Better or Worse?

I was doing an unofficial (and short) photo walk a couple of days ago, wandering around Highland, IL while my wife was getting a haircut.  I ended up with several photos I like, so it was an hour (and 1.5 miles) well spent.

One of my photo finds was this payphone.  It is on a corner of a former convenience store, which is now an open lot.  I presume it still works, but didn't check.

The first photo was my original concept:  the emptiness, the old technology hanging around.  After that, I got the bright idea to reshoot, catching a car in the background:  the modern world passing by the archaic phone.  I was even able to get a little blur on the car to accentuate the movement.

 So, I fell in love with the second concept, so deep and meaningful.  I posted it to one of my photo sites, where the consensus was "lose the car".  So I went back and looked again, and am convinced the original concept was better (the top photo, no-car).

What do you think?

Paying Attention

I spent some time yesterday trying to take photos that reflect what I normally wouldn’t notice, what I would miss if I wasn’t paying attention.  So on a trip to one of our local parks, I decided to change my perspective, bringing only my wide angle zoom (10mm-24mm).  And looking beyond my normal types of subjects.  So, here’s a couple of photos from that walk, certainly outside what I consider my “normal”, but I rather like them.  Which do YOU prefer?  And why? 

1)

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2)

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4)

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Detailed

 

A short wander on a grey and drizzly day, just a few photos...  

December Birds

 Just a couple from the back yard

Dark Eyed Junco (m)

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Red Breasted Woodpecker (m)

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Northern Cardinal (m)

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Dark Eyed Junco (f)

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Cades Cove

 We took a long weekend recently and went to Gatlinburg / Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Our "excuse" was to go see Jake and Mikayla, who were playing at Ole Red in Gatlinburg.  But visiting the GSMNP was also a key part of the trip.  We could've seen Jake and Mikayla lots of places closer to home, after all.

Anyway, fun trip. Here's a few photos from Cades Cove, one of our favorite places:

Little Flowers

Nice walk recently at Beaver Dam State Park.  There were lots of wildflowers, I especially liked these two:

Red Cloumbine

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Bluejacket

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Watershed Nature Center

A couple of bird shots from a recent wander at Watershed Nature Center, Edwardsville, IL, USA.  

I was watchingthis Heron hunting, looked down to adjust my camera settings for the tricky light, and completely missed the catch.  But he (she?) held it nicely for a quick photo!

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I caught his Egret (Heron?) at the end of our walk, across the main pond.  I liked the layers, especially the Redbud in the background.

 

Take off for Blue Vervain

 I recently took a photo of some prairie grass while visiting Ballard Nature Center in Altamont, IL.  After posting it to Instagram, I noticed that (from a thumbnail perspective) it looks a lot like another recent photo, of starlings leaving a tree.  What do you think?

Blue Vervain

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Taking Off

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I dunno, maybe I'm crazy?

  

Both photos taken w/ Fujifilm X-T3, taken 2/15 and 3/4.

Broken Revolving Door

 So, about a week ago, my brother text:

"In your cast array of photos do you have a revolving door picture I could license?"

Not surprisingly, the answer was No.  But an assignment!  In discussing w/ my wife we were pretty sure where I could find a door. So last weekend, I ran up into town, confirmed the door, and it was even broken!  I took a few photos.  

I sent my brother 5 shots from my phone, while taking more with my Fujifim.  I sent a selection of photos from my phone from the field, to see if he had feedback on specific wants/needs as far as composition. 

Here's the 5 phone photos, straight from the (phone) camera:

I did drive around to look for other doors, but didn't see anything.  Well, anything door-wise.  I did manage a few other photos I liked (but that is a different story).

Anyway, before I had a chance to look though the photos from my Fujifilm, he indicated that those would be fine.

Why did he want a photo of a broken rotating door?  Well, he's just posted an album over on Soundcloud, under his Savory Flakes brand.  Check it out for something more than the "machine" stuff on the radio!  Here's what he used:

It was a fun undertaking, and I get a kick out of having my image used, and was glad I could come up with something for him.

And, if you care, here's one from the Fujifilm:

Just checking...

So...  I got my replacement lens today, for my damaged 18-55mm...  (post on the old lens).  I decided to make sure it had the latest firmware (it did) and decided to check the firmware revisions on the rest of my Fujifilm stuff (2 bodies, 2 other lenses).  All needed updated, which I expected (since I don't remember the last time I looked firmware).

Of course, updating the firware meant remembering HOW to check the firmware, and how to do the updates.  But it's quite easy, and everything seems to still work!

Above is one of the test sots I did, that's the Fujifilm XT-3 with the 55-200mm lens.  Just something shot out the front door.

 

National Selfie day

 So, apparently yesterday (6/21/2021) was "National Selfie Day".  Predictably, I missed it.  I suspect a lot of other people did as well, since I didn't see any trend on social media.

Here's a photo I took yesterday, pretend it's a selfie, or that it at least provides an insight to my soul...

Watershed Nature Center, Edwardsville, IL

Flutter-bye?

 

Red Admiral Butterfly, hanging out in the fresh mulch in our front yard. Vanessa Atalanta to be precise.

Cleared for Landing

 

Chirping Sparrow, coming in to the feeder.  From a sequence shot in burst mode on the Fujifilm X-T4.  I should do a Triptych...  

One of the really notable advances in digital over the past several years (IMHO) is performance at high ISO.  This is shot as ISO 4000, in order to get 1/1000th second exposure on a grey day.  My circa 2007 Nikon D70 (a wonderful camera) only went to ISO 1600, and didn't really do so well pushed that high.

