Spring Is On The Way

     A weekend warmup is on the way here in Minnesota. The neighborhood is alive again with people and their dogs out for walks, motorcycles rumbling and kids playing in the park.  Just as we emerge from winter ourselves, nature has been emerging quickly from a winter stasis.

     During the winter cold and being stuck inside I took the opportunity to photograph a beautiful set of tulips in the house I got from Trader Joes. I played around with the lighting to capture the beautiful colors of these tulips  by using my Westcott Apollo collapsible softbox with a remote triggered Canon 580EX II inside to create an illuminated background. This setup allowed the background to become near blown out and the flowers to become somewhat translucent to show details of the flowers.

Tulips with softbox background. Copyright 2017 www.starinphotography.com

Tulips in window light. Copyright 2017 www.starinphotography.com

North Shore 2016

Memorial weekend we made a journey to the Minnesota north shore along with all of our 3 dogs. Needless to say, it made for a full vehicle with camping gear The weather was not great the first day with off and on rain, fog and then cold a night, but that is what rain gear and sleeping bags are for.

During this trip it was finally time to try out the new tent I bought last year, for the first time. This tent was great to allow space for an inflatable mattress and room for 3 dogs. I must also add that this Eureka Copper Canyon tent I got from REI is tall enough for me to be able to stand up. No more hunching over or crawling on my knees to get around in the tent.

First night under the stars in the new Eureka Copper Canyon Tent.After a day with rain with the rain and fog, we were fortunate for a clear evening look at the night sky, and were given a show with all of the shooting star like things passing by. Even one burned so bright like a flash in the sky and caught the eye of Erika's and I. Some of these long exposure night sky photos when looked at closely showcase some streaks of light going straight across the photo. I thought maybe there may been a meteor shower I was not aware of happening.

Our Milkyway

Focused on the North Star

This trip I had a goal to find a moose, to just see one outside of a zoo setting and get to at least say seen a moose in the wild. I thought the best place to do this maybe to set out on the Gunflint Trail road out of Grand Marais. Sure there are lots of trees, wetlands and lakes along the way and even a viewing deck by a pond we hiked to observe moose. It turns out it was not our day and our search continues as no moose were visible. 

The trip wouldn't be complete without a chance for the dogs to go swimming. Sophie and Aspen geared up in their Ruffwear lifejackets to brave the VERY cold Lake Superior water.

Sophie and Aspen enjoying the north shore of Lake Superior

Finally, Snow

It was just recently we received a good amount of snow here in Minnesota just before Christmas, that actually stuck to the ground. It is late in the year for us to finally get any actual snow. The Bernese Mountain Dogs love the snow as always and had their chance to play and lay around in the snow as if it was not even cold.

Sophie

Aspen

With the dogs out enjoying the freshly fallen snow, I also wanted to share a photo of the Christmas tree lot that pops up every year. Just down the hill from where I live is a view of this tree lot displaying lots of beautiful trees this time of year. When the evening comes the lights strung from wooden post to wooden post are electrified and the bulbs glow with this beautiful soft light.

Red Wing, Christmas Tree Lot

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone, may 2016 bring a year full of opportunities and happiness.

Long Exposure Daytime Photos With a 10 Stop ND Filter

    Recently I purchased a 10 stop ND filter, a B+W F-Pro from B&H. I've tried some long exposures of water at dusk in the past without a ND filter that were fun, but difficult in the rapidly diminishing light. I knew I needed a ND filter to play around with this in the day time, to show blur of clouds, trees, water, or even make a busy place look void of people.

    I have some ideas of what I want to photography around here other than a typical waterfall, but most of them are involving the clouds recently. The clouds are proving to be quite dramatic in the afternoon with the recent daily thunderstorms that we have been getting.

    I plan to keep playing with the filter and share some of the work as I go and continue to make improvements. I am finding depending on the speed and the focal length of the lens I want to get a shutter speed at least above 10 seconds. Wider angle lenses i.e.. < 24mm, you will want a longer shutter speed than you would need for a telephoto.

   My only complaint so far with the filter is that it shows some purple color tinting due to the glass, this could be dependent on what angle from the sun I am photographing that causes the filter to do this. So far some adjustments in white balance have helped to correct this. 

    The first photo below I used the ND filter along with my B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer MRC stacked on first to be able to see which way the polarizer needed to be turned.

Long Exposure from the top of Whiskey Hill by Elba, MN (ISO 200, f/13, 15/1 shutter)

Plumber Building- Mayo Clinic (ISO 500, f/11, 5/1 shutter)

Jason + Raquel: Minneapolis Engagement Session

I met up with the beautiful couple, Jason and Raquel in Minneapolis Saturday to take their engagement photos. Jason and Raquel will be getting married at the beginning of September in Marquette Michigan. 

