A week along the AuTrain

6-8 foot waves in AuTrain Bay

Reany Creek after the rains.

I am back from a week-long stay in AuTrain, MI.  If you are unaware of where that is, it's sort of in the middle of the Upper Peninsula, about 30 miles E of Marquette.  The AuTrain River empties into Lake Superior in AuTrain Bay, and I have photographed that particular spot numerous times over the years.  Changing lake levels keep the channel into Lake Superior in an unpredictable state.  When we arrived on the 20th, fierce storms had produced huge waves all along the coast, and by the evening of the 22, the lake had calmed.  We visited my daughter and daughter-in-law in Marquette, and were treated to some awesome scenes along Reany Creek, which empties into the dead River.  I shot lots of waterfalls through the week, and did a little macro work, and some street shooting in Marquette.  It was a great break from work, and quite relaxing to stay in a small cabin, being able to make meals, etc., and not in a motel.  Adrienne and I had a nice dinner in the Brownstone Inn along M-28, just a couple of miles from AuTrain.  Now that we are back, I have some film to develop. My most used film was Kentmere 100, but as you can see, I had quite a bit of variety.

I also shot quite a bit of digital with my trusty Nikon D200 and a bag of lenses. The camera phone  of course, was a good way to document our travel, if only to put a few things up on Instagram.
One of the things in the Upper Peninsula is that cell phone service isn't always good.   Keeping a charger cable in the car is a good idea to keep your phone from running down if it is searching for a signal much of the day.

One of my favorite places to shoot under various types of weather is Black Rocks on Presque Isle.  This time, it was an overcast day with some light rain, which really made for some good photography this time around.

Black Rocks

lots of sky along Lake Superior!

a much calmer lake a few days after the storm

Great Lakes beaches are hard to beat.

I did a little macro, too.  A male Polistes dominulus. The 60mm micro-Nikkor is a gem of a lens.

I have only been home a little over 24 hours and I miss the UP already.  I love the skies, the weather changes, the shoreline, the rocks, the people, and the smell of the woods.  I have been going there for over 30 years, and each time I come back, I have new memories and an anticipation of another trip. When I process my many rolls of film, I'll show some new work from AuTrain Bay.