The PhotoVision Blog

Exploring Teddy Roosevelt

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:54:17 -0600

I was able to sneak off to North Dakota last month and finally get to Teddy Roosevelt National Park, which is way at the west end of the state. It’s quite a drive, but the Park is truly worth it. There are three sections: a detached North Unit that has some amazing rock formation (that’s where I shot the current Featured Image) like the Cannonball Concretions that I’m leaning against in this photo, very photogenic bison, and cool hoodoos. The larger South Unit has badlands and prairie dogs, and the Petrified Forest area at the far west side of the Park has unique fossilized stumps scattered as the remains of a prehistoric forest.

If you haven’t ventured across the prairie to TRNP, you need to add the Park to your life list - you won’t be disappointed.

Fall Contrasts Continue

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:10:47 -0500

This Fall’s weather continues to provide great contrasts in shooting. One of my favorite local waterfalls is Hidden Falls at the Nerstrand Big Woods State Park east of Northfield, Minnesota.

In a typical year, the Falls would have very little water running by early October, as the watershed dries up after Summer. Our late-Summer rainfalls have kept the Falls topped up, and I was able to make some interesting images there last weekend. This is one of the last shots I took, with the late afternoon sum glistening on the running water.

Feast and Famine

Sat, 2 Oct 2010 10:38:31 -0500

I went looking for more water images in Minneapolis this week, hoping that the abundant rainfall of late would give me some opportunities to combine Fall colors with high water levels. I only succeeded in one of my three attempts: Minnehaha Falls were running hard, and the leaves were beginning to turn.

My other two stops were disappointments. The riverfront trail at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls has suffered some serious erosion and a new concrete culvert is being installed as part of rebuilding the trail. Unfortunately, to accommodate that work, the Falls are being diverted upstream, and there was just a trickle of water running over the edge.

My last stop was at Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul, where I couldn’t even get into the park. It was completely closed due to the high level of water in the Mississippi!

Too much, too little, just right - guess it was a Goldilocks day of photography…

What a Difference a Week Makes…

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:39:33 -0500

I returned last weekend to the Blue Earth River waterfalls that I first shot a week before. It was a very rainy week in southern Minnesota, and I had hoped the falls would be running a bit stronger. Once again, the adage about “be careful what you ask for” proved to be true: the river and the waterfalls were running hard and I couldn’t even get to most of the spots where I had taken pictures a week before.

Here are two shots from almost the same location of the bottom tiers of the falls, showing the volume of water that was pouring over the ledge. The top image is from September 19 and the lower from September 26. The difference is astounding!

Double Rainbow in Minneapolis

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:09:55 -0500

We’ve had a lot of rain in Minnesota lately, and one afternoon there was a wonderful double rainbow right in the heart of downtown Minneapolis. I was able to grab a couple of shots with my iPhone through an office window to make a panorama. The image is less than perfect due to water running down the glass and some stitching artifacts, but I have never before been that close to a perfect set of rainbows!