After reserving my campsites at Split Rock Lighthouse last winter I began to explore different photographs I wanted to attempt to get. With several weeks passing pondering several ideas I finally decided I would love to capture the lighthouse under the Milkyway. The direction didn’t line up great but with the dark skies of the North Shore in Minnesota I expected to at least see a partial band of the our galaxy over Split Rock. Continuing my research I discovered the moon could be a problem as it would be nearing it’s full phase. Armed with this information I waited until the camping trip in June to make further preparations to capture the lighthouse at night.

During the afternoon, while at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, I began to scout out potential locations and compositions. Starting from a distance I took a look at the overall scene attempting to figure out how much of Lake Superior I wanted in the photo and how much of the night sky I could get in a picture and still see the lighthouse well. From here I continued to move closer to the building as there was no way it would stand out this far away.

As the afternoon was nearing the end and evening was about to take over, I continued to climb over the sharp granite of Lake Superior searching for an interesting place to set up later that night. I began to feel more confident in a location to start at once darkness arrived. It may work well but it could be less interesting once the moon broadcast its light over the landscape.

Pressing on to find an alternative location or two I continued on closer to the lighthouse perched on top of a cliff overlooking the grand lake. Finding a couple more spots closer to Split Rock Lighthouse I was finally satisfied. Time had arrived to return to the campsite for a delicious dinner cooked over a fire and a little rest before journeying back during the night.

Now with a full stomach and the sun falling below the horizon it was getting time to head out. But now the days activities were beginning to wear on me and I was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag. In addition, the temperature was dropping quickly which had begun to penetrate through to my bones really causing me to question just how bad I wanted to go out with the camera underneath the dark sky. After fighting with myself for nearly 20 minutes I forced myself to get up, put on a coat, and grab the backpack containing my gear. Still reluctant to take the 15 minute walk to the lighthouse, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until my motivation returned. I knew where I wanted to go and in no time I arrived. Scanning the scene now under moonlight, I became less convinced it was the spot for the photograph I wanted. Still I knew that if I didn’t pull out the camera and take a couple of shots I would likely not make it back here. What if this turns out to be the best location? After a few pictures, I wasn’t satisfied with my results.

The first thing I like to do is change my cameras orientation to see how that alters the scene. I liked this look better as the boulders became more prominent for a more complete picture. Still it wasn’t giving me the photograph I was after. The lower boathouse was a huge distraction under the near full moonlight and I couldn’t compose the shot in a way that the boathouse was removed and the lighthouse was located nicely. It was time to move closer as I suspected I would have to do. Under the moons illumination along with my flashlight I continued to crawl over the rocks slowly getting closer to the lighthouse and the cliff it guarded. By this time I was beginning to warm back up from my efforts to safely maneuver the rocky shoreline.

Finding a spot close enough to capture the lighthouse with stars above I scoured the shoreline seeking out boulders positioned in an interesting way to give me the picture I was attempting to capture. While doing this a voice called out from the dark. It was another photographer camped among the rocks photographing the Milkyway. Proof that each photographer sees things differently to create a unique picture. He had come here on a rare free night with no work the next day to capture the beautiful band of stars but having a difficult time due to the moon. I wanted to capture the Milkyway also but knew it would be a challenge due to the moon and altered my plan to use the moonlight to my advantage. It lit up the shoreline and lighthouse better than I could have expected creating a photograph that appears to have been taken during the day but then the stars shining above let you know it was not. It made for a scene very few people get to experience let alone photograph. It did take a bit of time to get an appropriate exposure due to this high light with a dark sky and water. Once I found a good exposure I kept snapping photos making little adjustments until I had what I thought would be a nice photograph. I actually like the picture above better than the one at the top of the post but that doesn’t show as well on the website which is why I used the landscape oriented picture for the post.

I decided to snap a couple of pictures of the Milkyway shining dimly in the night sky just to see how it would turn out. Some time I hope to work with the photo a bit more and see if I can extrapolate this band of bright stars more. While talking with the other photographer, he mentioned that using a good telephoto lens you could actually capture Jupiter with its four visible moons. Once I was done with my session at the lighthouse I headed towards my car to retrieve my Sigma 200-500mm lens and attached it to the camera. After a little searching through the viewfinder I spotted Jupiter. Focusing in on it I could definitely make out four other objects around it. These must be the moons! Playing with the camera a bit I snapped some photos before decided I had enough fun and was now cold again and ready for sleep.

