Steam locomotive #2719

The North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth Minnesota Runs old trails on the rail between Duluth and Two harbors Minnesota. During the fall on four weekends they pull the excursion train with Steam locomotive #2719.

“ Built in 1923, the engine carried troops to WW II and the Korean War and ran until 1959, growing old as the last working steam engine in Wisconsin.
Restored to running order by the Locomotive and Tower Preservation Fund, Ltd. the engine’s last excursion run was in 2003. It had been stored outside in Altoona, Wisconsin since then. In 2005 the L&TPF entered into negotiations with the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth to move the engine north for inside storage, further restoration and eventual operation on the North Shore Scenic Railroad.” (from http://www.northshorescenicrailroad.org/home/2719home.asp)

The train runs along the Lake front walk in down Duluth for several miles before slipping through neighborhoods on its way north.

Technique

Some may look at this image and say well nice use of neutral density filters. The truth is that no filter was used in making this image, the technique was soothing in the very early morning just as it is starting to get light, in fact it was before sunrise.

Two other vital pieces of equipment were used in the making of this image. And I will use both on about 98% of all of my images, that is a good tripod and a cable release. With the image framed I stopped my aperture all the way down to f/22 and set the shutter speed to sixty seconds, I knew this exposure combination would yield the result that I was after.

When I am out in the field photographing I am approached by many people who ask what camera, lens should I buy? I respond the same way each time that is stick with a name brand camera but then I will say that more importantly get a good tripod (not one from a discount store), and a cable release.

When you try new techniques log your exposure info and try to learn what works and how to get the camera do what you want it to do.

Rhythm

I believe that everything has a cycle, I also believe the things we’ve do can create a rhythm within that cycle. One thing I have always tried to advocate is stepping outside of the box or getting out of your comfort zone will help the creative rhythm in our lives.

This past winter I stepped away outside my comfort zone. I spent six months working as a resort photographer covering special events, photographing formal portraits and shooting advertising pieces for the resort. It is true that early in my career I worked in a portrait studio however that was 25 years ago and I had not done a single portrait in almost 15 years. The type of event photography that I covered was something totally foreign to me, yes at first it was a little scary and I was unsure of myself but after the first few images I found my rhythm.

As part of my job I assembled and published in a yearbook for the resort, I had in the past designed and published a souvenir book so there was some familiarity there. I think the combination of money formal training and my job experience definitely helped make this trip outside my comfort zone not only easier but successful.

While it’s been five months since I finish that job, and it seems like I have been in such a rhythm that I could probably put my camera at something with my eyes shut and it would work, I know that’s not quite true. this experience outside the box has refreshed my vision and my creative rhythm. My belief in stepping outside of our comfort zone has become even stronger and I intend step outside my zone on a regular basis. What do I mean by a regular basis, well probably an annual basis will suffice. It dawns on me that the more I do this I need to find other boxes to step into in order to keep it fresh, scary and challenging. If I can do this I think that my creative rhythm will respond in a positive manner.

I think we should all step outside of our comfort zone periodically and then reap the benefits of doing so.

Favorite places

I just returned from my one of my all time favorite places to Photograph “Itasca State Park” The headwaters of the Mississippi River. I have been photographing in the park for close to 20 years and it never gets old, I find that amazing.

Each trip to the park I ask myself to photograph the headwaters in a way that I have never done so, and as you can imagine that can become a challenge after a while. Yet some how as time goes by and my vision grows so dose my approach to photography.

There are times when I find myself really having to work to=create images and other times where it seems as though everything works really well. I feel like I have been in that grove where everything just works very easily. That may be a result of doing a lot of image making over the last year, and it could be a result of stepping outside the box (Comfort zone) or both. And I plan on routinely getting out of the box if this is the result.

I will return to Itasca State park at least once a year to create new images as long as I live because it is a very special place in my hart.

Little experiment

I am trying a little experiment with Facebook. Every weekday (as long as I have internet access) I will be posting one image to my wall along with my website address. I started this a week or so ago and am seeing traffic heading to my site, I will keep doing this for the near future and if it seems to be a good thing I may make it a regular morning task.

It is coming ............................ fall that is !

it seems every summer goes faster than the one before its August 25 today and it seems like it was just early June. Yeah we’ve managed to do quite a bit this summer but why the summer golf so fast in winter goes so slow.

With the passing of summer we’re about to enter one of my favorite times of year here in northern Minnesota its fall well almost. As I look around I see subtle hints that fall is not far away the marsh grasses have started to turn that kind of gold-dish yellow. The weather is beginning to change you can feel fall in the air, soon will be able to smell it. not long after that natures palette will explode the vibrant reds and yellows will dominate the landscape for a short period as the trees transition to dormancy for the winter.

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year to be out photographing, the bugs are gone for the most part and children are back at school. If nothing else in the fall colors season can be a very hectic time of year in trying to get from location to location. Here in Minnesota the colors changed in ways first you get the sumac then come the maples and other deciduous trees and a few weeks later along the North Shore it all happens again. Just when you think fall colors are over along comes the golden hue of the Tamarack trees if you’re not familiar with Tamarack they looked to be evergreen but they’re actually deciduous date change color and dropped their needles actually they are small leaves. By the time the Tamaracks finish dropping their leaves the fall color has shifted to central and southern Minnesota, so then it’s time to follow the colors south.

My only wish for fall is that it lasted months instead of weeks because it is such a beautiful time of year to be outdoors not too hot not to cold and very few bugs if any at all. There is something about the crisp fall air is so refreshing I’ll step outside and take a good lung full of the fall air on enjoy it for several moments then the realization of what is yet to come shocks me back to reality, yes winter can’t be too far away.

Looking forward

WOW! I can hardly believe that it’s almost August 1. Where has the summer gone again in oh I heard yesterday on the radio at Duluth has only had I believe three days where the high temperature topped out in the 80s. Sure for some the 60s and 70s are pleasant but I really do like in the mid the lower 80s in the summertime. While as I stated in an earlier post I’ve been sticking close to Duluth this summer and photographing around the city. it actually has been quite fun and challenging and have learned quite a bit about the area.

One of my favorite parts of Duluth is a park called blue Leif Erikson Park, and it lies between I-35 in Lake Superior and as its name suggests heat is dedicated to the first European to discover North America and I’m not referring to Christopher Columbus. The Duluth Rose Garden comprises part of this park it in itself a requires its own post. The Duluth lake walk also runs through the park and is a post all in its own, on the lakeside of the lake walk and there’s an old theater reminiscent of the Viking era. The statue in the photo is of Leif Erikson, in his pose he is looking to the future standing proud and tall. In this time of economic slowdown I’m planning and looking forward to a bright future not just for myself but for all of us.