October/November 2022 Photography
Fall is here y’all! October is one of my most photographically active months of the year, and that is because of the color! Winter keeps me busy too, but that’s roughly two months of fresh scenery for me to work with, whereas with fall it’s a mere 3-4 weeks. So for this month, it was go-time, and I made the most of it for sure!
Here are the photography highlights for the Fall!
One last Dose of Summer
After a rather lackluster effort on my part to get out and photograph during the summer, I wanted to reinvigorate myself for the change of seasons. So October 1st, I made sure to get out for the day. I revisited one of my favorite local trails along the Macatawa River. I’ve photographed here multiple times, so the landscapes are somewhat played out for me, but that doesn’t mean you cant find unique nuggets with each visit.
There is always a rich source of wildlife along the river and in the wetlands of this nature preserve, so while I would have liked to do an even mix of landscapes and wildlife, I again leaned heavily towards the wildlife. But that’s part of photography, sometimes you have to roll with the punches, and sometimes have to be ok with not photographing what you originally wanted to, or maybe anything at all.
One finding that was new for me (photographically speaking) was in the wetlands area of the trail. Always I find birds of various species hanging out in the distance where I can attempt to capture them with my telephoto lens. Typically its ducks, geese, and sometimes Blue Herons, but this day I was treated to a surprise appearance of a Great White Egret, a first time capture for me. I wish I had one of those 2x teleconverters to zoom in even closer on the scene, but alas, you have to work with what you have. That device is certainly on my wish list for the future.
For the remainder of my hike, it was a typical visit to the Macatawa River for me. A few unique sights here and there, I was fortunate enough to walk along the river and not scare away a Blue Heron, who typically see me before I see them. That gave me an opportunity to spend time with one of those creatures along the river instead of in the wetlands. After that it was a typical hike for me, photographing a few plants here and there, as well as a few insect friends. I even had two snake encounters along the path, but both times I scared them away without getting a decent shot at them. One of these days I’ll capture another snake photo that isn’t in a terrarium somewhere.
All in all, it was a peaceful walk and just what I needed to get me back in the groove.
A Fall Adventure to the U.P.
With the seasons changing, I always like to get the most out of my fall colors before they fade away in November. To start off the Fall Color season, I took an extended weekend to the Upper Peninsula to capture some color during the weekend of their peak. The adventure started on a Friday, driving up from Holland to Mackinac City, making the usual pit stops for breakfast and lunch that I always make during a U.P. Adventure. After lunch we stoped in Petoskey to photograph around the bay.
Then we crossed the bridge and checked in at a little lodge in Saint Ignace, our base of operations during the weekend. After having spent most of the day driving, we stuck around the Saint Ignace area for the first day, photographing in the area during the remaining hours of daylight we had, saving the main destinations of this trip for Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday was the longest of the days on this trip, doing a loop throughout Luce county. We started off in an old quarry that was turned into a nature preserve. This location provided lots of fall color as well has some unique architecture of abandoned buildings.
After the quarry, we stopped at the main location of the day, Oswald Bear Ranch! I’ve been wanting to stop here for years, and finally did it this year. This was a fun visit, and a lot less dangerous than potentially finding a bear in the wild.
After the bears, we trekked north to some inland lakes near Lake Superior. Muskelonge, Pretty Lake, and Holland Lake, which was a must for this Hollander to go see.
Then we took a long drive to the next location. I say long as it was a very slow drive through winding and narrow seasonal roads. These roads took us to Crisp Point Lighthouse. As stressful as the tight drive was, the lighthouse itself made for a peaceful destination and some great images.
We left the lighthouse as the day was coming to a close, and our route back to the lodge would bring us past Tahquamenon Falls, so of course we made a stop there. This would be the first time I photographed the falls during a sunset, so it’s was worth the drive in the dark back to the lodge.
On Sunday we made it a shorter day, only needing to drive half the distance to reach Lake Superior in the areas we explored. The first stop brought us along the shores of Lake Huron. We stopped at a small hiking trail for some forest shots along the way to Detour Village, where I wanted to get a better shot of the lighthouse in the area.
After Detour, we ventured north to check out the Soo Locks. This was a first for me, so we stayed in town for a while to watch the boats going through the locks for a bit. We also took the elevator up the Tower of History to get a birds eye view of the locks and city.
After our time in Sault Saint Marie, we traced the shoreline of Lake Superior to make our way to Point Iroquois Lighthouse and then Naomikong Point after that. I haven’t been to this lighthouse since I was in about 4th/5th grade, so it was neat to be in this place again. After driving the lakeshore roads, we worked our way back to the lodge, photographing in the tunnels of trees as we went.
We ended the day photographing the sunset from Straites State Park and a few night shots from the Bridge View Park.
On Monday, the final day of the trip, we drove around Cheboygen county for a bit before making the long drive home. We started at Cheboygen Point, photographing along the beach and getting a new view of the bridge (for me)
After shooting by the beach, we zig zagged from lake to lake and various overlooks in the county to get some more color before eventually making that long drive back to Holland.
The First Snowfall of the Season
Admittedly, I was quite busy processing all the photos I’ve taken from my U.P. trip, so I didn’t do much photography in October after that, then once the fall colors were gone, I didn’t do much in November either. However, we did have a few good snowfalls during the month, one that was a good dusting, and another that was a full-on storm. I took advantage of the early snowfall and got a headstart on my 22-23 winter season’s photography.
Then to finish out the month, I planned ahead a little bit for the new moon. With a little luck I had a clear night and was able to take advantage of the moonless night to create a star trail photograph, something I haven’t done in a few years.
Bible Verse Images for the Month
