The world is but a canvas to the imagination

Madeline Island 2011

2011-07-08T11:10:00.001-07:00

Kevin and I took a day trip over to Bayfield, WI last week. It was 75 degrees and pure sun... a perfect day to tote my camera along :) We took the ferry over to Madeline Island and bummed around!

There was a gull on every post of the pier...

Our first stop on our way around the island was here -- a small beach wedged between two private properties. We trespassed only a bit :)

The Beach Club was amazing! Inside is a multi-level restaurant/bar, and there is a patio out back right on the water. We got some lunch, a few cocktails, and watched the ducks and boats float around

We stopped at a South Shore wayside on our drive back to Duluth and the sun was setting...

Lost Images :: Fall 2010

2011-04-05T08:37:00.000-07:00

First Shutters of Spring

2011-04-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Park Point Glaciers

2011-04-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Lake Superior :: March 30, 2011

2011-04-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

::Family Session::

2010-08-09T19:30:00.001-07:00

Puppy Encounters!

2010-08-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

Friday Afternoon Hikes....

2010-08-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tall Ships -- Duluth, MN

2010-08-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

July 30-August 3

Spring is Sprung-ing!

2010-03-08T18:55:00.001-08:00

Winter '10

2010-02-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Brighton Beach, MN

Rainy Day Outing

2009-12-01T23:33:00.001-08:00

Fall Colors

2009-10-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

{ UN - titled }

2009-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

"You can always go -- Downtown"

2009-09-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Recently we shot down to Minneapolis for a night to see the Twins play for one last time at the Metrodome. We did some touristy things and had a blast!

Newborn: Baby Jayla

2009-09-11T13:24:00.001-07:00

Janine and Jared just welcomed a new little girl into their world :) Jade has a new baby sister!

This is my fav pic of the day! She is just screaming, but still so cute!

French River :: North Shore

2009-08-10T21:34:00.001-07:00

The first picture that I took was overexposed, but it still looked really neat!

This is a little more of the look I was going for :P

Gorgeous, sunny Lake Superior afternoon! High 70's too :)

Ripple reflections

A few dark clouds came rolling in, but it didn't rain

Bayfront Blues Festival

2009-08-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Bayfront Festival Park

Sunday August 9, 2009

After a weekend full of rain and clouds, the sun came out for the final day!

The ole' Playfront Park. It will be torn up soon to rebuild a new playground. If you ask me, this one is pretty cool...

Water Carnival! Fireworks, Pontoons, and Sun!

2009-07-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Back on the lake!

2009-07-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

The new kitty :: JET

2009-07-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I adopted a 8 week old kitten from Animal Allies. He's a shorthair, and almost all black -- hence the name, Jet :)

We think that he's mostly Siamese. He had 3 brothers, 2 of which were also all black. His mother was the same, and she definitely looked Siamese!

On the Lake :: Lake Superior

2009-07-23T10:48:00.001-07:00

We headed out on Lake Superior on Sunday for a birthday celebration :) It was a gorgeous day... the lake was pretty calm near sunset and it was sunny all afternoon! These were even taken with a Sony Cypershot. I opted to leave my SLR at home because I've had quite the string of bad luck this year. I'm not leaving anything up to chance!

Little bit 'o water on the lens, but it still produced a neat shot

We were floatin' around the harbor when the Paul R. Tregurtha came through, it was pretty neat to be out on the water at that time!

The sun/sunset was shining of the bow and stern, and it looked so awesome!

Sun Flare! :P

I love taking pictures of reflections

Bummin' around the Rose Gardens

2009-07-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Purple fireworks :)

Such an overcast day

I just love the patterns :P

North Shore :: July 13, 2009

2009-07-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

On the way back from the range, we decided to take the long route. Across to Silver Bay and down the shore back to Duluth. It was gorgeous out! The sky was bright blue and the water looked tropical. It was amazing :P

These little purple flowers were growing through the rocks right on the edge of the cliff! Brave little guys :)

Kevin, wishing it was the ocean behind him. A mellow Superior blue will do :P

Next stop: Gooseberry Falls

I tried experimenting with long shutters to catch some water action, but it was hard to keep the camera steady without a tripod. A dead tree did the trick for a bit...

Trip to Hoyt Lakes

2009-07-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

First stop: The Christensens

Joey (corgi welch) puppy. Those ears are ridiculous!

"Kitty" aka a bobcat

Second stop: Fishing! These little baby geese were adorable :) On shore

How cute is this little guy! :P

40mph on the lake, ripped up some mad water and a rainbow :)

We docked the boat on shore in a bay and Kev found this rope swing, but never actually swung into the water. A patch of weeds instead :P

This tree looked a little tropical for a pine tree. I thought it was cool!

Eagles nest. It's huge! Eagles were spotted later (see below) :D

Flyin' in

Such a badass wingspan!

Dipped down in the water for a fish, which we watched him eat onshore!

We saw a few loons but they were pretty far away. It was odd because they were in a group of 8 or 9. It's unusual to see such a large group so close together!

MN State Bird

Tim caught a 3lb walleye but threw it back. Kev later caught a 13'' which was our dinner :) I'm unlicensed so I caught zero fish :( Next time!

Brrrr, it was a little windy out and the water was cold!

Weeds blowin' in the wind

Some dogs don't like water :P

2009-07-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Dog Days of Summer

2009-07-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

Coda and Emmy enjoying a sunny afternoon in the backyard. They love eachother :)

Fun with close-ups

2009-07-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

Editing is fun :)

2009-07-02T15:47:00.001-07:00

More at the beach :)

2009-05-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Windy and Cold!

2009-05-27T12:21:00.001-07:00

Brrrrr! It is not a typical sunny summer day in Duluth by any means! It's only about 40 degrees and cloudy :/ The lake is choppy and the waves are out of control!

