PicklesTravel

The Elusive Morel Mushroom

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Greta

Huge Morels were the bounty for 2012′s “Morel Harvest”

Ok, I admit it- I am a wild food forager. I love finding (or growing, but especially finding) my food.

Morel mushrooms are the pinnacle for wild foraging. To find one is the equivalent to winning big at the casino! It actually becomes treasure when you see that prices range from $50 and higher for a pound at the food co-ops and grocery stores! – NOTHING is better than coming across a slew of morels hidden amongst the leaves.

There’s lots of tricks to the “trade” of morel hunting – dead elm trees, warm days, especially after a rain shower… but it’s all hit or miss and more just about persistence and having access to a whole lotta woods!

That being said- there’s always room for a few more suggestions!

1. Lilacs: Morels tend to show up around the same time as the lilacs bloom, so I use them as a gauge as to when to start my search.

2. Decomposition: Morels are a fungus, and like any fungus, they like moisture and organic matter from which to grow. It is true that they can be found around Elm trees, but they may not show around the dead Elms. My understanding is that the morel grows from the roots of a dying elm, so look especially hard at the live ones that seem to be struggling.

3. Location: I usually have the best luck finding morels at the edge of a woods only a few feet in- where they are getting some nice light, but are still surrounded by trees and other undergrowth (they can’t be easy to find now, can they!?)

4. Enjoy! The absolute most important part of morel mushroom hunting is enjoying them. We’re putting some on the grill tonight and had them on pizza earlier in the week. You can also dry them in order to enjoy year-round. Just put them in a brown paper bag in your refrigerator.

And while this is usually where I have my best luck, this year I found the biggest morel I’ve ever found, deep in the woods, long after the lilacs had died…

There is absolutely nothing scientific about my methods and I can’t guarantee they’ll work for you, but would love to hear if they do! Also, please pass along your methods!

Posted in MIDWEST, MINNESOTA, MY MIDWEST LIFE, USA | Tagged Foraging, Morel | Leave a comment

Moving. A life in chaos.

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Greta

Embracing the “Rural Life”

I decided to make a huge life change a few months back. Probably almost 6 months ago now, though it wasn’t until the middle of March that plans actually came into action. I decided to move from my big city way of life, tiny apartment and busy street — from where I could walk to pretty much anything — down to the rural, southern part of my beautiful state, Minnesota. All in order to get back to my “roots”.

Downtown Saint Paul

I love the city, I loved being close to everything, but I love fresh air and open spaces even more. The need to raise a garden and photograph the local “travel” scene and farming communities has called my name – and it’s exactly what I need!

Nicollet Grain Elevators

Of course, with such a change, there are inevitable consequences, such as having all my belongings packed up into various corners of my parents’ homes, and having really no idea where anything is located. I bought a commercial building, that I plan to move into – someday. It needs so much love and work that I’m beginning to realize that I won’t be able to do that any time soon.

And so my life as a “nomad” begins :c) I’m bouncing from family member’s couch to spare rooms, while planting my garden and fixing up “my place”.

As anyone who has ever traveled or moved can probably attest- it’s SO MUCH WORK! Personally, the being “homeless” part of the nomad life is probably the hardest part. I’ve never been able to be a nomad on my journeys abroad, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it now — but at least I have my computer and now I will get back to posting!

Posted in MIDWEST, MINNESOTA, MY MIDWEST LIFE | Leave a comment

Iditarod Ceremonial Start

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Greta

Anchorage Ceremonial Start of the Iditarod

Today, March 4, the 40th annual Iditarod officially begins in Wasilla, AK. I would like to say I came to Alaska just to see the Iditarod, but that wouldn’t be entirely honest, as I am not in Wasilla today. But I did come to see the sled dogs, the races and the mushers, as well as to feel the excitement in the air- and I was not disappointed.

