Uploads from Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP), tagged minnesota, with geodata

holiday christmas tree lights - bloomington, minnesota

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 20:47:21 -0800

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Wishing everyone peace, health, understanding and prosperity this Holiday Season and into 2013!!

More than you probably want to know:
This home belongs to Bob and Julie who live in Bloomington MN just south of the Mall of America. They have been decorating the big oak tree in their front yard with around 40,000 Christmas lights since 2001. The Tree has become a local Holiday landmark that can be seen for miles up and down the Minnesota River Valley. It's so bright that airline pilots have been known to point out this tree to passengers when landing at the nearby Minneapolis International Airport. The owners are very accommodating to photographers but ask that the images not be used commercial profit - it's a gift they give to the community for free.

ghost hunter - fort snelling, mn

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:13:32 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Went out exploring the abandoned military buildings around Fort Snelling's Upper Post with Cousin Greg. We had big plans to go inside and do some 'urban exploring', but it was so seriously creepy that we chickened out - that place gotsta be haunted :O

minneapolis bridge

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:06:27 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

A panoramic view of the 3rd Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis, MN that crosses the Mississippi River and connects downtown's 3rd Ave with Central Ave that comes in from the North. This bridge is often called the 'Central Avenue Bridge' depending on the direction your heading.

More than you probably want to know:
The 3rd Avenue Bridge is located just upstream from the more famous Stone Arch pedestrian bridge and infamous 35W bridge that tragically collapsed in 2007. This one was built across the Mississippi River in 1918 just above Saint Anthony Falls. Because the underwater bedrock was eroded around the falls area, the bridge was constructed with a unique reverse 'S' shape that curves around those unstable formations. It was made with reinforced concrete and was designed for visual appeal using opened ended arches called 'spandrels'. Together the shape, arch design and material makes the 3rd Avenue Bridge the longest reverse S-curved, open spandrel bridge made from reinforced concrete in the world - sweet!

This is my comp stomp of Logan Stuck's great shot from this angle - thanks for showing the way Logan!

university club driveway garden - st. paul, mn

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:32:12 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

A rainy day 3rd floor view of the symmetrical driveway/sidewalk garden at the University Club of St. Paul, MN located on Summit Avenue.

minneapolis eye candy

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:47:04 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Minneapolis, Minnesota - view of the Stone Arch pedestrian bridge crossing the Mississippi River leading into Minneaolis's West Bank riverfront area that includes Mill Ruins Park and the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam. Let me pre-apologize to anyone who is visually assaulted with this eye-burning, Candyland over edit - I've been photo bored lately :O

fireworks - 4th of july

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:20:07 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Cousin Greg launching 4th of July fireworks over one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes.

I’ve been getting a few questions on how this was done so here's the story: We planned this one over a 4th of July Holiday stay at the lake and took it on a windy night with a close to full moon. A total of 3 people were involved; 1 motionless model, 1 person to light the bottle rocket and run away, and 1 person to work the camera (me). I was using a DSLR (Sony A77) that let me set Shutter Speed, ISO and Aperture independently in Manual Mode (kind of a 'duh' for you Flickr Pro's but those were the questions I was getting). The camera had a wide angle lens (11-16mm), was on a tripod and had a remote shutter release cable attached so I could take a picture without touching the camera and potentially blurring the image. We shot off a test bottle rocket and counted (one one thousand, two one thousand . . ) how long it took from lighting the fuse, till it flew and exploded – the total time was 5 seconds – so that is what I set my camera Shutter Speed. We launched some more test rockets off and worked at adjusting the launch angle against the wind trying to get in the entire arch and explosion into the picture (easier to do with the wide angle lens). I also took a couple of test pictures and played with ISO and Aperture settings with the camera in Manual Mode (the shutter was already set to 5 seconds). I settled on a ISO of 400 because lower ISO’s made the image look too dark and higher settings made it too light (my camera has a live view that makes setting ISO really easy). I settled on an Aperture of 5 because it seemed to get everything around the launch area and model in focus and it helped to keep the ISO lower and less noisy. I positioned the model on the other side of the rocket from the camera so he would be illuminated by the sparks and had him hold his arms out a little because it looked liked a floating face with his hands down. It was very dark out so I shined a flashlight on the model to set the camera's Auto Focus and then I switched the camera to manual focus so it would not change again during the shot. Time to take the picture: I had the model freeze and try not to move for the entire 5 second exposure. My helper lit the bottle rocket and as soon as he got out of the way, I pressed the remote camera shutter, the rocket took off and exploded and my shutter clicked shut. We did it in one take and then ran out of there cuz the mosquitoes were eating us alive. On the computer in Photoshop; I cropped the picture, adjusted the colors and saturation a little, used a program called Noiseware Pro to reduce noise, used a program call Topaz Adjust to make the red orange sparks ‘pop’ a little and then gave the entire image a little overall sharpening. That's it – thanks for looking.

