Tag Archives: Minnesota

Photography

Local. Food. Good. Nerstrand Meats & Catering

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What does that really mean – local?  For me local is more than geographical proximity. Rather, it is all about local folks, who for the most part were born and raised in their communities, offering quality items in their communities.  We shop local as much as possible at farmers markets, grocery stores, meat markets, bakery’s – you name it.  If we do not do this, some of the most wonderful things we love and enjoy will cease to exist in our community.  We patronize local establishments when we travel too.  We love to sample the local flavor that the community has to offer.  You usually find passionate locals doing what they love.  These establishments tend to have much character – you know the type that sticks in your memories.  We especially love antique stores, meat lockers, cheese factories and bakeries.  Who doesn’t?

My absolute favorite meat locker is Nerstrand Meats & Catering.  This little gem has been operating at this very place in Nerstrand, MN since 1890.  I’ve come here for about ten years now.  The flavor they achieve with their smoked meat is second to none – a very tangy and pungent smoke flavor – pure bliss to the smoked meat connoisseur.  This is quality meat.  Local.  Food.  Good.

Nerstrand Meats & Catering

I was in their neck of the wood (very close to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park) recently and acquired a bag full of delectable goodies, of which was torn into post-car-door-close.  I made short work of the small snack pack of meat stix I had purchased for the ride home.  Other items in the bag included cajun beef jerky, more beef stixs, ring bologna and breakfast sausage links.

Speaking of breakfast sausage links…

I couldn’t help but think this a.m. when I was frying up the breakfast sausage links that ILittleSizzlers acquired from Nerstrand:  now this is real and good food.  It is funny to hear that some think that food comes from a grocery/retail store.  It technically does, but where it come from before that is what is really important.  The concept and tradition of the family farm is almost gone.  City kids seemingly have no clue where their food comes from.  Hello big corporate food giants churning out the food product.  If you haven’t seen the documentary Food, Inc. please take some time and do so.  It is on Netflix or you can watch it on-line through vimeo for free.  Food is a big deal; a big deal many have lost site of I am afraid.  Big food does a great job with advertising; through imagery of an agrarian America set in a pastoral fantasy land.  This is hardly the case anymore.

I love and crave real food; not food product.  Overly processed and chemically produced food product – just the sound of that should bring one to their senses.  There are certainly worse things than Little Sizzlers, but when presented the opportunity for fresh breakfast sausage from a meat locker, I’ll take that any day over something from the freezer aisle at the grocery store.

Nerstrand Breakfast Sausage Sausage & Eggs

The breakfast sausage was a loving paring with the scrambled eggs, mushrooms, sweet bell peppers, green onions and Neufchatel cheese.  Happy tummy…feeling sleepy-nappy now.

 

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2014 (365), Daily Shots, Photography

01.08.14 – Here Comes The Sun

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01.15.14 Here Comes The Sun

Here Comes The Sun.  The all-to-familiar lyrics were what first came to mind as I peered into my side mirror traveling across Hwy 60 this a.m. marveling at the colors of the sun about to rise.  Here comes the sun, here comes the sun.  And I say it’s all right.

 

George Harrison wrote this in Eric Clapton’s garden using one of Clapton’s acoustic guitars. When the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, the band had to handle more of their accounting and business affairs, which Harrison hated. He wrote this after attending a round of business meetings. This song was inspired by the long winters in England which Harrison thought went on forever.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear

 

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In the documentary The Material World, Eric Clapton talked about writing this song with Harrison: “It was one of those beautiful spring mornings. I think it was April, we were just walking around the garden with our guitars. I don’t do that, you know? This is what George brought to the situation. He was just a magical guy… we sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking gout, and the sun was shining; it was a beautiful morning, and he began to sing the opening lines (to “Here Comes the Sun”) and I just watched this thing come to life.
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Views: 107

Daily Shots, Photography

01.03.14 Skywalker

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Skywalker.  Happy Friday everyone; have a great weekend!

