Muse - Lake Superior

Driftwood - Gooseberry Falls State Park, MN
Canon 5D Mark ii + Canon 24mm f3.5L TSE Lens

I become increasingly restless as the confines of winter begin to close in. Diminishing daylight and long work days conspire to crush the creative spirit. This is the time that wanderlust fills the void. While holiday joy might inspire happiness for the masses, I can only see darkness. I'm not a family guy. I am a loner who loves the company of a few and seeks serenity when my mind becomes preoccupied with life's minutia. In these dark moments I need a muse, a subject that lacks the static nature of my predicament. 

Superior is this muse.The big lake releases a flood of emotion that I constrain each day. Its frigid wind and deep cold forces a cathartic release that inspires. No, it's not my only muse, it's just the one I need to visit each December.

For more from Gooseberry State Park, Check out this link to my "Favorite Places."  

©2000-2012 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Purposeful Work

Sunrise on Lake Alexander - Lake Alexander Preserve, MN
Canon 7D + Tokina 12-24mm f4.0 DX-II

“The Crow Wing County Board of Commissioners got a standing ovation at their meeting this spring when they approved the (Minnesota) DNR’s request to create the Mille Lacs Moraine Scientific and Natural Area...” 

And so the story goes...

Fortunately for me, I was in the right place at the right time. Having recently won a photo contest that placed an image of red-eyed tree frogs in the 2013 Nature Conservancy calendar, I mustered the courage to offer my skills to this organization that I so admire. After requesting a few extra calendars for my files, I suggested that “The Conservancy” (TNC) tap into my passion for conservation photography. 

Flagged for only a few assignment thus far, I hope to contribute images that inspire a conservation ethic. Pictures can transform abstractions into realities and convey a mood where words might otherwise fail. If our work moves others to contribute their time, their money or their vote to the conservation of wild spaces, then it is purposeful work to me. 

©2000-2012 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Road Tripping Through Ecosystems #6

Bull Moose - Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon 7D + Canon 300 f2.8ISL w/ 1.4x converte

Why don't they call two Meece?
Five days following our travels through Teddy Roosevelt, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks time has made me reflective. Our journey traversed 2500 miles and 54 hours of Jeep time. We inaugurated a pop-up RV, survived severe straight-line winds and endured searing afternoon temperatures. While I'm sure that time will temper my thoughts, I can comfortably claim that I've never worked so hard to see so little. The landscapes are spectacular, my country has stunning beauty, but the distances between here and there are immense. I won't call it a disappointment, but Yellowstone was not the safari I expected... 

Road Tripping Through Ecosystems #3

Pre-Dawn on Jackson Lake - Grand Tetons National Park
Canon 5D markII + Canon 17-40L Lens shot @ f11

©2000-2011 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Road Tripping Through Ecosystems #2

Dawn
Yellowstone Lake
Canon 5D markII + 100 f2.8 USM Macro Lens

©2000-2011 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.