Monthly Challenge 12 of 12: Prepping for J-Term

Tomorrow I start teaching my first J-Term class. My department at Hamline University hasn't offered J-Term classes before, but they have one this year. So I'm working to pack as much of a normal 16 week semester that I can into 2.5 weeks. Yikes.

I've been working on this pretty much since Thanksgiving. I'm more prepared for this than ANY other class I've taught. I won't have time to prep things "mid-semester" like I usually can. So I mapped out the folder structure that I have placed on Google Drive for my students:

That shows the main ideas of what's there: 42 files (or folders). But in reality, at this moment, there are already 197 files (or folders) uploaded within this structure so far. And I know I'll be adding a few more things to go over as the J-Term moves along.

Stay tuned, as I'm sure I'll be sharing updates about how this fast-paced J-Term class is going. Happy New Year!

Monthly Challege 11 of 12: Making/Selling Some Prints

Last month, I made a few prints that some friends wanted to purchase:

[click each image to enlarge]

That's 3 different 4 a.m. photos, and a photo of rainbow carrots from my Mom's garden.


To show scale: just small images on 11x17 paper.


This print wasn't shown, but I also printed this image.

Monthly Challenge 10 of 12: The Mississippi River Drawdown at 4 a.m.

In case you're not local and/or haven't heard, we had some fun sights over at the Mississippi River in Minneapolis last month. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were inspecting the dams at Saint Anthony Falls, so they opened the lower dam and let the river drop to a level I’d never seen before - I heard a news source say it was 12 feet down (and that's from the height that it's REGULATED at, so there's little variation in its normal height). It was totally surreal, and it caused crowds to come see it. Here's an instagram post (just some iPhone shots) I made on Oct 9th:

Took the boys to check out the “drawdown” between the dams tonight. They thought it was pretty epic (their word). It’s filling up again, and it’s maybe 2 feet up since I was there at 4 a.m. this morning. Quite the scene.

A crowded Stone Arch Bridge around 6 p.m.


The water to the left was there 14 hours prior, but the water
in the right/middle wasn't - it had started filling back up.


This is usually all underwater.


We found a crayfish crawling around.


St. Anthony Falls in the distance.


Walking into Father Hennepin Park (all this stone is usually shallow, but underwater).


Trolls.


Heading home.

I went to Google Maps and found some images to show a bit what it USUALLY looks like:

That's the Stone Arch Bridge. All that water north of the bridge was
gone (that was the pic when we were walking into Fr. Hennepin Park).
In fact, there was only water in the lower left corner of this image.


For a few days last month, the bottom 1/3 of this image
was all beach (which is 3/4 of the visible water here).


There would have been virtually NO water visible in this pic during the drawdown.


Father Hennepin Park: this was all stone and sand.


During the drawdown from a TPT article: the view south of the Stone Arch Bridge.
(180 degrees from the last photo.)


Google already has a few views of the drawdown uploaded!

I stopped by 2 times to take photos for my 4 a.m. series, which is rare. It's not all that uncommon for me to think "oh, I didn't QUITE get the shot," but it's rare for me to go to the same place in back-to-back "4 a.m. outings," and unheard of for me to go to the same place just 2 days apart.

First I stopped by on Oct 7th, but there were a LOT of people around at 4 a.m., and at least some of them were on something. Others were there with angle grinders looking for metal to sell for scrap. Others had headlights and were looking for treasures. Here's a picture I made that morning before being scared off:

[click these following images to enlarge]

Then I got a photo of the fall colors from under the Hennepin Ave Bridge from Nicollet Island:

I went back 2 days later on the 9th because I wanted to capture more. I knew there was more I wanted to get. I asked someone to come with me (for at least some slight "safety in numbers"), which is something I've thought about before, but never actually done. But he was afraid of being too tired at work that day (understandably so) and decided not to. And because the drawdown was technically over (I think they closed the lower dam the night before), there weren't nearly the same number of people down there - I only saw 3 guys carrying some scrap, and 1 waved to me which made me not nearly as concerned about them. (You have to understand that I'm used to having the city to myself when I photograph mid-week during the 4 a.m. hour. Having all these people around was disconcerting to me.)

This is the driftwood you can see in the satellite view (normally surrounded by water).


