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 48...Down on the Farm

DOWN ON THE FARM

The snow falling is always a reason for a photographer to grab the gear and go.  Since I'm a government employee and am lucky enough to have President's Day off, it resulted in a double prize for me with the day off AND snow fall.

So I headed up to the farm with the intention of capturing a typical wintery Minnesota morning.  I love it when I have a shot in mind, and I come home with something totally different.  Today's blog gets bonus shots again because I was just pleased with the country sights.

I'm not much of a farm girl or country girl at heart.  Anyone who knows me well knows I'd rather spend a day in the city.  But the country and farm can be a place of peace.  And on this snowy morning, that sure proved to be the case.  

I loved how the colors of the hay and the wagon popped out at me among the white snow and dull gray trees.

An abandoned old-fashioned car also added some color to the landscape.

But I also couldn't resist the contrast between the yellow hay rolls and the soft silohettes of the tree line in the distance.

And for good measure, I just had to have the typical Minnesota Country scene.  When I think Minnesota, this is exactly what comes to mind.

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 34...A Winter Day in the Country

A WINTER DAY IN THE COUNTRY

This shot was taken yesterday, just before dusk.  I was going to try to stay true to posting only images I took on THE day, however, the past two days images were not taken the exact day.  Yesterday, I set out on an adventure in the country, but when I got home, I felt strongly about the portrait of my dad and decided to post that one instead.  That one was taken the day before, but it kept coming back to mind, so I bumped this image yesterday and posted Dad.  

So I actually did take some shots of the river today but figured I've already got enough St. Paul landscapes for the time being.  This shot seems a little minimalist.  But this is what Minnesota Winter is just like sometimes.  I think sometimes a black and white image of the country winter is a good classic shot.  However, I really like how the birch trees stand out against the gold tree tops in this shot, and I just couldn't settle on black and white.  And frankly, this scene gives me a more peaceful and settled feeling than something shot in the city.

I really need to find something new to shoot besides winter landscapes though regardless of whether it's a city or the country.  This winter is getting to me!

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Day 32...Sunset Over the Lake

SUNSET OVER THE LAKE

I've said it before, and many know this about me, I'd chase the sun and watch it set every day if I could.  Tonight I had already taken my photo of the day, but as I set off for an outing for the evening, the sun caught my attention on the way to my destination.  I chased her down.

I do this kind of thing often.  I drive and drive until I find a safe spot to stop and get out of my car or stick my camera out the window.  I'm sure lots of photographers do this!  And tonight was frustrating because the sunset was completely phenomenal, and I just could manage to position myself in a place to capture its complete magnificence.  

I do think this photo ended up pretty good though.  The lake was frozen and blanketed with a fluffy white and it was just an typical Minnesota winter sunset and pretty as ever.

I know some people could care less about a sunset, and some people think they just get old after a while.  For me, I just can't seem to get enough of them.

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Day 30....Just Winter

JUST WINTER

More snow.  More cold.  More winter.  And it's not February yet.  This winter is tough.  Snow is pretty.  It's smooth and fluffy and sparkly.  But I'm honestly sick of it.   I think I might be able to find more visually appealing photos and appreciate the beauty of winter if I had a little more time to spend focusing my attention to the detail of my shots.

Today, I just feel like this isn't great work.  I went out after dark and took some shots of the city, the cathedral, the capital.  They were nice.  But it was so cold and windy that I couldn't spend enough time to refine the shots the way I wanted either.  So this is what I ended up with today.
I feel disappointed, and just sick of winter.

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Day 27...Classy St. Paul

CLASSY ST. PAUL

This project for me is entirely meant to be a challenge.  In the weather we're having, it indeed has been an "extreme" challenge for me to continue to come up with interesting things to photograph, and not only photograph them, but have them come out appealing to the viewer(s).

I catch the bus right in front of Rice Park.  This week the park is filled with Winter Carnival activity.  The ice sculptures are sitting there, sparkling away in the sunshine, posed nicely for the cameras that come along.  I too have tried to capture these lovely and amazing sculptures.  But unless you have the right kind of lighting, angle, and no people walking in front of you the moment you press the shutter, they're not all that appealing on "film."

So today's photo is somewhat of a combination of capturing some part of the Winter Carnival ice sculptures while at the same time getting a sort of "street photography" aspect to the shot.  

If you've ever been around the St. Paul Hotel, you definitely have seen their finely appointed Valets at the front door.  They have to perform their jobs depsite the -14 degree (-30 windchill) temperatures.  What I love most about them is that you could take a photo of them now or any time and the photo will seem timeless.  They look like they could literally be from a different era.

So again, I'm stretching my talents away from landscapes, and for some, street photography is a favorite.  It's not my forte, but I have to admit, I like this shot as another addition to my unintended "Sub theme" of St. Paul.

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Day 26...Blizzard Clouds

BLIZZARD CLOUDS

I'm not going to deny, I'm sick of this weather.  I'm tired of snow.  I'm tired of cold.  But tonight, I went out in the wind and tried to capture the weather.  I think you can see that the clouds were definitely stirring up something.

My good friend Valerie who is an internationally-known professional photographer often inspires me with minimalist shots.  That's what I was trying to go for here, but the clouds and the setting sun really made it pretty dramatic.  

