Architecture

The Best Season // Minneapolis Photography

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It doesn't get much better than fall in Minneapolis. This week I ventured out to shoot photos for a piece on Citinerary in which I wrote about my top five ways to celebrate this marvelous season. Hint: it involves drinking really good beer. 

Check out the journal article here and scroll through a few of the images for the article below.

 ( c l i c k  t o  e n l a r g e )

Family Staycation

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True Story: when the Mall of America first opened in 1992, I was almost 12 years old and I was obsessed with it. I vividly remember poring over every single word of the Star Tribune's Variety section pull-out feature prior to the grand opening. I knew, before even stepping foot inside its walls, the color of the (then) carpeted floors of the South Avenue wing of the mall and best entrance to use to go straight to the movie theater. 

If you had told me that I would someday be offered the opportunity to stay, shop, dine, and play there with my family and get paid for it, my 12-year-old self would have been blown away. In fact, my 35-year-old self was sort of blown away when the offer came in a month ago to do just that in exchange for some photos of the experience. I knew my kids would absolutely love it. I also knew the Mall has come a long way since 1992 and recent updates have made it highly photogenic. Having a press pass - and the authority and confidence that comes with it - was an added perk to the gig and one I wish I'd used even more. Here are a few of the DSLR images I snapped while there.

B+W

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Like a chain letter or a game of tag, a Black & White five-shot challenge has recently been making its way across Instagram land. I was tagged by a friend to participate and my first thought was, "fuck. I never do BW" and then, "I wonder if he'll notice if I just ignore this." I've always really admired black and white photographs though, so just for the heck of it, I dug into my archives and found a few shots that looked remarkably good in black and white. Better, even. And I soon realized my tendency - that I'm always kicking myself for - of chasing harsh light, lent itself really well to a monochromatic edit. So I accepted the challenge and actually ended up posting six shots, the latter two of which I intentionally shot with a BW edit in mind. It proved to be an incredibly valuable exercise and way to challenge myself.