Joe Tower

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  1. Ho Ci Min City, Vietnam featured image

    Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, 2026

    Ho Chi Min City is more of a "living city" than both Ha Noi or Da Nang. There are highlights such as visiting the many…

  2. Da Nang, Vietnam featured image

    Da Nang, Vietnam, 2026

    We arrived in Da Nang on a rainy afternoon. Our first afternoon was spent getting acclimated, getting some necessities…

  3. Ha Noi, Vietnam featured image

    Ha Noi, Vietnam, 2026

    Our trip to Vietnam began in Hanoi. Our flight from rom MSP → Korea in-flight took 14 hours. Then from Korea → Hanoi…

  4. Penang, Malaysia featured image

    Penang, Malaysia, 2025

    Our days in Penang We had very high hopes for Penang; both in our research and while speaking to people in KL, people…

  5. Sabah, Malaysia featured image

    Sabah, Malaysia, 2025

    KL -> Sandakan We arrived in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia and spent a night at the Sandakan hotel before taking a tour bus…

  6. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia featured image

    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2025

    Our first time in Malaysia After a lot of research about where to go in Malaysia, we planned a trip and visited Kuala…

  7. Chennai, India featured image

    Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 2024

    Our third trip to Chennai Once again we stayed at the wonderful Accord Metropolitan, ate at our favorite eatery:…

  8. Kerala India featured image

    Kochi, Kerala, India, 2024

    This trip we stayed in Aluva, which is a small suburb of Kochi. Every trip to India involves a stop in Kerala because…

  9. Mumbai, India featured image

    Mumbai, India, 2024

    This trip we decided to stop and explore Mumbai for a couple days before going to Kochi. While in Mumbai, we toured…

  10. Gent, Brussels featured image

    Gent, Belgium, 2024

    While in Gent, we toured the Gravensteen castle, appreciated the incredible architecture, and enjoyed some good soup at…

  11. Bruges, Brussels featured image

    Bruges, Belgium, 2024

    While in Bruges, we marvelled at all the old, beautiful architecture, had some of the best hot chocolate ever at The…

  12. Brussels, Belgium featured image

    Brussels, Belgium, 2024

    This time, on our way to India, we decided to stop in Belgium for 4 days to explore and to ease the 12-hour time change…

  13. California featured image

    California, 2023

    We flew into Fresno, CA and rented a car. On our 2 week trip, we spent several days in Yosemite, then several more days…

  14. Rwanda featured image

    Rwanda, 2023

    One of the first things we did after crossing the border from Uganda to Rwanda was to visit the Akagera Coffee…

  15. Uganda featured image

    Uganda, 2023

    Africa, and specifically, East Africa has been on our travel bucket list since we created a travel bucket list. Timing…

  16. Oahu, Hawaii featured image

    Oahu, Hawaii, 2022

    The dumpster fire that was 2020 and 2021 (and into 2022 present day) was/has been * heavy sigh *. For our first trip in…

  17. Vintage Lens Day: Minolta MD 24mm 2.8 MC-X at Memorial Park in Red Wing, MN

    Vintage Lens Day: Minolta MD 24mm 2.8 MC-X

    This installment of Vintage Lens Day takes place at Memorial Park in Red Wing, MN. The lens is the MC-X version of the…

  18. Vintage Lens Day: Canon FD 28mm 2.8 at Montgomery Orchard

    Vintage Lens Day: Canon FD 28mm 2.8

    In this series, I take a day trip and capture images using one vintage lens. In this first installment, the Canon FD…

  19. Collected bird photography featured image

    Birds: collected bird photography

    Bird and wildlife photography is one of my favorite subjects. Male North American…

  20. International Women's Day 2021, Chennai, India

    International Women's Day 2021, Chennai, India

    A friend in Chennai reached out and asked if I could design some posters for International Women's Day 2021. These…

  21. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India featured image

    Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 2020

    Our second trip to Chennai We once again stayed at the same hotel, the Accord Metropolitan, as in our 2017 trip). It…

  22. Kochi, Kerala, India featured image

    Kochi, Kerala, India, 2020

    Kochi City, Kerala For this India trip we traveled to Kochi City, as our friend Father Xavier is located there instead…

  23. Munich, Germany featured image

    Munich, Germany, 2020

    The travel experience - the Europe stop on the way to India On this trip to India we decided to try stopping in Europe…

