Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
A weekend of fuss-worthy weather
I wouldn’t blame the casual reader of this blog for concluding that Minnesotans talk about nothing but the weather. But when you consider that our temperature range here is a whopping 174 degrees (and that it once dropped 71 degrees in a single day), perhaps you can understand all the fuss. And boy, was last […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography | 78 Comments
Tags: bonsai, Como Conservatory, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, fall color, first snow, Minnesota weather, Quaking Bog
Fall color in the North Country
When we last left Minnesota’s North Shore, it was snowing. On October 5! I guess that’s what you get when you drive almost to the Canadian border. The blue star marks the Twin Cities, and the red star is where we ended up. But remember what I said about the changeable weather along Lake Superior? […]
Filed under: Friends and family, Minnesota, Photography, Travel | 92 Comments
Tags: Beaver Creek Falls, Finland, Illgen Falls, Lake Superior, Minnesota fall color, Minnesota Highway 61, Minnesota North Shore, North Shore fall colors, Oberg Mountain, Sugarloaf Cove, Tettegouche State Park
The season’s first snow
My friend Uta has invited me countless times to the cabin she and her husband bought three years ago in northern Minnesota, near Lake Superior. Her persistence finally paid off last weekend when we sandwiched a visit between winter storms and work obligations. Yes, you read that right: winter storms. The North Shore is famous […]
Filed under: Friends and family, Minnesota, Photography | 74 Comments
Tags: Baptism River, fall color, Minnesota fall, Minnesota North Shore, Minnesota winter, Uta
Where my summer went (3)
It now looks and feels like autumn in Minnesota, with highs only in the mid-40s (4.5 Centigrade). But before we embrace the fall colors, here’s one last look at the summer of 2018. AUGUST Thanks to haze from the blazes in California, the sunrises take on an eerie red glow. So do the roads, which […]
Filed under: Attempted humor, Minnesota, Photography | 56 Comments
Tags: acorns, Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Minnesota State Fair, Minnesota summer
Where my summer went (2)
It’s officially fall in Minnesota — as I will show you soon. But first, here are a few more memories from my unintentional summer vacation. JUNE June brings us the summer solstice — which in Minnesota means days that stretch from before 5 a.m. to well after 9 p.m. Although my photos don’t do it […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography | 68 Comments
Tags: Bell Museum, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Frances Lee Jaques, Frontenac, Minnesota ladyslipper, Minnesota orchids, Minnesota summer, Pam, Raptor Center
Sun showers and forest baths
I was planning a return to Como Lake last weekend to see how our young eagle was coming along. But then I got distracted by the sunrise. As I passed the Gibbs Farm Museum I couldn’t help wondering how many spectacular sunrises Jane DeBow Gibbs had watched from this same spot some 170 years ago. […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography, Psychology | 132 Comments
Tags: forest bath, Gibbs Farm, Minnesota, owlet, owls, red-wing blackbird
Take a walk on the wild side
I had a wild weekend. Not in the “Dad, can you please post my bail?” kind — more in the John Muir sense: Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet … On Friday evening I strolled […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography | 119 Comments
Tags: Como Lake, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, Minnesota spring, Minnesota wildlife, St Paul spring
Spring must be close
It’s been only two weeks since the record-setting late-season hyphenated-expletive snowstorm, but it already feels like a lifetime ago. Our plow guy’s son pretty much summed it up. Last weekend brought temperatures in the 60s (15.5 Celsius) and a thaw so rapid you could literally hear the ground sucking in the snowmelt. I was giddy […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography | 52 Comments
Tags: Flower photography, macro photography, Minnesota spring, Minnesota winter
“What makes Paris so special?” I get this question a lot. There’s food, art, centuries of history … and I love the Parisians’ flair for sophisticated simplicity. But what draws me back again and again is that there’s always something new to discover — if you have an attentive eye. To me, Paris is a […]
Filed under: Paris, Photography, Travel | 74 Comments
Tags: Compostela, heurtoir de porte ancien, heurtoirs de Paris, Paris door knockers, Paris photography, St. Jacques de Compostelle
Notes from a week in Paris
