Guthrie Theater

The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN. Architect - Jean Nouvel. The image above is under the 178' cantilevered bridge that almost extents to the edge of the Mississippi River. If you are ever in the area it is well worth a visit even if you do not have time for a show.

Back to School

It has been a busy week or so, I returned from my trip to the North Shore (a few more images to come) and boom Summer is over! Last Friday we made our trip to the local Converse store to outfit my daughter and son with their new chucks for school this week. Hannah went with the classic black low-top and Luke went with the brown high-tops. Above is an image featuring Luke's high-tops from the spring and summer; shot downstairs, in what is referred to in the household as the spider hole ie: makeshift basement studio.

Abstract

Day 2 - morning shoot. At the cruel hour of 4:15am, the phone alarm rings and we roll out of bed. 15 minutes later, the group of photographers trudge out the front door towards our destination in Silver Bay. After a couple hours of shooting we all are ready for a coffee or two. We make our way to the local diner, the Northwoods Cafe. As you have already formed an image in your mind, the cafe is exactly what you think. <insert mental picture here> After our all American breakfast we are all recharged for the rest of the morning.

The above image is a photograph of a small grove of paper bark birch this morning shot with the Lensbaby Composer with a second shutter speed and in hand camera movement.

Minnesota

The workshop (as mentioned in an earlier post) started this morning at the Grand Superior Lodge, near Two Harbors at 8:00am. I slipped out before we got started to catch the sunrise, and it was tremendous. The weather patterns can be tricky around Lake Superior but I was lucky to have some clouds and great color this morning. We'll be shooting in the area for the next 3 days, and have a great bunch of photographers.

I again used the HDR software - Photomatix along with Photoshop to edit the image.

Paintbrush Prairie

I discovered a small conservation area in central Missouri called the "Paintbrush Prairie." There was a great concentration of wildflowers for such a small area in MO. - as the state is not know for it abundance of wildflowers) I had scouted this area earlier in the month on another visit and pre-visualized some images. I will post more images of the area in the future. I geared up for the trip with a fresh can of bug repellent, due to the fact of the deer population in MO. and the infestation of ticks associated with them. I am happy to report no bugs on this trip; not sure if it was due to the repellent or just luck.

I experimented with some HDR imaging software (Photomatix - HDRsoft) for the first time and was happy with the results, considering the image was shot in mid afternoon.

North Shore

In about a week, I will be assisting on a workshop for a good friend and great photographer that lives in St. Paul. The workshop will be on North Shore of Lake Superior based near Two Harbors Minnesota. You can check out the link for the workshop here, http://blog.acjohnsonphoto.com/workshops-2009/digital-landscape-201. This will be my fourth trip to the Shore, and the image above was taken on my first visit, mid-day, near Silver Bay. The North Shore offers a great deal of diversity and the lake is like an ocean. And seriously, I can count the number of mosquito bites on one hand for all three trips.