Gallery

Here you can find a collection of the better images that you can find on this site's blog. Press on any image to view its caption in the photobook viewer.

The aurora borealis is visible in the sky above some tree cover. A speaker mounted to a pole is visible in the foreground.

A colorful photograph of the aurora borealis. The sky is a deep blue with streaks of all different colors visible.

Red and green streaks of light are visible in the sky above tree cover. The streaks are faint but visible.

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The gorgeous reds clashing with the greens were stunning to view in person. This shot doesn't particularly do the breathtaking experience of standing next to the dirt lot gazing upon the lights in the sky justice, but it does capture the basis of it. A colorful photograph of the aurora borealis. The sky is a deep blue with streaks of all different colors visible.

While the original scan of this shot had a fair amount of color, I decided to tweak the exposure and black level a bit to make the colors pop a bit more. The grain is a lot more pronounced as a result but I believe the tradeoff is worth it. The aurora borealis is visible in the sky above some tree cover. A speaker mounted to a pole is visible in the foreground.

This shot is from the first location I visited in May; I'm unsure what purpose the speaker on the pole serves or if I even was able to see it in the dark, but I like the way its sharp angles contrast against the haze of the aurora. A storage area with three hazardous material doors, illuminated by lights; a gated entrance visible on the left.

A storage area with three hazardous material doors, illuminated by lights; a gated entrance visible on the left.

I believe this one is from one of my first ever rolls that I ever shot with my Minolta X-570. I remember being quite pleased with the results of this roll, especially given that I was still getting back into the intricacies of film photography. Black and white image of a city skyline seen through a series of rectangular windows. The view includes various high-rise buildings under a cloudy sky.

Black and white image of a city skyline seen through a series of rectangular windows. The view includes various high-rise buildings under a cloudy sky.

I don't remember taking this one very well but I do remember that it was taken from the Washington Avenue Bridge that connects the East and West Bank campuses of the University of Minnesota. I think the way the windows frame the surrounding environment is pretty neat. Nighttime cityscape with buildings and bright lights. Smoke rises from a smokestack, illuminated against the dark sky.

Nighttime cityscape with buildings and bright lights. Smoke rises from a smokestack, illuminated against the dark sky.

This shot's grain is a bit more than I'd like probably due to the new Fuji 400 I used for it since it was the cheapest (and only!) film stock I could find at CVS. The rising smoke across the scene reminds me of the album cover for Parannoul's 'To See the Next Part of the Dream' which I happen to own on cassette and compact disc. Nighttime city street scene with highway overpass, streetlights, and urban structures.

Nighttime city street scene with highway overpass, streetlights, and urban structures.

This one came out grainier than I remember (which is impressive given that, if I recall correctly, I shot this on a very high speed film stock) but I still like the composition of it. I frequented the location this was taken from a lot during my freshman year of college, so it holds a special place in my heart. Two dark gray trash cans sit on a dark surface at night, with out-of-focus city lights visible in the background.

Two dark gray trash cans sit on a dark surface at night, with out-of-focus city lights visible in the background.

Ilford Delta 3200 is a film stock that my early photography work featured a fair amount due to its insane speeds compared to color negative film allowing for free-handed nighttime shots like this one. A white bottle of isopropyl alcohol on a light brown wooden surface.

A white bottle of isopropyl alcohol on a light brown wooden surface.

I don't have a whole lot of shots with flash due to the intricacies of flash photography being somewhat challenging to figure out (as well as frequent equipment failures that I was plagued with) but this shot of a bottle of isopropyl alcohol really captures what I love about the medium. Metro transit station platform with ticket vending machines and city buildings in the background.

Metro transit station platform with ticket vending machines and city buildings in the background.

When I first started shooting film again I took many, many pictures of transit infrastructure in the Twin Cities, the most notable of which being the light rail platforms. This one was of the Warehouse District platform which serves both the blue and the green lines. Dark-colored SUV parked in a paved parking lot with bare deciduous trees lining the background.

Dark-colored SUV parked in a paved parking lot with bare deciduous trees lining the background.

This one was from when I brought my equipment with me to Rhode Island for a trip I went on late last year (2023). I felt as if this composition captured the interesting feeling of being surrounded by a wholly unfamiliar environment that I was plagued with during my stay. A path cutting down a courtyard with a building on the left and right and a streetlamp in the foreground.

A path cutting down a courtyard with a building on the left and right and a streetlamp in the foreground.

A prime example of the vignetting that the ultra-wide lens experiences when set to 18mm. This trait as mentioned in the opinion pieces I read initially scared me off of it, but I find it produces a nice framing effect for these wider landscape shots. A long pathway stretching out from the viewer's perspective with buildings and rails on either side.

A long pathway stretching out from the viewer's perspective with buildings and rails on either side.

A thing I liked doing with my ultra-wide lens was taking pictures of open corridors that make them appear to be longer than they actually are. This one is a nice example of that as the distanced pictured is walkable quicker than it may appear. A light rail vehicle moving through the central corridor of a snowy university environment.

A light rail vehicle moving through the central corridor of a snowy university environment.