Esteban and I have done so much and seen so many friends over the past week that we’ve started comparing notes to make sure we’re keeping our days straight. There are so many stories to tell — beginning perhaps with today’s superb lunch in Paris’ oldest house. But if I stop now to look for […]
Filed under: Friends and family, Paris, Photography, Travel | 76 Comments
Tags: Paris, Paris France, Paris photography, Paris vacation
Paris snow: a dream come true
I’ve always wanted to see Paris under a blanket of snow, but have always missed it — sometimes by a matter of hours. So imagine my delight when the blue skies that greeted me and Esteban a few days ago turned a heavy lead gray. At first the flakes were big and deceptively fluffy (because […]
Filed under: Paris, Photography, Travel | 93 Comments
Tags: Galeries Lafayette, Inondation, Paris neige, Paris Schnee, Paris snow, printemps, Seine
Random travel-photo round-up
I realized today I’ve been posting lots of rambling narratives about Minnesota, so here’s a change of pace: Just photos, selected at random from my travels over the past five years. Stay tuned for more news from the road, coming soon …
Filed under: Photography, Travel | 83 Comments
Snapshots from the Big Thaw
The past week has brought a palpable shift toward spring to Minnesota. Yes, it’s still snowing. But instead of plunging below zero after each snowstorm — as is typical between late December and February — now we’re inching above freezing during the day. This has enticed me to spend a lot more time outside. Last […]
Filed under: Minnesota, Photography | 98 Comments
Tags: Minnesota winter, snow
My watchword for 2018
Rather than make grand resolutions for 2017, instead I chose a single small word to guide me through the new year: focus. I’d been trying to do too much, I decided. I would be happier and more fulfilled if I did less, and with greater attention. Then a bunch of unexpected things happened — my […]
Filed under: Photography, Psychology | 80 Comments
Tags: happy new year, heart attack, move, supermoon, turkeys
Running away to Arles
I’ve always believed it’s my duty as a citizen to be engaged and informed. But lately I find myself reacting to the news in ways I never used to. It’s a reflexive and visceral response — even when events don’t directly affect me. My instinct is to discuss these events, because they’re important. But then […]
Filed under: Photography, Travel | 93 Comments
Tags: Alyscamps, Arles, Arles Amphitheater, Arles photos, Arles travel, Cryptporiques, Roman cemetery, Roman ruins
An Arles appetizer
As an amateur photographer I have lots of bad habits, but by far the worst is not looking at my photos after I take them. Over time, the weight of all those photos becomes oppressive, as it can take hours to sort through my mostly crappy snapshots to pick out a handful of favorites. Eventually […]
Filed under: Photography, Psychology, Travel | 114 Comments
Tags: Arles, creative process, creativity, Photography, Travel
Saturday shopping in Arles
The sky at home is (yet again) drippy and dark, so I’m turning to my archives for some sunshine. Esteban and I spent a few days in Arles last year. Because we’re both history buffs, we were keen to see the Roman ruins and the well-preserved medieval city. But mostly we came for the Provençal […]
Filed under: Photography, Travel | 67 Comments
Tags: Arles, French market, Provence
Paris connections, revealed
From its doorknobs to its house numbers, Paris is rich in architectural details. But it was the city’s iconic pavers that led me on my most recent historical adventure. In some streets the pavers are still arranged in beautiful fan-like patterns. The rue de l’Abreuvoir offers a nice view of the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre, […]
Filed under: History, Paris, Photography, Travel | 90 Comments
Tags: Conciergerie, Dr. Guillotin, French Revolution, Marie Antoinette, Paris, Paris pavers, Paris photography, Paris riots, Pavé de Paris
Paris connections, part 5
The Cour du Commerce Saint-André in Paris’ sixth arrondissement is little more than a cobbled alley. Open only to pedestrians, it connects the tony and traffic-choked Boulevard Saint-Germain with the bustling little rue de Buci. But when you step onto its uneven paving stones, you’re stepping onto a spot where centuries of history converge. (Full […]
Filed under: History, Paris, Photography | 23 Comments
Tags: Boulevard Saint-Germain, Cour du Commerce Saint-André, Paris, rue de Buci
Paris connections, part 4
This is my fourth post in series about the unexpected historical connections that abound in Paris. See the past three days’ posts for other clues — or tune in on Sunday for the full story. The Place de la Concorde is not only Paris’ largest public square, but arguably its most historic. Its name changes […]
Filed under: Paris, Photography, Travel | 51 Comments
Tags: Paris, Paris France, Place de la Concorde
