Best of MinnPics - January 2014

from flickr user Doug Wallick
Taken an a bitterly cold January evening in Duluth, a full moon hangs low over the famous lift bridge as thin sheets of ice line the foreground of this spectacular nighttime photo of deeply frozen northern Minnesota. The bravery of trudging out into the frigid temperatures of a January evening in Duluth to get "the shot" make this photo stand above the rest and make it the Best of MinnPics for January 2014.

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Best of MinnPics - January 2013

from flickr user RSBurnsIM
The photographer says: This was where I made camp on Thursday night. Not an authorized campsite but right next to where I had my cameras set up with a great view to the north. Orion and the milky way are above and the moon setting to the west is causing the orange glow. 

With winter that seem to go on forever sometimes, Minnesotans know how to embrace the sometimes bone-chilling cold and often times manage to capture its chilly beauty. This photo of winter camping on Minnesota's north shore near Silver Bay is exquisite as it captures man's tiny footprint in the grand scheme of not just the woods which cover much of northern Minnesota but also our small spot in the vastness of the cosmos.

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Best of Minnesota Photos - January 2011

Ice Trapping Ice

from flickr user Bryan Hansel
Normally, winter photos are so stark and bland. Maybe it's because we routinely deal with 4-5 months of snow-covered landscapes in Minnesota which makes it difficult for me to find photos which catch my eye enough to post here and makes it doubly hard myself as a photographer to find interesting subject matter to photograph but this photo of Minnesota's vast north shore of Lake Superior is striking to me. The cobalt blue of the water alongside the thick white layer of ice makes for a stunning photo. That's why I called this the best of January 2011

The photographer says: Recently, a southernly snow and wind storm pushed lots of pack ice to our shores. At Paradise Beach, which is northeast of Grand Marais, the pack ice froze fast to the shore. At places the thick ice extends out over 50 yards. I found this great ice gully capturing sheet ice broken up by a slight Lake Superior swell. It was 0F when I took the photo. Brrrr.

View more of this photographer's work at his website.