Today, I made my first post-Covid visit to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. The Minnesota State Fair is the second-largest state fair in the United States. I took these photos from 8:52 to 10:22 a.m. and used my Canon EOS R with kit lens.














































Today, I made my first post-Covid visit to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. The Minnesota State Fair is the second-largest state fair in the United States. I took these photos from 8:52 to 10:22 a.m. and used my Canon EOS R with kit lens.
My mom and I went to the first day of Chanhassen’s 40th annual Fourth of July celebration this evening. We’ve gone for the last three years now. I posted photos I took last year with my Google Pixel smartphone, which obviously limited image quality. This year, I made sure to bring my Canon EOS R. I also coordinated our time so I was able to take photos at the golden hour and the blue hour. The golden hour is the hour before sunset, and the blue hour is the hour after sunset (as an aside, it works the opposite way for sunrises). The sunset was at 9:04 p.m. tonight; these photos were taken between 7:58 and 9:25 p.m.
Less than a week ago, I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota. Unlike this prior visit, it was overcast today, which is actually a good time to photograph anything with vibrant colors.
I took these photos from 5:59 to 6:20 p.m.
My mom and I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, this evening. I took these photos from 6:24 to 6:39 p.m.
Last week, I took an Amtrak train from St. Paul to Glacier National Park to begin my seasonal job working in a kitchen at one of the lodges. I am living and working in St. Mary, Montana, in northwestern Montana, close to the Canadian border.
After getting off the train in the blackness of night last week, the first thing I noticed was the smell of pine permeating the air. I likened it to fictional F.B.I. special agent Dale Cooper from “Twin Peaks” asking about the smell after arriving in Washington State (the smell is Douglas fir, an evergreen tree). I foresee the pine smell becoming a Proustian madeleine for me. And I wouldn’t mind living in the Pacific Northwest long-term (it is simply breathtaking); I just wouldn’t want to be around bears or moose!
The first two photos were taken with my iPhone, while the last three were taken with my Canon EOS R.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and the weather is looking up. I will need to get used to this rainy biome, but so far I cherish it (just not the bears and moose!).
For one reason or another, I haven’t taken many photos in downtown Chaska over the years. But this says more about me than it does their historic downtown area–because it is charming.
I took these five photos today from 11:34 to 11:50 a.m.
This afternoon, my mom, my puggles, and I visited Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota. These photos were taken from 3:13 to 4:10 p.m.
For my third outing leaf peeping this year, I visited Excelsior, Minnesota, with my mom and our two puggles. I took these photos today from 11:42 a.m. to 12:11 p.m.
For the second installment of “Leaf Peeping 2022,” I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum today in Chaska, Minnesota. I took these photos from 8:19 to 9:35 a.m.
I am starting a series this autumn titled “Leaf Peeping 2022.” I plan to document various stages of fall colors and the eventual falling of leaves (phenology). For this inaugural post, I went to Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from about 11:20 a.m. to noon today.