I know I said I was going to try to get away from landscapes and architecture a bit, but I have a hard time resisting the beautiful sky when the clouds and sun mix up such a beautiful scene.

With the coming blizzard conditions, maybe tomorrow's photo will just be white.

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Day 23...Longing for Summer

LONGING FOR SUMMER

It's not just the cold.  It's not just the snow and ice.  And it's not the lack of sunlight in Minnesota.  But to miss so many months of our favorite sport is difficult to cope with.  I know there's indoor soccer, but as any player or fan would know, it's not the same.  

I live about a quarter of a mile north of the National Sports Center and the Blaine Soccer Complex, so I drive by the empty, cold, lonely fields every day.  The way the sun is shining through the net and casting shawdows, it's like a beckoning to the field for us to come out and get the game going.  The shining sun and the drifting sparkly snow causes a feeling of peace and serenity out there.  I know it's months away, but my heart is aching for summer, and I can't wait to shoot some action on the fields instead of the empty lonely net.

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Day 20...Portrait of a Skier

PORTRAIT OF A SKIER

I took my daughter and her friend to the ski place today.  If it wasn't for the pesky full-time job, again, I would have had a plethora of opporutnities to photograph all over the ski hills.  I would have strapped on some skiis, packed the camera, and made a day of it.  But I spent most of my day in the "bar" and just stepped outside for a couple quick snaps of what was going on.

Of course, I had my preconceived notion of the "perfect shot" I was going to get of what epitomized skiing here in Minnesota, but I didn't care for my composition of what that idea was.  So today's treat is a portrait of a skier.  This is a modified version of my great friend Val Jardin's street photography, but it's done in and around the ski lifts!  It's what we all look like when we're waiting for the chair lift to take us up the hill on a chilly afternoon.

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Day 16...The Cold Capitol

THE COLD CAPITOL

At the risk of seeming like a tourist, I'm coming dangerously close to being cliche with my photos.  There are just so many visually cool buildings in St. Paul, and since they're outside and I have 365 days to shoot outside and much of my days are spent in St. Paul, this is where I start, I guess.

With that being said, I LOVE the way this shot turned out.  The wind was howling and the snow was blowing around me, but the Capitol stood out so beautifully.  I did very little aside from cropping to edit this image.  Aside from being very cold, it was a beautiful scene, quiet, snowy, somewhat serene.

Maybe when this project is over, I'll have a little coffee table book of all of St. Paul's great sites.

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Day 14...A Snowy Day in the Park

A SNOWY DAY IN THE PARK

Rice Park and Landmark Center, gorgeous really at any time of the year.  I've been there several times during the holidays when it was all lit up and sparkly.  I love that state of existence for the park.  But today, the park was magical in a different way.  It was covered with a fluffly blanket of snow with a bright blue sky surrounding it from above.

With the blue sky, I debated doing this photo in color, however, I think the black and white version definitely emphasizes the snowiness of the moment.  The Landmark Center is just one more of those very photographed architectural icons of St. Paul given that it's such a beautiful building and set across the street from such a wonderful green space in the middle of the city.  I'm sure that the St. Paul Winter Carnival will be invading the park soon, so we'll see if it produces some fascinating images of classic Winter Carnival scenes.  

I know that many of the sites I've shot during this project have been photographed many times over, but I'm thoroughly enjoying adding all these great places to my own portfolio and at the end of the year, I may have to look through all my shots and print some enlargements to hang in my surroundings.  

I can't believe that it's already week two of this project and I've easily come up with great things to photograph every day as well as experimenting with methods I've wanted to try all along anyway.

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Day 8...One of My Favorite Views

ONE OF MY FAVORITE VIEWS

If you Google "St. Paul High Bridge," you will see many, many people have photographed this bridge.  I have photographed it many times myself, from many angles, and in all seasons.  This scene was taken from the Wabasha Street Bridge on the edge of Downtown St. Paul.  It's one of my favorite views of the river in the whole city.  

It was another sunny and gorgeous (yet cold...-5 degrees) when I went out to get this shot, so it is not your typical Minnesota scene with little to no color.  Maybe in the spring, summer, and fall during this project, I'll do a few more shots of this lovely scene showing its seasons and other angles.  One thing I have not done yet is taken St. Paul bridge night scenes.  I guess it's time to invest in a decent tripod since I have 357 more days to fill this project up, and I LOVE night shots!

I may even post twice today, because I'm going to pass some time after work right at the Golden Hour today and I may see something irresistible.  

That's not against the rules, is it?  Oh, I made my own rules for this project...so we'll see!

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Day 3 ... Experimental, maybe not super artistic or appealing

Experimental, maybe not super artistic or appealing.

With my busy schedule and living in a state where there is a limited amount of sunlight during this season, I am quickly realizing that the time I have to complete my daily photo is going to really push my creativity limits.  

I, again, did not have a chance to get around to photographing until the sun went down.  And then I realized it was snowing outside.  I sat here looking at the big beautiful snowflakes falling and feeling a little bummed that it was nighttime.  Then I thought, hey, why not do something a little experimental.

I've taken photos outside during snow, and I've often become annoyed at the interference of the snow in the photo when the flash catches it.  However, tonight, I feel like my experimental shot is actually kind of fun.  

This is a shot from the front porch of my home.  Maybe not super artsy, but I like the porch lights and the snow.  It screams MINNESOTA.

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