An all white sled dog team

The Ceremonial Start to the Iditarod, which is always held in Anchorage the day before the race begins, allows onlookers to see the “action” and be excited for the Iditarod. It is a wonderful thing to view.

Future-Iditarod winner? Musher Mike Santos glides past

There are 67 teams this year in the race, and the ceremonial start isn’t about racing, it’s about the mushers seeing their fans (and vice versa). It’s about getting a proper “send off”. It’s about fun.

Lance Mackey stops for a ‘dog’

We had a musher stop at our little cookout when one of the children in our group asked for a ride- the musher complied and took him up the hill on his way down the trail. Another musher, Lance Mackey, a 4-time Iditarod winner, stopped and accepted one of our offered hot dogs as he went along. Many others had joyful comments or threw out dog mitts, and all had big smiles.

Even the sled dogs had big smiles

Posted in USA | 2 Comments

Chapter 6: Assignment 2: Photoshop

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Greta

Original Image:
Me, Myself and I – a self portrait I took as part of a photo booth
ISO 200, 85mm fixed, f/3.2, 1/80 sec., on camera flash

In Photoshop:

1. Auto Color- I find that this does wonders when I’m about to convert an image to B&W- otherwise normally I wouldn’t use it at all, as it seems to get the colors all wrong.

2. Black and White to convert the colors. You can also play around with the colors here to get more contrast with reds, greens, etc. I did not in this case.

3. Levels to draw out the deep contrasts between black and white. I absolutely love ‘levels’- it’s just a matter of playing with a histogram until you get the look you want

4. I finished with Clone Stamp to eliminate the lines in the background- I did not want anything to distract from my lovely face…

Final Image:

As a side note: I did a series of these photos for my family reunion. I ended up cropping each image in tight on the head as an 8×10. I didn’t do that here, cause it makes my chin look fat :c) but I wanted you to know that for the final “product” I did indeed crop.

The nice thing about that crop is it brought out the details/blemishes of one’s face- I don’t believe in photoshopping those things out, like they do with models. I find that they add to an person’s individual beauty and their story (Examples of the tight crop are here.)

Posted in Assignment, MatadorU, MINNESOTA | Leave a comment

Photo Lab 46: Work

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Greta

Getting the sheep ready for judging at the Minnesota State Fair
ISO 800, 100mm, f/3.5, 1/100sec

Posted in MatadorU | 2 Comments

Chapter 6: Assignment 1: Lightroom

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Greta

Original image:
Anchorage, Alaska, Sled Dog Sprint Races
ISO 400, 210mm, f/5.6, 1/3200 sec.

I took this photo with a bit higher ISO as I didn’t know how quickly the dogs would be rushing by and I wanted to make sure that I had a high shutter speed, to freeze the motion of the dogs. It was also spotty light, sometimes shaded, sometimes sunny- I’m sure I could have gotten by at ISO 200, but you live and learn…

How I improved this photo:

1. Cropped to get a closer focus on dogs.

2. Moved up the contrast, while raising the recovery and the fill light- a bright day with sun and lots of snow and I didn’t want to lose the details.

3. Changed the white balance to the “daylight” setting, which moved the light spectrum away from the cold blue tones and more into the warm yellows.

4. I then went to HSL, which allows you to work on saturation and luminance for individual colors, to lower the blue tones. Even with the white balance change all the shadows were still showing up blue, so I essentially eliminated that color from the photo. I also lowered the purples and magentas, so that the girl’s jacket off to the side did not stand out and distract the eye quite so much.

Final image:

A side note: I have this crazy tendency to crop, crop, crop- which I originally did with this image, but then I decided that I liked some of that external information like the viewers and the trail so I did a re-do. How do you know when you’re cropping out too much and when to resist the crop?

Posted in Assignment, MatadorU, USA | Leave a comment

Alaska Fur Rondy

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Greta

77 years steeped in tradition, the Anchorage Fur Rondy definitely feels like a step (or two) back in time, aptly described as “Alaska’s frontier spirit”

As long as you can handle the cold the Fur Rondy is cram-packed with random adventure. Like any good weekend event, there’s no way to do it all. So I printed off my list and away I went- hitting up the pieces that caught my eye.

