November 21, 2012
It has been a few years since I have shot the Stone Arch
Bridge in Minneapolis. So last night a good friend of mine and I drove down
to the Twin Cities to update our Stone Arch Bridge portfolio. There were
just enough clouds in the sky to make the sunset interesting. As the
evening sky grew darker the Mississippi river reflected the city lights.
November 10, 2012
I went up to the North Shore for the annual beacon lighting
at the Split Rock Lighthouse. It rained all day with strong winds out of the
east northeast. During the day a group of photographers went out to
Crystal Cove and photographed the crashing waves. These aren’t the biggest
waves I have seen, but it is always fun to watch the big lake when its stirred
up. Hopefully this storm is a precursor of what is to come this winter. Towards
evening I got set up along the shoreline at Split Rock. It was still raining
with strong headwinds. It proved challenging to capture the Lighthouse with
my lens getting constantly wet every time I tried to take an image. I didn’t
get a lot of great images, but I still tried to get just one picture to take
home.
November 2, 2012
A good friend of mine and I went down to the Twin Cities
to do some night time photography. Our first stop was Leo’s Chow Mein.
When my wife and I lived in St. Paul we used to eat here every week. Leo’s
Chow Mein is the best Chinese food in the entire state of Minnesota. I
will drive 120 miles just for take-out. I like to order many yummy entrees,
eat as much as I can, and then take the rest home with me. After dinner,
my friend and I drove to Minneapolis and photographed the Hennepin Avenue
Bridge. The Mississippi River was exceptionally calm and created some great
reflections in the water.TNext we went over to
St. Paul and shot Mickey’s Diner and then St. Paul’s Cathedral. I hope
to start adding more Twin Cities images to my website
September 21, 2012
This fall I took two weeks off to photograph the fall colors.
I drove over 2,000 miles and travelled to countless state parks. I began
my journey up near the boundary waters. I spent three days up there just
driving the back roads looking for fall color. I worked my way back down
the shoreline of Lake Superior. One morning I was treated to high winds off
the Lake and the Grand Marais lighthouse getting pummeled by big waves. Every
day was sunny and 75 degrees and each morning was cool enough to get steam
off many of the inland lakes. I stopped by Banning State Park and shot the
Kettle River and Wolf Creek. Then I drove over to Itasca State Park and
spent some time shooting the fall colors there. The trees lost a lot of
leaves after high winds and wet snow. So I focused my attention on southwest
Minnesota, particularly the Red Wing area. Overall, it was one of my best
years for pictures. The fall colors were not as vibrant as past years because
of the severe drought this summer. I am sad to see fall come and go so
quickly, but now I eagerly wait for winter.
A couple of years ago I was up on the North Shore when it
received 8” of rain in 48 hours. I have always wanted to see the
rivers at that level again. On Tuesday night , June 19, I was watching
the weather forecast very closely. The next morning I saw that Duluth
had picked up 10 inches of rain and I decided to head up to the North
Shore. I heard that interstate 35 and highway 61 were closed. Going
through Duluth, or even around it, would prove impossible. So I decided
to head towards Grand Rapids and work my way over to Virginia/Hibbing then
down to Silver Bay. Many of the roads were flooded and I was detoured countless
times. After five hours of driving I finally arrived at Gooseberry State
Park. I could hear the roar from the river from inside my truck. I grabbed
my camera gear, an umbrella, and headed for the river. I knew I was going
to be in for a special treat. I arrived at Middle Falls and river water seemed
to be going in every direction. It was impressive to see Gooseberry
filled above capacity. Next I drove up to Beaver River and shot a few images
of theoverflowing river. Then I was off to the Temperance River,
where the river gorge was filled to the rim. My last stop was at Last Falls
Creek. Some of the roads were re-opened so I tried to go through Duluth
on my way home. This was my first time seeing Duluth after the flooding.
Many of the roads were washed out. There were mud slides, vehicles destroyed,
and debris everywhere. I managed to make it back home after more detours
and road closures. The images captured from this trip barely capture the
raw energy I was experiencing. As I was going over the top of the hill
in Duluth on my way home, I pulled over to take a picture of a double rainbow
over St. Louis River Valley.
June 1-4, 2012
My wife and I celebrated our sixteenth wedding anniversary
this weekend. We drove up to the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan for a
couple of days. This was our first time visiting the south shore of Lake
Superior. There are a lot of similarities and differences between the
north and south shores. One noticeable difference is the white sandy
beaches along the south shore. We were treated to beautiful sunrises
and sunsets over the big lake, and we hiked and explored many rivers and
waterfalls. It was a fun trip, and I am sure we will be back again.
May 26-28, 2012
My wife and I went up to the North Shore for Memorial Day
weekend. The weather forecast was calling for rain, but we decided go
anyway. The first morning we visited Split Rock Lighthouse and
saw our only sunrise for the next three days. It hadn’t rained yet, so
we went for a trail run from Temperance River up to Carlton Peak and back
down. Nothing goes better with a trail run than Sven and Ole’s pizza,
so we drove up to Grand Marais for supper. We sent up camp on Kimball
Creek and then it started to rain. All of the rivers were full from 3-4
inches of rain from a previous storm. It rained hard all night and the
next morning I photographed some waterfalls. The rain started to let up,
so we decided to do some kayaking on Nine Mile Creek. Next we stopped
at Sugar Loaf Cove and I photographed some of unique rocks along the shoreline.
We camped on the Caribou River, and again it rained during the night. The
next morning I was hoping for a sunrise, but got only clouds, drizzle,
and fog. With a lot of our gear muddy and wet, we decided to pack it in
and head home.
