I wanted to share another image from our vacation in northern Minnesota. I am always amazed at the light when we are in this area. Perhaps it’s because the sky appears so large and the lakes help to reflect all the light that’s around. This particular evening the sun was getting lower in the western sky, slanting to the east. It cast a golden glow on the trees along Jack the Horse Lake. The clouds to the south were a luminous white and pink, dusted with the glow of the setting sun. And the calmness of the evening allowed the colors to be reflected in the smooth lake surface – a scene that still takes my breath away. Calmness, light, stillness, luminosity, and beauty.
Author: lindastaatsphoto
Late summer sunset at the lake
We just returned from some R&R in the north woods of Minnesota – a small cabin at Jack the Horse Resort, north of Marcell. When we first arrived, the summer heat and humidity were plainly evident – shorts and T-shirts were required, along with a dip in the lake. The second day there was a thunderstorm that moved through in the afternoon, clearing about an hour before sunset. As the clouds moved off to the east, the late sun splashed them with vivid colors, and the brilliance of the sky was reflected in the still waters of Jack the Horse Lake. The following day marked a cooling trend, and three days later we were wearing our long underwear and jackets as the north wind blew and the temps were down in the 30’s at night. The trip included successful fishing, glorious blue skies, an appreciation of the forests and woods, and even a night where we watched the Northern Lights dance above the lake.
A study of flowers in movement
I was recently out photographing before sunset. What I was hoping would be a calm evening was developing into just the opposite. The heat of the day and the increasing humidity were causing the wind to be quite blustery. My first instinct was to turn around and go home, but instead I decided to go with it. Silhouetting the flowers behind the glow of the western sky, and using a longer shutter speed, I let the flowers “dance” in front of the lens. The more I watched, the more I enjoyed the unpredictable movement of the flowers. The images seemed to take on a life of their own almost as if knowing that summer is fleeting and now’s the time to celebrate it.
Cat-sitting
Some friends have been away for the weekend and asked me to take care of their cat. Leo is a big fluffy guy, all of two years old. He’s been welcoming to me every time I’ve walked in the house, anxious for my attention and wanting to play. With all the toys he has, he seemed to really like my sandals (probably because they were something different and they were full of the outdoor smells of grass). He’s not one to sit still for very long, so it was a challenge for me to photograph him. As any pet photographer knows, you need a fast lens and a lot of patience to capture a compelling image (as well as being down on their level rather than photographing from above). I especially like this image of Leo as I think it captures his curiosity and his alertness. Of course in the next split-second after I pressed the shutter button, he jumped down to the floor and was off to his next adventure.
The epitome of a Minnesota summer
As the calendar months get closer to turning from summer to fall, I’ve been thinking about the epitome of a Minnesota summer. Although it’s many things to many people, to me it’s characterized by sun, water, and pines. If you live in the urban Twin Cities, a summer highlight is a trip “up north” whether for a weekend or a week. As the car noses northward the landscape changes, the sky gets bluer, the lakes become more numerous, and the smell of pines is evident. It’s here that I relax and breathe deeply – the smells of summer. When the cell phone is out of range and the days are marked by the sunrise and sunset, life becomes simpler and I am more concentrated. Sure, I still try to rush to cram all the “things” I want to do into each day, but it’s a slower sense of urgency. A sense that the day will be delightful no matter what activities take place (or what leisure and quiet is enjoyed). A walk down the path to the lake, some quiet time sitting on the dock watching the sun reflect off the water, and listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees, the fish surfacing, and the loons calling — this, to me, is the epitome of summer in Minnesota.
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