Land of 10,000 Lakes, Two Barns, and a Bridge

I just got back from a quick trip to Minnesota to attend my best friend's wedding.  Of course I brought my camera along because I knew that I would have some spare time in my schedule to do some driving in the country.  I was staying in Red Wing, a small town south of Minneapolis located on the Mississippi River.  The first full day I was there I headed south on a small highway, drove, took a random turn or two to see what I could see, and eventually I ran across this barn.  I loved the red painted sides of the barn and how that played against the bright green grass, so I stopped and took a couple of shots.  I'm happy with how this shot came out, especially since it was the first time (along with another shot earlier that morning) that I successfully got a got starburst in camera (as opposed to digital manipulation later)...

Later that afternoon the sky turned overcast, and in contrast to the bright red barn and sun from the morning, I ran across this grey barn, which caught my eye for different reasons.  I like the older, weathered look of the aging siding, the vines growing up the side of the barn, the moody sky, and the gold fields in the background... 

The next day I was on another random drive south of Red Wing and I stumbled on the covered bridge located in Zumbrota, which happens to be the only remaining original, functional, covered bridge in Minnesota.  I stopped at the park and took a short walk up to, and then over/through the bridge.

While walking through the bridge I saw this view through the windows, and stopped to take a few shots...  

The only disappointment from that trip was that autumn is coming late to that part of Minnesota this year, so I missed the turning of the leaves by a couple of weeks.  I was really looking forward to that, but I had a great time driving around, exploring, randomly coming across interesting rural scenes...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX 

Prints of select photos can be ordered here