Every time a new ship comes through, the waves get so big!

A busy day in the canal!

2009-05-27T12:14:00.001-07:00

It was a busy day in the shipyards today! There were a few ocean-liners passing through while I was bummin' around the canal :) They're so big and taunting, and it makes me wonder how something that heavy can float!

On the Lakefront

2009-05-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Park Point on an overcast day. It made for great lighting! This is the lighthouse from Wisconsin Point.

On my way back home, I was caught up by the lift bridge... this big guy had to come through! I love summer when all of the "salties" come through the canal :)

More spring colors!

2009-05-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sun's shinin' :: Bird's chirpin'

2009-05-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hey, little birds are thirsty too :) They stopped momentarily for a sip, and then back to lunch!

My parent's backyard is full of wildlife! These little birds are so adorable, and not very shy at all! That is, until Emmy scares them off :o

More Spring Blossoms!

2009-05-23T12:00:00.001-07:00

I've noticed many of these white blossoming trees around town lately! Every time I pass one I wish that I had my camera with me. I was so excited this morning to see that our tree in the backyard was covered! It must've happened overnight :) They were also covered in bees, eek! :o

Enger Tower

2009-05-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Spring pretties :)

2009-05-21T15:56:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I went out for a patio lunch by the lake, followed by a walk through the gardens at Enger. There were so many flowers in bloom and so colorful!

Classic black & white

2009-05-21T12:01:00.001-07:00

My little 8lb doxie looks like a big fat cat!

65 degrees and sunny :)

2009-05-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

On our way home, Emmy literally stopped to smell the flowers, so I took a picture for her :)

I'd like to think these two little ferns are BFF :)

I don't have my nature guide handy but my guess would be a goldfinch?

I took Emmy out for a hike today in Chester Bowl. It's 65 degrees and pleasant. She met a few fellow four-legs and sniffed out a lot of things :)

Mmmm... beer :)

2009-05-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

After a days work of geocaching today, we stopped in to Sir Benedicts on the Lake for a cold one... YUM :)

Playing with portraits...

2009-05-20T15:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday it was 39 degrees and cold. It rained a few times and it was windy as can be. There was no way I was going outside to snap some pictures, so instead I stayed indoors and played a bit...

Geocaching

2009-05-20T15:11:00.001-07:00

This tree was really eerie, it's branches and pine cones were all silver as if spray painted.

The only bit of color I really saw on my hike, this lonely flower in a marsh :)

I'm not sure what these are... Furry little red cranberries I'd like to think :)

We came across this old root cellar at Hartley and it was really creepy! It was dark and dirty inside and we couldn't see a thing. There was a small opening at the ceiling, and the only light that shone in made the outline of a moon. It was really neat!

Coffee at the lake...

2009-05-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

Coffee and a photography lesson... does it get any better than this? Unfortunately, the coffee was brought by my "superior" and it was used more as a prop in the end than anything else!

Emmy :)

2009-05-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

In motion!

Barking at the cluster of seagulls at the lake...

She's always looking curious as can be... and ready for trouble.

Looking out at the backyard, probably searching for squirrels :)

Chester Bowl

2009-05-18T11:30:00.001-07:00

This is the old ski hill at Chester Bowl. The stairs were really crooked and worn, so it made for a different type of picture.

The pond was really calm that day. You can see part of the old chair lift to the right.

Some pics from my old Canon Powershot :)

2009-05-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

From my "pre-Rebel" days...

With some early signs of summer, I jumped outside with my little point-and-shoot and got a little crazy with the photo editing process. Enjoy :)

More from 5th street...

2009-05-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

More from the North Shore!

2009-05-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

Dan-de-lions :)

2009-05-18T10:07:00.001-07:00

It's 65 and sunny today! :) It's been forecasted to rain so I thought I'd take advantage of the sun and head out back. Our yard is pretty bland with the exception of a random scattering of dandelions. So I tied Emmy up to run around a bit while I snapped a few close-ups.

I think I like the editing the most about photography! It's so fun to experiment with different effects and see how the picture turns out. Though, I'm learning that it's much more rewarding to capture it from the start :)

Water, Sand, Rocks...

2009-05-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Still up in Beaver Bay. I brought Emmy along because it was a beautiful day and she needed the exercise. She's almost 2 years old now and definitely still a pup!

She led the way most of the time :)

I was able to let Emmy off her leash for once. With nowhere to run off to she was happy as can be :)

These little prints were from the dreaded seagulls, but they looked really neat in the sand!

...with a little help from my friends :)

2009-05-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Day 2: Beaver Bay, MN

I took a day-trip to learn a few things from Clint. He helped me to mess around with the settings on my camera, and to get the pics that I wanted. It was awesome to do a hands-on lesson with aperture, shutter speeds, exposure, and focus. If I learned only one thing today, it is that you end up with hundreds of pictures before you get the hang of things!

This was tricky :) We tried endless takes to get a rock into the water. After about 20 tries and even more stones, it turned out!

I love this shed, every time I head up north, I stop and snap a pic of this. It's right in front of "battleship island" on the pier that once launched the Grandpa Woo.

Experimentation: Self Instruction

2009-05-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Just a week ago, I purchased my first digital SLR camera. I have been taking time to teach myself how to use, and make the most it! These pictures are from the first day I took my camera out of the box, and with a little editing, I think they turned out pretty cool!

This first one turned out looking like something straight out of a Smith & Hawkin catalog!

These are all taken from my parents backyard. I figure there is a lot more to the eye there than in mine :) Although Emmy usually leaves more than a few things to look at...

Experimenting with over-exposure is neat, and while I still don't really know what I'm doing, I'm loving the results!

2009-05-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Learning the ropes of blogging...