Split Rock Lighthouse

I normally don't mess around with the photo after it has been taken. Meaning, I don't use software to make it look better. I don't know if that makes me a purist, stubborn or maybe even ignorant. Quite possibly, it is all three. Either way, I did take this cliche photo of Split Rock Lighthouse last year on a trip with my gal and decided to start screwing around with the color saturation and contrast and all of that crap. This is the result of my experiment. I am not sure what I think. I may continue to toy around with some photos but will still try to keep things "real" with the old SOC (Straight Out of the Camera.) The photo was taken with an EF 28-135 mm lens set at f/9, exposure - 1/250, ISO - 250 and focal length - 135 mm

Minnehaha Falls II

More from Minnehaha Falls. This bridge is a couple hundred feet from the falls. For this shot, I left the shutter open for 2 secs with f/22 and 100 ISO.

Update:  I have been shopping HDR software for sometime. It can all be very confusing, frustrating and expensive. So imagine my happiness when I was turned onto this $.99 app from iTunes for my iPhone. I can take pictures with it from my iPhone or run photos from my camera through it. The second photo is after some editing in the app. It is called Dynamic Light. Thank you @StPaulPhotos.

Minnehaha Falls

I was running a route in South Minneapolis last week and noticed a couple of old schools that I wanted to shoot. I went back today to see if I could get a couple good shots. I went over the pics while drinking a glass of wine at a local wine bar and sadly, I wasn't all that pleased with anything I took. I was really hoping for some good black and white photos. Who knows, maybe I will like a couple of them after not seeing them for awhile. Anyway, I wasn't planning on going to Minnehaha Falls on my trip but I was too close to leave without a visit. I am very happy I decided to stop. I got a couple of photos that may rank up there with my favorites. I opened the shutter on this one to 1.3 seconds to get the "flowing" feeling with the falls here. F-stop was at f/18 with an ISO at 100. I may go to the falls more often to see if I can find more of these gems.  

Charlie the cat

When I get bored at home, I will take out my camera and attempt to take shots of our unsuspecting cat, Charlie. Sometimes, I don't really know if he is as unsuspecting as I think. Actually, I am pretty sure he suspects I am a moron as he tends to get very irritated when I am pointing my lens just inches from his face. But, for all the times he wakes me up at 4 a.m. with a crash of something, somewhere, I really don't give a s@#t what he thinks.

Floating roses

Not really a whole lot to explain here. I kept on walking past this bowl of water with roses on the way to the restroom at a wedding a few weeks ago. I looked at it every time and finally decided to go back with my camera. Beck's Beer with the assist on this one.

Harriet Island

I went down to the river to get some night pictures of downtown when I noticed this couple. Unfortunately, I was a little slow with these two. Seconds before I shot this, they were locked in a kiss. I would have liked to have gotten that one.

Dad

This picture was taken some time ago. The quality may not be the best, but with this photo, it is all about the content. This is my father. I was on vacation in January 2005 and decided to drive to St. James and spent a little quality time with the Ol' Man. On this particular afternoon we were driving around the area of his boyhood home, Balaton, Mn. He would point out all the farm houses and let me know who lived there and if they were related to him or just friends. It seems he knew every single farm! He would also talk of riding his horse over to this farm or that and how they would play cowboys and indians or head into the woods and hunt anything that moved. He was truly moved back in time over 50 years and at times he seemed as though he was still seeing things as they were in 1950. For this photo, I was standing in the gravel road as he stood looking at the field that used to be the farm on which he grew up. His parents moved from that farm in 1972 and into the big city of Slayton, Mn. I am not sure how long the run down farm stood empty at this spot, but I do have some very old memories of driving by it as a boy and Dad would get a tear in his eye as we slowly passed the lot. It was amazing watching him standing and looking into what I thought was empty farm field and trying to imagine what he was seeing. This was one of my most fond memories with my father and now, as the sight of his farm would once bring a tear to his eye, it brings one to mine. I miss you Pops.

Gauge

This is a picture of a friends dog, Gauge. My gal and I spent the 4th of July with our friends and Gauge in northern Mn in 2010. We spent quite a bit of time throwing just about everything in the water for Gauge to fetch. I can't help but wonder if he was waiting for me to throw my camera in the lake for him to fetch.

Target Field seats

Another photo from the home of my favorite 9, Target Field. This was taken in 2010 at the open house a few weeks before the opener.

Wicker Park

This was taken underneath the Blue line train in Chicago's Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood. My gal and I frequent this neighborhood for its eateries, bars and shopping. The place we never miss while there is Piece Brewery and Pizzeria. Some of the best pie and beer we have had on our travels. Check it out.