781 Hague St. Paul, MN

This is the time of year when I have the most business and the time of year when I need to start my garden.  I start working early in the morning and just keep going all day.

About the picture.  When I see interior photos taken by the pros they are always of huge well lit rooms with white walls.  Most of the homes I sell don’t have rooms in them like that and so I have had to learn how to photograph rooms that have been painted “egg plant” or even dark orange like this kitchen.  It is far easier to shoot the white room but with some practice orange rooms can turn out OK too.   If you need photographs of rooms that are not painted white or some other light color give me a holler.  I am always up for the challenge.

Cineraria

This week I am going to try and post colorful photos with as little white in them as possible.  These are blooming at the Marjorie Mcneely Conservatory, also known as Como Park Conservatory.  I could dedicate an entire photo blog to the conservatory. There is so much to see and it is all free but I leave a couple of bucks in the donation box every time I go.  These flowers are part of the winter flower show which is followed by my favorite flower show if the year the spring flower show.

Fall Flower Show

This is the Fall flower show at Como Park Conservatory.  The plants are mostly mums.  I have never  been in the sunken garden room alone before so I had to take a shot.  If you look in the center of the photo towards the top there is a railing.  That is where people stand when they want to take a photo of the entire room. It is always taken from that spot.  The statue is a kind of focal point. I took that shot too but I like this one better even though it does have a butt in it.

The girl and the dog

My daughter asked me to process this photo when she saw it on my camera card.  She is a Phd candidate in the French department at the University of Minnesota.  She is going to build a class around my photos of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

She got me thinking about the idea of Culture and travel photography.  I think when I go out and take photos when I travel I try to capture what a city feels like, or at least the way that I see it.  In New Orleans I saw art and the theme shows up in most of my photos.  For some it is about the food and for others the bars on Bourbon street.

What struck me about the girl with the guitar wasn’t just her beautiful music it was the way she got out there first thing in the morning and started playing.  Like so many that I saw in the area she sells her art out on the streets. I have to admire her for that.

Making Music

orange shutters

I took the shot just because I like the orange shutters and the little tree.

Musicans

Taken in New Orleans.  I think I found a photographers paradise.

Maple Leaf

Construction

Orange is used a lot for safety yet it isn’t a save color it is a warning color. This is my last day of orange. It was fun and now I see orange every where.

Fork in the road truck

In honor of orange week on my photo blog I took a picture of the Fork In the Road Truck.  They serve food and show up at local parks downtown.  Last Tuesday they were at Mears Park and there was quite a line. It was a gorgeous day and the park was full of lunch eaters.

Monarch Butterfly

These little guys just never stop moving.  They are not orange but orange enough for orange week.