While in southwestern Minnesota, there were two other locations that I visited.  The first was Gneiss Outcrops SNA, just outside of Granite Falls.  While it is not a huge area, it is an interesting area. It is located in the Minnesota River Valley and a portion of is is actually on the Minnesota River, though I did not make it to the river’s edge on this particular day.  On the …continue…

Where to begin after such a long absence? The logical place to begin would be to start where I left off but I left off with an overview of where I have been.  Since, much time has passed since then I will return to the open spaces of Southwestern Minnesota. A warm December after a cold November in an area and biome that I am quite unfamiliar with and some …continue…

So, where’ve I been?  Well, here and there.  Great non-specific answer, huh?  I have been shooting quite a bit but doing less writing and trying to figure out how to rectify that, but have no answers to that, yet.  So the writing may stay a bit sparse around here but I hope to do a better job of sharing new photos.  Let’s start with an overview of the last year …continue…

Just outside a city of nearly 100,000 I find myself on a “beach”, nearly alone. A couple of hundred yards down the shore is a couple boulder hopping with their puppy but soon they will have left for the evening. For a little while I am alone, though shortly a father and couple of boys arrive and hang out a hundred yards down the shore in the other direction. Up …continue…

The lakes and forests of central and northern Minnesota are a large part of who I am; as a result of this I tend to avoid the open country of southwestern Minnesota and beyond. In the forests it takes only a few acres of forest and you can largely escape human’s attempts to domesticate the land and experience the land, as it would be without us. In the plains you …continue…

Last year near the end of November, I found myself walking along Lake Superior on Minnesota Point. I noticed that the lake already had frazil ice forming in it, and remember thinking that it seemed quite early in the season for ice to be forming in Superior’s water. The following morning I was on Brighton Beach for sunrise and while there wasn’t ice in the water, the rocks were thoroughly …continue…

This year when the fall colors really started to pop, I began to think about where I wanted to be going to capture the fall colors. Though this reminded me of a lesson that I have learned many times over; that where you are is less important than your connection to what and where you are shooting. Now if you are thinking how can you be connected to fall colors, …continue…

As summer winds to a close the signs of fall are all around us. One by one boats and docks are being pulled from the lakes, slowly revealing the contours of the shoreline, our views of the shoreline are slowly becoming closer to what they would be without humans. The sun rises at a more reasonable time; we are no longer giving up daylight to get eight hours of sleep. …continue…

At the end of May, while in Duluth, I went to Brighton Beach for sunset. In Duluth the sun sets behind the hill, you have to look away from the lake to watch the sun set. So, why go to the water’s edge for the sunset? To watch the earth’s shadow rise above the horizon and the twilight blues that come afterwards. Brighton Beach is a spot I know well …continue…

During the summer months it is rare that I go out to photograph sunrises and sunsets. With lots of activity on the lake and with docks and boatlifts obscuring the view of the shoreline capturing the natural beauty of the lake is made a few degrees more difficult. As a result my summer photography tends to focus on smaller scenes and details rather than larger scenes and nature’s light shows. …continue…