Calm

A photo to help us all keep calm after a crazy week in the Stock Market, the financial institutions, Wall Street and the US Government.

Boundary Waters

I wanted to answer Dusty Lens of the North Metro Minneapolis Photo Blog, his question was what lakes do we travel to. We usually enter the BWCAW around the city of Ely. The access lake we enter is Snowbank, then into Disappointment Lake. Once through these two lakes, which are the longest two lakes we have to paddle, the rest are fairly small. Adventure, Jitterbug, Cantyman, Asaub, Jordan, and we either end up on Ima or Alworth Lake. We like to make a base camp and then take day trips from there. We like to stay on Ima to fish for Lake Trout, plus we caught some Northern Pike in the range of 40-43 inches on this lake in the past. It's lowest point is 140 feet and typically has a 40 foot average depth about 20 feet from shore.

Theme Day: Water

The Theme Day for April is 'water'. The photo I've selected was a fun one to take. That is my son jumping into the water. He was jumping off of a rock into one of the lakes in the BWCA. The height from the rock to the water was about three to four feet. This gave me a great vantage point to take this shot. I believe this was my sixth attempt to get the capture I was looking for. My son was more than willing to jump into the water, wouldn't you if you were nine years old?

There are many more cities participating in today's theme day photo. Please stop by their photo sites and say hello. Let them know that Slinger from Twin Cities Daily Photo sent you. Do give everyone around the world a chance for their timezones differences to see all of the city photos.


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

theme day id=13

Adelaide, Australia, Albuquerque (NM), USA, American Fork (UT), USA, Anderson (SC), USA, Ararat, Australia, Arradon, France, Ashton under Lyne, UK, Athens, Greece, Auckland, New Zealand, Austin (TX), USA, Bandung, Indonesia, Barton (VT), USA, Belgrade, Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia, Bellefonte (PA), USA, Bicheno, Australia, Bogor, Indonesia, Boston (MA), USA, Boston (MA), USA, Boston (MA), USA, Brighton, UK, Brookville (OH), USA, Budapest, Hungary, Budapest, Hungary, Canterbury, UK, Cape Town, South Africa, Chandler (AZ), USA, Chateaubriant, France, Cheltenham, UK, Chicago (IL), USA, Christchurch, New Zealand, Clearwater (FL), USA, Clearwater Beach (FL), USA, Cleveland (OH), USA, Coral Gables (FL), USA, Cypress (TX), USA, Dallas/Fort Worth (TX), USA, Dunedin (FL), USA, Durban, South Africa, East Gwillimbury, Canada, Evry, France, Glasgow, Scotland, Greenville (SC), USA, Grenoble, France, Guelph, Canada, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA, Hamilton, New Zealand, Hampton (VA), USA, Haninge, Sweden, Helsinki, Finland, Hobart, Australia, Hyde, UK, Inverness (IL), USA, Jackson (MS), USA, Jakarta, Indonesia, Jefferson City (MO), USA, Jogjakarta, Indonesia, Joplin (MO), USA, Juneau (AK), USA, Katonah (NY), USA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Kyoto, Japan, Lake Forest Park (WA), USA, Larchmont (NY), USA, Las Vegas (NV), USA, Lisbon, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal, Lodz, Poland, London, UK, London, UK, Mainz, Germany, Maple Ridge, Canada, Marseille, France, Mazatlan, Mexico, Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne, Australia, Memphis (TN), USA, Menton, France, Mexico City, Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, Minneapolis (MN), USA, Minneapolis (MN), USA, Minsk, Belarus, Monrovia (CA), USA, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Monterrey, Mexico, Moscow, Russia, Mumbai, India, Mumbai, India, Mumbai, India, Nancy, France, Naples (FL), USA, Nashville (TN), USA, Nelson, New Zealand, New Orleans (LA), USA, New York City (NY), USA, Niamey, Niger, Norfolk (VA), USA, Norman (OK), USA, Norwich, UK, Nottingham, UK, Odense, Denmark, Omsk, Russia, Orlando (FL), USA, Oslo, Norway, Paderborn, Germany, Paris, France, Paris, France, Pasadena (CA), USA, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary, Pont-à-Mousson, France, Port Angeles (WA), USA, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Port Townsend (WA), USA, Port Vila, Vanuatu, Portland (OR), USA, Portland (ME), USA, Portsmouth (VA), USA, Prague, Czech Republic, Quincy (MA), USA, Riga, Latvia, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Saarbrücken, Germany, Saigon, Vietnam, Saint Louis (MO), USA, Saint Paul (MN), USA, Salem (OR), USA, Salt Lake City (UT), USA, Salt Lake City (UT), USA, San Diego (CA), USA, San Francisco (CA), USA, Seattle (WA), USA, Seattle (WA), USA, Seguin (TX), USA, Selma (AL), USA, Sequim (WA), USA, Sesimbra, Portugal, Setúbal, Portugal, Shanghai, China, Sharon (CT), USA, Singapore, Singapore, Sofia, Bulgaria, St Francis, South Africa, Stavanger, Norway, Stayton (OR), USA, Stockholm, Sweden, Stouffville, Canada, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, Suffolk (VA), USA, Sunshine Coast, Australia, Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Australia, Székesfehérvár, Hungary, Tacloban City, Philippines, Terrell (TX), USA, Terrell (TX), USA, The Hague, Netherlands, Tokyo, Japan, Toruń, Poland, Toulouse, France, Turin, Italy, Tuzla, Bosnia, Twin Cities (MN), USA, Victoria, Canada, Vienna, Austria, Virginia Beach (VA), USA, Wailea (HI), USA, Washington (DC), USA, Wassenaar, Netherlands, Wellington, New Zealand, West Paris (ME), USA, West Sacramento (CA), USA, Weston (FL), USA, Williamsburg (VA), USA, Willits (CA), USA, Yardley (PA), USA

