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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
This thread is meant to be the prequel to my thread Minneapolis and the Upper Midwest. I think most of the current regulars on this forum haven't seen most of these pictures. I started doing photography in 2009. I had been wanting to get into urban photography for some time, inspired mostly by the photo threads at SSP. When the recession hit my job was extremely precarious but I had a little bit of money saved up. After that Christmas there were some once in a lifetime deals on digital cameras. I figured that I would buy one (a Nikon D40), and that even if the world tumbled into a horrific depression I could at least take some pictures of it while everything collapsed around us. That didn't happen but I continued to take pictures.

I didn't have any experience with photography and had no idea how to use a proper camera or process the photos after they were done. Most of my old photos are crap from a technical perspective (and otherwise), but I have decided to go through them with a fresh eye and see if I can get some interesting results out of a few of them. I still use the same bare bones editing software now as I did then (Windows Picture Viewer), but now I have a better idea of how to use it. Most of the early shots are so technically broken that I am not trying to make them look like realistic photos, but instead going for a more artsy approach with the processing.

This first batch are from the night my camera arrived, and the next day. I shot the night street scenes with a flash. I've never replicated that technique but I kind of like the effect, it gives the photos a sort of 1940s noir crime photo feel. These were originally posted in thread Minneapolis - February Muck and Gloom. I posted the link mainly just to do it, it isn't a very good tour.

I'll continue to update this thread as I reprocess more photos.

Minneapolis, February 2009

mplsfeb2009r01 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r02 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r03 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r05 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r9 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r06 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r09 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r10 by afsmps, on Flickr
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I like that grainy texture - gives the images a dated feel....
Yeah, me too. I hadn't looked at these photos for several years, one of the things that surprised me was that they already look dated.

the second photo from the top is so clear and nice with that reflection.
did you use a tripod?
That was with a flash on the camera's auto setting so I am guessing it was a fast shutter speed. I didn't know anything about shutter speeds or f stops back then.
 
Discussion starter · #6 · (Edited)
Next, I focused on doing an intensive tour of the neighborhood I lived in (and still do). These are from Minneapolis - Whittier and were also taken in February 2009:

mplsfeb2009r11 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r12 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r13 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r14 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r15 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r18 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r19 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r20 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r21 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r22 by afsmps, on Flickr
 
How much South Mpls has changed in 5 years is astounding. The picture of the apartments with the station wagon in front of it now has some nicer cars and the building is covered in vines and every single deck has at least 2 bikes on it. One has 6
 
Discussion starter · #8 · (Edited)
It seems like the feel of the city is different now than it was then. Part of it is surely the difference between being in the midst of a global economic catastrophe versus the more prosperous era that we have now entered. Part of it is probably because Whittier and Lynlake (where all the photos are from so far), were fairly funky areas back then but have now experienced significant inroads of gentrification which are starting to change the culture of the area.
 
Discussion starter · #10 · (Edited)
Wow! "Bans guns in these premises..." such an odd sight for a Brit.....

Your photos and the images definitely have a 1970s feel about them....
Minnesota is generally not a favorable environment for conservative ideas but in the middle part of the last decade the Republicans controlled all of the levers of state government for two years and passed much of their Christmas list of policy ideas - one of which was a concealed carry law for people with gun licenses. It is one of their laws that was never repealed. Businesses and other public places can ban them by posting signs like that.

When I first started doing photography I had my camera on auto settings the whole time. The photos tended to come out looking washed out. When you increase the saturation a lot of light yellow hues come out - not a bad effect for older photos, I think it adds to the feel of older vintage color photos which tend to look the same as they fade.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
My next thread was South Minneapolis is a frozen wasteland. Most of the photos I've kept are from the areas around Lake St. Lake St runs east to west from one end of the city limits to the other. It is a major street that cuts through a lot of different neighborhoods and functions as a cultural cross section of the city. A lot of the murals photographed here are now unfortunately gone, but there are a lot of new ones too. The life span of a mural is relatively short in our climate. All of these photos are from February and March 2009.

mplsfeb2009r24 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r25 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r27 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsfeb2009r28 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r03 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r06 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r04 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r07 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r09 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r14 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r17 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r18 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r19 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r20 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r22 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsmar2009r23 by afsmps, on Flickr
 
Discussion starter · #14 · (Edited)
Discussion starter · #18 ·
After a few weeks of having a broken computer, I can edit photos again. These are the Minneapolis photos from the thread Twin Cities in April and were taken in April 2009:

mplsapr2009r01 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r02 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r03 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r04 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r05 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r06 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r07 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r08 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r09 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r10 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r11 by afsmps, on Flickr

mplsapr2009r12 by afsmps, on Flickr
 
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