Categories
Pug Life

Meet Fannie, My New Puggle Puppy

My mom and I drove to Wisconsin today to pick up our new puggle puppy, Fannie (b. February 27, 2024).

I took the photos between 1:31 and 1:34 p.m., and took the video at 1:39 p.m.

Fannie scratching at her new collar
My mom with Fannie and Missy in our front yard
Fannie sitting
Fannie in our front yard
Categories
Out and About

Minnesota Surprised With Snow

For the most part, the Twin Cities hasn’t had snow this 2023–24 winter season. It’s by far a winter unlike any other I’ve experienced in Minnesota. Though I enjoyed the warmer days and better driving conditions, I was pleased to see bright snow outside my window when I got up this morning.

I took these seven photos today from 10:17 to 10:35 a.m. The National Weather Service’s forecast office for the Twin Cities is located next to my neighborhood in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

My house
Three conifers with the N.W.S.’s Doppler radar in the background
Backyard of the N.W.S.
Snow-covered tree
N.W.S. sign
Front yard of the N.W.S.
N.W.S. building
Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Indian Summer in Minnesota

Beginning today, there is an Indian summer in the Twin Cities. The next four days will be part of this Indian summer as well, with high temperatures of around 60 degrees Fahrenheit on all of these days.

I took these photos at Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from 4:02 to 4:09 p.m.

Mom and Missy
Mom and Missy II
Mom and Missy by Lake Ann
Categories
Out and About

Me, a Lake, a Sunset, and My Camera

I visited Lake Ann in Chanhassen, Minnesota, this evening. Chanhassen is now at peak fall colors according to the Fall Color Finder webpage by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

It will be rainy and snowy for the rest of the week (today is Monday), so it’s likely I won’t photograph fall colors again until next year.

I took these photos from 5:58 to 6:16 p.m.; the sunset was at 6:18 p.m.

Dock at Lake Ann (where I took the next four photos)
Lake Ann fishing pier
Sky reflection on Lake Ann
Sky reflection on Lake Ann II
Moon reflection on Lake Ann
Categories
Out and About

Chanhassen’s 40th Annual Fourth of July Celebration

My mom and I went to the first day of Chanhassen’s 40th annual Fourth of July celebration this evening. We’ve gone for the last three years now. I posted photos I took last year with my Google Pixel smartphone, which obviously limited image quality. This year, I made sure to bring my Canon EOS R. I also coordinated our time so I was able to take photos at the golden hour and the blue hour. The golden hour is the hour before sunset, and the blue hour is the hour after sunset (as an aside, it works the opposite way for sunrises). The sunset was at 9:04 p.m. tonight; these photos were taken between 7:58 and 9:25 p.m.

Fan at one of the carnival games (according to Alexa, the high was 89 degrees Fahrenheit today)
My mom by a snow cone stand
Ferris wheel at the golden hour
Beach Buggies sign
There was mostly empty seating. This could be because it was late in the day on family night.
Carnival food
Mini Donuts
Pick-a-Duck
Bam Bam
Ferris wheel after sunset
Carnival food and Ferris wheel
My mom looking at carnival food and the Ferris wheel
Another photo of my mom by carnival food and the Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel II
Categories
Gear Personal Life

My Dad’s Early Father’s Day Gift: A Seiko SNE593

Father’s Day came early for my dad this year. This morning, the Postal Service delivered the watch I ordered for my dad. Of course, I had to make an unboxing post (even though my mom thinks they’re weird).

I ordered this Seiko SNE593 from Island Watch last week, shortly after boarding an Amtrak train to take me back home to St. Paul from East Glacier Park, Montana.

Enjoy these 10 photos, dad!

Categories
Pug Life

Finally, Spring

My mom, our puggles, and I went to Rice Marsh Lake Park this evening. I took these photos from 5:59 to 6:09 p.m.

Pugsley
Pugsley
Missy
Rice Marsh Lake
Missy
Categories
Gear Personal Life Pug Life

After Years of AfterShot Pro and GIMP, I’m Switching to Lightroom and Photoshop

It’s probably been over five years since I last used Photoshop. I even had a blog devoted to editing photos in Linux, which is possible but not nearly as feature-rich. As of this morning, I’m excited to announce that I’m back on board with Adobe! In addition to Photoshop, Lightroom is included with my subscription. The total cost is $10 a month—a steal in my opinion.

Here are 10 photos I took this morning around my neighborhood from 9:50 to 10:10 a.m. to test out Lightroom—of which I’m a first-time user—and Photoshop.

Missy and Pugsley sit on the stairs waiting for mom to come home
Sunstars are achieved by stopping down to the smallest aperture, in this case f/22
My house
The leaves on the deciduous trees in my front yard fall later than any of the other trees in my neighborhood
Mail truck in my neighborhood
Stop sign for leaving my neighborhood on Audubon Road
Crosswalk for the other entrance and exit in my neighborhood
Pine tree between my neighborhood and the National Weather Service’s forecast office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota
Doppler radar at the National Weather Service’s forecast office
The former house of the late U.S. senator Rod Grams, located along Audubon Road in my neighborhood. He owned all the land in my neighborhood before my family moved there in 1993.
Categories
Out and About

Leaf Peeping 2022: Lake Ann Park

I am starting a series this autumn titled “Leaf Peeping 2022.” I plan to document various stages of fall colors and the eventual falling of leaves (phenology). For this inaugural post, I went to Lake Ann Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota, from about 11:20 a.m. to noon today.

Trees by a fence for a tennis court
Trees behind a fence, which is the bokeh
The same fence in the above photo, but this time the trees are the bokeh
Ambulance bay
Mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees by a parking lot
Tall conifer growing by a parking lot
Metal halide lights (or are they LEDs?) above trees by a baseball field
Yellow tree growing by a baseball field
Birch trees (left) growing on a hill
Conifer that somehow has red leaves inside
Conifer with cones
Lodge overlooking Lake Ann
Watercraft Rental next to Lake Ann
Dock for Watercraft Rental on Lake Ann
Fall colors are well underway on Lake Ann
Categories
Out and About

N.W.S. Launching a Weather Balloon

The National Weather Service (N.W.S.) launches two weather balloons each day, separated by 12 hours. I took these photos at 6 a.m. this morning. The next launch is presumably at 6 p.m.

If you ever come across a weather balloon on the ground when you’re out walking, follow the instructions to send it back to the N.W.S., since they reuse some of the equipment. Furthermore, this “kidscorner” article on the N.W.S.’s website states, “The balloon flights last for around 2 hours, can drift as far as 125 miles away, and rise up to over 100,000 ft. (about 20 miles) in the atmosphere!”

These photos were taken at the N.W.S. forecast office in the Twin Cities/Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Getting ready to bring out the weather balloon
Getting ready to bring out the weather balloon
Bringing out the balloon
Getting ready to launch the balloon
The balloon launches
The balloon quickly rises