great lakes freighters

It's been busy at both harbors in Marquette lately. This is the first time we've ever seen two freighters on the same side of the ore dock at the Upper Harbor. Don't know if this is something we will see more often or if it was because the ships were waiting out the storm. Not sure, but I think Jan 15 is the last day for shipping for the winter.

sounds like thunder

Was the scene yesterday on Lake Superior. We had a gale blowing up here in Marquette. So what's one to do? Head out to the lake, brave winds strong enough to test your balance, hike through cornea pummeling snow grains flying sideways, put up with eye watering, and nose watering, bone chilling cold. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing on days like these. Three hats, three layers of coats, two layers of pants, and goggles, and toasty Baffin boots and I'm hiking ready. At the height of the big sets that rolled through yesterday afternoon, there were some monsters. Was a creepy feeling when the snow squalls would come through and you only heard the waves crashing, cause you couldn't see 'em. That's when I realized the waves sounded just like thunder.

Christmas Eve walk in the woods

Went for a hike in the almost knee deep snow Christmas Eve. Almost time for snowshoes. Snow was extra fluffy, no footprints except mine, little wind, and the snow stopped just long enough to allow me some pictures. Here's Lake Superior sillouetted by big white pines and an old post and beam fence,with the winter light fading fast.

Winter Solstice

So, today is officially the first day of winter, the "winter solstice". This is the day that the axial tilt of the earth is the furthest away from the Sun, at a tilt of over 23degrees.We've talked about how typical it is that even this is the shortest day of winter, how the coldest days are yet to come. Same thing with the summer solstice.

The sun made a brief appearance today, but quickly clouded up and it's snowing again. Looks like we have a potential snow storm on the horizon just in time for Christmas Eve.

almost black and white

Not much color on this day, but it is a color pic.
Nothing like a little freezing drizzle to make snow cling to everything.

Lake Superior steaming

lake superior cooling down

Woke up, -10 F this morning the lake was steaming. We've already had some very cold days to bring down the lake temps and ice is starting to form on the shoreline. We have lots of snow. Everywhere. Winter has taken hold in earnest.

ISU World Cup, Marquette MI 2009

Apolo Ohno on one of the final turns at the Marquette World Cup, December, 2009

I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and look thru images from the ISU short track speedskating World Cup that was held the week of December 11, 2009 in Marquette, MI. We were blessed this year to have two major short track events, the Olympic qualifying trials and the World Cup, within weeks of each other. I wasn't on assignment photographing for anybody. This gave me a chance to take a chance and try some new things. These athletes are going a million miles a second and modern camera technology is getting real good at being able to capture millisecond action. On this particular image, there were a couple races where a sunbeam shone through to the ice, and created some real interesting lighting, to say the least. The light differential caused a backlight situation, and there were a few laps to capture almost like a tv commerical type lighting going on. Here is Apolo, in the lead, full out, skating through the sunbeam. I will get to more images probably after Christmas.

ice pastels

this is the result of heavy freezing spray on Lake Superior

It's nice to finally get a little time to get out a bit and see what's up. After the big storm last week, lots of ice built up on certain parts of the shoreline facing northeast. We got some really cold temps on the backside of the storm, so the ice built up thick and fast. Never lasts long though. Taken at sunset, the ice reflected the colors of the setting sun against the cool colored winter sky.

Big NE from a few days ago

Big waves in front of Marquette Lighthouse, December, 2009

big wave in front of Marquette Upper Harbor Ore Dock, December, 2009

Monster waves, some of the biggest I've ever seen at this location, were to be found on any shore facing northeast on Lake Superior December 9, 2009. Winds this strong out of this direction seem to be rather rare indeed. Lakeshore Drive got a major battering with the "sea wall" being ripped up pretty good. There was freezing spray all the way across the road, lining the chain link fence beyond the bike path. The young Lombardi Poplar lining the drive got hit pretty good with ice.  I wasn't out long, only about an hour before dusk,  but couldn't believe my eyes with the size of the waves along the McCarty's Cove area. Did any of the crew dare to challenge these beasts? Police had most of Lakeshore Drive closed, and I didn't have time to walk in and check triangles, it must have been HUGE.  Ventured out to black rocks, and the freezing spray was all the way to the hillside bending cedars all the way to the ground. Can't imagine what that spot looked like at the height of the storm.

mighty mac

Mackinac Bridge Reflections

We've been over the bridge a lot this year, lots of shows downstate, and most recently went to see family in Cincinnati and do a show over Thanksgiving. Off topic, a long long time ago, I lived in Cincinnati back in the Big Red Machine days, and never really explored the Kentucky side at all. This trip, we spent a lot of time in Covington KY and had a great time, amazed at the mansions along the river, equally amazed at the view from Covington of the two new stadiums in Cincy. Had a great burger and Guiness at Molly Malone's btw ;)