Wawatam Lighthouse

 The Wawatam lighthouse is in Saint Ignace, Michigan, just across the Mackinac Bridge from Mackinaw City.  And its history is a little bit less auspicious than the other lighthouses we visited.

From wikipedia:  The current lighthouse was originally built in 1998 as an architectural folly at the Monroe Welcome Center on Interstate 75 in the southeastern corner of the state near the Ohio border. It was a functional lighthouse structure that was constructed far away from navigational waters as an element of the tourist heritage of the state. In 2004, the Welcome Center was renovated, and the lighthouse determined to be obsolete.  St. Ignace civic leaders applied to be the location of the small tower, and the lighthouse was trucked more than 330 miles to East Moran Bay in St. Ignace.  

After reassembly, the Wawatam Lighthouse was relit on August 20, 2006. The lighthouse is now an official United States Coast Guard privately maintained aid to navigation.

The tower is 52 feet tall, but rated it as 62 feet tall from the water.

Here's a snip from Google Earth, showing where the lighthouse and the passage light are  (not my photo!):

Round Island Lighthouse

 

The Round Island Lighthouse sits just 0.40 miles south of the Round Island Passage Light, the 

From wikipedia:  The Round Island Light, also known as the "Old Round Island Point Lighthouse" is a lighthouse located on the west shore of Round Island in the shipping lanes of the Straits of Mackinac. It was deemed necessary because the island is a significant hazard to navigation in the straits, and was seen as an effective complement to the other lights in the area. Because of its color scheme and form — red stone base and wood tower — it has been likened to an old-fashioned schoolhouse.  Ferries regularly pass it on their way to (and from) Mackinac Island, and it is a recognizable icon of the upper Great Lakes.

Round Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1895. The beacon was automated in 1924 and became the responsibility of the United States Coast Guard in 1939, when the Coast Guard took over all of the nation's lighthouses. To support World War II efforts, most of the original machinery on the first floor was removed for scrap.  The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1947, when the Round Island Passage Light was automated, and was transferred to Hiawatha National Forest in 1958.  

I thought it was really interesting that this lighthouse sits on a tiny island, about 500' from land.  But subsequent research reveals that the "island" effect id due to high water in the lakes.  It's even a high water emergency.

Here's a snip from Google Earth, showing where the lighthouse and the passage light are  (not my photo!):

Round Island Passage Light

 

Just outside the north breakwater at Mackinac Island, Round Island Passage Light is an automated, unmanned lighthouse located in the Round Island Channel in the Straits of Mackinac, Michigan.  Built in 1948 to mark the northern side of the navigable channel.  According to Wikipedia, the Passage Light was one of the last lights to be constructed on the Great Lakes, and was relighted as a private aid to navigation in 1996.

Still from wikipedia:  The Round Island Passage Light is constructed on a timber crib foundation which is 56 feet square. The timber crib has perimeter cells filled with concrete, and internal cells filled with rock. Atop the crib is a concrete superstructure with a 41-foot square reinforced concrete deck. The superstructure is octagonal, with four vertical and four sloping sides.  Atop the tower's concrete deck is a red-painted enclosure, 11-feet high.  Above the enclosure is a five-story octagonal steel tower, 41-1/2 feet high and 12 feet across. Each side of the tower contains a four-foot bronze relief Indian head, commemorating the fact that Mackinac Island was a sacred spot for Native American tribes. The light originally had a 47-foot steel antenna atop the tower, but it was removed in the early 2000s.

Here's a snip from Google Earth, showing where the lighthouse is.  (not my photo!):

Mission Point Lighthouse

Mission Point Lighthouse sits on the end of a peninsula between the East arm and West arm of Grand Traverse Bay.  In Traverse City Michigan.

From the lighthouse's web site:  During the 1860’s a large ship hit a shallow reef and sank just in front of where Mission Point Lighthouse now sits. At this point that Congress set aside funds for the construction of the lighthouse. However, it wasn’t completed until 1870 due to the Civil War. From 1870 through 1933, Mission Point’s light kept the waters at the end of Old Mission Peninsula safe for mariners. It was in 1933 that the lighthouse was decommissioned and later replaced with an automatic buoy light just offshore.

Like many other lighthouses, whale oil (and later kerosene) was used to light the 5th Order Fresnel lens that refracted and magnified its modest light source into an intense beam that could be seen up to 13 miles away. The building was only one and one half stories tall. However, its placement on a sand bank 14 feet above the lake's surface created a lens focal plane of 47 feet. 

During our visit, the lighthouse tower was closed, but they have a small museum and gift shop which were open.  There are steps in front of the lighthouse down the dune to a small beach area.

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Here's a snip from Google Earth, showing where the lighthouse and the passage light are  (not my photo!):

Point Betsie Lighthouse

Continuing the review of lighthouses from our recent trip to northern Michigan.  Today we'll look at Point Betsie Lighthouse, in Mackinaw City, Michigan.

Point Betsie Light is located on the northeast shore of Lake Michigan — at the southern entrance to the Manitou Passage.  Established in 1858, it was automated in 1983.  The lighthouse sits on a dune, with a concrete "seawall" in front.  The tower is 39' tall, and the high base, the light could be seen for 24 nautical miles.

This oldest standing structure in Benzie County, built in 1858, it marks the all-important entrance to southern end of the Manitou Passage, a once-vital maritime shipping channel. Although the lane is no longer used by large commercial vessels, the operating light signal remains a US Coast Guard aid to navigation to this day, and the site shines as a treasured landmark to mariners and landlubbers alike. 

The building and immdeiate grounds were close when we were there, but we were able to wander around the area, including the public beach immediately to the south of the lighthouse.

Here's a snip from Google Earth, showing where the lighthouse is.  (not my photo!):