Index
Hiking & Traveling - National Parks
Index
Hiking & Traveling - National Parks
Since Minnesota is legendary for its extreme cold, why not start by admiring the beauty of Minnesota in the winter?
Index
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Death Valley National Park
Video 1: A beautiful view from the kitchen on a lazy fall early afternoon. Nice to see the willow tree that we had planted a few years ago doing so well. The leaves are turning and the winter is not far away. But I love fall - it is my favorite season in Minnesota.
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Photography - HOME SWEET HOME is a subsection of Photography
My favorite place for taking pictures is in and around our home. The "around" part comes from where we live. We live in a Twin Cities suburb, conveniently located near the metro area. And yet, the nature is all around us. Fortunately, we also have a big pond in the backyard. Over the years, and in collaboration with the watershed district, we have cultivated a native plant habitat around it. (Credit goes to Christine!). This attracts all kinds of wildlife.
Add to this Minnesota’s stark seasonal changes, and you have a perfect backdrop. No matter what time of the year, all you have to do is to just look out the window, and you'll see something interesting happening. Then it is just a question of making the effort to take out my camera and capture the beauty in front of me - and preserve it forever.
I also take quite a few pictures "inside" the home. This is primarily about convenience. In this case, my shooting studio is typically the dining table in the formal dining room. That's because the table is next to a north-facing window. This provides beautiful diffuse lighting, which is great especially for still photography. And I have a great deal of control over the two most important elements of photography - composition and lighting.
Index
INSIDE THE HOME
Most of these pictures were taken between November and April. This is when the outside is drab - so I bring the color inside!
More Than Meets the Ei: One of my favorite photos tells more than what meets the eye. (das) "Ei" means egg in German and is pronounced as "eye" in english (2008)
If a Flower Could Smile: 2016
Brightening up a Day in Winter: 2010
Farmer's Market Bouquet: In 2010
Remembrance of the Summer: In 2010 and 2013
Antidotes to Winter: In 2008, and 2018 (orchids)
Orchid: One of my first attempts at photographing flowers on the dining table (2008)
Orchid: One of my first attempts at photographing flowers on the dining table (2008)
Season's Greetings: In 2017
Ready to Line Dance: I was cluelessly mistaken about line dancing. Nevertheless, these boots remain my favorite (2012)
Morchella aka Morels: We used to forage mushrooms back in Germany but had stopped doing so in Minnesota because the varieties are different. Now we forage only morels because they are difficult to confuse with other varieties. Besides, they are second only to truffle in taste (2011)
Morel Delight: The visual delight of morels should not be underestimated. Glad that I took the time to preserve the beauty "for ever" (2011)
The Vase, Not the Flowers: The base of the vase, with stem and marbles, was more interesting than the flowers that I had originally intended to shoot (2009)
AROUND THE HOME
The Enchanting Corner: This year, we created this inviting nook around a water fountain in our front yard (2020)
Tiny, Green Frog: Every year, we find these tiny green frogs on 3 feet high, pink coneflowers. Why and how do they get there? As I was taking the picture, I was surprised by a bee! Taken in the backyard in 2020.
False Goatsbeard: A great composition in the backyard, with wild grass and a garden flag ( 2020)
Mini Daisy with a Fly: The flowers are just 10 mm in diameter, in the backyard in 2020
Cone Flowers and the Bee: In the backyard in 2015
A Butterfly on a Daisy: In the frontyard in 2010
A Butterfly on a Coneflower: In the backyard in 2010
Bumblebee and Dragonfly: In the backtyard in 2008
Tiny, Green Frog: On an elephant ear plant. Taken in our backyard in 2014
Oops. Did I Scare You?: Our backyard is a daycare center for fawns (2017)
Duck Train: Making it to the other side of the pond (2011)
Geese and Ducks Share the Pond: A Canadian Goose family (2011) and a a pair of wood ducks (2014)
The More the Merrier: Innumerable turtles, big and small, call our pond their home. Sunbathing on a log (2011)
The Egret: The pond with frogs, fish and turtles is a splendid table for the egret (2016)
Chickadee: Every summer the tiny tenants come back and pay back with all day long songs (2017)
Wren: In the backyard, in 2015 and 2020
A Kitchen View of the Gazebo: The gazebo for the summer and the three season porch-like kitchen for the rest of the year (2013)
A Farewell to Summer: The tender pink hydrangea are the harbinger of impending autumn (2012)
The Neighbor's Waterfall: The waterfall in Bob and Cheryl's backyard is a pleasant sight from our balcony (2015)
The Nymph: In Bob and Cheryl's backyard (2015)
Red, White and Blue: Ripe and juicy - for the birds in the coming winter (2008)
The Harbinger of Winter: An enchanting view of the pond on an early, foggy, fall morning - seen from the kitchen. As the ice starts to melt, it breaks up the reflections of the trees (2015)
Frost Flowers: Relax! These are garage windows. Homes are well insulated. Now get ready for some winter fun (2017)
"Baby it's Cold Outside": "Listen to the fireplace roar...". Home, sweet home at dusk (2016)
MEMORY PHOTOS
Although this page is for "hobby photos", I cannot resist posting two "memory photos" from 2010.