Way down to the river, across a block or 2 of beach that usually isn't there.
(Past 5 or 6 arches of the bridge that are usually all underwater.)


The "under bridge lights" (which normally are NOT on this time of day)
turned off around 4:30 a.m., so I was able to make some lower-contrast images.


That slight blue cast on the bridge in the distance is from the I35W bridge lights nearly a 1/2 mile away.

That was a fun "study" that I wasn't used to doing. It was interesting to "take in" an enviroment, think about it for 2 days, and then come back to try it again. I've never worked like that before, and now it's sure become a new option for making my 4 a.m. photographs.

Monthly Challenge 8 of 12: Summer iPhone Shots

Since summer is over, I thought I'd gather some "cute" photos that I snapped with my phone while out on adventures with my boys these last few months.

[click to enlarge]

Between 2 storms while camping along Big Stone Lake.


Wheat near Ortonville.


Filtered sun on Lake Winnibigoshish.


Sunset near Deer River.


Round bales and stormy skies near Cromwell.


Sunset on Lake Mary.


Mushroom among washed-out roots along the Mississippi River in Fort Snelling.

Monthly Challenge 7 of 12: Nothing Specific

Summer is being summer. I've taken my boys camping a few times. We visited my mother-in-law at her cabin. We spent some time with my Grandma in her cabin. (And we self-isolated for the 2 weeks between those trips to make sure we weren't going to pass COVID-19 onto my eldery Grandma.) And I've been getting a ton of house projects done.

But I didn't do anything specific for July's photography challenge.

But there are 2 things I can share:

First, I got a piece accepted to an international juried exhibition in Scotland later this month:

Email notice with an image made last month.
(Follow me on Instagram at PhotoStenzel to see recent work.)

And second, it looks like I'll be teaching at another university this fall (in addition to Hamline University).

More on both of those things shortly... once I have more info on both.

So even though July's official challenge might be a little of a let-down, I'm still super happy that I'm doing this "monthly challenge" thing for the year. It really keeps me churning for new goals, making new work, learning new things, reading new books, etc. EVEN IF I didn't do something super specific this past month.

Monthly Challenge 6 of 12: Civil Unrest in Mpls/St. Paul

June felt a bit like a "get back to normal" month with regards to shooting. So it's strange that my June "challenge" was simply "start making photos again like normal." And I've already had some luck submitting this work to exhibitions.

In early March, we had a "stay at home" order issued by the governor, and as I noted in last month's "monthly challenge" post, it was just lifted at the end of May. I got out and made my first 4 a.m. photos in over 2 months (since mid-March). Here they are again, as first seen in May's post:

Here was the caption I posted on Instagram:

Memorial where George Floyd was killed 36 hours ago, photographed at 4:15 this morning.
.
I’m used to having the city to myself when I photograph at 4 a.m. Today, I encountered more people than I have in the previous few years combined. There were police officers across the street. There was a handful of national media getting ready to report (large, generic rental conversion vans with tech guys setting up, not the local branded vehicles). And two people walked up as I was getting ready to photograph. One stood in silence with her head down. The other kneeled down, and then ended up laying down in the wet street where Floyd was killed. I could hear him quietly praying about “change.” He sat up, pounded the pavement twice with his fist in frustration, and then they quietly walked away.
.
#GeorgeFloyd #ICantBreathe

Then we had the riots. That led to about a week of curfews being set. The first few nights, the curfews were harsher: 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. But then they loosened up a little: 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. I headed out one of those final days of curfew (right as it was lifted at 4 a.m.) to make photos of the growing memorial and some of the places near the Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct that had been burned (click images to enlarge):

The growing memorial around the corner from where Floyd was killed.


Not a great photo, but a fantastic message to have on the side of a
comic book store just 1 mile down the road from where George Floyd was killed.


Burned down AutoZone with the sign "If we do this 'your way' we're doomed to repeat this again."


Boarded-up burned-down Dennys (with stoplight).


"Inside" the burned down Wendy's just before 5 a.m.

The weekend in the middle of June was when I participated in a 48 hour "Chase the Light" project as hosted by the Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW). I made these 5 photos during the 4 a.m. hour on a Sunday morning, and the titles below them were what I submitted to PCNW (click images to enlarge):

Murals on the riot-protected boarded-up windows at Seward Co-op
at 4:03 a.m. (from the "4 a.m Series"), Minneapolis, MN.


