Day 72...Dune Flower

DUNE FLOWER

In the dunes on the beach, these beautiful brown-eyed Susans grow.  To arrive in March and see flowers somewhere is a happy thing for me.  And I think I've made it known that a few things I love...i.e., sunsets, and the other is THE BEACH.  So what could make the beach better than just being the beach?  Well, I guess being welcomed to the beach by a peppering of bright yellow flowers in the dunes just as you enter the paradise!

This photo is dedicated to my sweet Facebook friend (and former classmate) Jane Maki St. Ores since she wanted to see some flowers to cheer up her spring, and she follows my photos (and maybe even this very blog!)  

Day 68 ... BFFs

BFFs

I think watching the sunset on a beach would have to be one of the best moments in life.  I know I said I wasn't going to make my trip to Florida be all about sunsets, and I truly want to stretch my imagination and do something that isn't easy or ordinary, but the sunsets really are beautiful here, and it's been difficult for me to bring my camera out on the beach during the day when I knew sand would be flying all around us.  

So for now, enjoy the sunsets!  

This one was taken no Siesta Key at Siesta Beach which is a gorgeous white sugar sand beach with pale aqua colored water.  If I hadn't gotten such a late start, the day photo opps might have been better, and in the next day or two, I'm going to try harder to get a day shot of the bleached out beach.

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Day 67...Wave Runners

WAVE RUNNERS

I love a sunset.  I love the Golden Hour and Blue Hour.  Seems like I kind of captured all of that in this one shot.

As you can see, I've moved from winter, if only for a week.  We made it to the beach just in time to watch the sun go down.  I will try not to make every shot for the next five days be sunset shots, but I've said it before....I love the sunset and intend to see it EVERY night this week and I intend to see it near sand and water.  

But I will try to give variety!

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Day 63...Dear Soldier, Thanks for Our Freedom

DEAR SOLDIER, THANKS FOR OUR FREEDOM

Such a cool memorial that I hope my capturing it in a photo does it justice.  For me personally, this figure was large, and hard and made me feel intimidated, yet at the same time I could sense the protection a soldier would give.  

If you've never been to this memorial, it's near the State Capitol, and it's totally worth the trip.  When you stand on the other side of the cutout, you can see the Capitol in the background.  Just COOL.

Day 59...Emerald City

EMERALD CITY

I said I was going to get a shot of the "Emerald City" at night, and tonight was  a great night for it.  This one was a longer exposure, so as you can see in the background, the steam coming from the stacks gave this an eerie look from the long exposure and motion.

I don't even know if I like this photo or not.  I still think I want to try another shot at this location on a night when there's not a bunch of snow where I can get  a good angle over the highway and get some light streaks from head and taillights.  I guess overall, it's kind of a cool photo.

But I will admit, I'm a little burned out on trying to get creative with this hideous winter.

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Day 58...RR X-ing

RR X-ing

Working in St. Paul, it would be easy for me to post a lot of photos of trains, train tracks, and other train-related things.  And now every time I see train-related things, I automatically think of my dear friend Burdette.  Each time I post a RR photo, it's dedicated to her and her hard-working train man.

This one was taken at the Union Depot in St. Paul which is really a great place, and I can't wait to take photos (street photography) down there when the place gets going in full swing with the new light rail.  

I know I'm pushing the boundaries of my "theme" by shooting from the inside to the outside, but I'm seriously taxed with this subzero winter we're having.

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Day 57...Waiting for a Ride

WAITING FOR A RIDE

I don't know what it is that drew my eye to the bus stop.  Maybe it was the geometric patterns that the housing is made of, or the light coming from the top, or just knowing that waiting feeling for your ride home.

I don't think this is particularly a fabulous piece of art you'd hang on your wall, but street shots are always something that tell some sort of story.  I think you can look into the bus shelter and wonder what each separate person is up to and what their story is.

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Day 56 ... CHEERS

CHEERS

A drink overlooking the park.  The snow and the cold are teasing me into thinking about summers on the deck.

A friend (Barb Voto) posted a pic similar to this one where it's a wine glass capturing an image of the sunset.  I was surprised when I saw the park portrayed perefectly miniature inside the glass and it reminded me of that photo.   

This photo is again taken with my iPhone due to time constraints in the day, but, again, cool pic nonetheless.

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Day 54...Share the Road

SHARE THE ROAD

Though I swear I've seen so many more winter bikers this year, nobody's sharing this road.  I'm longing to get my bike out more than ever before.  

I don't even know if this shot is interesting but I couldn't resist the monochrome with the bright yellow sign.  This is another shot where all I did was add a little contrast and crop slightly.  This winter has sucked the color out of the landscape completely so no need to convert to black and white, but it sure made for a fun shot on this day.

I'm hoping my inspiration can continue, because I'm starting to go bat crazy with all this snow and cold.

