I love the Minneapolis skyline.
These days, I am less interested in taking landscapes. Landscapes still tell a story, but it’s less of a story than say, portrait photography. And that is what I am interested in, pictures that have a story behind them.
I will keep taking pictures of landscapes since I still find myself led to capture what stops me. And I frequently find myself stopped cold by this city.
I went snooping around Minneapolis Technical College for this picture. Found this window at the end of a long hallway where I could set up a tri-pod and take my time tinkering with the levels. Though, right outside the door was a janitor, talking with someone, maybe another janitor. I kept waiting for them to open the door, and discover me there. Yes, I would have some explaining to do, but really, I wasn’t bothering anything, or stealing anything, (except for light).
Though stunning, this is not Minneapolis’ best angle. I am always on the lookout for Minneapolis’ best angle. My poor wife, I’m always pointing out the views and hinting obnoxiously, “Gee, I know we’re running late for XYZ, but it’d be great to stop and take a picture. No?”
Minneapolis skyline from Walker Museum patio
I miraculously caught this time lapse with my daughter pulling away at my sleeve. (She is not as fond of the free Thursday nights at the Walker Museum as I am.)
Minneapolis Skyline shot from I-94
Rush hour traffic, especially at this curve in I-94 is painfully slow. So I pulled over to the generously wide shoulder to take this picture. I was standing on the shoulder, next to the trunk of my car, trying to get a bead on the city, when someone yelled from their car window, “You can’t be out here!” I ignored them. The picture was almost in focus. They yelled again, “You can’t be out here taking pictures! It’s against the law.”
I turned and looked, there was a man in a truck, leaning into his passenger seat. He had the passenger window rolled down. Though he was on the freeway, he was not moving. That is how slow traffic was moving. He was looking at me and motioning, move it along!
I said, “Why don’t you shut the fuck up?” and turned back to the city to get this shot, finally.
Minneapolis skyline at night from I-35 bridge
And then there’s these two, which are maybe my favorite angles of the Minneapolis skyline. The first shot is a little darker than I’d like. I’d stopped here, on the I-35 bridge, late at night to get this shot. This was only supposed to be a test shot, to check my levels. And while I was making the adjustments (shrinking the aperture and ISO and raising the exposure to six seconds) a Sheriff pulled up behind me with his lights on.
He informed me, politely but firmly, I was not allowed to stop on the freeway to take pictures.
This is a pretty great angle of the city, so I wonder if they have a lot of asshole photographers stopping here to get this shot. I asked the sheriff if I could just get this one picture, as it had been a pain in the ass to get all the levels right, all I had to do was push the button and wait like, three seconds.
He said, “No.”
Later, I returned to this spot on the way home from an ice-fishing trip in Wisconsin. I planned the shoot as I approached the spot. I stopped on the bridge. I turned on my flashers and rolled down the passenger side window, and unlatched the trunk. With the trunk open, I could feign car trouble if another sheriff were to arrive to the scene. So I could get out of the car without the camera, walk around to the passenger side window and, leaning in the window, I could fiddle with the levels while looking out the back window for a break in the cars. When there were no cars, I turned and snapped these pictures of the city.
Winter in Minnesota is not a particularly flattering time, for color photography. There’s lots of shades of brown. But this picture sings as a black and white. Yes, it is barren and desolate, but as black and white it becomes un-lonely.