A landscape featuring one of the Siemens S70s being operated on Metro Transit's Green Line. I've shot a lot of Metro Transit's light rail vehicle fleet, but a lot of them don't turn out as well as this one did due to glare from the vehicle's headlights or the shutter speed not being fast enough to capture the vehicle in motion. An individual with their back turned towards the camera, sitting on a rocky beach.

An individual with their back turned towards the camera, sitting on a rocky beach.

A self-timed shot of myself sitting on a rock on the beach of Lake Superior. This is closer to the 35mm focal length of my ultra-wide lens as evidenced by the significant lack of vignetting around the borders of the image. A landscape photo of a college campus on a snowy day with a single pedestrian in the center of the frame.

A landscape photo of a college campus on a snowy day with a single pedestrian in the center of the frame.

I don't remember if this was before or after I stopped pushing every roll two stops in development (due to the acquiring of a tripod), but it's a decently clear shot regardless. I didn't actually intend to get the pedestrian in the frame, but I'm glad I did as they provide a nice disruption to the flow of the surrounding architecture. A grainy landscape photo overlooking Minneapolis's skyline and I-35W at night.

A grainy landscape photo overlooking Minneapolis's skyline and I-35W at night.

I believe this one was when I was trying to get a picture of Comet Tsuchinshan–ATLAS (C/2023 A3) passing perihelion, but I got distracted and ended up taking pictures of the surrounding skyline instead. It's quite grainy due to me using cheaper film stock (new Fuji 400 I believe?) among other reasons but I liked it enough despite that. A close-up flash photograph of the internal components of a computer.

A close-up flash photograph of the internal components of a computer.

I don't do flash photography often, but the ultra-wide lens has been a nice tool to capture objects close to the lens which allows my short coiled cable between my flash and my camera to not restrict the angle that I can position the flash at relative to the camera. A signpost reading 'Track 1' with an accompanying railroad track leading off into the background.

A signpost reading 'Track 1' with an accompanying railroad track leading off into the background.

Once the train passed by, I took a few shots of the track it ran on to expend the last exposures on the roll. I quite liked the look of the surrounding digital information signs, so I ended up taking a few shots like this one of them. A close-up shot of a train stopped at a station.

A close-up shot of a train stopped at a station.

A shot I took of the Northstar commuter rail service passing through the dedicated station north of Fridley's. I realized far too late that I positioned my tripod too close to the tracks given the longer focal length I was using, but I managed to make it work. A close-up shot of a train looking on from the side at the rail lying ahead.

A close-up shot of a train looking on from the side at the rail lying ahead.

I had to be quick with the shots I got while the train was stopped at the station as it only sticks around for twenty seconds or so, which I thought was interesting given the low frequency and long distances of the line. Most of the shots I got of the train didn't turn out so well, but this one was a decent exception. A self-portrait of the author standing on the train station's platform looking away from the camera at the southbound tracks.

A self-portrait of the author standing on the train station's platform looking away from the camera at the southbound tracks.

Using this lens tripod-mounted made focusing an auto-timed shot of myself quite easy, especially given the adjacent information signs that I could use to gauge the focus distance. A sunny scene with a walkway bridge connecting a parking structure and a station building. Vintage-style street lamps cast shadows on the walls.

A sunny scene with a walkway bridge connecting a parking structure and a station building. Vintage-style street lamps cast shadows on the walls.

The station building had a connecting walkway to the top level of the parking structure so that individuals could access the station building without having to meander their way to the lower level of the parking structure. A SouthWest Transit bus indicating route '698U' approaching an intersection with traffic lights, road signs, and trees in the background.

A SouthWest Transit bus indicating route '698U' approaching an intersection with traffic lights, road signs, and trees in the background.

Most of the shots I got of the bus approaching were unfortunately blurry due to the shutter speed I was using, but this front-on shot did not suffer from that issue. The bus entrance to the station is right off of the ramp to get onto eastbound US-212. A SouthWest Transit bus indicating route '698U' parked under a wooden canopy near a station building entrance, with a passenger disembarking on the left.

A SouthWest Transit bus indicating route '698U' parked under a wooden canopy near a station building entrance, with a passenger disembarking on the left.

I'm sure the disembarking passengers weren't used to having someone taking pictures of the bus they just got off of, but so it goes. The canopy was a nice touch to the station building as it provided a bit of shelter from the elements for those waiting for the bus. An empty seating area with a round table and two chairs near a window, a bulletin board mounted on a brick wall, and a view of trees and a street outside.

An empty seating area with a round table and two chairs near a window, a bulletin board mounted on a brick wall, and a view of trees and a street outside.

While other pictures I tried to get around the inside of the building were too underexposed to be usable, this one turned out. The station building had a decent amount of seating, such as this little corner. A brick station building with a glass entrance standing adjacent to the rooftop of a parking structure under a clear sky. Several empty parking spaces of the parking structure are visible in the foreground.

A brick station building with a glass entrance standing adjacent to the rooftop of a parking structure under a clear sky. Several empty parking spaces of the parking structure are visible in the foreground.

The station building as viewed from the top of the parking structure. The top level appeared to be for administrative purposes as it was not accessible to the public due to a key reader locking the door to it. A large, completely empty lot on the top of a parking structure.

A large, completely empty lot on the top of a parking structure.

The top level of the park and ride was completely empty when I visited, which likely was typically not the case pre-pandemic.