Category: National Parks & Places

Dreaming of Summer

On March 13, 2017

We had a warm up a few weeks ago that had me thinking spring was on its way. But, today its supposed to snow, so I’m sitting here thinking of summer and working on planning our summer camping trips. We are planning another week long summer road trip, but instead of heading north, we are going South to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We also have weekend trips planned to Port Crescent State Park (on the tip of Michigan’s thumb), Wilderness State Park, and one night at the hike-in Jack Pine Campground at Ludington State Park. We are also planning on camping somewhere for the solar eclipse that is coming in August. It looks like it is going to be a busy summer and I’m hoping that being better about planning, we will make better use of those precious summer weekends!

About the Photo:
This photo was taken on our last trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for the National Park Service 100th Anniversary. It had been a while since we’d done Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive since it was closed when we visited the park in March. The first stop on the drive gives you a breathtaking view of Glen Lake. Because it was a free admission day, it was tough to squeeze in and get a shot, but it was totally worth it!

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55 kit lens, handheld

Date Taken:
August 28, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

Veteran’s Day and a Battle Field

By Ashleigh

On November 14, 2016

In Michigan, National Parks & Places

This weekend, we decided to take a Pure Michigan trip to Monroe. We’ve wanted to visit the River Raisin National Battlefield for some time now, and we figured Veteran’s Day was as good of a time as ever to pay homage to those who died for our freedom. The River Raisin is the only National Battlefield in the country from the War of 1812.

The Battle of the River Raisin took place one morning in January 1813. British, Canadian, and Indian troops attacked the sleeping American soldiers .220 Americans were killed and 147 were captured. After the battle, “Remember the Raisin” became the battle cry that convinced more men to enlist in the Kentucky Militia and support the war efforts (NPS and Wiki).

About the Photo:
For being a photography blog, this was not a very photogenic location. Like you might imagine with a battlefield, it was quite flat and was definitely lacking foreground subjects so I left the camera in the car. But, when I realized this would be a good blog post, I pulled out the phone and took a RAW photo. Basic edits were done with Lightroom Mobile.

Camera Gear:
iPhone 7 shot in RAW with Lightroom Mobile

Date Taken:
November 12, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. To your visit to the River Raisin National Battlefield, visit The National Park Service.

100 Years of National Parks

By Ashleigh

On September 19, 2016

In Michigan, National Parks & Places

August marked 100 years of the National Park Service and for two days, all US National Parks were free. We used this as an excuse to visit our nearest National Park, the Sleeping Bear Dunes. While this event meant more crowds, its always good to visit the dunes and realize just how small you are in the grand scheme of things.

Back in college, we made the trek down this behemoth of a dune at sunset. If you are adventurous and fit, I highly recommend you do it at least once! With the beautiful water on one side and on the other, a dune that seems to go all the way to the sky, it is an awe-inspiring experience. Although the walk back up is not easy! The sign at the top says its a 2-hour climb. I doubt it took us that long, but I did realize how out of shape I was. I’m not planning on repeating this trek, but I am very glad I did it!

About the Photo:
With this shot, I really wanted to capture just how large the dune is. I used my widest lens and tried to get an angle that also captured the far dune. If there weren’t the people climbing the dune in the photo, I would have loved to try out a longer shutter speed to show movement in the clouds.I like the shadows the clouds left in the water.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55 mm kit lens, handheld

Date Taken:
August 28, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Bear Vista

By Ashleigh

On September 14, 2016

In Michigan, National Parks & Places, Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: Miner’s Castle

By Ashleigh

On August 31, 2016

In Michigan, National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Wordless Wednesday

Epic Michigan Road Trip: Chasing Waterfalls

By Ashleigh

On August 1, 2016

In Camping, Hiking, Michigan, National Parks & Places, Project: State Parks, Road Trip

The Upper Peninsula is home to roughly 200 waterfalls and many of them can be found on the drive from Houghton to Munising. Some of these waterfalls are in parks with trails and parking areas, while others can be found on the side of the road or even in subdivisions. My favorite was probably Scott Falls (unfortunately, none of my pictures of it turned out) which is just on the side of M-28. The falls were just at a trickle when we were there, but I liked how I could get right up to the falls and put my hand in the water. A lot more of the falls used to allow people to walk behind them but because of the erosion, now there are fences keeping people back.

In Munising, we stayed at the Bay Furnace Campground, which is a rustic National Forest Campground right across from the Kewadin Casino in Christmas. I booked Bay Furnace because it was one of the few campgrounds in the area that you can book in advance. I would’ve liked to stay in the Pictured Rocks, but I was worried that there wouldn’t be any availabilities and we’d waste time driving around for a place to stay.