01-17-14_2 Skywalker

Views: 150

Destination, Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 3 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Day 3 was the day – the morning actually – the sunrise shoot we had hoped for back in July when we planned this trip.  I love it when a plan comes together!  Hollow Rock was right outside our cabin; a mere 100 yards or so to the shooting location on the rocky beach.  That morning was absolutely gorgeous.  Everything came together nicely.  The clouds, color and sun all working in perfect harmony.

Gunflint Trail to Grand Portage

After an epic sunrise experience we set out to explore forest roads between the Gunflint Trail and Grand Portage.  The color around Grand Portage [although past prime] was better than Grand Marais.  I’ve never seen so many Ruffed Grouse in my life.  I seen as many birds on this trip as I had all the years I used to upland hunt.  We were also searching for the third waterfall, Partridge Falls, on the Pigeon River and eventually found it.  We were unable to find a decent falls vantage point down river for a good photograph, but enjoyed the location just the same.  It is quite peaceful out in the middle of nowhere.  Natures beauty really consumes and carries you around from one location to the next.  At one point our travels were impeded by the handiwork some busy beavers.

One bit of advice whilst out and about in strange lands and big wilderness – study a map or two before you set out.  GPS, on more than one occasion, failed to provide adequate direction.  A little bit of mystery is fine, but having a general idea of where you will be traveling – starting and ending up – is paramount to a good trip.  “Ready to Navigate” displayed on the GPS, although humorous, is not helpful at all.  As you can see from the Lightroom Map Module below from GPS data, we covered some ground over three days.  It was a fabulous trip and experience with my betrothed.

MN North Shore

Here are some photos from Day 3.

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

The In-Between, Day 2 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Day 2 on MN North Shore began exquisitely.  We made our way down to waters edge for the Sunrise @ Grand Marais shoot.  Nature cooperated nicely.  From there, we back-tracked a bit to Cascade River State Park for a beautiful morning hike up the river gorge among the picturesque cascades.

Park History

Years ago, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp at the Cascade River. The men in this camp worked on a variety of conservation projects. Today, you can see some of their handiwork on the trails that wind along the river. One enrollee told how they cut and moved the large pine logs from Cascade down to Gooseberry Falls State Park to finish buildings in that park. From the beginning, Cascade was thought of as a state park, but it wasn’t until 1957 that it was officially designated as such. -wikipedia

Cascade River State Park photos

Next we got off the beaten path (Hwy 61) and made our way towards another destination (Hollow Rock Resort).  After checking in we were off on the Gunflint Trail to drive a loop through the forest in search of Devilfish overlook.    We got closed, but missed a road and stumbled on a Red Fox – cute little bugger; then just continued on our way.  We decided to take another run at a sunset at Honeymoon Bluff that overlooks Hungry Jack Lake off the Gunflint Trail.  The second attempt yielded better results than the first.

Another full day on the MN North Shore.  Love this place.  There is a surprise around every corner.

The in-between photos

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Destination, Nature, Photography

The In-Between, Day 1 | Minnesota North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Any long-time follower of this blog knows that with Cyndie and I; although destinations are great, it is all about the journey in between those destination that really stand as lasting memories through the years for us.  This trip tot the MN North Shore was no exception.  The in between was great on the MN North Shore!

Our first day we made it as far as Grand Marais.  This is by far my favorite area on the MN North Shore to be.  Its close proximity to The Gunflint Trail, Judge CR Magney State Park, Cascade River State Park, Temperance River State Park and all of the back roads, forest roads and loops you can travel are via car are phenomenal.  It’s beautiful country.

