January 17, 2013 - Matoska Park

This is an HDR image of Matoska Park in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  It is the result of merging three photos at different exposures and then fine tuning the image in Photoshop Elements.

HDR	Yes - 3 exposures -2,0,+2	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	55/82mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/320	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/9	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Tripod; Vibration Compensation (VC) off

January 16, 2013 - 4 Seasons Restaurant

One of my favorite areas of the Twin Cities is Mahtomedi, located on the eastern shore of White Bear Lake.  Tucked in Mahtomedi is a small town named Willernie, where our favorite Saturday-morning-breakfast restaurant is located.  This at one time was a drive-in that has since been remodeled for inside seating, thus the change in name from 3 Seasons to 4 Seasons!  Also, there was once a huge amusement park in the area and the restaurant is decorated with old pictures of the park and one whole wall is a mural of the park.

In Blogger, it appears that the restaurant sign is out of focus, while in Photoshop it looks much better.  Photoshop Auto-Analyzer tagged it as In-Focus!

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	70/105mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/4	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/5.6	Flash	No
ISO	200	Stabilization	Tripod; Vibration Compensation (VC) off

January 15, 2013 - Weisman Art Museum

The strangest-looking, and I would guess the most-photographed, building on the University of Minnesota campus is the Weisman Art Museum.  The only way to get a decent shot of this building is from across the Mississippi River and, even at that, it was impossible to not get the stop lights in the shot.  I cropped the image to exclude all of the other extraneous items.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	155/232mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/320	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/10	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Tripod; Vibration Compensation (VC) off

January 14, 2013 - Vadnais Lake in Black & White

This was another very cold day, but I managed a short walk on the ski trail by Vadnais Lake.  I took this photo of the lake looking toward the southwest and the intersection of Rice and I694.  Again, because there was little color in the shot, I converted it to black & white in Photoshop Elements.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	25/37mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/320  +.3 Exposure Compensation for snow	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/13	Flash	No
ISO	200	Stabilization	Handheld; Vibration Compensation (VC) on

January 13, 2013 - Raspberry Meadows Sign

The temperature was in the single digits this afternoon, so I didn't walk too far for today's photo.  This is the sign for our town home community located across the street from our unit!  As the weather gets better, my photos will get more interesting - promise!

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	55/82mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/160	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/8	Flash	No
ISO	200	Stabilization	Handheld; Vibration Compensation (VC) on

January 12, 2013 - Cemetery Flags

Today is a very windy, cold day.  As I drove past a cemetery in White Bear Lake, I noticed how the flags were fully extended and recalled that you don't see that too often.  I thought that had to be my picture for the day, turned the car around and took a number of shots.  Because there was a tremendous amount of movement, I took this one at a high shutter speed.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	120/180mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/1000	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/6	Flash	No
ISO	200	Stabilization	Handheld; Vibration Compensation (VC) on

January 11, 2013 - Hall Cabinet

Another cloudy, wet day outside, so I had to look around the house for today's picture!  (I hope spring comes soon - I'm running out of indoor subjects!)  This is called a "Hall Cabinet" and we use it to display some of my mother-in-laws china.

I know it seems weird that I shot this at f/14!  I took several shots at a wider aperture, but this one turned out better than those.  I used my flash off-camera and held it over my head on this one to get straight-on light but avoided reflecting the flash in the glass of the cabinet.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	46/69mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/60	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/14	Flash	Yes; off-camera above my head
ISO	200	Stabilization	Tripod; Vibration Compensation (VC) off

January 10, 2013 - TV Photography

Today I decided to experiment with photographing the TV.  Interestingly, I found that shooting at a fast speed didn't produce the best image (must have to do with the screen's refresh speed) and, of course, at slower speeds the people in motion were blurred.  This image, shot at 1/640 second, turned out the best.  This shot was taken straight-on, but I've heard that taking the shot at an angle to the TV is better.

Anyone have any tips for taking shots of the TV?

