Many of my long time NorthStarNerd readers will have noticed I have not posted frequently on this web site. In truth, I have been busy blogging, but over on my 365DaysOfBirds web site. This past January 23, conicentally on my wife's birthday, I began a 365 day photography project. My goal was to become a better photographer, and get consistantly off the "auto" setting on my camera. By selecting birds as my subject matter I knew I would be choosing a difficult topic. After all, it's easy to take a photograph of anything for one year, but here in northern Minnesota even finding birds during the cold harsh winter days of January can be difficult. In addition, I knew photographing birds during the June fog that rolls in off Lake Superior would also be a challenge.

Now in mid October I have reached day number 268 of my effort. This experiment has been a success. Here are some photos I have taken just in the last week. In addition to my "bird photography" I have learned how to take photos in low light, and the dark of night. Are you a photographer who wants to improve? Try out a 365 day project and push your own limits.

My own equipment is not expensive. My investment is a Canon SX40 camera ($365: a bridging camera … not a consumer camera, nor a DSLR) and Photoshop Elements 12 ($75)

(click upon any image to view at full size / resolutions)

Northern Lights at Knife River, Minnesota

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Sunrise at the InterState Bridge (circa 1895)

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Our nation's symbol, a bald eagle!

Tomorrow Molly and I start our latest self-supported bike tour, Glaciers to the Sea. Starting tomorrow we will working our way west via our car to the Glacier National Park. In Whitefish, Montana we will park our car and then start our actual bike tour to the Pacific.

Our plan is to zig zag to the ocean via various river valleys. Ultimately we will approact the Pacific via Portland, Oregon when we will then track south to Eugene. After a short visit with my brother and sister-in-law, we will pop over the final mountains to the Oregon Coast, and then work our way up to Seattle. We will then take AMTRAK back to our car in Montana and finally drive home to northern Minnesota. Our expected bike touring distance is about 1,500 miles.

If you would like to follow our trip, please use these web sites:

• My trip diary with photos (via Crazy Guy on a Bike)
• Molly’s impressions of our trip (via Superior Footprints)

In addition, you may wish to view the photos I publish via my photo blog and Flickr:

• 365 Days of Birds
• Rich’s Flickr Photostream

Here is our planned route, which is subject to change / detours /etc. Click upon the image to view at full size.

Some of my longtime readers may have noticed that I have not posted much on NorthStarNerd.org this Summer. Mea Culpa! Actually I have been focusing upon my photography passion.  Now that I am retired, I am able to focus upon improving my picture taking skills. One method for self-betterment is to start a 365 day project. In my case, back on January 23rd I started a year long photography project. My focus is birds. Every day I have to take at least one photo of our fine feathered friends … even if its foggy, cloudy, rainy, windy, etc. This requirement has turned me into a better photographer. Here are just a few bird photos from this Summer. For more bird photos, and some landscapes of northern Minnesota, head over to my bird blog: 365DaysOfBirds.Com.

Click upon any image to view at full size / resolution.

King of the Realm: Bald Eagle Over Rainy Lake, Ontario

Palisade Head Perigrine Falcons

Stormy Sunrise Lupines