Stained Glass Fan

From a not so local gift shop in St. Cloud, MN

Railing into downtown

All aboard the train into St. Paul!

Passing Lane

Truck passing by at 70 miles per hour, (113 kilometers per hour) on highway 10 heading into St. Cloud, MN. HDR image taken through a dirty windshield.

Wabasha Cage

The stair cage from the Wabasha Street Bridge down to Raspberry Island in the Mississippi River is a photographer's dream. The colors are bright and the angles, lines, and shadows make for interesting images.

Another Brick in the Wall

A section of brick wall at the Mill Ruins along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. This image was shot with an aperture of f1.8 for my f1.8 wide open set.
Monochrome Weekly
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Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1600
Av( Aperture Value ) 1.8
ISO Speed 100
Focal Length 50.0 mm

Two Things Challenge - Yellow / Brick

Yellow Brick
Finally i found a post where I can use this old image. Taken a few years ago on a photo shoot in downtown Minneapolis with fellow Tips from the Top Floor podcast listeners. We wandered through the skyway system from building to building one cold winter day.

The Dragonfly

Have you ever tried to get a shot of one of these over caffeinated dragonflys? It isn't easy. They flit and zip around from one twig to another plant. I finally got one good shot after chasing this bugger around with the enthusiasm of a little school child.

Mississippi Clamming

Mr. MB and I must have taken 50 combined photos of this pretty clam in the riverbed, (under the water surface). The lines and colors caught our eyes in the sunlight. What was odd was the trail behind the clam. I guess I never realized they plow their way along the bottom of the river pushing small stones aside as they travel.

Crumbling Infrastructre 2

Remember my post about the 3rd Avenue bridge on the south side of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis? Here is the same bridge but on the north side of the river.

Mr. Clean

You missed a spot!

Soon to be on ebay

Environmentalism, is it working?
My neighbor Mr. MB and I have taken a number of photo walkabouts along the Mississippi River this summer. We both were discouraged and disappointed to find so much trash in the river and along it's banks.

I am amazed by the vast array of trash we see. So much in fact that you can not walk along the river without seeing trash. I have taken up the task of documenting the trash I find. Sadly, after cleaning up the best we can, more trash appears within days and I could fill two 4 gig memory cards worth of trash photos.

Happy Bear Baby Bottle
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A little scrubbing, a little rinsing, almost good as new. Opening bid for this happy classic will be $25.

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, this appears fresh. Anyone interested in a scoop of ice cream?

Spring Sprung

Sproing
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Black and white rusty crap! This time I decided to kill two labels with one shot. Love the textured rust colors, but I also like black and white. I think this works well for both venues. But as always, you are the judge.
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Monochrome Weekly

Two Things Challenge - Rusty/Shiny

Rusty Wheel

Ah, the color of rust. Rusty Crap, something appealing about the texture and color of rust.

Shiny - Six Sigma
Playground equipment on the beach of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.

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2 Things Photo Challenge

Want to play fetch?

Neighbor Mr. MB and I walked around the Mississippi River at Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park Monday morning. We met a gentleman watching his Rottweiler puppy play in the river. The pup found a nice "stick" to play fetch with. I'm thinking when she grows up, she'll want to play fetch with a telephone pole.

McArches

High Power Lines, you can hear them buzz.

Utility Graffiti

I can appreciate the talent behind taggers when they apply their paints and cover our urban areas with graffiti. But I detest the tagging of our public buildings and infrastructure. This urban tagging is a big problem.

From time to time, our utility companies need to make repairs to underground equipment. To aide their work, they must mark the cities curbing as seen here. As we can see, this is quite ugly, unsightly, and a blemish on our suburban streets. This is poor tagging skills. Utility workers have no business marking our urban curbs.

But this type of tagging is necessary. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? You're correct. We should create new jobs for our urban tagging graffiti artist youth; employ them as Utility curb taggers. Just imagine the colors, designs and art to depict "GAS SRV 28/29" and how much better it would look by a graffiti tagger.

Crumbling Infrastructure 1

3rd Avenue bridge
A sad state of affairs when we allow our infrastructure to look like this.

Wait for Me

I spent considerable time playing cat and mouse to get a good photo of this deer. She was quite camera shy at first, making sure something was in between her and the camera. I all but gave up, turned toward the trail and continued my hike. Much to my surprise, she followed me. When I stopped and turned, she kept on walking toward me and stopped 50 feet (15 meters) from me before she stopped. We stood for a few moments staring at each other before she bound off into the woods.

Arc Angle

A study in light, shadow, arc, and lines
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Monochrome Weekly

Rocket Bike

Our favorite Superhero, Rocketman has now gone "green". He peddles his Rocketbike to thwart impending crimes.

My, What Big Feet You Have

Sshh!! A good idea to let sleeping bears lie.

Snap E Tom

This big snapping turtle was walking along side of the paved bicycle trail.
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(By the way, does anyone remember Snap E Tom Tomato and Chile Cocktail?)

Peony

An attempt at a macro shot. Pretty flowers with huge blooms, but they are short lived.

Plenty 'O Seating

On Main Street in Minneapolis.
Table and chair set with the added bonus of sun umbrellas. More than one bargained for. My attempt of capturing a table and chair set; inspired by Virginia.

Fastenall

The return of my personal favorite; rusty crap! I enjoy the color, texture, and tone of rust.
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Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/40
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Partial Metering
ISO Speed 100
Focal Length 85.0 mm
Image Quality RAW

MT Space

the scene under the 3rd Ave. Bridge
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Monochrome Weekly

Commentary

"That's why we have the lockbox"

Independence Day

Fly Fishing on the Mississippi River under the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.
Enjoy your Independence Day Holiday!

Orange Pop

There is plenty of shade along Main Street to sit and enjoy a cold refreshing adult beverage and a good meal.

Fishing Pier

Fishing on the Mississippi River is a favorite activity by many.

Blocks

Do you remember playing with blocks as a child? These blocks are a bit too heavy to move. But colorful and fun to look at. Now here is a clever graffiti painter.