Used by special permission, ® DAWN LaPOINTE
Gary Fiedler heads into a foggy morning sunrise on Lake Two in the BWCAW.
Used by special permission, ® Dawn LaPointe and Gary Fiedler
Dawn LaPointe and Gary Fiedler demonstrate their tree-hugging nature with an old cedar by Basswood Lake when Dawn did a supply drop-off on Gary’s epic seven-month BWCAW trip.
For photographers Gary Fiedler and Dawn LaPointe, life by Lake Superior, well, it’s like a box of chocolates.
“The nice thing is, you never know what you’re going to get,”
says Gary. One thing is certain, Dawn adds, “It’s a photographer’s playground.”
Married since October 10, 2010 – that’s 10-10-10 and on purpose – their mutual love of the outdoors brought the couple together … on the internet. They “met” on match.com after each had landed in Duluth.
Perhaps their match was destined, though. Both started life on opposite sides of another famed waterway, the Mississippi River, with Dawn born in Wisconsin’s Prairie du Chien and Gary in Monticello in Minnesota. By 2009 in Duluth, Dawn was working at Minnesota Power and Gary was an aircraft mechanic at Cirrus Aircraft. Each was looking for someone with common interests. When Gary read Dawn’s match.com profile, “the love of nature part, that struck me.”
The first date was dinner at Black Woods; their second was a hike through the woods on snowshoes and with cameras. Within a year, they married.
They’ve formed a life partnership and have become a photographic dynamic duo, posting and selling their work as Radiant Spirit Gallery online and in local galleries in Duluth and Ely, plus licensing photos and videos for productions and commercial use and occasionally writing articles.
Touting themselves as “free-range photographers” whose images have “no additives or artificial colors,” Dawn and Gary hope to inspire others to love, protect and advocate for nature in general and for our Lake Superior region in particular. They’ve gotten noticed; the Smithsonian Institution has honored several of their images, even placing one in a two-year exhibit in Washington, D.C., and more than 35 million viewers on YouTube and Facebook pages (including the Weather Channel’s) have watched Dawn’s “Lake Superior Ice Stacking” video from February 2016.
Dawn recently aided a Japanese documentary crew delving into links between winter weather experienced by Lake Superior and Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
Hanging out with Gary fine-tuned her photographic skills, Dawn notes. “It was very helpful to see things through his eyes.”
“And I can say the same thing about you now,” adds Gary, pointing out her current expertise.
The couple spends as much time outdoors as possible doing long-weekend trips. Each year they’ve set aside two weeks, generally in the fall, to camp in the BWCAW in Minnesota and across the border in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. They usually bring two canoes – not just to keep marital harmony, but, as Dawn puts it, “For on those mornings where there are so many places to be.”
Coming together later for show and tell, says Gary, “It’s part of the enjoyment. It’s part of the fun.”
Getting into nature is more than just fun for Gary. It was his motivation for healing after suffering a brain aneurysm that almost killed him in 2004. To celebrate his recovery, he dedicated seven months of his life 10 years later to traveling around the BWCAW and Quetico. He paddled more than 811 miles and portaged 178 miles during 221 days there in 2014. He quit his work for the year, but was able to resume it on returning. Dawn met him five times to resupply him. From his quest for “experiences, not conquest,” he came away with increased appreciation of rare wild places and more than 40,000 new images. Dawn, who willingly skipped their two-week trip to aid Gary’s dream, also discovered how much she loved the laughter they shared when they were together.
The couple plans new undertakings, more winter photography and honing their video and audio recordings. “We’re now trying out video and the impact of sound,” Dawn says. “We just continue to learn the Lake more.”
It’s all part of the free-range photo plan of a couple whose love encompasses each other and all of the great outdoors.
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Used by special permission, ® GARY FIEDLER
Orange lichen and wildflowers adorn Shovel Point on Lake Superior in summer.
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Used by special permission, ® DAWN LaPOINTE
A piece of Lake Superior driftwood comes alive at daybreak.
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Used by special permission, ® DAWN LaPOINTE
Gooseberry River roars over the Middle and Lower Falls after heavy rains.
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Used by special permission, ® GARY FIEDLER
A bit of “light painting” with a flashlight illuminates Gary’s canoe under the northern lights.
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Used by special permission, ® GARY FIEDLER
A mother raccoon takes a much-needed break from her kits.
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Used by special permission, ® GARY FIEDLER
A cow and calf moose wade across shallow Lake Polly.
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Used by special permission, ® DAWN LaPOINTE
Dutchman’s Breeches brighten spring.
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Used by special permission, ® DAWN LaPOINTE
An Eastern Gray Tree frog clings to the tree where Gary and Dawn hoisted their food pack in the BWCAW.