Lake Minnetonka Magazine reader Bob Israel received an honorable mention in the Wildlife & Nature category of our 2016 Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest for his photo Winter’s Waning, which features a sunset over Lake Minnetonka. Israel captured the photo last March.
Originally from New York City, Israel began seriously pursuing photography about 20 years ago. Now at home in Mound, he continues to capture the scenery all around him. When Israel aimed his Sony A7rll at Lake Minnetonka and captured this dazzling view, he was blown away by the texture and pattern of the ice. “The whole scene speaks to me that, regardless of the intensity of winter, it gives way to the hope of spring,” says Israel.
Winter’s Waning isn’t Israel’s first photo to receive accolades. In 2008, he won a National Geographic Traveler Magazine landscape award for a photo of an old pier on Lake Michigan. After developing a passion for photography while shooting photos of his kids’ high school sports, he continued to hone his skills and eventually showed some of his work in a solo gallery exhibit in Milwaukee.
When he’s not working as the vice president of product stewardship and sustainability at Valspar Corp., Israel shares his photos online under the name RJI Photography.
