Archive for October 2009

3

First Snowfall of the Season

October 12th — that's pretty early for the first snow fall, must be that global warming thing I keep hearing about. Actually up here on the Northern edge of the Great Western Prairie, snow can hit at weird times, the natives still rumble about the snow on Halloween 1992, when it snowed 21 inches. This little 3-inch snowfall was fun, it was gone by the afternoon, but was awesomely good snowball snow. Good thing nobody I knew crossed my path while I was out walking, they would have gotten hit. Biff!

7

The Smoking Zombie and Her Evil Friend

Dead, but still texting... Stay tuned, Zombies all this week, Saturday was the Zombie Pub Crawl.

7

Smoking Zombie

The third Minneapolis Zombie Pub Crawl was Saturday. Somehow dressing as the undead and going pubbing necessitates smoking. Seriously, how often do you get to say Smoking Zombie.

5

Nighttime Stone Arch Bridge

Several photographers gather on a quiet night under the Stone Arch Bridge. Except for the one up in the woods...

2

Well-lit Dangerous Path

Attention! danger is revealed by illumination. Darkness clarifies the light. A different perspective reveals shadows and form. 18 points imply 9 blades.

1

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter

here's the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter from yesterday's photo.

1

Bombers Have Tall Tails

Looking up at the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter's tail, at the Minnesota Air National Guard Air Museum. Just like all of us, this plane has an interesting past; it carried supplies during the Berlin and Cuban Crises and supported the U2 aircraft in Taiwan during Vietnam. After military retirement, it was converted into a hamburger restaurant in McMinnville, Oregon. After that, it was in two other locations before ending up here in Minneapolis. Just think, no matter how many glorious and stupid jobs you've had, you probably were never emptied out and converted into a diner.

3

P51 Mustang Fighter

Love those big blades. Big engine, big propeller. I really miss the beautiful blue sky we had last Saturday, it's overcast and gloomy today here in the big city.

1

Cobra Helicopter at Fort Snelling Air Base

Guarding the gates of the National Guard base are two helicopters; it seems that Generals like to put dead aircraft on sticks just outside the gates, reminds me of the Tower of London. Like a T-rex skeleton at the museum, this former hunter is stuck in a permanent scowl, chin guns at the ready, but never to fire. I took this shot lying on my back with a wide-angle 11mm lens; I managed to get the entire beast in the frame. If you look closely, you'll notice the gun is casting a shadow on the bottom of the cockpit. Part of the oddness of this shot is that I used an off-camera flash that I placed down range about 15 feet away from me and pointed up to fill in the bottom of the Cobra and brighten up the guns. Nice line eh? — "brighten up the guns."