On a fine Sunday morning in the spring, as we were clearing the backyard, what did we find? A freshly born fawn under a pine tree! We kept away from the tree, expecting the mom to return. But even after an hour, nothing has happened. Apparently, it had been abandoned. Now its survival depended on us. So, I had to go and buy a baby bottle. But it wouldn’t drink a drop and got weaker by the hour.
Not knowing what to do, we called the wildlife management center for advice. They told us that after giving birth, it is typical for does, to leave the baby alone for a while. The baby is supposedly safe because at that stage they will not have developed any body odor to attract predators. Really? We should just leave the fawn on a quiet shady clearing and the mom will come back.
By that time, the fawn had become visibly weak and lethargic. It hardly moved. We had given up hope, but we did as told, and kept a watch through the kitchen window. For a while, nothing happened.
Then we saw a doe at the other corner of the backyard. It looked around cautiously, then proceeded slowly and carefully towards the prostrate fawn, which all throughout had remained motionless. But suddenly, it perked up its ears, then first it raised its head slightly, and then its neck. It raised itself on its wobbly feet. And then, lo and behold, suddenly it bolted towards the approaching doe. It jumped around the mom for a while with obvious joy before starting to drink. And we had thought it was dying! After a while, and once the fawn had its tummy full, the doe and the fawn retreated slowly towards the wooded area and were soon gone.
VIDEOS
Now that I have violated my own rule - what the heck, I am going to post some (amateur) videos from summer, fall and winter as well. Spring is not worth the mention because it is short and barely noticeable. In Minnesota, after winter, the summer comes suddenly and with a vengeance.
The backyard, with the pond surrounded by a native plant garden, has become a refuge for many wildlife. In the spring and summer, deer come and go, feed here and give birth to fawns, which later play around in the backyard. Birds nest in flower pots. A variety of ducks and geese come back every year to nest. Frogs are everywhere, and offer a loud "frog concert" every night in the summer.
And then there are the turtles, many many of them, tiny and big. There is a big daddy turtle, more than two feet in length, that migrates between our and the neighboring pond across the street.
A couple of years ago, we had stocked our pond with small fish. Now egrets have become regular visitors. And occassionally, "romps" of river otters stop by. They are voracious fisher eaters and are not welcomed by most pond owners. But we don’t mind; the fish population seems to survive.
SUMMER
Video 2: Minnesota thunderstorms can be severe – a welcome reminder of Bangladesh, as opposed to the mild rains in Germany that I used to experience. Just such a thunderstorm is brewing and the mom, sensibly, wants to wait out under the protecting willow. But the junior is like “let’s go mom”!
Video 3: Saturday morning breakfast time in the spring (the season practically lasts just one week in Minnesota). The elm tree in the background has sprouted fresh leaves; and it’s nesting time. This American Robin thinks that the hanging flower basket is a nesting place. Fine with us. They did pretty well with four hatched chicks.
Video 4: A swarm of tiny ducklings of a kind I cannot identify. They are dark, tiny and dive underwater for rather long.
Video 5: A green frog on a flower? See that every year. But this frog is different and has found a home in the hanging flower basket in the deck.
Video 6: A "romp" of river otters (yes, that's what a group of river otters are called) frolicking in the pond and having an all-you can-eat day.
FALL
Video 1: A beautiful view from the kitchen on a lazy fall early afternoon. Nice to see the willow tree that we had planted a few years ago doing so well. The leaves are turning and the winter is not far away. But I love fall - it is my favorite season in Minnesota.
Video 2: Another view from the same kitchen, on a beautiful Saturday morning in 2018.
WINTER