university of minnesota - great summer jobs

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:25:18 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

University of Minnesota campus poster pillar in front of the School of Chemistry building

cathedral of saint paul - st. paul, minnesota

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:01:39 -0800

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Panoramic view of the Cathedral of Saint Paul - home church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Minnesota. Opened in 1915, this impressively symmetrical place of worship sits high on Cathedral Hill overlooking downtown St. Paul, MN (the Minnesota state capitol city that bears the same name). In 2009 it was designated as the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican.

Check out this dizzying 360 degree interior view of the cathedral from Rack Virtual Tours: rackphoto.com/panos/rackoramas/stpaul/stpaul.html

art shanty projects minnesota robot

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:05:52 -0800

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

I went to the Art Shanty Projects last weekend on Medicine Lake in the Twin Cities suburb of Plymouth, MN. The ASP is a combination sculpture park and artist community event inspired by all the ice fishing houses that appear on Minnesota's frozen lakes this time of year. Artist design and show off all different kinds of creative interactive structures that are on display over a 4 weekend period.

This robo theme shanty is called 'Robot Reprise', visitors can crawl inside the bot, move the body and arms around, spy through a periscope mounted on it's head, and shoot rockets out its hands.

The Art Shanty Project is over for 2012 but they will be back - check'em out on Flickr: www.flickr.com/groups/artshantyprojects/pool and: artshantyprojects.org

minneapolis downtown night

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:00:59 -0800

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Minneapolis downtown at night - taken from the rooftop of the Marquette Place Apartment building on the south end of the city looking north. We have been having some unseasonably warm January weather in Minnesota but it's still nice and frigid 35 stories up :O

minneapolis skyline

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:03:06 -0800

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

On the 14th floor of the Millennium Hotel is a geodescent glass dome with some spectacular views of the downtown Minneapolis skyline.

fall colors - north shore, minnesota

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:12:50 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

I finally got my camera back, so I went up the North Shore of Minnesota last weekend to try it out on some fall colors. This is a panoramic view from Oberg Mountain located between the towns of Tofte and Lutsen. It's a well traveled hiking trail that loops around the 'mountain' and offers some breathtaking views of the Lake Superior National Forest area and its dense populations of Sugar Maple, Aspen, Birch and Spruce trees. The locals described it as looking like a giant bowl of Foot Loops.

japanese lantern lighting festival - como park st. paul, mn

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:06:41 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

I went to the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival at Como Park in St. Paul, MN last Sunday. The afternoon long activities ended at dusk when paper lanterns were lit and floated across the Frog Pond in front of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory.

This event takes place every August on the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory grounds in a tribute to Japan's annual Obon Holiday. Buddhist tradition says that during Obon ancestral spirits revisit their families for three days. Many Japanese will return home to pay their respects at grave-sites and often paper lanterns are lit and floated down the river to help guide the spirits.

This year took on special significance as everyone remembered those lost in Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami disasters.

平和、ヒース、理解、繁栄

steel wool spinning - raining sparks in minnesota

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:03:21 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Had some fun spinning burning steel wool the other night inside the old rail road tunnel behind the Historic Sibley House in Mendota, Minnesota. A big tanks to my brave light painting associates;
Cousin Greg who burned the hair off his forearms and Telly who ruined her Mom's umbrella :O

Get a lesson on light painting with burning wool from da master Evan Sharboneau at Photo Extremist

st. paul mn - 1st bank roof sign

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:26:40 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

From the roof of the First National Bank building in downtown St. Paul, MN.

More than you probably want to know:
The First National Bank building was constructed in 1931 and at 417ft it was the tallest building in Saint Paul Minnesota for over 55 years. Although 3rd tallest today, it's still the most recognizable building in town because of it's cool art deco architecture and this big red neon '1st' sign on the roof. The '1st' sign is a local icon that can bee seen from 75 miles away at night and 20 miles away on a clear day. It has 3 sides, is 50ft or over four stories tall, made up of 4,00ft feet of neon tubing, and when it blinks 'on' everything round it glows red.