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	18/27mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/640	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/4.5	Flash	No
ISO	3200	Stabilization	Tripod

January 9, 2013 - Railroad Tracks

I was kinda desperate for something to shoot this afternoon and settled on these railroad tracks.  I set my exposure compensation to a +.3 to allow the snow to be white and held the camera in the vertical orientation (portrait) to emphasize the length of the tracks.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	55/82mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/250  +.3 Exposure Compensation for snow	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/10	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Handheld

January 8, 2013 - End of an Era

It was sad when the A&W Drive-In in Little Canada didn't open this past spring after it's usual winter break and instead a "For Sale" sign went up on its wall.  Except for the "Sonic" chain, it seems the era of the drive-in has passed and our A&W was another casualty.

This is obviously a photo of the menu boards lined up under the canopy of the A&W.  Remember trying to reach over the tray hanging from the window in an attempt to press the button to get the tray picked up by the carhop?

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	110/165mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/200	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/6	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Handheld

January 7, 2013 - St. Paul

This is a photo of downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, taken from Cherokee Avenue.  In the foreground is Harriet Island and the Mississippi River.  I like the sharpness of this photo, along with the colors of the buildings next to the blue sky.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	70/105mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/160	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/13	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Tripod; Vibration Compensation (VC) off

January 6, 2013 - Lowry Avenue Bridge

This is the new Lowry Avenue Bridge in northeast Minneapolis.  The old bridge was discovered to be unsafe and was destroyed in 2008, making way for this new, modern structure.  It took over two years to build and opened in October 2012.

I took this photo from a park to the southeast of the bridge.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	32/48mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/125	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/13	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Handheld

January 5, 2013 - Beautiful Sunset

We saw a beautiful end to a beautiful day here in Minnesota today!  This picture was taken in Oakdale, Minnesota (suburb east of St. Paul).  I stood on the steps of a church, without using a tripod, to shoot this one.

HDR	No	Filter(s)	UV
Focal Length Digital/35mm	78 / 117mm	White Balance	Auto
Exposure	1/1250	Metering	Matrix
Aperature	f/9	Flash	No
ISO	100	Stabilization	Hand-Held

January 4, 2013 - Winter Beauty

I was out walking in the Tamarac Nature Center in White Bear Township this morning and took this photo.  No, it is not HDR and I did not have my polarizer filter on.  The sun was behind me and a little to the left (see the shadow) and shining brightly on the trees, which really brought out the colors!

HDR:                    No
Focal Length:   20/30mm
Exposure:           1/100 sec
Aperture:             f/11
ISO:                     100
White Balance:   Auto
Metering:            Matrix
Flash:                  No
Stabilization:      Tripod (Vibration Compensation off)

January 3, 2013 - Black & White

I've read that, for a picture that lacks color, converting it to black & white can make it more appealing.  This morning I took this picture of a creek in Mounds View where there really wasn't much color this time of year.  Then, using Photoshop Elements, I converted it to black & white to see what it would look like.  While I generally prefer color photos, I can see that black & white can be interesting.

HDR:                    No
Exposure:           1/640 sec
Aperture:             f/5.6
ISO:                     200
White Balance:   Auto
Metering:            Matrix
Flash:                  No
Stabilization:      Tripod (Vibration Compensation off)

January 2, 2013 - Exposure Experimentation

Today I experimented shooting our fireplace using different exposure settings.  The two examples above illustrate the two extremes!

                              TOP                         BOTTOM
HDR:                    No                                   No
Exposure:           1/250 sec                        20 sec
Aperture:             f/3.5                                 f/22
ISO:                      6400                                100
White Balance:   Auto                                 Auto
Metering:            Matrix                               Matrix
Flash:                  No                                     No
Stabilization:      Tripod                               Tripod              (Vibration Compensation off)

January 1, 2013 - Our Father in Heaven...

It was a cold New Years Day, so it was time again for some indoor photography.  This is a photo of a hanging of the Lord's Prayer that was made by my grandfather many, many years ago.  It is an heirloom that has hung in my parents living room, in my mother's apartments, in her nursing home room and, now, in our dining room.

HDR:                    No
Exposure:           .30 sec
Aperture:             f/5
ISO:                     200
White Balance:   Auto
Metering:            Matrix
Flash:                  No
Stabilization:      Tripod (Vibration Compensation off)