This image is from one of those crossings over the Mackinac Bridge, it was an extremely calm night, calm that didn't last long. If you look closely, you can see ripples in the water that happened part way through the timed exposure adding another dimension to the image. A few minutes later, these reflections of light were gone due to water chop. Now I just need to get back there for a calm day with the "Christmas Lights" on the bridge,,, suprised the ACLU hasn't complained about this.....but then again maybe it's not Christmas Lights but simply a change of light color for a change of pace....? It sure was nice in visiting some of the small Ohio towns on our last trip to see the 10 commandments displayed in front of several courthouses. Only a matter of time I guess before controversy ensues in this day and age of America.....

Still no snow : )

Heavy frost and wetland, Munising, MI

This image was taken a week or so ago the morning after I had been up all night during the Leonid meteor shower. Lots of heavy frost, I even had it on my tripod! I came to realize I really don't have many frost photos-- for one - because by this time of year we usually have a good covering of snow on the ground!
This image is not possible with conventional single exposure photography due to the very large dynamic range in the picture, the camera can't balance out everything in one exposure from the sun to the bright horizon to the backlit shadows. In the past, I have pretty much dismissed HDR, but in this situation I gave it a go. Image was made stacking 6 images at different exposure times and tone mapping with HDR software. So many times, I see some really fake looking HDR. My goal here was to reproduce exactly what I saw that morning. The key in my mind to this process is not to overdo the highlights,(or shadows in the sky) which is so tempting when you see what is revealed in the highlights. This is in line with what I read from a BW photog that studied with Ansel when mentioning in the digital post process the overabundance of photographers sharpening everything to death- why?- because they can. So, verdict on HDR- What do you think?

not quite a "Van Gogh" LOL...

startrails,meteors,aurora,orange is light pollution!-from Munising,brighter stars on left half is Milky Way

This is me having fun with digital. It's an image stack of 30 or so 60 second images taken at very high ISO in attempt to capture meteors. Kind of a novelty thing, not very aesthetic IMHO! Gives me a headache after looking at it too long.... Anyway, this was taken at the height of the leonids a few nights ago, and I only managed to capture one very bright meteor in this whole process... well, at least I got one....Bonus was a very faint aurora at the bottom of the horizon, which was not visible to the naked eye. Over time, it left a funky reflection off Lake Superior. A big reason you don't see images like this frequently is #1. A lot of things can go wrong in the process #2. technology to capture the magnitude of this image is relatively new #3. The process to acquire this image is a little more than just point and shoot with extensive post processing. In attempting photography from this location, I had thought this would be a great spot for night sky photography, was disappointed to see how much light pollution turned up in a relatively dark location.

collaborative effort

In my husband's travels, he spotted this wonderful wetland when driving a couple weeks ago. He took some pics, handheld, and showed them to me. I went back to that area, THREE TIMES, to see what I could come up with using a tripod and different lighting conditions. On the best day of the three- with lighting/no wind, I forgot my cable release... OH WELL. One thing is for sure. Late autumn is beautiful with the golden tamaracks. wetland and third or fourth snow of the season!

tamaracks and turning blueberry bushes

Autumn's last hurrah

OK. I take back the rusty and crusty title of the last post. The past few days, not having given up on photography this autumn season, I've been determined to go out and find color, whatever is left of it, and have put on a great deal of miles in efforts to do so. What I found is some brilliant patches of maples and some very unique scenes occuring late in this 2009 autumn color season in Upper Michigan. Late autumn is really a favorite time for me, with the forest floor being covered with autumn leaves, and, what struck me yesterday was how vibrant and green ferns are in contrast with the freshly falling maple leaves.
Michigan trail hiking in autumn

Upper Peninsula backwoods find, an old cabin
In my ventures, I happened upon this cabin. Immediately the questions came to mind. Who lived here? Was it a hunting camp or did they live here permanently? When was it built? When was it abandoned? What was it like back then? How hard was it to build this cabin back in the day? Just look how nature is reclaming this structure.
For the most part trees are now bare, but suprisingly there still are a few patches of maple that look like they are at early peak closer to the lakeshore. Yesterday I was lucky to finally have a few minutes of cooperation from the weather with flat calm winds- a necessity in long exposure photography. Over the next few days, I'll post a few more from this year's autumn color season.