About the Photo:
The above photo was taken at Wagner Falls. One of the tough things about this shot is that I knew I wanted to blur the motion, so I was going to need a long exposure. As I mentioned above, a lot of the waterfalls have walkways and railings to keep foot traffic from eroding the falls, this makes space for a tripod tricky, especially with 2 photographers camping out. I chose to leave the tripod in the car and use the railings to support the camera. Compositionally, its not the best approach, but I felt like I could crop it and make it work. This was a single RAW 1/3 second exposure, with basic edits done in Lightroom. Because of the time of day we were at the falls, there were some blown out spots, so I pulled it into Photoshop and used content-aware autofill to bring back the texture to the water.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm kit lens, with a polarizer

Date Taken:
June 29, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. To plan your UP Waterfall tour visit, UPTravel.com. To make a reservation at the Bay Furnace Campground, visit the National Forest Service.

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Chris Corner #9: Path to Water

By Chris

On April 16, 2016

In Chris' Corner, Michigan, National Parks & Places

Path to Water by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

I have visited the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore many times. As a child, the “Dune Climb” was something to be done every few years. One time, in my college days, I tricked Ashleigh into doing the entire hike with me all the way to Lake Michigan. “Just one more dune,” I would say, and eventually we made it to the lake. We also one time had the good forture of being able to have a fire between Lake Michigan and the first large dune near the Lake Michigan overlook, which was really special.

About the photo:

This photo was taken from the Empire Bluff Trail, a really great trail just south of Empire, MI, with a picturesque view of the dunes, Platt Lake, and at least one of the Manitou Islands. It was pretty cloudy the day we were there, which allowed for nice, even lighting.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.

Date Taken:
March 30, 2016

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!

Empire Bluffs

By Ashleigh

On April 4, 2016

In Hiking, Michigan, National Parks & Places

The Empire Bluffs Trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is considered a moderate trail and after our hike, I totally see why. The trail has several steep ups and downs that definitely got my heart pounding. We saw a couple of families hiking it and the kids had a lot of fun running up and down them! But, the view at the end made all of that worth it! It was a kind of dreary day, luckily the clouds were interesting enough, but the water was a beautiful teal-blue that I have never seen outside of the Caribbean! Don’t worry, I’ll post a color shot later!

They say cloudy days are good for photography, and overcast does lend itself to more even lighting than you would normally get going out and shooting in the early afternoon. The bad thing about a cloudy day is that dreary skies don’t usually make for good landscapes. A solution? Turn it black and white. It deemphasizes the drab sky and puts the focus on your subject matter.

About this photo:
This was a single RAW exposure with basic edits and B&W conversion done in Lightroom.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens handheld

Date Taken:
March 30, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! I have to give a shout-out to Instagram user @wanderingz for the inspiration to check out this trail! To plan your trip to Sleeping Bear, visit the National Park Service website!

Sleeping Bear Dunes

By Ashleigh

On September 28, 2015

In Michigan, National Parks & Places

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was voted “Most Beautiful Place in America” by Good Morning America. When I look at my pictures of Sleeping Bear, it is unbelievable to think that I took them in my home state! How many people can say they have such gorgeous vistas in their backyard?

This shot is an oldie, but a goodie. I took this with my first ever (like 6 megapixel) point and shoot digital camera. While, I could never blow it up above 8×10 or so, don’t stress out about your gear! A good photographer in a beautiful location will produce beautiful images. Yes, expensive gear doesn’t hurt, don’t let your budget keep you from going out and doing what you love!

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To plan your visit to this gorgeous Michigan seashore, visit sleepingbeardunes.com

Cade’s Cove Vista

By Ashleigh

On June 20, 2015

In National Parks & Places, Travel

Last summer, I finally got to see the Smoky Mountains. We didn’t have much time to spend in the mountains, but we did have time for a drive through Cade’s Cove. Cade’s Cove is an area of the park that is rich in the history of the area. The area was first settled by the Cherokee people in the late 18th century and they remained in the area until they were moved to Oklahoma through the Trail of Tears. The first European settlers arrived in 1818 and on the drive, you pass abandoned homes and churches of people that were displaced at the formation of the National Park.

This photo was taken at The John Oliver cabin on the Cade’s Cove pass, looking towards the mountains that surround the valley. If you would like to tour the area on bike, the road is closed to motor vehicles until 10am on Saturdays and Wednesdays seasonally. If you would like a less physically demanding tour, the road is open to motor vehicles from sunrise to sunset, weather permitting.

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr!