Coffee Shop Down

Dunn Brothers in Champlin is closed. Sad to see this happen, but sadly, a sign of the times.

http://northmetro.blogspot.com/2007/08/81707-espresso-shop.html

No, you are right, this is not a spectacular image; just a bit of news from the north metro.

Spotted Leaf

Autum in July? Not hardly. Then why has this leaf changed colors?

Tv (Shutter Speed) 0.6

Av (Aperture Value) 3.5

ISO Speed 100

Resonant Strings

The inner beauty of the Piano.

KPB's beautiful piano. Our close friends were gracious enough to allow me to photograph their piano in a different light. We mainly see a piano from the outside with it's high gloss black finish. Rarely do we get the chance to see it's inner beauty. Until now.

"Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake."

A little Chopin, please.

Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/13

Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6

ISO Speed 100

Focal Length 41.0 mm

White Balance Mode Tungsten

Or, perhaps some Mozart, or some piano jazz.
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 0.4

Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6

ISO Speed 100

Focal Length 85.0 mm

White Balance Mode Tungsten

Daisy May

Happiness is a summertime field of daisies
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

Two Things Challenge is Corner / Stone

Corner inside Grandma's Saloon in Duluth, MN. I liked the colors cast on these corner bricks. Thus the 'corner' part for this week's challenge.

Blue Stone at Lake Vermilion. I amintrigued by the color of this rock being so blue. I chose this for the "Stone" part of this week's challenge.

Wood End

Flashback to the old wheelbarrow

Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/30

Av (Aperture Value) 2.8

ISO Speed 100

July Snowball

The Dandelion.

A happy cheerful little yellow flower looked upon as a weed. But a pretty scene when gone to seed.

Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/800

Av (Aperture Value) 2.8

ISO Speed 80

Smallville

It's a small world afterall...
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

Dolce

Clafouti di Pesche - 'Peach Clafouti'.

The other evening, I decided that the photo on page 56 of La Cucina Italiana looked too delicious to pass up without at least trying this recipe. The recipe didn't let us down; other than a small mishap, the peach clafouti turned out well. I only wish we could bottle the peach and vanilla aroma in our home.

Everything went smoothly according to the recipe until I was to pour the batter onto the dish of peach parts. I'm used to the old twist and lift blenders. Unfortunately, Mrs. DL has a newfangled lift blender. I twisted and turned before lifting the glass carafe off the electric base; before I knew what was happening, the batter was pouring out the bottom of the carafe onto the electric base and counter. Of course the pie dish and peaches were across the kitchen on the other counter.

Long story short, I was able to pour the remaining batter onto the peache parts in the pie plate and put it into the over for 40 minutes. That 40 minute time was spent cleaning 1/3 of the batter off the blender electric base, counter tops, cabinets, and floor. Need I say the batter consisted of 6 tablespoons sugar, three eggs, two tablespoons of peach liqueur, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 cup flour, and one cup whole milk. Yep, a sticky mess.

Historic Flight

Looking up from the tail section of this B17. What an honor it was to listen to old veterans tell their stories of flying in these planes.
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 41 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV


Taxiing for take off. For a mere $400, you too can take an hour long ride in this vintage airplane. I sure wish I had the spare cash for a flight. But sadly, I remain grounded.
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 76 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

Junior Firefighter

This little girl traded in her flip flops for a pair of fireman's boots.

Two Things Challenge is People / Watch

We went to the Blaine Airport in the north metro to see the vintage airshow. Vintage aircraft from World War II; the P51 Mustang, B25, B24 Liberator, and the B17-G. Impressive airplanes that still fly to airshows around the country. What a joy and honor it was to climb inside both the B24 and B17. Impressive to see what it was like inside, but on the ground. The B17 has a maximum speed of 300mph with a range of 1,850 miles flying at an average height of 25,000 feet. At that altitude, the air temperature was -55 degrees F. And they had the mid section windows open to man the 50 caliber guns. Electric suits 'helped to keep them warm.

Pictured here are people for our 2 Things Challenge People / Watch. We enjoyed watching the retired Service Men tell stories about their experiences flying during the war and listening to them answer questions. Shown here, seated, is Junior Gossel, co-pilot for a B17 Flying Fortress flying 20 missions over Europe.

People watch. Watching people stand in line to climb inside this B17.

Miss Gulch's Bicycle

""I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/9
Focal Length: 26 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV

New State Park

Minnesota may get a new State Park on Lake Vermilion. Location near Cable Bay.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/lake_vermilion/imagemap.html

Minnesota has 72 State parks for your outdoor recreational needs. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 22.5 mm
ISO Speed: 80

Bike Shop

Bicycle fun starts here. Our local bike shop in Champlin.

http://www.trailheadcyclingandfitness.com/

Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/100

Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0

ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 30.0 mm

White Balance Mode Cloudy

Steam Tractor

1916 Avery Steam Tractor.

Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/40

Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0

ISO Speed 100

Focal Length 17.0 mm

White Balance Mode Daylight

Colors of Rust

Rusting Iron ring in concrete.

Old gas burner and grate from an old Renown gas and wood stove

Walleye Report

The Lido Deck, trolling the calm waters of Lake Vermilion. protected from the wind behind an island.

Relatively calm before we head out onto the lake before the wind really began to blow.

Lake Vermilion, midday sun, and mayflys, who'd have thunk walleyes could be caught at 2 in the afternoon?

But catch them we did. No, nothing huge by Mille Lacs standards, but the fishing was consistent. The first walleye caught was a little 11 inch 'wally', cute. Then I caught a 16 inch walleye, then another 16, then a 16.5 and two more 16.5's caught by both Mrs. D Lens and I.

We got into the slot fish with a nice 17 inch fish caught. Slot limit for Lake Vermilion is 17 to 26 inches in length, all walleyes must be released back into the lake. Mrs. D Lens reeled in a fat 17.5 inch walleye, the largest of the day. I lost count, that's when we went in out of the sun, I had burnt the tops of my feet in the midday sun.

All this fishing success was during a major mayfly hatch, trolling on the bottom, 20 feet down. We trolled with the wind, into the wind, across the wind. The best maneuver was to troll into the wind at level 8 on the electric trolling motor.

We fought the waves with the bow of the boat scaling up waves, breaching the crest. The waves were quite large, large enough to produce whitecaps. As we topped each wave crest the trolling motor prop came out of the water sending spray in a whirligig manner. Down we crashed into the trough of waves, sending spray out from both sides of the boat. Water surged over the bow and onto the Lido deck where I skipper from. Mrs. D Lens fishes in back on the spacious Promenade Deck and reported to be high and dry, but bounced around enjoying the ride.

Up and down we pounded these waves, each time we hit a wave, the boat jolted and shuddered; just like the Cornelia Marie on the Deadliest Catch cable television series. Crashing into waves, frantically reeling in fish, equipment , bait cast reel over run with fish on, tangled lines. But this action in the wind and waves produced the walleyes we sought.

OK, so it wasn't quite like the Cornelia Marie on the Bering Sea nor an episode of Deadliest Catch. But we were in Big Bay and Lake Vermilion is loaded with rusty crayfish. I did get my feet wet, and my Lipton Green Tea spilled over from crashing into the waves.

The Rob Report

Reporting from the safety wihin my fabric box. Cubicle 2 Row 1

Two Things Challenge - Litter / Bug

Litter, disgusting litter in and around the pond next to Champlin's pedestrian bridge.

Lake Vermilion Mayfly

The hatch is on! The best time to be on the lake is just before and during the major hatch of the mayfly, or Ephemeroptera. The walleyes become ravenous during the hatch, feeding exclusively on this winged delicacy in larval state. The right tactic and location is key to catching walleyes during the hatch. Last weekend was no exception, with too many large walleyes caught in the slot limit of 17 to 26 inches of length. These walleyes must be returned back to the lake immediately. We caught walleyes mid day, in bright sunny on the bottom, 20 feet down. Within two weeks after the hatch, the walleyes are stuffed, unwilling to be caught for the next few weeks after the mayfly hatch. Know your bugs when walleye fishing. ;-) These bugs litter the lake, shore, buildings, roads, etc.

Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 6 mm
ISO Speed: 100

To learn more about this challenge, please visit, 2 Things Weekly Challenge

Bucketmouth

Big shovel to to remove blacktop.

Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/60 - Autoexposure Bracketing 0

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/250 - Autoexposure Bracketing -2

Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/15 - Autoexposure Bracketing +2

Av( Aperture Value ) 11.0

ISO Speed 100

Focal Length 17.0 mm