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Day 52...White Out ( with EXTRAS)

WHITE OUT

I know I'm not alone in my dislike for this enduring winter weather.  And last night's snow is nearly enough to send me over the edge, BUT..I knew it would be a beautiful morning with that much accumulation, and the result for me is....BONUS photos!!!

One vision I love in a Minnesota winter in evergreens with tons of snow weighing down the branches.  So obviously, the above shot was irresistable! But then....

I headed into work early this morning leaving myself time for the hideous commute that would take place.  I think a lot of people decided to stay home because I made it to work quite quickly.  And it left me lots of time to stray off course and take photos of the gorgeous snowfall.  I headed down to the river and that's what I got above, and the one below here.

And then as I was getting out of my car in the parking lot, the shot below is what I saw!  Gorgeous vision of the Cathedral with snow on the dome!  It's such an amazing building.

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Day 44...The Moon Rising

THE MOON RISING

The resolution on this one isn't as great as I would like it to be, but it's still a pretty cool shot.  I'm always a little astonished how much detail can come out on the moon when you take a photo even with a fairly basic lens!  The moon is such a cool object to photograph and stare at.

I saw this when I was on my way home from work after I got off the bus.  I nearly drove off the road a couple times trying to get a good look at the dang thing!  I am quite pleased with the moon craters that you can see.  One day, I vow I'm going to get one of those really golden harvest moons that are just coming up.  I've never been a huge night photographer, but that's one fun thing about this project is that I get to look for things I've not done before.  I actually have a series from years ago where I did capture the lunar eclipse and I have a couple fairly decent plain moon shots.  I think having the tree in the foreground adds a little interest to the composition.

Well, I feel the warm weather starting to rev up, so things should start getting good!

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Day 43...Trying to Shine

TRYING TO SHINE

A gloomy day, trying desperately to turn into a sunny day.  And it made the sky look so mysterious.  This shot is as is.  No filters, no edits.  It was taken about an hour before sunset.  I love how it turned out exactly how it looked when I was there.  

I really don't know what else can be said about it.

My project is going well and there's warm weather in the future, so hopefully it brings tons more great things for me to shoot.

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Day 42...The Window to Her Soul

THE WINDOWS TO HER SOUL

To some, this might seem like an odd post for the day.  But the year couldn't go by without me posting these beautiful eyes.  They belong to my daughter.  This post doesn't have much to do with OUTSIDE.  However, it was taken outside!  And the light obviously helped significantly to highlight how beautiful the human eye is!

I think it's most interesting that sometimes, she has the most sky blue color in her eyes, at times they're gray, and sometimes with flecks of green, but no matter how you see them, they're piercing and beautiful.

As my project progresses and the weather warms, you will likely see more photos of people replacing just the landscapes and skies.  Like I said, the only rule I had for myself was it had to do with outside or be taken outside!  These eyes are irresistable enough that you will see them again.

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Day 41...Snow Family

SNOW FAMILY

This shot kind of seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to me.  I went out for a brief walk while I was waiting for Tiana to finish soccer.  The sun was starting to sink.  I really, really did not want another sunset photo.  I love the sunsets, but I just don't want to over do it.

So I started walking down this path in our neighborhood, and what do you know?  There was this adorable family on the edge of the lake!  The crazy thing is that I DID NOT highlight the snow people.  The sun was shining in such a way that the people were lit up and stood in contrast to all the snow around!  This shot turned out PERFECT!

I love them!

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Day 40...Winter in the Woods (plus BONUS shots)

WINTER IN THE WOODS

I had a lot of work to do today for my "career" job.  But I needed a little break, and right before I knew the sun would be setting and casting great shadows on the snow, I hopped in the car for a quick drive.  I knew if I hit Bunker Hills Regional Park, I'd surely find something intersting to photograph, and indeed, I did.

I wanted to try to get away from solely a sunset shot again, and sometimes it seems like I just wish for things to happen and then they just do.  I'm lucky that way.  So I drove in, and this was one of the first shots of the outing, and I knew it would work.  I am very drawn to logs and trees because of my father.  Since my early adulthood, I have a vision of my dad chopping wood and sawing down trees.  He was a tree trimmer for many of the past years. The loss of his ability to be able to chop and stack wood because of his cancer is one of his greatest disappointments.  So I was immediately drawn to this shot, and it looks exactly how I would have wanted it to, and it's going to forever remind me of my dad.

My car adventure in Bunker turned out to be the best break from work I could have hoped for and I saw some peaceful and relaxing sites.  So for a bonus, I'm posting this shot which I'll call "Dreaming of a Picnic."

The empty picnic tables all over the park were covered in snow, and made me think how much I long for the summer days between these tall trees in the warmth of summer.

