Another great shot- the whole series has been excellent.

Move over Brandenberg.

Wow - this has been a jaw-dropping set of shots.  Thanks db.

Thanks, I'm glad (tickled ) people are liking my shots - especially the weirder ones that seem a stretch.... I don't POD my own shots very often but they never fail to take me back so I'm always glad when I do.

one_paddle_short - that's a very knowledgeable question - absolutely positively no problem sharing stuff like that if I can put it into words. If it were purposefully planned before hand it would have been planned as two shots and the fire would be prettier but it's only one shot with minimal color and range type global corrections. I had to look at the EXIF data because of the star trails (on the full size image it's obvious the view is pretty much due north). 60 seconds, f 2.8, ISO 400.

The happy lighting balance is because I normally build really small fires anyway as it's just me and this was in August. I doubt there is any flame, only lit up smoke building that exposure over time and that one spark bugs me.

The only reason I was still feeding the fire was because I was alone, wandering around quietly while trying to avoid surprising any large critters. A fire is simply a way for me to make my presence known w/o talking out loud (and I've had to talk rather loud and even swear a blue streak on occasion). Even knowing damn well I'm the only person within earshot I still find it rather embarrassing. If things get good I use up the welcome wood, oh well.

Thanks for the info.  I recently plunged into the world of digital SLR's with a good deal on the going out of syle D80 and a couple of lenses.   I have the closet film SLR's that have been sitting for years and years as we switched over to a digital point and shoot.  Some health issues that forced me to be off work for six weeks this spring gave me the inspiration to get back into more creative photography.  So, I've been experimenting with long exposures, filters, and tripod work.  I made a couple trips up to the Porkies this spring to shoot waterfalls and have some very nice results.  My daughter and I set up the camera in one of the back country cabins and did some 30 second candlelight exposures that turned out really well.  Great father/daughter trip and she's enjoying exploring photography also.

Mostly all my experimenting and reading has enlightened me to how difficult really good photos are to take most of the time.  So, I have an appreciation for the shots you've shared and the one of the campfire strikes me as a really, really nice photograph.

Oh, and I haven't shared any photos here because, even though I enjoy coming to this site, I've never been to the BWCA or the Quetico.  My family has been in the White Otter for week-long trips the last two years and we really enjoyed it there.  But, sadly, no trip this year.  But I plan on spending some more time in the Porcupine Mountains and I'll be bringing my camera along.

Again, congrats on some great shots.