the Gorge Trail suitable for a mountain goat. The rules mean I cannot turn right on the Gorge Trail to form a loop. Instead commitment to the Gorge Trails means a 4 mile loop to the bottom of the park, returning on the Rim Trail. I decide to climb to the top and return.

I take an interesting detour on the way, visiting an archaeological site, fields of strongly scented wild roses, lush ferns.

All these photographs and video are from an IPhone 7, sent to my laptop via ICloud.

I cross a nameless stream to the trail head, follow this stream uphill to where it cuts into the slope where the trail turns sharply and climbs into the pines.

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Here is the experience from the ridge top. The sound of water is Enfield Creek rushing along the cliff face.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Late May, South Rim Trail

Dangerous Practices

June 29, 2020June 21, 2020 MichaelStephenWills4 Comments

Today, I have a companion post to “A Summer Flower and Waterfalls” from a time of Coronavirus (COVID-19) from a walk cut short by inconsiderate people not following New York laws.

All photographs and videos are from an Apple IPhone 7.

Here is a long and close shot of Columbine Flowers thriving on the edge of a gorge cliff.

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With a video of the movement of this wildflower against a backdrop of flowing water over a 100 feet below.

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A scan of the upper gorge with some marvelous clouds.

Continuing onto the forest trail I spotted this Jack-In-The-Pulpit. Here is a photograph and short video.

My walk this day was cut short by joggers, unmasked, on the narrow trail. For each I stepped off to put 6 feet between us. So inconsiderate and unnecessary, selfish.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Wave Sequence

Wave Motion

June 28, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills1 Comment

Consider these photographs of waves interacting with the basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway at low time to be a sequel to “Kelp” “Tide”. “Movement,” and “Movement Redux.”

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Point of View

concave vs. convex

June 27, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Canon’s 24 mm “L” lens saw first light on this tour, was indispensable towards the end of our round of the island. Here the camera is mounted on a Manfrotto studio tripod with a hydrostatic ball head. A 0.6 neutral density graduated filter brought out the sky details though I could not catch the foreground polygons without darkening the far basalt columns.

My position is close to the photographs of all the posts since “Basalt Columns.” Here are two photograph of the pavement effect, walking across column tops. Notice the concave facings, identified by dried seawater pools (white circles), the boss of convex surfaces.

I released the tripod “panning” control, searching for the best aspect.

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Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Movement Redux

Which predominates in this series: movement or rest?

June 26, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills15 Comments

Full series of kelp in the waves. In these images I heightened the contrast of yellow-brown algae strands against dark water.

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Movement

to and fro

June 25, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills5 Comments

Photographers can spend years on the Ireland north coast understanding the play of light on water.

Our springtime evening, a few short hours, are here in this series. Today, a series of two photographs of kelp at low tide, moving with the waves. I see the possibility of a long exposure capturing the movement in one shot.

In which direction is the water/wave surge?

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Tide

Low Tide in a Long Spring Evening

June 24, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Arriving at low tide, long exposure shots of surf on the pavement was not to be. Here is a rising slope of Giant’s Causeway polygonal columns, dark color marking the usual tidal high point. Above is a measuring stick.

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Behind where I stood for the above photo is a channel, perennially flooded at low tide evidenced by the thick growth of brown algae swaying back and forth with the waves.

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Kelp

Low Tide in a Long Spring Evening

June 23, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

Our Giant’s Causeway visit was during a long spring evening, low tide. The long strands of a kelp forest curling.

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Polygonal

Articulated Building Blocks

June 22, 2020June 15, 2020 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Look closer at the basalt column featured in yesterday’s post.

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Basalt Columns

Articulated Building Blocks — HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

June 21, 2020June 21, 2020 MichaelStephenWills2 Comments

“List of places with columnar jointed volcanics” is a Wikipedia page, over a hundred sites across the globe and high resolution images of Mars, these columns of Giant’s Causeway are no less marvelous for being the most famous of a phenomenon well documented.

A pile of articulated blocks, ready for assembly, next to orderly placed columns forming a pavement into the sea. Across the way, on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, a matching pavement. “Jointed” means one surface of each block is convex, the other concave, two blocks fit together.

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