Twice As Nice

Tomorrow is my Theme Day photo in the Daily Photo Community. Water is the theme for the month of April. While this is not my selection for tomorrow's theme, this would be my second choice. I went out a little over a week ago with this shot in mind to use for the theme day. I found the location I wanted and I'm very happy with the results of the photo. I used a photo technique that Chris from Minneapolis Daily Photo often used in his shots.

So if this is my second choice for the theme day of 'Water', what is my first choice? Well, you'll have to stop back tomorrow and find out. It was a bit more of a challenging photo to take than today's photo is.

My Daily Photo Favorites: London, United Kingdom | Torino, Italy | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Grenoble, France | Minneapolis, Minnesota

Roadside Reflections

Today's photo was taken by my wife while we were driving down the highway at 60+ miles per hour. I was driving, she was taking photos. It was taken on highway 61, just south of Red Wing.

My Daily Photo Favorites: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Greenville, South Carolina | Terrell, Texas

Interesting Links Of the Day: Joby Gorilla Pod | Pictures Taken From The Sky | How Well Do You Know Your World

Minnesota? Yes. Twin Cities? No.

Being as it's a long holiday weekend, I'm going to venture away from the Twin Cities to one of my favorite scenic places outside of the Twin Cities. Well, at least within a two hour drive. I showed you yesterday's spectacular drive by view along the Mississippi River on Highway 61. Today I've made it to Winona, which was our destination for the day. Our first stop was to Garvin Heights on the bluff overlooking the city of Winona. Across to the other side is Wisconsin. Oddly enough, the height of the bluffs on the other side is exactly the same as the side I am standing on taking this photo. The road at the bottom of the photo is Highway 61, the body of water on the left is called, West Lake Winona, the body of water on the right is East Lake Winona. The road splitting the two lakes is called Main Street. One street over to the right of Main Street has a bridge that crosses over the Mississippi River to Wisconsin. On the far right of the photo and just above the lake there is a football stadium where the fans had just ran onto the field. It's probably very hard to make out exactly what I'm talking about. The band was playing and the people where cheering loudly enough to be heard from where I was. The buildings around the stadium with the orange/reddish roofs is the Winona State Campus.

The view from here is incredible any time of the year. On clear days, one can see for 30 miles along the Mississippi Valley. 20 miles to the left and 10 miles to the right. From where I am standing, the direction I am facing is North, with the river flowing from the West to the East.

My 3 Daily Photo Favorites: St Louis, Missouri
Kyoto, Japan
Miami, Florida

Casual Saturday Up The River

Made a quick trip along the bank of the Mississippi River to catch this empty barge cruising up the river to it's destination. It's easy to tell that the barge is empty because if you look closely at the paint above the surface, you can see rust lines of where it usually sits in the water. I would estimate there is about 8 to 10 feet above the water line that is now visible in comparison to the open doors on the tugboat.

My 3 Daily Photo Favorites:
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cleveland, Ohio
Truxillo, Peru

Quick Way To Cool Off

Hot summer days, cool water. Why prolong getting your whole body wet? Just jump right in and get it over with. This is my son jumping into a Minnesota lake, we have 14,000+ lakes in our state. Heck, there is a group of Minnesotans who take a jump in the lake on New Years Day to start the new year off right....if you know our winters, we have snow, ice, and bitter cold. It is on my list of things to do once in my lifetime.

My 5 Daily Photo Favorites:
Toronto, Canada
Little Rock, Arkansas
Wellington, New Zealand
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Ystad, Sweden

Build It And They Will Come

The Mississippi River shipping season is open to barge traffic now as of March 28. Almost a month later, the river is starting to warm a bit, but the small boat docks sit empty. Soon they will be filled with boats of all flavors and variety.