You Had Me at Vodka

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When the organic, "grain to bottle" distillery, KOVAL, asked me to take over their Instagram feed for a day, I accepted for two reasons: free vodka of course, and I also had the perfect opportunity with an upcoming family vacation to depict their hashtag, #ReimagineTradition. 

I was a few weeks away from taking a trip that I have taken just about every week for my entire life and as such is very meaningful to me. As I captioned one photo:

"In 1966, my grandparents began a tradition that my (entire extended) family still cherishes today: a week-long vacation on the North Shore of Lake Superior. And even though my grandparents are no longer with us, every July 4th, three generations of their offspring gather at a tiny family-owned resort (which is a also still a working, one-man, commercial fishing camp) for a week of yard games, card playing, hiking, tons of food, and classic cocktails. Of course the latter two have evolved since the days of my grandparents’ Sloppy Joe dinners and Bloody Marys made with nothing but vodka and tomato juice, but the spirit of the trip - spending time with family and enjoying the great outdoors - remains the same."
Marian and Leo, 1972.

Marian and Leo, 1972.

Here are the images I shot for it, which can also be viewed (with captions) on KOVAL's blog. 

Second Annual #612_Instameet

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A year ago, I came up with the crazy idea to organize an Instameet to celebrate Minneapolis and its creative residents. When I saw that the date in June (6/12) coincided with the city’s telephone area code (612), it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I say it was a crazy idea because I had never done anything remotely like it before and friends of mine not familiar with Instagram thought I was insane for getting together with a bunch of strangers from the internet. But anyone who understands the community-building power of this fascinating little app, knows that Instagram is as much about connecting with people as it is about photography.

What I dubbed the #612_Instameet was a huge success in its first year. KARE11 news even did a piece about it, officially putting our local Instagram community on the map. 

This year, the 2nd-Annual #612_Instameet - planned and promoted by our organization, @Minnstameets - was even bigger and better than the first. 

The crowd gathers at the start of the meet

The crowd gathers at the start of the meet

View from the Stone Arch Bridge

View from the Stone Arch Bridge

Sunset from the bridge

Sunset from the bridge

Group shot taken by Pranam Gurung @gurungp_)

Group shot taken by Pranam Gurung @gurungp_)


Art-A-Whirl

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As a Nordeaster, I absolutely love Art-A-Whirl weekend in my neighborhood. But the festivities have evolved over time and not everyone here loves it as much as I do. On Citinerary this week, I take a look at how it's changed:

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the weekend-long, open-studio art crawl in Minneapolis has become as much about live music and good beer as it is about art. In 600 words or fewer, I explore whether that’s actually a bad thing…

Skills Workshop x The Yarnery

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On an unseasonably warm and sunny day in late March, a handful of other photographers and I closed all of the shades to shut out natural light and instead got out strobes and speed lights...

My friend, Eric Mueller, and I - sensing a growing desire among our photog friends to hone our technical skills - organized a tabletop lighting workshop at the delight St. Paul store, The Yarnery. Led by the talented Andy Swarbrick, we learned about and practiced with artificial lighting setups using gorgeous yarn as product. 

Think Spring

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On Citinerary this week:

When spring teased us all with glorious sunshine and warm temps last week, only to turn gloomy and cold this week - with rain, snow, and hail yesterday - I decided drastic measures needed to be taken. (I know, I know, April showers bring May flowers and all that, but covering up newly-pedicured toes with wool socks and warm boots to endure winter-like weather is downright depressing.) So I opted to escape the weather and go into full-on denial mode. Below is not just your average “top five things to do in Minneapolis on a rainy day” list, but rather my own personal “top five ways to trick yourself into thinking it’s actually spring” list. Grab your open-toed shoes and your sunglasses and join me!

