JulieMariePicsWinter Wonders
Posted on January 31, 2014
Winter in Michigan this year has been very cold and snowy. Opportunities for much outdoor photography have been quite limited. At home, I do keep my camera handy and shoot pics from my deck as in the rather slow shutter speed Winter Storm image below. The snow and ice can also bring unusual photo opportunities as in the seed under the snow image. Our kitchen faces south. This provided the opportunity for the back lit crystal and icicle image. The dots are water drops from other icicles. The last two pictures are staged (which I hardly ever do), but inspired by a water glass that caught my eye. I like the reflection and refraction of light as well as the window frame shadows.
Winter Storm
Under the Snow
Crystal and Icicle
Glass and Shadows
Glass and Shadows 2
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Eclectic Tuesday
Posted on January 21, 2014
In combing through my files, I found four pictures I wanted to share. They are rather random, so there is no theme to these photos. The first two were taken in a children’s museum in Lansing. The next was taken in Douglas, Michigan. The last was shot from my deck here in Spring Arbor.
Mouth
Not sure this mouth makes a dentist visit any less scary.
Fiddlehead
From a bass fiddle children are allowed to pluck away on.
Morning Shadows
Deer
“You can’t see me hiding behind this tree.”
As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments.
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Saugatuck Night Lights
Posted on January 17, 2014
Night pictures are often very difficult. Getting enough light and a fast enough shutter speed can be tough without a tripod. Last Saturday night we were in Saugatuck, Michigan. It is a beach-side community with grand old homes, great shops, and a beautiful downtown area. We were there for dinner, but I did have time to take a few pictures. Hope you can see the beauty I saw in these images.
Deer
Image shot at 1/200th of a second. Slow enough to catch all the lights lit.
Shot at 1/1000th. Note the “unlit” spots that were there but not caught lit.
Lingering Christmas
Shoreside lights across the river make for a good light painting. Shot at 1.6 seconds.
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Bubbles
Posted on January 13, 2014
Saturday we visited Impressions 5, a children’s museum in Lansing, Michigan with two of our grandchildren and their parents. One of many fun, hands-on places was a room with all kinds of bubble-making opportunities. A few exhibits were enclosed in glass because of the material used, but others were wide open. These are different than New Year’s Eve bubbles, but just about as much fun.
Floating Soap Bubbles
Behind the Soap Bubble Wall
Blowing a Bubble in the Soap Wall
A Rising Glass-Encased Silicon Bubble
Two Colliding Silicon Bubbles
Airhose Soap Bubbles
Have a Bubbly Day!
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Buried Leaf
Posted on January 10, 2014
The 17-inch snowfall followed by sub-zero cold made for some interesting photographic opportunities. These four shots were taken on a warmer day but still show the effects in a leaf buried below the snow. See if you can figure out how I took these pics. The answer follows the last photo.
Buried
Close-up
Emerging
Almost Free
I took these shots from my kitchen, looking up at one of the skylights.
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Last of 2013
Posted on January 8, 2014
This eclectic mix of photos is the last of my unpublished favorites from 2013. The first is a rather ominous photo of a very recognizable logo with a sign suggesting a place to rest (or something else?).
The second is of a stare that is both forlorn and mysterious in its intensity. It is one of my favorite black-and-white images.
The last is a personal indulgence in sharing a picture of one of my grandsons at soccer practice.
Layland?
The Stare
Soccer Practice
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Flora I Have Known
Posted on January 6, 2014
These three leftovers from 2013 all focus on flora. The first is a black-and-white that I like from a path along a nature center. The second is my favorite picture (so far) of one of our roses. The last is from a birch backed by pines in a nearby golf course. Each, in different ways, introduced themselves to me and my lens.
Fern and Handrail
Rose
Birch
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Transportation
Posted on January 4, 2014
For whatever reason, I did not share these transportation themed images with you in 2013. Here I have combined a couple of classic images combine with an image of trucks not yet built. I mixed in the railroad switch because it fits the theme.
Classic Hood
Old Farm Truck
Railroad Switch
Truck Bodies
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Lights
Posted on January 2, 2014
In reviewing my photos from 2013, I realized that there were quite a few I didn’t share for a variety of reasons (not ready, forgot about, old age, etc.) so I thought I might share a few at a time. These four are all about light.
The first two were taken on the same day within a few minutes of each other. One is from an old and very ornate building and the other is from an abandoned building.
Ceiling Light
Light in Abandoned Building
The following picture is of Christmas lighting on a tree. I like this image because of how branches from the tree that didn’t have Christmas lights caught some of the color and light from the lit branches. The last image references the fact that sports commentators now see the light about the MSU Spartans after their “underdog” Rose Bowl victory.
Blue Christmas
Go Green!
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Calendar Girl
Posted on January 1, 2014
I enjoy putting together a calendar for the new year with photos from the past year. I have the calendars made for our three boys (and their families), my mom, and one for our home. The project has its challenges as not every photo shot in a 2 x 3 format (the ratio of most cameras) fits the 1 x 1 ratio (12″ square) of the calendar. With a bit of work I settled on these 13 images; a cover photo and one for every month shown here in order. After all the photos for this post, there is a brief narrative that explains how and/or why each picture was selected. Does this project make me a calendar girl? 🙂
Cover
January was shot in our garden in June. The dark background is the shaded pine tree east of the garden. I selected a rose for Rose Bowl month.
February was shot at the Toledo Zoo in September. I put flamingos with February because I thought they had a Valentine’s Day look to them.
March is a tight close-up of a tulip in Holland, Mi.
April was shot in the botanical gardens in Naples, Florida. The lubber is about 4-inches long and caught my eye as a bit of a shock (having never see one before). The early morning light added a bit of drama to the image.
May was taken in an ancient Mayan village in Cozumel, Mexico. He was one of many roaming the rocks and ruins.
June was taken in our garden. I was coming up our walk and saw the frog gently perched on the daisy. I got my camera and took a few shots while the frog posed.
July was also taken at the Toledo Zoo. I bent over the restraining fence to put my camera lens through one of the gaps in the chain link fence and used a narrow field of focus to somewhat erase the chain link fence behind the eagle.
August was a midday shot from our garden.
September was taken at a Michigan State University bird sanctuary north of Battle Creek. The swan stopped to preen right underneath a footbridge I was crossing. The sanctuary also had trumpeter swans and a black swan.
October was captured along a dirt road 10-12 miles south of our condo.
November was shot just west of Spring arbor, Michigan (where I live) on M-60.
December was from a very early morning shoot on a cold Fall morning, The frost was just starting to melt. I picked it for December because of its colors.
