Steeples and Trees

Steeples and trees – there are plenty of both in St. Paul they look good together especially in the spring and fall.

Lilac

A mothers day gift from 1992 I think.   I can see them from the kitchen window.  When I look at them I also see the picture in my memory of two little children planting it for me.

The Science Museum of Minnesota

The maple trees line Chestnut street . . funny they didn’t name it Maple street. Last week they were so pretty, then on Saturday the wind blew. Sometimes Fall ends in a big snow storm but this year the wind blew most of it away in a single day.

Oakland Cemetery

Just in time for Halloween, a day early even. Located in the hear of St. Paul, Oakland cemetery is a great place to shoot fall color and tomb stones.  People are dieing to get in there.

Mears Park in the Fall

I belong to a local photography meet up group and we started having these online challenges, which is nice because I miss most of the events. They are usually held in the evening or on weekends and are far away.  I pretty much work seven days a week but my schedule is particularly full during the times the group meets.  The online challenges are very challenging and I seldom get any photos that I like.

This months challenge is choosing an F-Stop shutter speed, ISO and lens and taking a photo with those same setting every day.  I chose f8, 1/125 and 200 for the ISO and the kit lens.  So far I have been able to take photos indoors and out because they do let us use a flash, and one day I used a ND filter because  it is easier to apologize later than it is to ask for permission up front.  This photo could be better but it by far the best I have gotten during an online challenge.

It helps that Mears Park in downtown St. Paul is gorgeous any time of year, and that the light just happened to be perfect for the settings that I choose.  I take all my shots in manual but I don’t follow the rules when it comes to the settings, mostly because I get excited about what I see and just start shooting.

Wagon

I didn’t notice the little blue bird house in this photo until I processed it. I added a couple layers of texture to make it a little more interesting and to compensate a little for the back lighting. It has not been easy to find the time to take photos or even to post a photo that I already have. I don’t want to stop posting so I try to find something each day.

Autumn Chapel

Fall leaves and brick is almost as much fun to shoot at rust and bricks, either way for me it is about the brick. The chapel is at Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul.

Raspberry Island

It usually isn’t a good idea to take a photo into the sun but this one worked because the mist rising from the ater filtered the rays nicely. It was taken at Raspberry island park on the Mississippi river in St. Paul shortly after the park was completed.  The trees are not as pretty this year but when those Maples grow up it will be spectacular in the fall.

Oak Trees in Irvine Park

Some years the oak leaves just turn brown and fall off and sometimes they cling to the trees through the winter and into spring.  This year we have some color in the oaks but to me they are always beautiful. Irvine park, like many local parks is filled with old oak trees.

Alexander Ramsey House

I live in Ramsey county, which was named after Alexander Ramsey and this is where he lived.  The Ramsey house is a local treasure and of course I have taken a few photographs of it over the years. The best times to shoot it is in the spring when the leaves are just starting to open and in the Fall when some of the leaves are gone.  During the summer the trees cover the building and to be honest in the winter it just isn’t as fun to photograph.  At least three of the photos I have taken of the Alexander Ramsey house are in travel guides and are being used by the Ramsey County Historical society to promote the Ramsey house.  I didn’t know that until I started looking for some links to include in this post.