Twin City Photos

Back from a short trip to Singapore, I managed a couple of photo outings in the evening. The heat and humidity, though it’s now the ‘cool’ season, was difficult to deal with. No matter how much your pace yourself, it doesn’t take long to turn into a sweat soaked mess. At times the relative humidity is so high raindrops seem to materialize out of nowhere. Always carry an umbrella with you, and a small towel to wipe the sweat of your forehead.

This is the Lionhead, the national symbol of Singapore. Located in front of the Fullerton Hotel along the Singapore river, it is a main attraction for visitors.

Always like to set a few of these up around our campsite. Supposedly they keep the mosquitoes away, but I think a bug zapper would work better.

View of downtown St. Paul riverfront from Raspberry Island after sunset. Is this where Prince got his inspiration for Raspberry Beret?

For other skywatch photos go here

One thing you see a lot of in the older sections of Italian towns is what you might call creative wiring. No two jobs look even remotely the same.  Quite picturesque

It was a lot darker then the photos would let you believe, close to midnight out in the country side near Duluth. Focusing through the lens is impossible, and I had to use the distance marker on the lens barrel. The first shot is a 20 second (ISO 400) exposure, the second almost 150 seconds (ISO 100), causing the clouds to streak. I manually fired an external flash a few times to illuminate the foreground. Third shot is the big dipper.

Just a few minutes before we had heard a pack of Coyotes howling, not to far away. Coyotes normally hunt alone, but will also hunt in packs for larger prey. The group howling was probably to celebrate a kill, likely a deer. I don’t think they’re interested in humans. Wolfs would be a different story though. Not sure I’d stand alone in dark out there if I thought wolves were nearby. Did you know that Minnesota has the largest wolf population (estimated at around 3,000) in the lower 48? They’ve pretty much filled up the north woods, and population is stable now as a balance between prey (deer), space, and wolves has been reached.

As it was though the only creatures interested in me standing a the river’s edge were the mosquitoes.

Went for an evening shoot down at the St. Anthony Main with a fellow Twin Cities Photoblogger and some members of a local photo group. Great weather, pleasant company, and a relaxed atmosphere made this a very enjoyable evening.