Many participants in the City of Lakes Loppet push themselves to the limit, often reflected in their facial expressions, some of which are not necessarily flattering.

This participant looks like she’s having fun.

Last weekend we had the City of Lakes Loppet, a collection of skiing related events centered on Lake of the Isles. This photo shows the launch of the Sons of Norway Minne-Loppet, taken while I was waiting for the crew of Mitchster, Rob, and Matt to arrive for our trek onto Lake of the Isles.

Another graffiti photo. Wonder about the implications of having multiple posts with the same title. Maybe I should number them, like Xavier? BTW, Xavier will be at the Uptown Art Festival this year again. Stop by at his booth if you happen to be there.

This shot was taken underneath a bridge across the Mississippi. That whole area was fairly tricky to walk around on, mini valleys and canyons, unstable soil. That’s one of the reasons I like to wear solid leather boats on photo shoots like this. They protect your feet and ankles, and give good ankle support. Unfortunately that doesn’t work during summer. Leather boots and shorts, now that would be a sight.

While I was taking photos, I heard this odd rumble behind me. Turned around a watched a section of the hill about the size of a refrigerator break loose and tumble down. Glad I wasn’t standing there :)

These loading docks obviously are no longer in use. I found these riding around on my bike looking for a good view of the Cirque du Soleil which was performing this weekend. Couldn’t find one. I did go up to the front gate and walked into the fenced in area, and being a good citizen photographer asked an employee/guard if it was OK to take photos, just of the tents. He told me I needed a press pass because I had a ‘big camera’, which I could pick up at the main (employee) gate. I did point out to him there where other people with ‘big cameras’ but for some reason he couldn’t see them. On a whim I biked over to the employee gate, knowing that wasn’t going anywhere, and was met by a couple of Asia Security guards. Lets just say they looked like they hadn’t slept for a while, and weren’t in a friendly mood. I told them ‘good job’ and moved on :)

Out on photo shoots, Mitch has reminded me several times that shooting into the sun isn’t necessarily the best thing to do. A bad habit of mine. The camera simply can’t make the adjustments our minds make when looking from dark areas to light areas. For example my eyes saw plenty of detail in the shady areas of the trees across the lake, while at the same time seeing the details in the sky. With the camera you have to sacrifice one or the other, in this case the shade in the trees. Sometimes though it does work out. No one probably cares about what’s going on in the distance.

This shot is from Lake Calhoun. It was very windy that day, and these sailboarders were zipping back and forth at amazingly high speeds.

For other skywatch photos go here