Mural on the riot-protected boarded-up windows at Seward Co-op
at 4:05 a.m. (from the "4 a.m Series"), Minneapolis, MN.


The “Say Their Names Cemetery” located a block from where George Floyd
was killed at 4:33 a.m. (from the "4 a.m Series"), Minneapolis, MN.


Murals on the riot-protected boarded-up windows of Arbeiter Brewing and
Moon Palace Books at 4:50 a.m. (from the "4 a.m Series"), Minneapolis, MN.


Minnehaha Drive-Up Liquors (burned down) across from the Third Precinct
building at 4:55 a.m. (from the "4 a.m Series"), Minneapolis, MN.

The "Abolish the Police" image got accepted into the "Chase the Light" project, as I noted in a recent post.

Then, another stop at the memorial:

Alley mural next to the George Floyd memorial with the text “give me
a place to stand and I shall move the earth” at 4:10 a.m.
(The police tape says “there is a line you do not cross.”)

Just last week, I was headed down Lake Street at 4 a.m. and made this photo:

Empty lot along East Lake Street, 4:45 a.m. (That mural is 3 pieces of plywood, so 8x12' total.)

So during last month, I started making more photos, took part in a 48-hour challenge and had a piece accepted to "Chase the Light", and won the "Director's Award" in an exhibition for the 2nd photo in this post. That's a decent photographic month for me. (And as a side note, I didn't post anything about winning the "Director's Award" on social media for 3-4 days because I was processing this white man [me] winning an award for photographing scenes surrounding a black man's death. It had a "this doesn't feel *quite* right" element to it. A check arrived 2 weeks ago as part of the award, and it's waiting to be donated to an appropriate cause.)

Well, summer months have a way of getting away from me. Last month I noted that I wanted to pull out some lighting gear for next month's challenge, so we'll see if I have time to do that this month.

Monthly Challenge 5 of 12: Bits and Pieces

May was 3 little pieces.

ONE: As mentioned at the end of April's "monthly challenge" post, I figured I'd spend some more time watching Lynda.com videos for May. I did that, but not very much. I officially completed the 13 hour "fundamentals" video that I wrote so much about last month:

And I started watching and bookmarking more. I'm part way into another Photoshop video, but this is starting to feel pretty dry - not this new course specifically, but just watching all these videos on Photoshop functions. I'm going to need to start mixing it up with something more engaging soon.

19% into another Photoshop course with a different instructor.

TWO: We had a "stay at home" order recently lifted, and I got out last week to make my first set of 4 a.m. photos in a few months. They're not great, but here are 2 photos from where George Floyd was killed:

Here was the caption I posted on Instagram:

Memorial where George Floyd was killed 36 hours ago, photographed at 4:15 this morning.
.
I’m used to having the city to myself when I photograph at 4 a.m. Today, I encountered more people than I have in the previous few years combined. There were police officers across the street. There was a handful of national media getting ready to report (large, generic rental conversion vans with tech guys setting up, not the local branded vehicles). And two people walked up as I was getting ready to photograph. One stood in silence with her head down. The other kneeled down, and then ended up laying down in the wet street where Floyd was killed. I could hear him quietly praying about “change.” He sat up, pounded the pavement twice with his fist in frustration, and then they quietly walked away.
.
#GeorgeFloyd #ICantBreathe

And here's a more recent one since the memorial has grown:

Side note: if you'd like to hear my perspective on what's been happening in Minneapolis and St. Paul over the last few days after Floyd's death, check out this link on my other blog. I was up most of the night for 2 days in a row, and just yesterday I realized I could have been watching some Lynda.com videos, but I wouldn't have absorbed any of it - my mind would have been elsewhere.

THREE: I also "attended" a Zoom-based lecture by Dr. Rebecca Senf entitled "Even Ansel Adams Had to Earn a Living". That was very insightful, and quite interesting. CCP just put the hour-long lecture online (cutting off some of the casual chit-chat before it had officially started), so here's what I was a part of:

Direct link: youtu.be/FFDPlwnFfY8

For June, I'd like to bust into some lighting equipment that I recently acquired. We'll see if I can do some work with that, and I'll post about it in a month.