Kakabika Falls time lapse Gogebic County, Michigan

The morning sun was starting to rise as I approached the parking area of Kakabika Falls. The colorful leaves were covered in mist due to the rain from the previous night. Walking downstream towards the main falls felt like I was hiking through a Rain forest. Old growth scattered the forest floor with sharp rock sticking out from the fallen leaves. From the parking area to the main fall, the river is a constant series of waterfalls with the last being the biggest of them all. With a warm coffee in my hands, I thought this is the way to start a beautiful morning.

Bond Falls time lapse Ontonagon County, Michigan

My first waterfall on my third trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 2013 was Bond Falls in Ontonagon County. This is the largest waterfall attraction in Western Michigan and that means lots of people with cameras. I ended up meeting and talking to one of the few true artists when I was there, Levent Eryilmaz. 

The weather was quite dreary and it looked like it would start raining at anytime, as usual, I had my umbrella with me. Turns out, I didn't need it at all. My last visit warranted an umbrella the whole time I was here. The falls are quite large and tough to get all of the angles I wanted. Using the wooden pathway would have been ideal but footsteps bounce the wooden planks too much for my work.  

Music by Dexter Britain Song: From Truth

Upper Duppy Falls Iron County MI timelapse

After spending a couple of hours capturing the lower falls, I moved upstream to the upper set of Duppy falls. About this time the sun started to poke it's head through the forest causing some hot spots that made shooting the falls difficult. This would be my last waterfall after three days of waterfall hiking and I was feeling the wear and tear on myself. There was a large ring of foam circling around the in the lower pool, but it broke up by the time I was set up.

Music by Dexter Britain Song: Running Through Tunnels

Lower Duppy Falls Iron County Michigan time lapse

On the final morning of my second fall trip in 2013 to the Upper Peninsula, I headed to a series of waterfalls named Upper and Lower Duppy Falls. I was unhappy that the weather predicted sun, so I headed to the falls early before there was too much light. The Jumbo river flows through a valley in this area (an easy hike) so harsh lighting would not be a problem. As you can see it's worth the trip. Almost right away I dropped my lens hood in the deepest part of the stream to never be seen again. This caused problems later as the sun rose, but not for the first waterfall shoot. Enjoy the beauty I experienced that wonderful morning.

Upper Silver Falls #4-5 Baraga County MI time lapse

The final two waterfalls downstream from the bridge are Baraga Falls #2, a relatively small waterfall and Baraga Falls #1 being the cornerstone waterfall in the series. By the time I reached falls #1 the sun really started to cause me problems with harsh lighting. I had been on the trail since sunrise and 11 hours later it was now close to sunset. I was tired but still had an hour hike back to my van ahead of me. It had been in heaven for most of the day but it now time to turn back to the realities of daily life.

Music by: Dexter Britain   Song: My Song For January

Upper Silver River-Baraga Falls # 2-3 time lapse

The next two waterfalls on the Upper Silver River area are Baraga Falls 3 and 4. There is a quite a bit of hiking and crossing the river to get to the next two waterfalls. Baraga Falls #4 was a small chute slide to a final five foot drop that would look more dramatic if the water level was higher. The two waterfalls are very close together and the tiered slide in between them is quite a beautiful site. Baraga Falls #3 is the largest drop of all of them at about 25+ feet. Again, a higher water level would have created a nice curtain of water. I wish I had shot some over the edge shots, but I was slight distracted with figuring out I was going to get to the lower level.

The waterfalls have been respectively named by Michigan's contemporary waterfall photographer, Phil Stagg

Music by Dexter Britain Song:In The Electric Fields (partial w/tempo increase)

Upper Silver Falls #1 Baraga County MI time lapse

The first view you see when you look downstream from the bridge is the gentle flow of the Silver River in Baraga County Michigan. The opening shots are the beauty I witnessed that perfect morning. The first of four waterfalls is a nice small drop that curves around a rock face. That morning I met a couple of the river residents in the form of the Brown American Marten who popped their heads out of their streamside burrow to look at this strange site standing in the waterfall.

Music by Dexter Britain Song: Safe in Glass Houses