Category Archives: Black and White

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100 Miles of something


http://www.mississippi-river.org has a great website with information on where to stay, eat, shop, and things to do – all around Lake Pepin.  There are several 100 Miles of… links: vistas, boating, birding, fishing, history and even garage sales.

The big big big 100 miles of garage sales was May 2-4 this year.  Cyn & I didn’t get out for a drive until Sunday and by that time most sales where over and done.  We found some stragglers still open though.  I was more interested in the drive, but the potential for an awesome find is always around every corner.  The super-find of the trip was an old produce crate in the dumpster outside of Reads Landing Brewing Company.  I spied the little treasure as we sat on the patio sipping our fire-hot bloody marrys.

entrance
to very spicy bloddys coming up
Interior view of the river
firey
outside patio

Prior to landing for refreshments we spent a significant amount of time roaming around the little river town of Stockholm, WI.  There are several unique shops to wander through.  Among them is a fantastic bakery – Bogus Creek Cafe & Bakery.  The cranberry walnut bread is out of this world.  You may have noticed in past posts…if there is a bakery in the vicinity  I’ll be sampling the local fare.

Stockholm is great small town to spend a few hours just walking around.  There is no shortage of interesting art.  Be sure to check out Adobe Stockholm.  Juno & Me has some of the best candies I’ve had is awhile and their pet product are worth browsing.  For more information on additional shops, see Stockholm’s official website.

Here are a few other shot I took around town before we got on our way to the next town.

There is so much to see and do around Lake Pepin.  Hwy 35 on the Wisconsin side boasts some spectacular views as does Hwy 61 on the Minnesota side.  You are never board around here – take a drive around the lake!

LakePepin

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The Big Purge


It has been a long time coming now.  Backing up to the cloud takes time even with plenty of bandwidth.  My recent back up revelations have led to incessant purging of files.  It is a very long process.  2011, not a complete year (Aug – Dec), has been reduced to approximately 1000 shots retained; I am sure that could even be reduced further if I really had to.  I will leave some for a likely future last round of digital cleansing.  I guess when I first started to dig into photography I kept everything.  For the most part I am glad that I did.  When I look back it is very clear to me what worked and what didn’t.  I know a few more tricks in salvaging an image that was less than perfectly exposed, but that isn’t the ultimate goal.  Shoot and learn; shoot more and learn even more.

I am hoping with further review of subsequent years to see a style emerging; your style isn’t so readily apparent to you – at least it isn’t to me.  I have spent the last few years experimenting with many different things photographically.  It is interesting to look back at what you have shot. Remembering why you shot something is my biggest challenge (thankfully the memories are still fresh).  These are a few photos from 2011 that caught my eye while sifting through the nearly 4000 shots.

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Revisited – March 2013


This month’s revisited will be short and sweet in narrative.  March was a great photography month filled with all sorts of subjects.  At the moment, though, Spring is knocking a bit harder on the door.  The forecast-ed full day rain did not come to fruition.  Instead, there are blue skies and some clouds and it is 50 degrees.  It is time to get out of the house and go for a walk, a drive – something.

Here are my favorite March 2013 shots converted into black & white.  Happy Saturday all.

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Assorted Photos – 2013: Week #9


I know I take a lot of photos from my car, but I didn’t’ quite realize how many until this week.  Everyone of this weeks images were captured in my car; either straight out of the windshield, out my side window, my rear view mirror, or one of the two side mirrors.

The one exception is the furry nut-buster in the tree.  That is a little fatty from the back yard.  They eat well around here.

Downtown St. Paul – Rear view mirror shot
street corner texter
pair of hen pheasants
Diamond Bluff, WI; Hwy 35
Hwy 35 to Red Wing
Furry Nut Buster
Doesn’t look like much, but the best pizza I’ve every had
Trung Nam, French Bakery eh…sounds legit.
little puppy, big attitude
loving the car ride
I94
St. Paul
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To review or not…


…there is no question in my mind.

Revisited – January 2013

Going back and reviewing what you have done for a period of time; in this case, month to month, can be a gratifying exercise.  I fully believe that you cannot chart a future course without continually studying and reviewing from where you have come.  Isn’t that the quest we are all on with some aspect of our lives…be it a hobby, our health  or some other aspiration?

Ever since I started this blog, each month I have gone back and reviewed my shots for the month.  I call it revisited  (category/tag).  I typically pull the photos I especially like the most and often do a black & white conversion (Silver Efex Pro) on those I think would be a prime candidate.  Other times I will apply a color treatment (Color Efex Pro), dabble with faux HDR/HDR or other treatments/techniques.  Sometimes it is a simple adjustment to the composition.  Cropping an image can present it in an almost entirely different way.

It is one part fun and one part self-critique.  If you do not attempt to acquire a deeper understanding of what you are seeing/photographing and how you are presenting it to the world, as your art, what is the point then?  Just going through the motions is not enough.  Without examination and review there is no growth or betterment or your craft.

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Where hangovers form in the frozen North


When Cyn and I where up in Northern Minnesota this last weekend taking in some sites and hanging out with friends, we spent a few hours at the International Eelpout Festival in Walker, Mn.  This has been the tradition for several years now.  Eelpout are very ugly fish, but not half-bad tasting.  I usually get a serving of  pout nuggets.  You can follow that up with cheese curds, mini doughnuts, or any number of other fair-like foods.

There are some constants, but every year you see something a little different from the year before.  The people watching if phenomenal.  The consumption was staggering; I can’t even imagine the volume consumed over that weekend.  Hangovers for many no doubt.

There are several photo’s on-line of this huge event in Northern Minnesota.  Here are the few snapshots I grabbed while we were there.

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Rice Park all aglow


A quick shot of Rice Park all light up on my way to work the other morning.  We haven’t had the opportunity to get here in the evening and shoot, but I suspect we will sometime soon.  We also cannot wait to shoot in and around the St. Paul Union station.  The concourse  also know as “St. Paul’s Living Room” reopened last Saturday (12/8/12) after being closes since 1971.  Read all about the remodel –> here <–.

Rice Park - St. Paul, MN

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Revisited – September 2012


Revisited is an opportunity for me to look back at the previous month.  Black &  White photography has always been a passion of mine.  Each month I look back and pluck some favorites shots from the catalog to covert to black & white (or vice versa on occasion).

To put the month into baseball terms, you could say I had 13 at cameras this month, .433 average – not my best, but certainly a good month.  It certainly seems like I was out shooting more than that.  I discovered two days of shooting that I had not processed nor posted.  Cyndie and I were all over the place – points around MN, WI and ND.  It guess it was an eventful month.

Here are my B&W conversion picks for September 2012.