Enjoying the view of Minneapolis

Jason + Raquel dance above Minneapolis 

Hanging out in front of the Northrup Auditorium

Cleary Lake Regional Park

    Our journey to Lakeville to obtain Erika's license plates for her car from the dealership lead us to take Aspen to a dog park we never been to before. In Prior Lake Minnesota there is a beautiful dog park part of the Three Rivers Park District named Cleary Lake Regional Park, 28 acres of fenced off leash dog utopia. If you plan to go the park it does cost $5 if you do not have a $35 annual pass. The dog park is in a prairie setting with a few young trees and many mowed trails to walk along. It features a bathroom, potable water and a small swimming pond that is thankfully gated off. I say this because there are times when going to a dog park with water when you want to keep your dog out for reasons of algal blooms or you just don't want to handle a wet dog. 

   Aspen is no stranger to water, just not water deep enough where he actually had to swim. A tall Bernese  Mountain Dog is entertaining to watch to say the least. While labs with their webbed feet gracefully doggy paddle under the water, Aspen paddles like an old steamboat paddle slapping the water surface. I assume he is trying to stand on his hind legs and keep his head above the water surface. When he does reach a shallow enough area he tries jumping through the water to get out. Thankfully he is not afraid to swim and enjoyed going in and out of the water.

  Eventually we plan to visit more dog parks on our ventures and with the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of the greater Twin Cities, Play Pals events.

Aspen paddle boats through the water. 

Aspen paddles through the water.

Aspen thrashes through the water.

Dogs run around the pond area.

Aspen chases other dogs around the pond at Cleary Lake Regional Park.

Congratulations Erika

   Congratulations to Erika and her classmates on completing their bachelors of social work program at Winona State University. These ladies have put so much time and effort to earn their bachelors degree, I know they have a bright future ahead of them.

    I am very proud of Erika for pursuing her bachelors degree and doing so well in school.

The Road Home

    I am continuing my goal to take many more photographs this year and I feel I am going back to my interest in photographing the surrounding agricultural activity. Everyday I drive 45 minutes to work along a winding two lane asphalt road. Some days it takes me longer to get there due to combines in the fall or tractors with discs or planters in the spring.  During that commute I am guaranteed to always see some interesting wildlife such as a Bald Eagle in a field, or some gorgeous light early in the morning or late evening. 

   One project I have been interested in doing has been to document a farmer and their work. I would love to find a farmer willing to let me follow them around and stop by every so often to doucment their way of life that supports so many people in the world. 

    The landscape of old barns and silos are dwindling away and being replaced my tilled land or new steel sided buildings. Over time these iconic symbols will vanish due to deterioration and replacement. For now I will make sure to stop and get out to shoot some interesting images of what I see. 

Winona County farmer tills his land with disc in the March afternoon.

Cattle gather on a green hill top with calves to graze.

Burr Oak tree emerges with leaves

New Year

The big Twenty Twelve (2012) is finally in full swing and I am now halfway though January already. I know this will live up to be an eventful and great year. My fiance will finally graduate with her B.A. this
spring and hopefully start graduate school. I also have a lot planned in terms of focusing on my photography work. This year I have several friends getting married with plans to be their photographer, as well as more portraits to photograph.

While I have more opportunities for photographing more clients I have also been dedicated to growing my technical and proficiency in photography by studying more and reading.
So far this month Erika and I have been to another Land O'Lakes Dog Show in St. Paul, MN. Unfortunately the Bernese Mountain Dogs did not win best in show as we would like them to. Several of our friends in the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of the Twin Cities did win best of breed and placed very well over the  multiple day show.

We also were recently at the Red Bull Crashed Ice Competition in St. Paul , MN. Luckily it did snow this day, which I am sure helped the landscape of St. Paul look much more like winter, with our very long dry spell. Erika and I did not stick around too long since we could not see much of the race. We thought we will enjoy it even more when it will be on TV January 21st. I just wish there were better vantage points to view event or screens.It was really cool to watch from what we could see and nice to see Minnesota showcased for a winter event such as this.

It was incredible to see what I would guess would be tens of thousands of people in attendance at the event. The whole down town of St. Paul was lively with a Brad Paisley concert at the Xcel, and Sportsman show at the River Center, there was an over abundance of activity.


Come check out my website and view my more recent work or contact me. Also be sure to follow me this year as I will once again try my best to write more.

Land O'Lakes Kennel Club

It was a dog day at the Saint Paul River Centre when more than 2,500 dogs competed for their American Kennel Club honors. The Land O'Lakes Kennel Club Dog Show took place over 3 days of man's best friend competing. It was the first time Erika and I ever attending a Dog Show. Erika intends on breeding and showing Bernese Mountain Dogs some day, and I had a good chance to check out some sporting breeds for my self, specifically the Chesapeake Bay Retriever.

Junior handler presents her dog

The staging area for the handlers and dogs

A Pomeranian is inspected during the toy dog group best of show