The only full day at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park and I wanted to make the most of it. Sunrise in the middle of June is about quarter after 5 in the morning. That’s a difficult choice to make while on vacation. Roll over and go back to sleep for a couple of hours or make yourself climb out of a warm sleeping bag to watch the sun rise over Lake Superior. Rising behind the lighthouse which is peering over a cliff? Clearly from the photo above I chose to get up, but it was not easy as I needed to be out of the tent before 5am to get to a good viewing spot. I rarely regret getting up after I begin moving and get out of the door. It’s such a peaceful beginning to a day. Quiet and calm, often times with a serene scene. You can here the wildlife around or in this case, listen to the waves of Lake Superior crashing softly into the shoreline under a foggy landscape. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful sunrise at the lighthouse. The fog was such a nice surprise definitely worth waking up early for as it rolled out over the big lake on this cool, summer morning.

As the sun continued higher in the sky, the fog disappeared revealing interesting black sand beaches in a more northern setting. I’ve been fortunate to visit a black sand beach in Hawaii a few years ago and what struck me as a little weird is that the black beach of Split Rock State Park was similar even though the sand was made of from different rock. Or maybe the rock is not that different as they are both volcanic, I believe, and both get pounded into small bits and pieces from the forces of water crashing over them. Thousands of miles separate these different black sand beaches and quite different environments but they are not all that different to walk on. On this morning I had the beaches to myself to enjoy for a little while. A great opportunity to take some pictures of these beaches with large pieces of granite interspersed among the sand while enjoying the peacefulness of the quiet part of the day.

Hungar was beginning make itself known at this point which became a bit annoying. It required heading back to the campsite to find food and that meant leaving the tranquil warming sun over this beautiful beach. I fought this hungar for awhile longer which was not as hard as I thought it might be. The many distractions of every part of the landscape helped immensely. While the sun’s intensity continued to grow, I shifted from taking in the overall landscape to focusing in on a bit more of the details. There where so many different interesting rock formations, colors, and textures. Seeing some orange ribbons of stone traveling from the shoreline into Lake Superior which become interrupted by waves splashing up as they meet the shoreline. I could have spent a lot more time just exploring these places on the beach but on to more important things like nourishment.

Much of the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon were spent exploring some of the nearby state parks I love to see like Tettegouche and Gooseberry before returning for some R & R. My intent was to return to my sleeping bag for a little more sleep because my intention for the night time was to attempt astrophotography over the lighthouse. With the sun setting just after 9 pm at this time of year it would be well after 10 pm before I could start photographing the stars. Shortly after my hit the pillow I could hear a lot of water splashing down on the shores of Lake Superior near the campsite. I figured it would go away in a few minutes but it persisted over and over again. Finally I decided to see what was going on and noticed ducks making all kinds of noise back and forth along the shoreline. Of course by the time I would grab the camera and get to the shore they would surely be gone. But they continued which allowed me to set up next to a tree and capture some pictures of male Common Mergansers chasing each other. No doubt over a female. This went on for over 45 minutes before they where out of range. I returned to the campsite to see if I could now get a little sleep. And very little it was before hunger once again forced an exit to the tent.

As evening was approaching it was time to explore closer to the lighthouse to scout some possible locations for shooting the night sky. Viewing the lighthouse perched on top of a cliff looking out over this vast lake from the shores below really gave a different perspective of the Split Rock Lighthouse. One that I’d never seen before. It was so impressive from this angle. As luck would have it, there was such a nice blue sky with white, puffy clouds floating by for a great summer’s day picture. What made it even better is that the lighthouse was now closed to tours so there were very few people here in the area allowing for an even more relaxed time of exploring around the rocks along the shoreline.

With the sun getting even lower in the sky, it was time to return to the campsite for an evening fire as the air was growing colder. It was expected to get down into the upper 30’s Fahrenheit overnight which is a bit chilly when sleeping in a tent. The campfire would feel really good After a beautiful day exploring a small part of the North Shore. There’s so much more to Split Rock State Park than I had anticipated and this was only a portion of this park. There are other trails which I must return to explore another time.