Along the way to Grand Marais we stopped at Temperance River State Park.  Later in the afternoon we made out way out to Honeymoon Bluff.  There was no sunset to be had as it was cloudy and overcast, but we made the best of it.  It was full day.  Even Though the color was 100% or past peak (in most areas), there was still some great color and likely 80% less people than a week ago.  Day 1 was pretty smooth sailing; Day 2 though, we were part of a 3 car traffic jam on a forest road.  The congestion cleared soon enough though.  Here are some shot from day 1.

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Destination, Nature, Photography

Grand Portage State Park – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

A favorite destination along the MN North Shore – actually all the way up to the northern tip – is Grand Portage State Park where the Pigeon River flows over the tallest waterfall in Minnesota.  It is a pretty spectacular site.  It is one of the destinations along the shore that Cyndie and I very much enjoy photographing.  A great attribute of the park is that it is handicapped accessible with a paved trail, boardwalk and ramps to a viewing platform.  The path the falls is a short distance through the forest.  It was overcast that day, but that didn’t seem to dampen the glow of yellow and orange of the Autumn color – it was quite brilliant.

There is a 3.5 mile trail out to middle falls as well.  We found the third waterfall on the pigeon river too (Partridge Falls).  Partridge Falls is pretty good size, but it lacks a decent down-river vantage point.  More on that later…

Here are two views of the high falls and another of the pigeon river flowing toward Lake Superior.

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Destination, Nature

North Shore Abstracts – Gunflint Trail | MN North Shore #exploremn

Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

You can find yourself doing all sorts of things when you are out and about along MN North Shore.  We made good use of our midday going to and from locations.  The lovely Autumn colors provided some great backdrops for some abstract shots.  It is something different to do photographically and some time you get some pretty interesting shots.

For those of you who have never done anything like this, you can get shots like this with a small aperture (f/16 – f/32) and a slow shutter speed.  Click the shutter and move your camera either up or down from where you started.  Side to side works well to.  You can also zoom in or out to create a pretty neat effect.  Go nuts; there is no wrong method.

Views: 365

Destination, Nature, Photography, Time-lapse

Sunrise @ Hollow Rock | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

Hollow Rock

resortlocationHollow Rock is located a handful of miles South of Grand Portage, MN on MN North Shore.  Hollow Rock Resort is situated in between Hollow Rock Creek and Hollow Rock Road.  The rock formation is located right off of the shore from the resort.  Cyndie and I stayed in Cabin #5 – Moose; Hollow Rock was right out the cabin’s front door.

Being right on location was certainly nice.  All that was needed was to wake up, have some coffee and then set up to shoot.  The in-floor heat was a plus; it made the cabin nice and cozy.  I was also happy to see the tank-less water heater.  It is always good to have hot water.  This is what I like to refer to as remote/comfortable.  There is no cable TV, cellular service or Internet here.  It was quite peaceful.  A great place to get lost for a few days.

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Here are a few other shots from the cabin and around the immediate area outside the cabin.

At this particular time of year, the sunrise lines up nicely with hole in Hollow Rock.  We had a picture-perfect morning for a sunrise.  The weather, clouds and color came together quite nicely.  Here are four frames from that magnificent sunrise shoot.

I continued to practice my time-lapse photography at this location as well.  I had the same issues as before, but I am pleased with the results.

Part One

Part Two

Views: 1131

Destination, Photography, Time-lapse

Sunrise @ Grand Marais | MN North Shore #exploremn

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Fall 2013 MN North Shore series

grandmaraisharborAs luck would have it, our first morning of MN North Shore yielded a spectacular sunrise.  The clouds and color were quite wonderful.  I am very fond of Autumn sunrises as they happen much later than they do in the Summer 🙂.

Since we would be in position an hour or so before sunrise, I took this opportunity to practice some time-lapse photography again.

There are two parts.  I was having issues with exposure; part way through I needed to adjust and that doesn’t bode well for a seamless end to end video.  The two parts captured the clouds and color pretty well.  I need to do more research on this and practice practice practice.

Part 1

Part 2

Here are a few frames from that lovely morning sunrise.

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