lens on the lake

“Dreamer” is our pick for this month’s Last Glance. “Dreamer” took third place in our 2018 Lens on the Lake photo contest

Julie Orloske has been drawn to photography since right after high school. “I have always loved seeing the details of nature or capturing the images as they are unfolding,” Orloske says.

The photo was taken when Orloske joined her friend and her friend’s dog for a walk around White Bear Lake and they stopped at the dog park. “Stella loves to play in the water and was chasing and bringing back a floating toy,” Orloske says. “I love how Stella’s ears are standing straight up with the excitement on her face, waiting for the toy to be thrown again.”

It's that time of year again: The Lens on the Lake photo contest has returned for its 8th year of beautiful photos of our community. This photo contest, presented by White Bear Lake Magazine, showcases the best photographers in our community—not to mention the subjects that give them inspiration.

We're looking for photos that show off the core values of White Bear Lake in five categories:

“This is a good example of community events bringing us together,” remarks Jay Rendall on his photo Pumpkinmania, which won third place in the 2015 Activities and Events category. Rendall also captured a few other award-winning shots, including Hiking, which appeared in the June issue, and High School Regatta in the September issue.

Summer in the land of 10,000 lakes wouldn’t be complete without spending the nicest days fishing off the end of the dock. Fishermen and women, young and old, flock to the shores of White Bear Lake with the hopes of catching “the big one.” White Bear Lake resident Penny Rendall used her iPhone to capture this snapshot, Going Fishing, of her then 3-year-old grandson Tanner, his fishing pole and tackle box in hand. “We remember taking our son and daughter fishing,” says Rendall. “We just continued the tradition.”

Summertime in White Bear Lake means the races begin at the White Bear Lake Yacht Club. It was on a Monday evening last June that Jay Rendall captured this shot of an A-scow crew “hiking”—balancing the boat against the push of the wind. The photo, entitled Hiking, took first place in the Activities and Events category of our Lens on the Lake contest.

Garnering an honorable mention in the City Landmarks category, Dale Grambush’s photo, Nearing Ice Out, caught White Bear Lake in seasonal transition. “There’s still ice on the lake,” says Grambush, “but not around the docks.” Grambush says that the shadows of the dock and the fog in the distance prompted him to stop and snap the shot; he took the photo near Boatworks Commons with his cellphone one morning late last March.

Driving along Lake Avenue South, Grambush looks out onto the lake nearly every day on his commute. He enjoys photographing the lake throughout the seasons.

Julie Orloske was at her White Bear Lake home when she took the photo Hi Neighbor, which took first place in the Pets category of our annual photo contest. Orloske was standing on her driveway in the late spring when she saw her neighbor’s dog, Crixus, peering out through the crack in her fence. Placing her Canon 70D camera on the ground, she captured the dog in action. “This is Crixus,” Orloske says. “This is how he is.”

Julie Orloske was at her White Bear Lake home when she took the photo Hi Neighbor, which took first place in the Pets category of our annual photo contest. Orloske was standing on her driveway in the late spring when she saw her neighbor’s dog, Crixus, peering out through the crack in her fence. Placing her Canon 70D camera on the ground, she captured the dog in action. “This is Crixus,” Orloske says. “This is how he is.”

In december 2014, Ron Hawkins, a White Bear Lake firefighter and paramedic, photographed a veteran emergency dispatcher named Wendy taking a call. Hawkins used his Fuji point-and-shoot camera to capture the photo, “911, What’s Your Emergency?,” which was taken at the White Bear Lake Public Safety Dispatch Building and took second place in the People and Families category of our Lens on the Lake contest.