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7-28-07 thru 8-4-07
Time once again for the annual coveted trip to the waters of Richmond, Minnesota. Although it was once of the quickest vacations in memory, it was still nice to get away from everything back home. One week. That's all the time the majority of us get to actually do something we WANT to do. The rest of the time we are making sure the people we work for have full pockets. Something just isn't fair with that entire situation.
Anyway, I couldn't wait to hit the road and get out of town, far far away from here. Packed and ready to go!
Everything was quick about this trip. Even the drive up there seemed like it zoomed by. I'm not sure what's happening. So, jumping ahead to after arrival, I do what I always do and quickly unpack and set out. It felt very good to get back out on that water. It really is a crying shame we are "allowed" to visit this place only once a year. I had to start it off in Becker Lake, it's becoming ritual. Coming back, just before twilight, the almost full moon was just rising up over the horizon.
All I wanted to do was kick back and throw down a few Premiums that night so my photography was pretty limited. The next morning Josh and I set out a little after 6 to go bass and northern fishing. Bass were pretty scarce this year, but the northern were biting unbelievably well. I landed this one after an hour or so of trolling in Becker. I have big ears.
Another perspective.
About a half an hour later Josh lands one just as big if not bigger.
They would keep hitting like this pretty much all vacation. These first two were by far the biggest of the week, but the amount of them that hit our crankbaits was amazing.
Back at the dock. Might as well get one more. Before you laugh at my hair (or lack thereof), let me explain. On Friday night I went to go cut my own hair. I was so tired I didn't even pay attention to the fact I hadn't attached the #1 piece to the razor. Whoops! After a few swipes and my hair looking ridiculous, I went ahead and finished the massacre. Oh well. It kept me cool. Here's Josh, Caden and I.
Trying to get a comparison to how long it was. Caden wasn't a big fan of these fish.
Later in the evening, it was time to head back out to Becker like I normally do. The bass usually keep us busy, but for some reason this year we couldn't figure them out. I didn't know it would be so bad at the time I landed this one though. I need to learn how to smile more often. I have big ears.
The full moon also came out tonight. I didn't bother cropping this picture since the 300mm is incredibly soft at maximum. It sure would be nice to be able to afford a better lens.
Next morning it was time to head out again. This time it was my dad, Dave, Josh and I in the pontoon. Man that thing was nice and comfortable. It'd be nice to get one every year, but they are pretty pricey. This is the island right out in front of the resort. For some reason I seem to grab a picture like this of that same island every year with the morning light hitting it.
So we all caught a few northern once again and dad even hooked a walleye. On the way back home my dad played around with the camera. I thought it was sort of a neat picture except for the blown out sky. There was really no way to avoid that though considering the sun was just coming up over that eastern weedline.
Skipping ahead again to the morning after this. Dave, Josh and I boarded the pontoon again. This time we decided to do a little bass fishing before more trolling. Josh had this nice one smack the Scumfrog (topwater bait).
Josh hooks into another northern while Dave nets him. Nothing too special going on here. I really didn't take too many pictures the entire week.
Back at the resort, it was time to kick back and have a few more. I have to take at least one shot with a can or bottle included every year.
Back at Becker in the evening to do some more bass fishing. I thought this was pretty cool. The perfect disc of the sun was viewable without hurting the eyes. Again, nothing special. My photography bug was never really in full swing.
Second to last day ALREADY. I still can't get over how quick the days went. It was time to start taking the camera out with me everywhere I go. I met my dad and my great Aunt Olive. They were supposedly catching catfish in this spot and I wanted a spot out of the wind. Sure enough, soon as I pull up everything quits biting. Oh well. They have enough and hightail it out.
After trying a few more places with little luck, I wanted to take a crack at some pelicans that hang out in front of the resort. The only real way to get in close was to keep inching in since the water is very shallow here. These big birds also spook very easily. I believe these are American White Pelicans.
About this time they started walking faster and faster as I got closer. I knew they were about ready to take off so I had to be quick. The boat needed repositioned and fast. Luckily they waited just long enough for me to set off.
Back out to Becker. Again, no luck. I usually get some sunset shots over Becker and since nothing was playing fair, I figured this would be a good time. Nothing really too special with this one though. I had to bump the ISO to 1600 in order to get a fast enough shutter speed. This lake is actually pretty freaky. It's very shallow and extremely weedy. You can see down to the bottom pretty much anywhere you go. I could only imagine falling in this stuff. I normally just give the motor one big thrust, shut it off, pull up the motor and drift in the weeds. It was actually a little bit darker than this but the ISO provided a little more sensitivity.
Time for some night shots. I was really hoping the moon would have been positioned like it was last year, straight out over the lake. This time though I had to shoot at a different angle to get it in the shot. Not as interesting as the ones last year, in my opinion, but I'll take anything with me from this place. Those docks are GREAT for crappie fishing at night also.
Here's one here. This one probably is a little cooler to me since I can put myself right there in this picture.
Across Horseshoe with the stars. Tranquil.
Ok, last day. Ahhhh.....
This is about the time when moods start changing. I know I get sort of a depressed feeling every time. I could stay up here for months and never get tired of a thing. But, I had to make the most of it. I saw some more pelicans so shot some of them again. One flew almost directly overhead so I quickly put the glass on him. This one isn't in focus very well, but I noticed something after uploading to the computer that I thought interesting. Look at it's foot. There is a metal band wrapped around like it's being tracked. I'm wondering if their migratory patterns are being monitored or something.
Some more taking off across the water.
My mom and Aunt Olive. I think she had fun. This was her first time up here. She was a really good time.
Blue heron.
More pelicans again. I'm not sure why I took so many pictures of them.
Back out to Becker one last time. Man was I treated tonight. There couldn't have been a more perfect setting for the last day. The sunset was perfect. It had everything; rich colors, perfect viewable disc, water like glass, and not to mention the sunburst.
I waited for that bird to fly close to the sun. I wish it would have been a tad closer, but I'll settle.
See ya Becker. You can't help but feel a little emotion after your last night out on the water. It sucks. Back at the resort it was time for some more night photography. Twilight shots are some of my favorite because the colors can be amazing. There was a party going on waaaayyy across the lake and they were shooting off some small fireworks. That's why I took this shot, just waiting for another one to go up, but I liked how it turned out anyway. That green light reflecting off the water toward the bottom is from a light a little ways behind me.
Woooo. Yeah, they weren't much. But, at least it was something to spice up the scene.
Back up to the same spot I took some from last year. Nothing really gave me anything cool this year, but the colors came out really well I thought. There is some more fireworks in this one too.
There are two boats out there. One with the red light and one with the white. The white streak is sort of hard to make out. Anyway, the red streaked boat was going pretty slow. The other came screaming in across the lake. As it neared, I heard some very loud yelling and the the faster boat did a quick turn to avoid it. I'm not sure exactly how close they were, but still kind of interesting I suppose.
Time to chill and ride out the last remaining hours of our vaca. This is how life is REALLY supposed to be lived, to enjoy the finer things it has to offer. I just can't understand why these instances are so limited. One week? Just doesn't seem fair to me, I don't know. I guess it's my fault for not figuring out something that I want to do. It's a little easier to say than do, but something has to change in my life so I can enjoy this sort of stuff more than I do.
Josh, Dad and I sat up on the deck up by the main office and had a few cold ones. One last shot.
