Another Bit on the Bus

For tonight the 'Dynamic Photo in MN' group had planned an outing, to shoot the 'St. Paul Cathedral' at night. The crummy weather this morning with a continuous rain and gusts of wind caused the event to be canceled. But the weather turned and the sun shone in the afternoon, but the big clouds lingered fairly low in the sky. I went out to Minneapolis, hoping to catch some clouds at sunset over the sky scrapers, but it was quite windy and I could not find a good spot. I climbed on one of the highway walls, but some tree branches obscured enough of the view to ruin the shot. It was also windy, even if not too cold. I swung by Lake Calhoun and I was treated with some really big waves for such a small lake, some with white crests even.

This is another photo from the "Art in Bloom" exhibition. I framed it intentionally for the dark mood, and I think I succeeded too well. This photo is macabre, funereal - it could serve as a stock photo for an undertaker... but at the same time it beckons me, like a forgotten sin. Memento mori? The plane of focus should have been half an inch towards the back, but this was hand-held in the museum. The IS saved the day.

Tonight it was the opening of Art in Bloom at Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Lots of people and lots of beautiful bouquets.

I don't know if this was part of the exhibition or part of the permanent collection:

One more, "the resting lady":

Yesterday at noon a group of photographers met at the Maple Grove Arboretum for a nature walk. It was chilly (40's) but the sun was shining brightly - drowning us in light if not in warmth.
As we walked around, I was attracted by the texture of the Quaking Aspens. Zooming in, the spots on the park remembered me of the computer paper tape of times past. Or bacteria colonies in a Petri dish. Or an old Chinese vertical painting with pleasure boats floating on a river...
There were some ducks flying over and occasionally dunking in the little pond, but I didn't manage to catch them in focus; after shooting the bark I left the lens in manual focus / one shot, and I wasn't quick enough to switch to auto focus / AI servo. Next time...
There was also a small waterfall that we took turns shooting, but the sun was so bright and I don't have any ND filters (I'm seriously thinking of a Vari-ND filter but at this point I need to bulk up on flashes, as I intend to take more pictures of people than falling waters.
At night I went out with friends to see a Romanian movie playing as part of the Minneapolis International Film Festival: "Hello, How are You?" . Touching and rich and funny -- it was a good movie. After the party dispersed, I lingered on the St. Anthony Main and captured a shot of Minneapolis and the Central Avenue bridge:

Last Saturday morning (8:00 AM), the photographers from Twin Cities Photography Group and Dynamic Photography MN congregated in the Marjorie Conservatory at the Como Zoo and Park, to photograph the Spring Flower Show in the Sunken Garden
You can access my gallery here - the group photos are on the meet-up sites linked above.

Training my macro on the new buds sprouting all over the parking lot. Hand-held, it is difficult despite the image stabilization. It still needs a lot of light in order to be able to increase the DOF, especially in the shaded areas.

I was in a hurry to a meeting of the Twin Cities Photography Group. I was almost on time, but the entire area around it is a construction zone, and it was hard to figure out how to get to the south of University Ave. without getting too far from the building. Yet my eye was caught by the splotch of color in the middle of the fairly drab building. I'm sure in a few months the ivy will be splendid - and most likely it will contrast just as well with the soda machine. To be continued...