Archive for April 2008

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Ice Retreating from Lake of the Isles

The Ice is retreating from the the lakes, the dark patches in the water are ice.  What's Cell Phone Sunday all about?

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Fort in the Woods by Cedar Lake

I found a fort in the woods by Cedar Lake. Pretty interesting, it's bigger than my living room! Who ever built it surpasses me for creative use of spare time. Probably the local kids, if so, much better than video games and punking in front of McDonalds. Check out the fire pit and the seating! The forestry crews have been cutting to deadwood in the park, so that's probably where the seats came from. Looks like the roof is ready for some branches. Very cool guys. If you made this or know who did — please leave a comment, I'm impressed!

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Sky Light

I haven't figured out what it is about this image, but I can't stop looking at it. There are so many contrasts and the color balance was very tricky. This photo would have been nearly impossible with film — it took me several shots to get the exposure right. What's with the preponderance of green and blue glass on buildings? Is it to keep them cool?

6

Got Goat?

Everybody needs a goat.  This kid was in the red barn in yesterday's photo. What does it mean when someone's "got your goat"? Horses are nervous creatures, goats are very calm. If you put a goat in the barn with a horse, the horse would calm down. Take the goat, the horse gets agitated. Which is the same reason dalmations are associated with firemen. Fire engines used to be pulled by horses and if you can imagine, a fire is pretty terrifying for a horse, so the dalmation could keep up with the horses and help to calm them down.

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Farm Fresh

Good morning and welcome to the Minnesota Zoo! My name is George, I'll be your sheep today. Nothing's more fun than wide-angle photos of critters. I took this at the Family Farm at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, MN. For a good wide-angle of a critter, you have to get real close — I was shooting at arm's length. This is also a case where an investment in a protective filter pays off. I wouldn't have been so cavalier with my camera if I was afraid of sheep drool on my expensive lens. Do you know where lanolin oil comes from? Yup, that's why sheep are so sticky — check all the hay stuck to the sides of this guy. I really wanted to pet every one of these fuzzy lil' guys, but I knew I'd spend the rest of the day cleaning my camera. Aw heck, a scratch behind the ears with my knuckles will do. Who can say no to that face?

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The Bell Tower

Remember the green building from yesterday? Here it is again with a different perspective.

Flat vs. Space

One of the main objectives of Plein Air painters is to show depth and dimension; to represent the space of the landscape. Much of what is seen as modern art is based on ideas from the early 20th century in which this attempt to portray space was questioned. Piet Mondrian created some extreme examples of this. Most of these debates go away with photography because you don't have to create and the illusion of reality for the viewer, they already believe it. The challenge for a photographer is to create an abstract image in spite of reality.

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Cell Phone Sunday

Cell Phone Sunday is an on-going project. Both to prove that "it's not the camera" and for the creative challenge, these are pictures I take with the simple 480x640 camera in my cell phone. As opposed to the Nikon D200 that I use for all the other pictures, the only button I use on the the cell phone is "capture." That's it, no compensations or zoom or aperture. More point & shoot than point & shoot, is our motto. Of course, I still work on them in Lightroom a little.

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Saturday Zen: Expert

I guess you have to be an expert at something.

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The Bipolar Ice Caps

The snow is back. This time of year the snow comes and goes weekly. It will be gone soon, but it plays havok with your mind. Everyone here is becoming bipolar.

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Snow Labyrinth Revisited

Back on Easter, I posted a photo of a Labyrinth someone had made in the snow. When it snowed again this last week, the labyrinth maker was back. I had my good camera and took some better photos for you. Then, in a fit of over-explanation, I drew a plan for making one. A labyrinth is different from a maze in that you can't get lost; there is only one path. They are found in many ancient places including cathedrals. To walk a labyrinth, you enter the path and think about a problem or question. As you walk it, meditate on the problem. When you reach the center, leave the problem there and come back out. It reminds me of the crooked bridges you find in Japanese gardens — the evil spirits are supposed to get lost and let on the bridge. Anyhow, I enjoyed making a few of them myself, I wish I had discovered this earlier in the winter, so I could have made more. It's a fun thing to do in the snow that's easier and less messy than making a snow man. I'd really enjoy it if others did them too — hey kids, it's better karma than misspelling-out obscenities in the snow! Though it looks simple, it takes a lot of concentration and practice to make one. My drawing is off, now that I look at it, but you get the idea. The photos. The first one is at an angle so that you can see the whole thing. If I backed up, I was too low and the ridges all blended together. All the photos have been clarified and contrasted to make it easier to see the white-on-white.