Photo Walk: Cloudy Sunrise

I got up early this morning.

Besides camping, this is only the second time I have gotten about of bed to shoot the sunrise.



After seeing yesterday's sunrise on the way to work, I wasn't very hopeful that this mornings would be any better.

But since I was up I figured I might as well take a stab at it, I mean I wasn't going to get ANY shots from my bedroom.

So I ventured out, the temp wasn't bad at all, but the sky was so cloudy I never really saw the sun. I was lucky enough to get one minute of a pink glow, but it went away fast.



Location: Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, MN
Date/Time: Jan. 23, 2010 7:24am-7:30am (then I drove around for 30 minutes hoping the sun would come out)
Temperature: 27°F

Playing around

Just playing around to get my picture of the day in.

Isn't my hubby such a trooper :-)

Photo Walk: Morning Park

I went on a 'mini' photo walk this morning. I haven't been sticking my camera in lately because it's super cold out and I don't want it getting cold in my car, and I don't always want to lug it into work with me (although some days I do, just not everyday).  Yesterday I saw some beautiful frost on the way to work and was kicking myself that it wasn't a day I had my camera with me. So I stuck it in today, hoping to see that frost again... but of course that wouldn't happen, that'd be too easy. So instead I stopped by a little park a few blocks from work and walked around for about, um, 5 minutes. I stepped in some snow right off the bat and after about 5 minutes my feet were numb.  Great walk, lol, but I did get some okay pictures.


I just loved the texture on the trees. I couldn't get enough, so of course I had to play around with the colors and see what they would look like in black and white.


I think I like the color better, just because well, there are so many on the trunk, each shed of bark tells a different story.


Thanks for reading!

Location: Lakeview Park, Maple Grove, MN
Date/Time: Jan. 20, 2010 8:25am-8:30am
Temperature: 22°F

Frozen River

After leaving Minnehaha Falls yesterday I drove over by the Mississippi River. I first went to the #1 Lock and Dam that I had went to with my mom while she was visiting this past fall. I knew I could get down close to the water (ice) here to get a good view of the frozen over river.

Doesn't it just look so peaceful.

Not many people are around this area in the winter time, I could tell by the untouched snow around the park benches. This is a rare sign, because it seems like no matter where I go, there is never un-wrestled snow.

After leaving the first dam area, I continued north along the river searching for another area to get out and get some pictures. There really isn't any other spot until I got closer to downtown Minneapolis, and then I was able to get down close to the water (ice) again :-)

Peace be with you:

Frozen Falls

I decided to get out while it was warm and get some shots of the frozen world I live in!!  I had heard that Minnehaha Falls was frozen over and knew it would be a good place to start!  You might remember these falls from the first entry of my 365 project:

They looked much different today.


As I got out of my car and started walking to the falls, I noticed a wild turkey. I stopped to get a few shots, hoping that I didn't scare him away.  You can see people in the back ground were also snapping away.

I got a few shots because I wasn't sure when he was going to leave. 

Then I walked closer and he didn't budge so I got another picture.  He ended up just minding his own business as people walked right past him. He must have been hungry!

Then I got to the falls, there were a few people out, I mean it was a gorgeous day, it was 37 degrees I was in my light jacket, no gloves... it was almost like spring time!

But unlike springtime, the falls were definitely frozen.
I wanted to go down to the base to get some better pictures, but the stairs were closed for the season. I could see that this wasn't stopping people so I lugged my camera bag over my shoulder and my tripod strap over the other and thought I would venture down.  There was a guy couple in front of me, who I got to watch fall on their butts on the way down. They ended up just sliding down on their butts like it was a slide. I started to, but did not want to go as fast so I would slow myself by holding on to the railing. After two flights (and 4 more to go) I knew this wasn't going to work long because my butt was frozen through my jeans and my hands were getting cold from holding the metal rail. 

So I hoped over the little edge and found that walking down the hill in the snow (where there were other tracks) was much easier than sliding down the stairs. Although everyone behind me ended up sliding because of course that was more fun (but they also weren't carrying boo-koo dollars in camera gear! But I finally made it to the bottom and it was well worth it!

There was even a little bird drinking out of the open spots in the creek.

Going up was a little easier the other side wasn't complete ice and there was a little pathway of snow to the far left of the stairs that I could climb up. It almost felt like I was rock climbing because there were little grooves in the snow that I had to get my footing in before I stepped up to the next step. 

It was amazing how the frozen falls gave off this blue cast.

After the falls I headed over to get some shots of the frozen Mississippi river.. I'll get those up in my next post! 


Thanks for reading!