  24. Travel photography camera and lens selection featured image

    Travel photography: cameras and lenses

    While this post is focused on travel photography it could be applied to everyday photography, too. Choosing a camera…

  25. Walt Disney Parks photo collections featured image

    Disney Parks

    The following photos are my favorite captures from several trips to Walt Disney Parks--including Walt Disney World and…

  26. Jiufen Lead Image

    Jiufen, Taiwan, 2019

    On our third stop in Taiwan, we decided to spend a night in the tiny but picturesque & charming Jiufen. During our…

  27. Hualien Lead Image

    Hualien, Taiwan, 2019

    Our third stop in Taiwan was Hualien. Highlights included Taroko Gorge, a bag of steamed dumplings for $1, and the…

  28. Kaohsiung Lead Image

    Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2019

    Our second stop in Taiwan was Kaohsiung. Highlights included the Formosa train station’s epic Dome of Light stained…

  29. Taipei Lead Image

    Taipei, Taiwan, 2019

    This is the first in a new travel post series all about Taiwan. While in Taiwan, we stayed in Taipei, Kaohsiung,…

  30. Apple TV Collections Lead Image

    Apple TV: Imagining a better UX

    One can create a folder of apps, why not a folder of films? There is no denying the Apple TV is a remarkable device.…

  31. Web Chefs logo + t-shirt design

    Four Kitchens: Web Chefs logo + t-shirt design

    In 2019 I worked with the leadership team at Four Kitchens to design a Web Chefs logo treatment for use in branded…

  32. Hiking photo collections featured image

    Hiking

    A collection of favorite landscapes and nature shots captured on annual trips around Minnesota, Wisconsin, and…

  33. Logo design for Fall

    Fall

    Logo Designs Logo design for the music act Fall.

  34. Logo Design for Aerate - frontend performance tool

    Aerate

    Logo Designs Aerate was a frontend performance tool. Unfortunately, for us at Four Kitchens, we happened to improve…

  35. Caves featured image

    Caves

    This caves series will be updated with subsequent cave trips. The first trip, featured here, is from a day trip to…

  36. Franconia Sculpture Park photo collections featured image

    Franconia Sculpture Park

    In October 2017 we took a day trip to Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, MN. Below are some of my favorite captures of…

  37. Cuba photo collections featured image

    Havana, Cuba, 2018

    We were able to visit Havana, Cuba as part of a cruise. We were only able to spend 10-hours exploring while docked at…

  38. Taipei Lead Image

    New Delhi, Delhi, India, 2017

    The final stop on this trip was Delhi. We stayed just outside the city proper in the Saket neighborhood, just around…

  39. Chennai feature image

    Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, 2017

    The next stop on this India trip was Chennai. We definitely chose an interesting day to fly into Chennai. Upon landing,…

  40. Kerala, India Lead Image

    Ernakulam, Kerala, India, 2017

    After a total of 31 hours travel time from Minneapolis, our trip to India started in a small village called Kurumassery…

  41. Isla Mujeres Lead Image

    Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2016

    Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico – these are some of my favorite images and experiences. All photos were shot…

  42. Taipei Lead Image

    Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, 2016

    Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico – these are some of my favorite images and experiences. All photos were shot snapshot-style…

  43. Paris Lead Image

    Paris, France, 2015

    Hotel Basss: Saul Bass inspired hotel, Paris France…

  44. Venice, Italy Lead Image

    Venice, Italy, 2015

    Venice, Italy Venice, Italy…

  45. Florence, Italy Lead Image

    Forence, Italy, 2015

    Florence, Italy – these are some of my favorite images and experiences. All photos were shot snapshot-style with an…

  46. Rome, Italy Lead Image

    Rome, Italy, 2015

    These are some of my favorite images and experiences from our trip to Rome. All photos were shot snapshot-style with an…

  47. Negril, Jamaica Lead Image

    Negril, Jamaica, 2014

    Travel Travel has been at the forefront of life goals over the past few years. Jamaica was decided upon rather…

  48. Logo design for Combat Astronomy

    Combat Astronomy

    Logo Designs Proposed logo design for the music act Combat Astronomy

  49. Logo, poster, and album artwork for Waterbear

    Waterbear

    Logo Designs Logo design for the music act known as Waterbear Poster Design Album Cover Artwork

  50. Logo/Branding for EC Design

    EC Design

    Logo Designs Emily worked with me to create an organic typeface for her brand. This custom typeface was developed and…