Lake Superior Summer Solstice Sunrise

During my  June trip through the upper Midwest I spent several days in Minnesota. The day before the Summer Solstice I arrived at Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It was a Saturday and the park was absolutely packed with people enjoying the spectacular waterfalls. Because of harsh light and the crowds of people I did very little photography that day, instead I scouted locations along the shore for the following morning’s sunrise.  I woke the next morning at about 4:00 AM and could tell almost immediately that the dawn light and sunrise was going to be spectacular.  I hiked down to the shore to the spots I had scouted the day before and waited for the light show to begin and Summer  officially start. As you can see from the two images below I was not disappointed!

Lake Superior Summer Solstice Dawn Light

Summer Solstice Sunrise Over Lake Superior

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Photo:Lake Superior Pastel Dawn

Continuing on with the sunrise – dawn light theme, I present an image from the UP of Michigan, made in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Of the two sunrises I photographed there, this is my favorite.  I was drawn to the  simple  almost minimalist layered composition and of course the beautiful pastel shades of reds, orange and blues. Of several exposures, this provided the slight wave-ripple on the water that adds strength to the composition. One other composition note: I placed the horizon right in the middle to divide the image into two major layers of water and sky, each of which have subtle layers within them bases on color tones.  Enjoy:

Lake Superior Dawn, Porcupine Mtns State Park, MI ©Stephen Weaver