Favorite Photos of 2017

Favorite Photos of 2017

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed! This year had me sticking closer to home in Minnesota, though I did manage to sneak away to the northeastern part of the state several times. Part of what makes a photo special to me is the experience and adventure I had while making it. Here are just a few of my favorite photos of 2017. You’ll find these and more in the online galleries ready to hand on your wall!

Here are the top five in no particular order:

Gooseberry in Winter

Winter Snowy Sunrise
Snowy Beach Sunrise – Gooseberry Falls

Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North Shore of Lake Superior can be crowded with tourists during the warmer months of the year, but I had the place all to myself on this winter day. There was a light snow falling while the sun rose. No footprints in the fresh snow. The only sound was from the waves of Lake Superior lapping at the beach and water going over the frozen falls. Pure magic.

Black Bears Everywhere

Black Bear Mother and Cub
Black Bear Mother and Cubs

There are wild Black Bears everywhere when you visit the Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary near Orr, Minnesota. I could sit and watch them for hours (and I did)!

Gunflint Trail & BWCA

Boundary Waters Bear
Boundary Waters Bear

My visit to the BWCA in late June happened during the beginning of a monsoon. Five inches of rain in a week. I didn’t get to take as many photos as I would have liked, but I managed to get a few keepers.

Dahlia Trial Garden

Painted Lady Butterfly
Painted Lady Butterfly

I discovered the Dahlia Trial Garden at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this summer and it’s awesome! I was lucky enough to be there on a day when one of the judges was doing his thing, and it turns out that he liked to talk. He explained the whole process of what the trail gardens are for and how they judge the new varieties of flowers that may or may not make it to market one day. Butterflies like the dahlias, too!

Osprey Fishing

Osprey with a fish
Osprey with a fish.

This Osprey caught a fish at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, MN and flew less than 10 feet over my head with it. Wow! I’ve never seen an Osprey that close before!