January 31, 2010

One Big Crane

Nope, this photo was not taken in the Twin Cities. I just had to post this photo of my brother-in-law, John, who works at the Barrick Goldstrike mine out in Nevada. The trucks are massive as you can see. He's loading a bucket into a 320 ton truck. Then it's off to be processed looking for gold.

  

January 29, 2010

Custom Made Hotrod

It's quite a neat looking design for this custom made vehicle. Maybe it's the wheels standing out so much. They have red rims, outrageous white wall tires, plus they are on the outside of the car versus inside a wheel well. I'm curious what it will look like once it does get a paint job.

January 26, 2010

Red Rock Saloon

The Red Rock Saloon is in Newport along Highway 61. With the new construction that took place in Newport removing the three stop lights in town, it's very easy to overlook the neon lights while driving at night. I've always liked this neon sign for the Red Rock Saloon and Bowling despite never paying the place a visit. Heck, I really have no idea if there is still bowling in the tavern as it appears to be quite a small place. The Red Rock Saloon is in Newport along Highway 61. With the new construction that took place in Newport removing the three stop lights in town, it's very easy to overlook the neon lights while driving at night.

January 25, 2010

B&W Downtown St Paul

Taken from the east side neighborhood.

January 23, 2010

Pants On The Ground

I'm unsure of the photographer, but it made me laugh today! Those of you familiar with American Idol this season should be familiar with the 'pants on the ground' saying, if not, word search 'You Tube'. I found it very amusing and a bit of a break from my usual daily picture.

January 22, 2010

Could This Be An Alligator Sign?

No, this is not sign for strangely shaped alligators, it's actually a sign for shopping carts at a department store. I thought it looked better if I flipped the photo upside down.

January 21, 2010

Dog Show

Adjacent to the Xcel Energy Center is a large convention center type building call 'River Center'. As I was making my way to an event at the Xcel, I peered into the window and saw a dog show competition. I'd personally never been to one before and stood and watched for about five minutes. There was two or three different judging areas for the dogs and so much additional activity in the room. I know this photo has a lot in it and is incredibly busy to look at, but I did crop out quite a bit to help on the eyes.

January 18, 2010

Busy Bodies

I must have spent about 5 minutes taking photos of people walking by from above. Each one turned out differently than the next. This one has a mom pushing a baby stroller, you should be able to figure out which of the ghostly figures is the one I am referring too.

January 17, 2010

Would You, Could You

I just had to take a photo of this couple eating dinner. I was three floors above them when I took their photo of their dinner....

January 15, 2010

Aim For The Water Tower

One of the water towers in Hastings right next to the high schools baseball field. Curious how many times the water tower has been hit with a home run ball?

January 13, 2010

Lines, Shadows And Colors

I've always liked this hallway the most at the Mall Of America, it is the 'West' hallway. Perhaps it's the colors, or even the lines that I like. They've added in new lighting up in the high ceiling which brings out the colors during the night. This was always the least lit up hallway until the new lights were installed.

January 12, 2010

For Those Of You Who Can't Decide

I have to hand it to Ross Bernstein, his book caught my eye the other day. Being from Minnesota, there are people torn with this decision, despite the Vikings record this year and sitting in the playoffs. I can only image those from Packer land who could have an even great rage for the future Hall Of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. If you look closely at the book, it's a flip book. One side is is for the Love of Favre, the other side is for the hatred of Favre. I'm unsure of how the sale of this book is going, but I do own one Ross Bernstein book called 'The Code'. It's about the unwritten rules of hockey.

January 11, 2010

Extreme Custom Choppers

Found along Highway 61 in Newport. I really loved the flames painted on this building. I must say, this is the first time I've ever seen flames painted on a building.

January 10, 2010

Lots Of Streaking

I found a new flicker.com group called 'Camera Toss' and thought I would give it a whirl. Essentially, you click the shutter button, throw the camera in the air and catch it. There is some skill to it as my attempt is rather shaky compared to some of the other results I've seen here on the camera toss flicker site.

January 8, 2010

An E Please

Not sure if it was the subzero weather at the time I took this photo or if the 'E' is truly on the fritz, regardless, it was a very cold night for the setup of this photo along Cliff Road in Eagan.

January 7, 2010

That Explains It All

A sign located in downtown St Paul explaining how an energy plant works.

January 5, 2010

Photographers Photographing Photographers Series

We've all done it, photographed some random person who was taking a photo while you were taking a photo of them. I just may work this idea into a new series on the blog whenever possible. I'm not sold on the idea, but it's not like it happens everyday either.

January 1, 2010

2009 Best Of Photo - Theme Day: Changes

Those of you looking for the Theme Day: Changes Photo, you'll have to scroll down to the second photo as I'm posting my "Best Of 2009" photo first and the "Theme Day" photo second.

Best Photo of 2009 Looking back on all of the photos I captured in 2009, this one stood out the most. It was really an experimental photo, perhaps that's why I like it the most. On this particular night, I was out taking photos of a major lightning storm. The rain hadn't started yet at the time. After 15 minutes of dry weather, the skies opened up and I retreated to the safety of my garage as the rain fell. While waiting for the rain to slow a little bit before I headed into my house, I snapped a couple of photos of the street lights shining off of my vehicles parked in the driveway. After viewing the photos of the night on my monitor, this photo turned out better than the lightning photos I captured.

To see additional theme day photos around the world, stop by the portal page for a convenient thumbnail view of all participants. As the time zone changes each hour, more photos will be added.

Theme Day: Changes Greetings Theme Day viewers. Welcome to 2010 and my theme day of Changes. For me personally, a major change was tearing the roof off my home in 2009. With the help of several friends, we installed a wonderful new roof in about three days. It was quite a bit of work for all of us involved, but after several good rains storms, there are no leaks! Plus it did pass the city inspection. Life is good.

To see additional theme day photos around the world, stop by the portal page for a convenient thumbnail view of all participants. As the time zone changes each hour, more photos will be added.