A Walk in the Woods... Among Other Things

The day after Christmas my beautiful girlfriend, my parents, and I went for a beautiful walk through some trails that my parents had been exploring the last couple of weeks.

My parents go for a walk just about every day.  They're not short walk either.  They typically walk upwards of five miles when they go out.  We didn't walk quite that far this particular day because my girlfriend and I aren't used to walking that much at once, but the shortness of the walk didn't take away any of the beauty of the walk.

It was a gorgeous day, about 20 degrees, the sun was out, fresh powdery snow on the ground (and covering the trees), and beautiful trails and swamps to explore.

While we were out there my dad also put out a remote camera to try and get some photos of wildlife.
All in all it was an awesome walk.

Oh and there are some photos from an ice fishing trip my dad and I took up to Upper Red Lake.  We were only up there for a little bit, but we caught four walleyes (I didn't put any photos of them up though).  Thanks for looking!

All photos ©Joe Ahlquist

On Assignment

Last Saturday I covered, what I thought, was a pretty interesting assignment for the Winona Daily News. Four Goodview police officers, one of which was the chief of police, took five children from Goodview Elementary School to Target in Winona, Minn., for some holiday shopping for family members.

It looked like the police officers and the kids were having a good time shopping together. You can read the story and see some more photos here.  Here a few of my favorites from the assignment. 

All images ©Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News

MSHSL Class AA State Football Championship

A couple weeks ago I found myself at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., covering the Caledonia High School Warriors at the MSHSL Class AA State Football Championship. 

To make a long story short, Levi Schmitz kicked the winning field goal with seconds left of the game.  It was a pretty awesome way for Caledonia to win their third straight title.  

It was a fun game to shoot, watch, and, of course, shooting at the Metrodome was pretty cool too.  I came away with a total of 35 photos for the gallery on the Winona Daily News website, but I only posted a few of my favorites here. 

©Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News

Caledonia's Levi Schmitz squats on the field before kicking the winning field goal during the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)

Caledonia's Adam Buttell (10) and Brad Strub celebrate after Strub scored a touchdown during the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)

Caledonia players take the field just before the second half of the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)

Caledonia head coach Brent Schroeder looks up during the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)

Caledonia's Alex Varney (5) and Ryan Pitts congratulate each other after winning the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)

Caledonia fans celebrate after Caledonia won the MSHSL Class AA Championship game against Moose Lake/Willow River Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. (Joe Ahlquist/Winona Daily News)