A City Made By People

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I am happy to share that I am now a City Correspondent for the international online journal, Citinerary. The journal is presently composed of 6 cities with almost 50 correspondents contributing. Based out of Amsterdam and mostly representing European cities, Minneapolis is the first North American city to become a part of this growing publication. The aim of Citinerary is simple: to have the residents, makers, artists, and photographers of a given city to share it with the world. We focus on culture and lifestyle, presenting image-heavy articles from a local's perspective.

And for my first piece: I wrote about Northeast Minneapolis of course. Specifically my little corner of town where old meets new. I'd be honored if you'd check it out here. And below are a few of the photos I shot for the article.



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.

Wanderlust

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"Wanderlust" is a word that's bandied about often, particularly in the fog-chasing, open-road-travelling, coffee-drinking world of Instagram photographers. To the extent that I poke fun of it all, I do so only out of jealousy, really. Because, man, do you ever just get hit by a travel bug in that nebulous, visceral way? It's a yearning so strong that it makes you almost ache with the desire to just. go. 

This past week, Passion Passport held an Instagram contest in commemoration of Pay Pal's 15th anniversary. They asked users to share their favorite travel memories from the past 15 years for a chance to win some sweet prizes. And since I have no means or time right now to satiate my sense of wanderlust, I settled for a good ol' walk down memory lane and the chance to live vicariously through my former self. I delved into hundreds of slides I shot from a trip 10 years ago and here's the contest entry I came up with: 

 [Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile | February, 2004] // After college graduation, I moved back in with my parents, worked two jobs, and saved up money to travel. Less than a year later, my now-husband and I set off for two months i…

 

[Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile | February, 2004] // After college graduation, I moved back in with my parents, worked two jobs, and saved up money to travel. Less than a year later, my now-husband and I set off for two months in South America. We traveled through Peru, Argentina, and Chile (where I had spent a semester living two years prior). Ten years and two kids later, we fondly remember this epic adventure where we backpacked, camped, took 19-hour bus rides, met people from all over the globe, and saw some of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders. One of these unforgettable sights was the three granite Torres del Paine in the southernmost part of Chile. We hiked all morning to reach this spot and arrived to find the iconic rock spires completely engulfed in fog. I vividly remember fighting back tears, I was so disappointed. Other dismayed hikers turned around to begin the long trek back. Andrew convinced me that we should stay and at least eat the lunch we had brought. We had the place to ourselves as we sat on a huge boulder at the base of the turquoise pool of glacial water and ate. And, as if rewarding us for staying, the fog parted for a mere two minutes and we got our own private viewing party of these stunning formations. // Thank you, @passionpassport, for prompting me to get out the slides I shot during the trip and relive some amazing memories. #PPtravelmemories // #fromritasarchives // 📷 Minolta X-7A 35mm camera, Fujifilm Velvia

I didn't win the contest, but I found the whole experience to be highly rewarding. Receiving an honorable mention wasn't too shabby either.

Minnetonka Moccasins

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In early October, I organized a group of local Instagrammers (all of whom are dear friends who also happen to be extremely talented photographers) to get together and take some photos for a classic Minnesota company: Minnetonka Moccasins. It was a beautiful fall day with near-perfect shooting conditions, and the resulting images are as eclectic and awesome as the group itself. The collection can be found on Instagram at #MinnetonkaMeet_Fall2014. 

I also wrote a guest post on Minnetonka Moccasins' blog about how to take the perfect Instagram shot featuring their shoes - taking into account lighting, perspective, filters, and even hashtags. 

Home is Where the Lake and Rivers Are

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It's no secret that I love Minneapolis. And Minnesota. And the Midwest in general. I was honored when Modern Midwest - a website devoted to celebrating "modern living, Midwest-style" - asked me to compile a set of photos showing off my home state. I selected the theme "Land of Sky-Blue Water," (crossed my fingers that Hamm's Beer hadn't trademarked that phrase), and then chose nine photos highlighting Minnesota's beautiful lakes and rivers. Check out the H2O-centric feature here:

My Modern Midwest: Minnesota, The Land of Sky-Blue Water