Nothing but reflected and scattered light.

The CDPB Theme for August is ‘Bright colors’. I chose this photo since it’s not and obvious brightly-colored object, but an effect I enjoy. When the sky is overcast, colors are relatively more vivid, something I learned from my painting instructor Joe Paquet. I shot this on the Lake of the Isles shoreline at 5:45 in the morning in the cool overcast morning. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants in the theme day.

It’s green week at Mitchster.com. Now that summer is really, really here I thought I’d share some of what makes winter tolerable here.

This was taken on the nature trail north of Lake Harriet.

The Grimm of Uptown, perched on the Hennepin sign at Lagoon.

Today’s koan: A dog named Tracker has lost his name tag.

This is my favorite photo is a long time.

Somehow these grizzly post-winter scenes seem to need modern abstract art titles.

I find the monochromatic nature of winter in Minnesota fascinating. Not only is all the color sucked from the landscape and covered with white, the low winter sun casts amazing shadows. Quite frequently the sky here is very clear, in fact, most of us dread a bright day, it means that it’s “too cold for clouds.” The photographic impact of that is that with no clouds at all in the sky, the light from the sun is like that of a single bare light bulb,  no fuzzy-edged shadows, just nice, sharp silhouettes.

P.S. These are located in Uptown on Lake Street, do you know what popular hangout they are next to?

The Minneapolis City of Lakes Loppet Cross Country Ski Race comes right through my neighborhood of Uptown. On Saturday night, they light up ice sculptures all around Lake of the Isles. They have already begun construction of the ice sculptures. These pillars are part of the space created in the Northwest Bay.

Some days are just harder to start than others. A little harsh light can only make things more painfully clear.

The iconic Grain Belt Beer sign sits just across the Mississippi from downtown Minneapolis next to the Hennepin Ave Bridge. The sign used to be lit up at night, I wish they still kept it lit, that would be so much fun to shoot at night.