I love pretty much any kind of editorial assignment. That said, any assignment involving politics, politicians and voters ranks high among my favorites. Last week I photographed the Republican caucus in Moorhead, Minn., for Minnesota Public Radio News. A few days later I heard GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum planned a campaign stop in Fargo. It seemed to make sense to stop by to photograph the event. Apparently, hundreds of other people had the same idea. Local media reports pegged attendance at last night’s rally at 1,000 or more. Enjoy the photographs and thanks for stopping by. – Ann

P.S. Earlier this year I shared my 12 Creative Goals for 2012, which included a mandate to shoot at least six self-assignments [so those I assigned myself]. I’m counting my photographic efforts at Mr. Santorum’s rally as self-assignment No. 1.

Mother Nature recently treated much of North Dakota and portions of northwestern Minnesota to several days of hoar frost. I poked around my backyard [literally] with my cell phone camera one morning. And, ventured around the block [literally] with my 5D another day. Oh, then I made a few photographs in downtown Fargo before a visit to the Plains Art Museum. Enjoy! – Ann

On a fine October morning last fall I headed up to photograph at Red Goose Gardens, located outside Shelly, Minnesota. My family has supported the farm through its community supported agriculture [CSA] program for several years. The farm is beautiful. I’ve always intended to photograph there, but somehow never seemed to have the time. My autumn photo outing was motivated by a local arts organization’s call for entry. The Arts Partnership is interested in doing what CSA farms do, but with art. So, art enthusiasts will be able to buy a share and receive a box brimming with work by different creatives. Anyway, the proposal deadline was adjusted so I’m back to working on my proposal and considering that first set of images.

Initially, my intention was to select pairs of images – so two complementary photographs would be printed side-by-side on a single piece of paper. However, I’ve been studying some of my selects from the October outing and am seeing ways to physically connect the images. I’m sharing two examples here. I don’t know that I consider either one of these a finished piece. My latest thought is to look for additional pieces or layers to include. For example, the working title of the image below is “Pepper Chicken” so I’m considering overlaying a recipe or a photograph of a recipe card for pepper chicken in the vacant space.

Regardless of what I ultimately come up with, I’m excited about the evolution of this little project. Best, Ann

A blanket of snow descended on the Red River Valley yesterday. Fargo-Moorhead was smack in the middle of the storm, which produced 12 inches of white fluffy stuff. The flakes were large and plentiful, but the skies dull and flat.

One of the lessons I’ve learned is that the morning after a good snowfall is usually delightful for photographs. This is particularly true if the skies are clear.

In an ideal world, I would head out early – before the sun has risen – and walk the streets of my neighborhood. I would be properly bundled to keep the chill at bay. I would have an open schedule with no place to be at any particular time. This morning served as yet another reminder that the ideal – while nice in theory – is not real.

From my kitchen window, I caught a glimpse of a brilliant orange sky in the distance. A fabulous sunrise over fresh snow was in the makings. A quick facebook check revealed not only an amazing sunrise, but reports of sundogs – which are caused by sunlight refracting through airborne ice crystals when it is really, really cold.

I wanted to be outside making pictures, but that wasn’t possible at the moment. Our 5-year-old son needed another round of breakfast and we were nowhere near ready to leave the house for the day.

So, I kept an eye on the sky and decided we would take the long way to preschool today. It wasn’t ideal by any means, but I did figure out a way to make a few pictures and be a mom at the same time. Little M. was late for school, but I figured his teachers wouldn’t mind. It’s not everyday you get to chase sundogs.

Enjoy! Ann

Photographer friend Britta Trystad and I just returned from a quick trip from Fargo-Moorhead to Winnipeg, Manitoba. We spent about 31 hours in transit. The purpose of the photo-based outing was simply to seek out colors, lines, textures and anything else of visual interest.

The creative exercise served as a reminder to me of how important it is to step outside your routine and away from your regular stomping grounds. Watching [and photographing] the light shift early Saturday morning was pure pleasure. I’m feeling energized and excited about several upcoming projects.

Happy Sunday, Ann