She doesn't remember the day or month in which it was taken, but Anastasiya Bannie remembers how she felt when she photographed Calming Morning on Lake Minnetonka.
“It was so peaceful,” she says. “I had this beautiful feeling and I wanted to remember it.”
It all started around sunrise. Since Bannie describes herself as “not a morning person,” she normally would not have been awake then, but her husband Ross and his son wanted to go fishing. She went out on the balcony of their home perched between Wild Goose Island and Pelican Island. “I was just leaning on the rail,” she says, when she was taken by the breathtaking beauty of Mother Nature.
She ran to get her camera. “You can definitely call it spontaneous shot,” Bannie says. “I wasn't planning to take anything at 5 in the morning with my half-open eyes.”
Over the years, friends had seen Bannie’s snapshots and encourage her to pursue photography professionally. Now she is, with a studio in her home and a portfolio of children’s and baby portraits—and, of course, nature photos.
“Lake Minnetonka has so much history behind [it],” Bannie says. “Each time I take photos of this lake, it always surprises me with something new: unbelievable colors, the sound of loons, people having fun ... and more, more, more.”
But Calming Morning is still a favorite. “Each time I look at the photo, I have a warm feeling of my husband spending quality time with his son,” she says.
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To learn more about Photography by Anastasiya Bannie, contact her at 612.804.0607.
