Photographers deck the walls at Pine Knot

The Knot Gallery's current exhibit features two area photographers whose subjects are all "out of doors." Colorful and majestic framed landscapes by retired Raiter Clinic physician Dan Malkovich hang along the multi-colored brick wall at the Pine Knot News office on Avenue C. Among his framed prints, we've interspersed Will Stenberg's remarkable wildlife photos, often intimate with flashes of movement. Last week, we held an opening for the two artists during the West End open house that helped kick off the Santa's Home for the Holidays festivities. Well-attended, folks floated in and out over a two-hour period, often conversing with the photographers.

It wasn't love at first sight between Malkovich and photography. "I've long had an interest in photography, but years ago, I had a reflex film camera and it was difficult," he said. "I would get my photos developed and be disappointed."

It wasn't until he bought a digital camera at the urging of one of his best friends from high school - 50 years after graduation - that Malkovich really fell in love.

"I could take pictures with abandon and not have to worry about expensive developing costs," he said. "Over taking thousands and thousands of pictures I learned what worked and what didn't."

The Malkovich images at the Pine Knot gallery include subjects from our region: A nighttime Boundary Waters photos of faces lit by firelight reflected by nearby rocks, small compared to the awesome Milky Way spread above. A verdant cascade of water running over fern and lichen-covered rocks on the Rose Portage, taken on a BWCA canoe trip with his son. There's his striking horizon painting of the Grand Marais Harbor at night, looking north over the water toward the sand spit with its terminal lighthouse. Restive Lake Superior waves dashing against rock cliffs at Tettegouche State Park. Rose and orange shades of sunset lighting up the St. Louis River's floating chunks of ice. A lavish golden fall maple forest, also in Jay Cooke.

Other Malkovich images feature the red rock country of the Colorado Plateau, taken at Arches and Canyonland national parks.

Interspersed with Malcovich's landscapes are Will Stenberg's photos, many of birds and other animals captured in the wild.

Stenberg, in his retirement, spends many days and hours of those days searching for subjects. Some are full of motion, as in his two trumpeter swans caught on film in their dramatic mating dance on water. Three crimson-capped sandhill cranes taking off in Solway Township during their annual migration. A ruffed grouse fanning his head's red-orange side feathers in his mating call in the spring. A regal, gold-capped black bobolink posing on a cattail. An orange-breasted prothonotary warbler photographed in Frontenac State Park. And not all are birds. The Cromwell native has captured a buffalo herd on film on a snowy afternoon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and a trio of fox kits waiting for their mom.

"I love to be out in nature and feel better in mood and spirit there than in any other setting," said Stenberg. "Certainly, every time I go out, I would like to find something interesting to photograph, but I would still want to be in nature without a camera."

Stenberg said he's an opportunist: "That is, I rarely go out for a certain subject, but will try to capture what I do happen to see in the field on any particular day," he said. "I especially appreciate the birds, mammals and insects of our region, but will turn my attention to plants or landscapes should the opportunity arise."

Malkovich calls it something else: luck.

"A lot of photography is good luck," Malkovich said. "I like to visit a location with a specific composition in mind, but conditions change without warning, especially the weather, and the ability to adapt to those changes is important."

The rest of the time he plans his photos, often for the "golden hours" around sunrise and sunset.

Before Malkovich leaves his home, he knows his location, and he's already scouted out the foreground. He gets there an hour in advance, just in case. "I know what time the sun will be up or where the moon will be on the horizon," he said. "One time I knew the Milky Way would be out at 2 a.m. at Split Rock. I set my alarm for 12:30 a.m. to get there, then got lucky because the northern lights showed up that night too."

Stenberg reflected on his photography in an email.

"I wouldn't describe what I do with a camera as in any way remarkable. There are many, many photographers, just in Minnesota, whose work I am humbled by. Some people tell me that I have a unique view of nature. Most likely we all notice certain things and don't recognize what is obvious to another's eye. A subject could be plain as day to another photographer's eye, and I may miss it completely."

The Malkovich and Stenberg works will be mounted at the Pine Knot until the end of January. We welcome drop-in viewers after 10 a.m. most weekdays at 122 Avenue C, Cloquet. Call 218-878-9332, just in case we're out reporting on the news.