Stormy Sunset

We had a series if thunderstorms come through Milwaukee yesterday, the last one rolled past right around sunset and I was able to catch the last orange glow under the storm clouds.

 
As happy as I am with this photo, just a few minutes earlier the whole sky was glowing the bright orange color you see on the bottom here. Unfortunately the pouring rain kept me from getting outside to get a photo of that, but as soon as the rain lightened up a little into a heavy drizzle I was out there snapping photos. I really wish I'd been able to capture that earlier moment as well.

In just a few more minutes the sun was gone completely.

For the photography buffs: both were shot manually at f/2.8, 1/125 shutter speed, and ISO 400.

Hiking Part 1

I haven't posted anything in a while, I've been busy. In what little free time I have though I have been doing some hiking around Milwaukee to test out some new camera backpacks and equipment.

My most recent hike was south along the Milwaukee River to the old North Ave dam. In addition to the new backpack I also brought with me a new lens; a Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 Pro DX, a wide-angle almost fisheye lens.

This is an HDR image taken with my new wide-angle lens along the river bend just south of the old dam site. The pedestrian bridge on the right is built over where the dam used to be and the concrete ledge with the person sitting on it is the outflow tunnel for the old river flushing station - something I should really do a post on sometime.

The clouds look a little funny in this shot, as they moved between exposures for the HDR they ended up partially ghosted in the final image. It's my least favorite part of this photo.

Another wide-angle HDR shot of a tree branch hanging out over the Milwaukee River. This is one of my favorites from this hike, though the framing irks me.

One more wide-angle HDR. I really want to know what this building is. It's obviously old and run-down, when I walked up to it I thought it was abandoned. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the building used to extend further to the left, but that section was either torn down or collapsed. Looking more closely though it is still in use, there are modern doors fitted in some areas (which look very out of place, I love it!) and through the windows some signs of modern occupation are evident. It is right across the Oak Leaf Trail from the Milwaukee Urban Ecology Center, so I think it has something to do with that. Maybe a storage area for the various equipment and materials used in the community gardens and landscaping?

This is another HDR from along the Milwaukee River that turned out quite well. Nothing new about this one though, this was taken with my old trusty 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens - a lens I have probably shot more photos with than all my other lenses combined.

On the way back home, while stalking a pair of Mallards, I happened upon a clearing of flowers with a whole bunch of butterflies flighting around. Just standing on one spot with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens I was able to snap photos all around me. These are a few of the nicer ones.

Both of these are severely cropped, as even at 200mm I could not get close enough to the butterflies to fill the frame. 200mm is currently my longest lens, as I sold my old 300mm lens to help fund the new Tokina 11-16. I did just order a Canon 2x Extender though, which is capable of transforming my 70-200 f/2.8 IS II USM lens into a 140-400 f/5.6 IS USM lens. I'm looking forward to some more awesome shots of butterflies, flowers, and other various wildlifes once I get that. Also, I will get it just in time for Rachael's graduation/hooding.

I have several more trips planned, once I get time. I also plan on posting some info on the new packs I have been testing as well.