Panoramic

I don’t really get panoramics but thought I would try one.  This is actually made from six photos, but only two stitched together, the rest were because I bracketed the shots for HDR.  I didn’t use a tripod which is just wrong but I didn’t have one with me.  With the pano I end up with  long skinny picture.  On the one hand it is wider so it shows more on the other hand it isn’t as tall and it shows less.  Tomorrow I will post the two photos I used to make this.  The photo is of the Mississippi River valley near downtown St. Paul.  It was taken from the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Flugtag Minnesota Spectators

I got some shots of the various home made flying machines dripping off the ramp at Flugtag. Most did not look very aerodynamic but the teams seemed to have a good time and the crowd enjoyed it.  The crowd kept catching my attention.  I have never seen so many people in the aprk and it is likely that there never have been as many there at one time.   There were people every where and it was the crowd that made the event fun . . except of course the coming and going part and finding a place to view the event.  There are thousands, no tens of thousands of people in this photo.

Johnathan Paddleford

How can this be?  I am running out of photos.  There are so many things to shoot this time of year. Just about everything looks better without snow and ice in it.

Before the fireworks

I took this before the July 4th fireworks began.  The high bridge is a wonderful place to take photos from and as the sun goes down I like the challenge of getting them when the “1″ is lit up.

After the fireworks

I love to photograph the Mississippi river at night.   With the colors and the reflections it never looks the same twice.  I took this one just after the July 4th fireworks in St. Paul. I like the boats and the barges.   I have a rule about shooting downtown and that is that the 1 must be lit up on the first bank building.  It blinks on and off and I delete the shot if it is off.  I did get some shots of the fireworks too but amazingly they look the same every year.

In the river

I am just heading out to grab some photos of all of those rusty barges parked alone the river.  I love to photograph the Mississippi river.

In the Fountain at River Park

What is it about kids and water?  It was warm that night and the park was full of people and the little girl kept riding through the water and giggling.

Chicago River

I kept finding this photo on the media card in my camera and I wasn’t going to process it but I kept noticing it and finally I decided to do something with it.  I could have removed the distortion but I would have lost too much of the photo. I love how blue the sky is and the color of the water.  It is a lovely city.  Next time I go downtown I will bring my wide angle lens. It was too heavy to carry all day and I walked miles.

After it rains

It was hot and muggy out and then it rained.  This is one of the bridges in Chicago crossing the Chicago river. I had a nice time with my friend Todd walking, talking and taking photos.

at night - in the dark- on the river

I took this from Rasberry Island in St. Paul shortly after the flood.  I need to get out and take some more night shots.