Red Bull Crashed Ice 2015
It’s back and bigger than ever! The Red Bull Crashed Ice season kickoff in St. Paul. Check out the gallery for a bunch of pics of the action and the venue!
St. Paul lit up for Crashed Ice.
I don’t think I’ve seen this many spotlights in St. Paul or Minneapolis for any event. The MLB All-Star Game in Minneapolis last year was the only thing comparable in recent memory.
The Cathedral of Saint Paul lit for Crashed Ice.
The venue is the Cathedral of Saint Paul. An amazing cathedral both inside and out. JFK once visited the Cathedral and it sits on a hill above St. Paul.
Crashed Ice Starting Gate
The action starts right in front of the stained glass Rose Window into the first step down. I call it a jump myself.
The First Drop
Crashed Ice living up to it’s name!
The action is fast and furious and it only slows down when there’s a crash. Even after a crash like this the skaters are back on their feet and racing again.
The look of determination.
The participants really gave it their all. Fun to watch and this year’s spectacle grew even larger. The event in mild for January temperatures drew an estimated 140,000 people into an area smaller than most professional team stadiums.
Can’t wait for 2016! Check out more from 2015 in the gallery.
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Happy New Year 2015
Welcome to 2015 and here’s a few photos I took around St. Paul the past few days. I’ve been under the weather (basically like everyone else around here) for the last week or two. Was nice to get out and get a few photos.
The Covington Inn on Ice.
It’s turned very cold here now and will be for the next week. Very glad I got out before the below zero temps. Although if you dress with the right materials and enough layers you can stay pretty warm even in these temps.
Mounds Park In the Winter.
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Christmas Lights 2014 Part 2
Was able to get out and get a few moreChristmas/Holiday lights this time in Minneapolis by the Lake of the Isles area. It’s been a challenge as the snow has melted several times.
The gallery Christmas Lights 2014.
Holiday Glow
The Lake of the Isles area has many wonderfully decorated homes. This next one I just loved the snow on the roof. It wasn’t real dark yet but the snow is the real star here.
Not your typical looking Minneapolis home.
Here was a nice find with this modestly decorated home with Minneapolis in the background. I like to make sure the snow in these types of photos looks white. Sometimes it might look blue or even purple at night depending on the lighting present. I play around with the white balance in Lightroom or even the Hue, Saturation and Luminance to get the snow to look white.
Holiday Lights, Minneapolis House, Christmas Lights, Minneapolis home with Skyline
The gallery Christmas Lights 2014.
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Christmas Lights 2014
It’s that time of year again when photographers try to find interesting holiday light displays. I always look for the older and wealthier homes as they tend to have more organized displays. It seems like suburban homes are often about buying as much stuff (lights, inflatables, etc.) and covering the entire property Griswald style. It gets to be an eye sore at least for photography.
See the full gallery of Christmas 2014 here.
Summit Avenue in St. Paul with one of the best lit trees around.
Summit Avenue in St. Paul is a wonderful light for holiday displays. From the Governor’s Mansion down to the Cathedral of Saint Paul there are some nice looking light displays. For a few days the snow melted but we’ve got a thin layer currently. I may try to get a couple more shots this weekend if possible.
A simple yet elegant display.
See the Christmas 2014 gallery here.
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Rooftopping Minneapolis Style
What a glorious view of Minneapolis from the heart of the city. To see more go here Minneapolis Rooftop gallery.
Awesome clouds for our rooftop adventure. It was mighty cold up there. Thankfully this side had shelter from part of the structure. The other side was quite brisk.
Just over a week ago a photographer friend of mine asked if I wanted to shoot from a rooftop in downtown Minneapolis. Heck yeah! Who cares if I was going out for beers the night before and I’d need to get up at 5:30AM. Completely worth it. I shouldn’t really say which building we were on but it was between 30 and 40 stories. The IDS (blue), Wells Fargo (yellow) and Capella (behind Wells Fargo) are all 55-60 stories. I actually like the height we shot at because you’re right in the middle of the action.
In the heart of Minneapolis at dawn!
As you can see we were blessed with an incredible sunrise as there was a break at the horizon and clouds to catch the pre-dawn light.
See the rest here Minneapolis Rooftop gallery.
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Lakewood Autumn
All the color is gone so let’s remember the fantastic colors we had this fall. These are from Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. Here’s the link to the gallery.
Autumn Reflections
It’s not really a reflecting pool. More like a reflecting slab with water running over it. Very cool though!
The Reflecting Pool
This looks like the Parthenon. It’s actually for a Lowry family member or Mr. Lowry himself possibly who was prominent in the area.
The Parthenon Lowry Style
The gallery
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Happy Halloween
Halloween is almost over but I wanted to share a spooky photo of sorts. Love these trees along the Mississippi. Don’t get too close though!
Crawlers
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The Dell’s Mill
Made a trip out to the Dell’s Mill in central Wisconsin. Great to see the colors changing on the other side of the pond.
Autumn begins at the Dell’s Mill.
This is actually two shots combined. I wanted a long exposure (30 seconds) for the clouds but didn’t want all the movement from the trees on a windy day. I combined it with another exposure (1/13 second) so there was little movement in the trees. I also used that exposure for the water. I usally like to get water at 1/8 of a second or longer but the 1/13 second works just fine here.
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Lunar Eclipse – October 2014
I’m a little late sharing these but wanted to show the lunar eclipse as the moon set behind Minneapolis. The main portion of the eclipse was over but the moon looked great as it sank lower on the horizon. Yes, I know the moon doesn’t actually sink 🙂
October 2014 Lunar Eclipse behind the Minneapolis skyline.
The key for getting a shot like this is to have a long focal length and to be far away from the object or city in this case. I’ve used an extender in the past but in this case I was at about 300mm to get the major buildings in the cityscape.
The moon just above the skyline of Minneapolis.
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Blue Angels at Duluth Air Show 2014
Despite some really bad weather was able to see the Blue Angels perform at the Duluth Air Show on August 24th, 2014. The cloud deck was low so they had to perform their “flat” routine. I’m sure the normal routine is even more spectacular but what they performed was truly inspiring.
See the full Blue Angels gallery.
Blue Angel #6 skims the ground.
Of course you gotta get the mirror shot. Happy I didn’t miss it.
The Mirror
Here’s a great example of the precision and teamwork involved. The lead pilot flys the routine while the pilot next to him follows. Except for the lead pilot the rest just follow the plane next to them. Easy right? They make it look as if it is.
Follow the leader.
Finally a movie I put together with stills and video clips to capture the action. Hope you enjoy and you can see the best photos in the Blue Angels gallery.
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