I’ve had a few questions about this . . . and sadly no, the Fist Bank roof is not open to the public.

fireworks over st. paul minnesota july 4th

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:39:29 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

Fireworks over St. Paul Minnesota on July 4th (Independence Day 2011) seen from the Smith Avenue High Bridge looking up the Mississippi river to downtown Saint Paul, MN. It was the first time I've been in town for the 4th of July since I got a camera . . . fun

minnesota fort snelling cannon shot

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:02:45 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

minnesota fort snelling cannon shot

Blasting the cannon at Historic Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minnesota - kaboom'ski !!

More than you probably want to know:
Fort Snelling is a fully restored military fort on the bluffs overlooking the intersection of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in Saint Paul, MN. It's operated by the Minnesota Historical Society as a living museum with people in period costumes interpreting what life was like back in the day.

Fort Snelling was completed in 1825 and was the northern most outpost of the USA. It protected fur trading routes and was the first official building in the territory that became Minnesota in 1858. This place is chuck-full of history and is kind of the 'birth place' of Minnesota housing the first school, first hospital, fist post office, etc - way too many things to fully list, but here's a couple I thought were interesting:

* Zachary Taylor, who became our 12th President in 1849, was commander of Fort Snelling for two years starting in 1828. He later wrote in his diary that the region was "a most miserable & uninteresting country" (what a wussy).

* Dred Scott was a slave owned by a doctor at Fort Snelling. Dred was able to save up money but was not allowed to purchase his own freedom. A group of abolitionist legal advisers took his case to the US Supreme Court that ruled in 1857 that slaves are property and have no human rights - that appalling ruling strengthened slavery opposition and helped usher in the American Civil War.

* In May of 1876, General George A. Custer used Fort Snelling as the planning and kickoff point for his ill-fated expedition against the Sioux (Lakota) that ended in his massive 'Last Stand' defeat on the Little Big Horn river some 800 miles to the West in Montana.

Along with all this cool American expansionist history you also learn that the native peoples like Dakota and Ojibwe, who's way of life had changed very little for over 2,000 years, sadly gets all but erased in one generation after the building of this Fort.

Historic Fort Snelling www.historicfortsnelling.org - cannon blasts off at 1:00 & 4:00pm.

minneapolis minnesota underwear stairs

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:39:04 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

minneapolis minnesota

Looking up the International Market Square building stairwell in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is the largest commercial double helix staircase in the US - built with straight runs and flat landings it intertwines two separate sets of stairs, one for going up and one for going down.

More than you probably want to know:
Although it looks like artwork by M. C. Escher, these unique stairs have a more utilitarian reason for existence - or so the story goes: International Market Square used to be the old Munsingwear underwear factory. George Munsing invented non-scratchy underwear in 1891 which was a miracle for the textile industry but sewing the stuff all day was not a fun job and employee morale became a problem. When George designed his new state-of-the-art factory in 1904 he spared no expense by putting in one set of stairs to accommodate happy people coming to work, and one set of stairs for the exhausted people leaving. With two sets of stairs, different shifts of employees would never run into each other - morale problem solved.

The Munsingwear company was extremely successful and became the largest manufacture and distributor of underwear in the world. Eventually competition caught up and market declines forced Munsingwear to close down the Minneapolis building in 1981. In 1985, the old factory was renovated and the complex was renamed International Market Square, which currently holds offices, shops, showrooms and this cool set of stairs.

guthrie theater yellow room minneapolis

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:50:16 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

guthrie theater yellow room minneapolis

Looking out from the Guthrie Theater's 'Yellow Room' in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On the 9th floor of the Guthrie Theater is this very cool cantilevered observation box made of amber/yellow colored glass windows and floor - it looks north over the Mississippi and has awesome views of the the riverfront district: Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls, Mill City Museum, Gold Medal & Pillsbury Parks, Nicollet Island and the St. Anthony Main area.

I know this kind of looks like a manipulation but it's a real yellow room, a real view and a real model - thanks Telly! Check out the Guthrie 'Yellow Room' space on YouTube.

downtown minneapolis government center

nobody@flickr.com (Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP)) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:07:37 -0700

Dan Anderson (dead camera, RIP) posted a photo:

downtown minneapolis government center

The 24-story open atrium inside the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis Minnesota was cleverly built in 1973 to frame the clock tower of the historic Minneapolis City Hall building across the street - it's like standing in a King Kong sized beehive :O

More than you probably want to know:
I had a few questions on what was used on this one; it's basically 2 shots from a fisheye lens (Sigma 10mm f/2.8) photomerged in Photoshop into a vertical panorama. I needed to overlap the shots about 60% otherwise they got too wonky to lineup. The bottom shot was a combination of 2 images blended together using Layers and Masks - one focused/exposed for the old city hall and another focused/exposed for the interior atrium - that's it