Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

Minneapolis Photographer Mitch Rossow presents daily photos of Minneapolis. Cityscapes, People & Perspectives: Mitch explains composition and techniques.

In remembrance of spring.

Caribou Coffee is 15 years old today! I crawled out before dawn and ventured out into the zero-degree weather and made my way over to the very first Caribou at 44th & France Avenue for my morning fix. Carmen (on the left) is a barista at my regular Caribou where I write most of the time. She told me yesterday about the event and I had to check it out. They were giving away free Timberwolves tickets to the first 100 customers. There will be events there all day; the mayor will be there, balloons for the kids, and from 2:00 - 4:00 you can get 15% off all drinks, just mention that it’s their anniversary.

I got there in time to take a picture of the whole gang with the banner before the morning rush. I got my tickets and then…

Coffee + fireplace + bright cheerful coffee shop = winter survival

Ahh, wide angle trees. This is the True North, what I remember about driving to Grandma & Grandpa’s house as a kid — miles and miles of pine trees. It the sun is low enough, the flickering light of the shadows can really make you dizzy.

Composition notes: I was playing with the intersecting edges of the the sky/clouds and trees/sky. I set the top edge of the trees at an angle across the frame and the clouds cross it. These angles create interest and move the eye around. When you are working with large compositions, look at the corners and where edges point. By having intersecting lines and strong lines that move across the frame, you can create a more interesting image.

Question for y’all: I’m thinking of offering desktop backgrounds of some of my photos, any interest? If so, which are your favorite pictures?

No get out there and take some great pictures!

One of Minneapolis’ nicknames is Mill City. Home of Genral Mills and Pillsbury, this is where all the grain from the Upper Mississippi River Valley and points West comes to. Where does all this grain end up? Right here in the elevators. These things are everywhere! Sticking up into the sun like great ships, they catch the light and provide for some interesting shapes. They are simple forms, but also really big.

Yes, I worked this image in post. I added the vignette to focus the eye on the main tower, upped the contrast to get it to look skuffed up and increased the blue of the sky. And a few other things.

I’ve been getting comments about the incredible colors in my photos and I thought I should confess that I’m doing this in post. Reality doesn’t always live up to how I see it.

Sunday morning on the lake. While I was staying at the Northernaire resort in Three Lakes Wisconsin this weekend, I got up early and headed out on the ice. It was two below and I was on my snowshoes crunching my way across the frozen lake. My tripod slung over my shoulder never felt more like a rifle. The fantasy of being a mountain man in the unsettled old West was fun until my hands started to get really cold.

I was up there to take pictures of the resort for the website and other promotional materials. The place was completed this summer and is rather empty right now. If you are looking for a really nice and luxurious place to escape to, they are renting at a discount. It’s a great place and a great real right now, but when summer hits, it will book up fast. I’ll post some pictures of the place itself later.