The nephew at Christmas

The title says it all...

The nephews

The cream of the crop from the annual autumn photo shoot with the nephews.

Welcome...

Minnesota Lens is my home for photography throughout Minnesota. While the main cusp of my photography takes me throughout the picturesque and scenic Minnesota River Valley, I do, from time to time, venture elsewhere.

I currently freelance through my fulltime employer and am always looking for a great time taking photos. I also lend my services (for a modest fee) to friends and family with events ranging from chronicling birthday parties and weddings to keeping a photgraphic journal of infants as they grow into adults. It all sounds cheesy when I type it out but enjoy what I post here and I welcome your feedback.

A fall photo expedition

All photos taken in early October 2007 starting in Wright County, MN and ending with the skyline of Minneapolis taken from western shore of Lake Calhoun.

Late summer photos

The autumn colors start to show in this photo taken at one of the entrances to the Minnesota Valley State Park.

The vintage sign of a rural cemetery looks even more ominous and striking in the waning light of the setting sun.
Our formerly bland white garage received a fresh coat of paint as well as some rather labor-intensive attention paid to the trim which now matches the facade of the 109 year-old house.Shakopee, Minnesota's newly-christened Huber Park, perched on the banks of the Minnesota River, is home to a new donor-funded playground and the striking architecture of this new bandshell structure I was asked to photograph for an upcoming publication.

This is the photo that recently won second place in the photography category at the Savage (MN) Art Show.

Fall Harvest

Back on the family farm, my dad empties the corn from the International 1440 combine into a trusty Parker gravity wagon.

Summer Photos

The race pays off

The sunset from the previous photo lit up the clouds in a way that couldn't have been much better. Extra-early sunset be damned, I still captured this one.

A race against time

I barely took time to breathe this afternoon as I raced down my driveway to grabmy camera and quickly leave again. This sunset was going to be worth it,

Where the mountains... of corn go

The mountains of corn from the previous picture make their way here, to a smaller ethanol plant where the corn is turned into, you guessed it, ethanol.

Mountains... of corn

An early November afternoon looking into the late afternoon shadows at a large pile of corn. To gain perspective, the pile stretches approximately 600 ft. in length.

Fall is upon us

Flowers on a portion of preserved prairie atop the Minnesota River Valley show their best Septemer colors in the afternoon sun.

A trip to Duluth

View of lighthouse at Duluth Canal
Aerial lift bridge at Canal Park
Gooseberry Falls State Park

Belle Plaine's BBQ Days Parade

Held the second weekend in July each year, the southwestern metro community of Belle Plaine embraces its small town charm while coping with the rapid growth associated with the fringe of the Twin Cities metro area.

This float, sponsored by a neighboring township, protests the decision of Lieutenant Governor and Transportation Commissioner Carol Molnau to forego a second controlled intersection on the city's U.S Hwy. 169 thoroughfare to install a u-turn southwest of the immediate city.

Summer means harvest time too

A rare rural landscape in southern Scott County, Minnesota. Early July for this farmer brought the harvest of his wheat crop in a non-mechanized way. Instead of using a combine to harvest the grain or a baler to collect the straw, this farmer instead opted for 'stacking' the straw for loose collection later.

With the sun in my face

Prior Lake. It is the typical outer ring suburb. Exploding population. Endless construction. Too many townhomes for my personal tastes.

It also has the second largest body of water in the Twin Cities metro area. Prior Lake (both the city and body of water) make for quite the search for a photo to define the community. The new monument marking the entrance to Lakefront Park with the fountain spewing droplets of pond water in the background do the trick for me.

Not quite Niagra Falls

This often-photographed dam in the Scott County city of Jordan, MN lies in the tucked away Mill Pond area. Off the beaten path, the dam is a rare hidden gem in this historic town. This day brought a couple of area teens daring enough to dive into the deeper water above the dam on Sand Creek.

Out on the prairie

The clouds stuck around past sunset to capture the small downtown park named after one of Belle Plaine's prominent townspeople, Edward Townsend. The park features a few stone benches as well as a fountain. It serves nicely as the city square for the residents who call the city divided by U.S Highway 169 as their home.

They love their baseball

Jordan's municipal baseball stadium is named 'The Mini-Met' harkening back to its northern neighbor of Bloomington, MN and the once-proud 'Metropolitan Stadium' where today's Mall of America stands. The Mini Met is home to Jordan's town-ball baseball team which competes against other southern Minnesota teams during the summer months and shares a somewhat intense rivalry with nearby Chaska.

The flags fly high

Taken on an incredibly hot and windy Memorial Day weekend, the flags along the highway flap in the wind.

They all turned into apples

The apple blossoms glinted in the early evening sun as we snapped this photo before heading down the street to grab a pizza at a now-shuttered restaurant.

A bridge over muddy waters

This Minnesota River bridge in Shakopee, Minnesota once carried the bulk of the traffic crossing from 'south of the river' to the core cities on the north side of the Minnesota River. At its peak, it carried traffic from Minnesota highway 101 from the east as well as U.S Highway 169 traffic from the south. The new bridge, visible in the background (barely) was built less than two decades ago and was supplemented a decade ago with the bypassing of Shakopee's downtown by a new Highway 169 and a souped-up Bloomington Ferry Bridge on the eastern edge of Shakopee a few miles east of the location pictured.