Category: best

2

The Glorious Engine

Yesterday I ventured out with my buddy Dusty to explore the yards of the Minnesota Commercial Railroad. We stopped in the office to pick up our permission form and went exploring. You'll see a lot of railroad photos on my site, please keep in mind, I am a professional, do not attempt this at home! All kidding aside, seek permission where you can and be careful. Trains cannot stop. You hear all kinds of analogies about how heavy they are, but here's the numbers for an average train: 3 locomotives at 420,000 lbs each with 75 cars at 260,000 lbs each = 20,760,000 lbs or 10,380 tons. That's heavier than than the WWII Cruiser USS Springfield; a 610ft blue-water warship with 56 guns. And... Navy Warships go much slower than the average train, so that whole force=mass x acceleration thingy means it's going to hurt even more.

7

Clouds over Isles

That little snowstorm we had sucked the colors out of everything, the trees are turning a dull, dark green without popping the fall colors. Everything is starting to look like an old WW2 movie — except the sky. This was shot with a 10.5mm fisheye that I rented. It's got limited applications, but it's much kinder to clouds than to people.

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.

1

Thing: Outstanding in Its Field

Don't you just love the colors of summer? So rich, so saturated, so green. I just want to sink my bare toes into the grass, flop down and watch the clouds. I imagine this thing to be a custom-made device who's sole purpose was to move this ordinary-looking but highly-valuable rock. The creator and his team of laborers struggled across the open prairie, fighting the elements and fleeing the forces of evil, hot on their heals. This was their last stand, like little big-horn, they were outnumbered and lost. The pursuers claimed all their worldly possessions except the rock and the machine. So alas, until this day, the rusting hulk and the cleverly-disguised 1700-pound gold boulder remain ignored by all but the man who must mow around it every Tuesday. Some day, after a long, hard-drinking three-day weekend, he'll clip it with the mower and the truth will be exposed; let's hope he survives his relatives.

2

Fountain Sculpture

This is one of my favorite photos from my day at the Conservatory. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, so not only was the reflected sky blue, but with my f/1.4 lens I was looking at a very fast shutter speed. The layering of light, shadow, reflection and textures was an absolute delight to see through the lens. Today is my little sister's birthday, Happy Birthday Sharon!

6

Statue Feet

A close-up of the Garden Nymph in the center fountain at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul.

3

Infrared Path

This is the path from Minnehaha Falls to Fort Snelling. I love this path, it's a destination bike ride for me. The surface is a little rough, but it's fun to imagine the old trains chugging up this route on their way to Minneapolis. The new light-rail commuter train is just up the hill and you can sometimes hear it in the distance. This is life in the Northern Deciduous Forest of Minnesota, a contiuous canopy of oak, beech, ash, aspen, maple and cottonwood trees surrounded by a wide variety of ground covering plants. As horrific as this place can get in the winter, summer more than makes up for it. I explain how to take infrared photos here.

3

The Proud American Goldfinch

Even on a windy day, some can still hold their ground.