Nielsen Photography

10/28/2025

We're in the finals! Photo #36 of Stillwater's Christmas gingerbread house - please vote if you feel so inclined.

Christmas is always a busy season and so we struggled a little bit last year to make it out to do a Christmas lights tour, but we made sure to pick a date and put it on our calendar as "cannot miss." Only problem? That particular day turned out to be about -15 wind chill. It was a good thing we had a tripod for these photos to make up for all the shivering!!

Voting is now open for the 2025 Discover Stillwater Photo contest!
Head here to select your favorite:
https://form.jotform.com/252924854988174
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08/16/2025

It's art show day! It may be raining outside but the annual Cambridge Arts and Crafts Fesitval moved inside of the City Center Mall so we can all stay dry. Follow the music to find us- we're right by the musician today. We have a whole stockbof new magnets and notecards to check out along with our favorite matted, metal and canvas prints.

04/26/2025

A visitor to Alimagnet Park giving us the staredown.

03/21/2025

You'll be seeing more photos of this awesome waterfall as I sort through more of our photos, but - who'd have thought to find a waterfall this tropical looking in West Virginia? We just barely made it here (both because it was an extra 45 minute drive, one way and because the road was very nearly underwater due to the hurricane passing through a week or so before we arrived last fall) - but I am so very glad we did make it. What an amazing spot, and lucky timing right at sunset!

03/06/2025

In Minnesota I'm so used to seeing our water birds floating, wading or sitting on downed logs. Our trip to Florida was one of the first times I've seen so many of these long legged birds actually perched in trees! This one posed beautifully for us during our kayak trip through

02/11/2025

This female cardinal likes to perch in the evergreen bushes right outside my office window and take an afternoon nap. While male cardinals are of course beautiful, the more I've been able to look at the female cardinals, the more I love the subtle red highlights - especially the bright crest!

01/28/2025

A few favorites from the World Snow Sculpting championships in Stillwater. If you're hoping to see these lit up at night (and I'd recommend it - I was shocked at how much more detail I could see at night under the colored lights compared to in the harsh sunlight), go this week! The sculptures themselves may be up for longer if this "heat wave" allows, but the night lighting will be gone soon.

01/26/2025

This is one of the first times I've seen a bird perch in the sun perfectly enough that I could see the color of his iris.

01/17/2025

He is the most adorable chubby-wumpkins!! Come this weekend, I'll be all bundled up like this, too. We've been very much enjoying all the winter birds right outside our office windows the last few days!

12/31/2024

Looking forward to a goal for 2025: I want to get caught up on all the sorting and editing waiting for me from our 2023 and 2024 travels on photoshoots! This beautiful shot of Budapest's Széchenyi Chain Bridge is from our 2023 travels and has been sitting neglected in a "to review" folder for far too long. I'm looking forward to making the time to sort through lots more great shots like this and reminding myself of the wonderful things we've been fortunate enough to see!

12/21/2024

The day we drove into Shenandoah National Park (back in early October), we had about two hours to make it the 5 or 6 miles from the park entrance before dark, and figured we'd get in and take a nice walk around the campground in daylight to shake off the stiffness from driving all afternoon. Instead, we spent about an hour and a half on the waysides within the first two miles of the entrance, staring at the dramatic fog and fall colors just starting to peek through. We took this one just a little bit before it got too dark and we finally had to stop pulling over at every wayside, but the mist and low clouds still really pop with the evening light!

12/17/2024

This hungry guy and about 20 of his girlfriends caused a bit of a traffic jam with their snack break along the side of the road when we were leaving the Smokies in October. Murphy's Law of course dictated that the photographer was driving and he pushed the camera at me to see what I could do! It turns out "what I could do" was 52 blurry photos of other cars, elk butts and trees that got between us....and this one winner, the very last photo I was able to snap before we drove past the herd and the traffic broke up!