And then as I was leaving the park and ready to go home, there was one last photo that was another one of those unexpected moments.  I was taking some shots of the sunset, because, of course, it's one of my all time favorite subjects!  And as I got back into the car to leave, this shot came in the side mirror of the car.  I couldn't resist.  I'll call it, "See You later, Sun."

I just couldn't pick between the three tonight for my favorite, so BONUS!!!

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Day 39...On a Country Road

ON A COUNTRY ROAD

I started off my day in a bad mood about my project.  I went outside.  It was cold, cloudy, wintery gray, and just gloomy.  But I was determined to come up with something creative before the sun went down.  I set out on a short walk through my neighborhood which is surrounded by ponds and treesthinking that I surely could find something in the natural environment that I could photograph in an interesting way.  But honestly, it didn't happen.

So I took a quick photo of my daughter's gorgeous eyes before I headed out for the evening thinking that at the very least, I could post a photo of her pretty eyes (since I did take it OUTSIDE!).  

But then...on the way to the soccer game tonight, I swear it's like the sky was calling out to me.  The sun was starting to go down, and as I got close to the game, I realized that we were just on the fringe of a rural area that had some very country roads and even some small farms sprinkled in.  So after I dropped Tiana off a half hour before her game, I took those 30 minutes to drive around nearby and see what I could come up with...and this was the shot.  

I absolutely love this shot, and I think it's going to rank in the top as one of my favorites.  I wanted to try to stray away from landscape shots of the sun going down, but the shadows of the trees cast by the setting sun on the snow in the foreground was simply too good to pass up.

I hope you love it too.

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Day 38...Portrait of a Horse

PORTRAIT OF A HORSE

Photos of animal is not my strong point.   I don't do it often.  But I find horses to be so beautiful and when I visited Bunker Stables, they were out in the field grazing all together.  This beauty came over to see what I was up to, so I got a great shot of her checking me out.  

The winter didn't seem to bother any of the horses.  I'm frankly over frozen.  

Hopefull I have time this weekend to go out of my comfort zone even more and capture something  beautiful yet out of the ordinary.

Day 37...Sleepy City

SLEEPY CITY

Driving home from work...LATE.  I've seen this skyline so many times driving down the road, but never figured how I was going to shoot it, and I'm always in a hurry to get home.  But today, I just decided to go for it and stop even though I was late getting home.  

It's not REALLY the shot I wanted.  Right before I got to this location, the sun was setting behind the city and it was all aglow.  But by the time I got positioned, the sun had gone down pretty far and there was only a slight pink tint to the sky.  I still like the colorig of the sky, but I've come to the conclusion that if you're not really in the right spot, the Twin Cities do not have the most appealling skylines.  They're my cities, so I love them anyway, but it's not quite like the bigger cities of Chicago, Atlanta, New York, you know?

I guess today, I felt like this is another one of those "settled for it" shots.  But sometimes, I just don't have time, and I've come up with some pretty good stuff at the last minute, so I never give up trying.  

This morning, there was a sun halo right when I got to work.  I didn't have the right lens with me for my camera to capture the whole thing, but that would have been great!

Hopefull I'll come up with something really good this weekend.  My goal is to do at least one or two shots in the next week involving PEOPLE.

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Day 36...Frosty

FROSTY

I am not a macro photographer.  When I came in to work today, the windows were painted with the work of 'ol Jack Frost.  It was so beautiful and fascinating.  I did what I could to catpure the intricacy and beauty of it without having a macro lens. 

There were straight lines, curly lines, a mixture of lines and textures.  I haven't seen this kind of frost in a long while.  It really reminded me of my childhood for a reason I can't explain. 

There is something similar about this image as yesterday's, though the images are SOOOO very different, and that is that I did very little editing to the image.  It looks black and white but is not.  

I can tell you that I'm so tired of winter that I could scream, but there are these little miracles of nature that sometimes make you stop and say WOW!

Day 35...Up and at 'em

UP AND AT 'EM

I'm known to be a sunset chaser, a sunset lover, to a fault really.  But anyone who know me knows I'm not much of a morning person.  Every now and again, I rise before the sun or near the rising.  And I see the gorgeous colors of the morning and wish I could have coffee before I awake so I can pop out of bed and be ready for that every day!  Still, at this age, I'm not a morning person.

But this was one of those mornings I happened to be on the road as the sun was making her appearance known to me.  If you commute from Blaine/Circle Pines, you might have seen me.  I'm the one that randomly pulls off the side of the road and jumps out of my vehicle, camera in hand.  Sometimes I just roll the window down.  I did both of those this morning.

This shot was taken over the golf course, Tournament Players (I clearly don't follow golf), I belive it's called, in Blaine.  NO FILTER, no editing other than slight cropping.  The creamy sky is the thing that really gets me!  In my retirment, I surely shall have to live on an island or a penninsula so I can get the sunrise AND the sunset!

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