Sled Dog Races

The Dog Sled Races began in 1946. These dogs race at twice the speed as the dogs on the Iditarod Trail, typically taking about 90 minutes to complete the shortened trail.

Blanket Toss

Snow Sculptures

Compressed snow gets crafted into a wide variety, from cat faces to polar bears to trains.

Fur Auction
As you might expect from an event named the “Fur Rendezvous” there was quite a bit of fur to be seen- culminating with the Fur Auction.

Posted in USA, Weekend | Leave a comment

First Impression: Alaska

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Greta

Fur rules the roost in Alaska- on animal or man, it’s cold and necessary.

Celebrating Anchorage’s Fur Rondy and a Moose stops for a bite in Anchorage, Alaska

Posted in USA | 1 Comment

5 Reasons why the photographer should never drive

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Greta

Safe driving on the empty rural roads

As a photographer, I’ve found that I just really shouldn’t drive. As I’ve gotten more and more into photography, I’ve become a worse and worse driver… I’m composing photos, rather than concentrating on the road.

1. Next Great Shot
The photographer is always looking for his/her next shot – which probably isn’t the road, or even in that direction…

A Bald Eagle flys overhead

2. Distractions
There’s always something.

The Nature Photographer is busy looking at the hawks and bald eagles perched upon the light posts, awaiting their flight.

The Street Photographer is eyeing all the colorful outfits and odd behaviors of the pedestrians as they stroll the sidewalk.

The Lost Photographer is probably on his/her phone asking for directions, watching the GPS and house numbers and everything else but driving.

The setting sun makes magic on the Minnesota State Capitol Building

3. Trained to see the light, not the traffic
They’ve trained themselves to see light, to see pictures as they unfold themselves, and once they see the “picture”, they need to photograph it. Which leads into the fourth reason.

4. Split-Second Decisions
A photographer will be excited about the photo they have just composed as they drove by something spectacular. Which means a turn at the last second, or un-expected road stop. Depending on how concentrated they are on their subject, they may not be paying much attention to other drivers behind them.

5. Preferences
The plain and simple truth is that they would rather be photographing what they see- not driving and just dreaming about what that building would have looked like in a photo.

Posted in MY MIDWEST LIFE, PHOTOGRAPHY, USA | 2 Comments

Fear the cold no more

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Greta

It’s true- the winters in Minnesota are brutal. Luckily there is a solution and it’s right above your head – the Skyway System!

The Wonder
The Minneapolis skyway system is the longest continuous skyway system in the world! It links 69 blocks and over 7 miles of downtown space. This allows you to work, eat, shop and live – without ever leaving the comfort and warmth of the good ole’ indoors!

Saint Paul’s system is much the same, though on a smaller scale, as its downtown is smaller

The Hours
Neither skyway is open 24/7, though you probably won’t need to use the skyway during the hours it’s closed. St. Paul’s skyways are open from 6 AM to 2 AM every day and Minneapolis is very similar

During the work week the skyways are extremely busy with shoppers, diners and professionals. On the weekend, as with in this photo, shops and restaurants are closed so the skyways are much quieter.

If you want to experience the skyway at it’s best, go during the week, between 10 AM and 4:30 PM.

The Maze
The skyways mostly have been marked, but they are still one big maze. Your initial foray into the skyways may be a bit of a challenge. If you see a skyway above, most doors at street level will have some way to get to it- just enter and find your way to the second floor. My recommendation is to print out a map before leaving. Don’t be afraid to ask for help- we’ve all gotten lost a few (hundred) times!

The Maps
A great new, user friendly map of the Minneapolis system is here.

Here’s the one for the Saint Paul Skyway System.

Enjoy!

Posted in MIDWEST, MINNESOTA | Leave a comment