rusty and crusty

That's how I'd describe this year's autumn color season, for the most part.Definitely not the brilliant fruit loop type autumn as the trees have turned very sporadically due to the absolutely crazy weather conditions. I had such high hopes this summer, which was extremely cool and rainy. Then September happened. Driest on record. Then, October happened....! very cold with freezing temps. Tons of foliage are still on the trees,especially by the lake. Many leaves are still green,(oaks) and simply shriveling around the edges. Went for a drive yesterday, and for the most part, some aspen have a good amount of yellow,, the birch haven't fared so well, being one of the trees that turned earlier and freezing temps caused leaves to turn brown. Maples vary widely, with a majority of them a golden orange. Reds are very hard to come by this year. It's not a wash though, with the recent yellowing of the aspen and maples turning hillsides a mixture of burnt orange hinted by some brilliant golden stands of maple. Photography wise, photographers have their work cut out for them this year, with a large number of low pressure systems sweeping through the area creating many rainy,sometimes snowy, DARK, windy days, like... today!
It's funny when we do art shows, we have a small image displayed of a single tamarack surrounded by other pine species. The tamarack is a pine tree that turns golden yellow in autumn before loosing it's needles. Many people that visit our booth at the art shows have never seen these trees and think I intentionally altered the tree yellow. From what I understand, the tamarack is found as far south as West Virginia, but it's a handful of northern states. Right now, these are the trees that stand out the most, their contrast is spectacular against the black spruce. If you are lucky to find them in a bog with blueberry bushes, all the better, as those blueberry leaves are turning red. Snow cover forecast today should create some interesting scenes in these parts, as long as we don't get totally dumped on, a nice dusting would be plenty!

tamarack trees, upper peninsula of michigan

2010 will be here before you know it!

And we've got a great calendar to help you keep track of next year!
northern lights aurora borealis calendar 2010 front

northern lights aurora borealis calendar 2010 back

Avery Color Studios contacted us to use our images to produce the Northern Lights Calendar 2010, the northern lights aurora borealis photography of Shawn and Brian Malone.
Check your local gift/bookstore for availability or- you can order them online here.
The photography in this calendar is from the brilliant off the charts northern lights displays from several years ago when we were at the solar maximum, the top of the 11 year cycle. Inside is a scientific description next to every image explaining how northern lights happen and what determines their color. So, not only do you get the images, the information included is very educational! Get 'em before they are gone! The quality of this calendar is top notch in every facet of reproduction as Avery did a great job, and is a chance for you to pick up our best northern lights images for an unbeatable price!

the Olympians are here-US Speedskating Olympic qualifying 2009, Marquette, MI

If you've never had a chance, you gotta check it out. It's speedskating, one of the most exciting sports there is, IMHO. Marquette, Michigan is home to the USOEC, partnered with NMU. Berry Events Center has been home to the Olympic qualifying for speedskating for at least the last two winter Olympics, I don't know the history of the sport before that. I started photographing these skaters in 2005, with some of that work from the Olympic qualifying ending up in the Torino media guide and NBC Olympics coverage. This time around, I will not be able to attend Friday and Saturday's races due to previous commitments. However, I did get a chance to sneak in last night and grab some shots. I forgot how extremely difficult it is to photograph speedskating in relatively low light conditions. Lot's of duds, but a few keepers. Maybe at the worlds, which also will be in Marquette in November, I will be a little better prepared. Here's a couple shots from last night. I hope to get more up on my website soon. For an overview of standings, go to US Speedskating website.

apolo ohno turning on the burners

apolo ohno in a familiar spot, ahead of the pack

Yes! Summer is here!

Finally. A huge high pressure system is going to park itself right over our area for awhile and we have a forecast of nothing but sunshine. Seems this summer has been very wet and stormy. Lake Superior water will probably be too cold to swim with south wind, even at this point in the season. Let's hope this beautiful weather lasts thru Labor Day weekend!

Last blast of summer color

keweenaw summer meadow flowers

I love it when these yellow and pinkish/purplish flowers come out and seem to grow right next to each other providing a beautiful contrast in color. I don't know what they are called, they are probably weeds, but they sure brighten up the fields this time of year.

Well, looks like summer is winding down. We're back to c c cold temps again, The low was in the 40's last night.

I wanted to go look for some last patches of wild blueberries this week, but didn't make it once again. Time really flies.

word is, waves come

A few of my surfer friends have let me know they think surf is a sure thing for today.So grab a a board and get out there! Sorry I can't get out there. Good luck you guys, and maybe next time for me!
Dan Schetter surfs Marquette MI

editorially speaking...

A quick mention some of the places our work is found in most recent publications.

Marquette Country Convention and Visitors Bureau has seven of our images on the cover of the 2009 Visitors guide, and many more inside the publication.



For some chilly reading on a hot summer day, THE Surfer's Journal is running a ten page story in the Aug 09 issue of a couple midwest surfers at the Grand Sable Dunes Expedition of January, 2009. It's in stores now.

Ahhh the Keweenaw

We got to spend some time in the Keweenaw this August. Every time we go there, we appreciate it more and more. In our efforts to get off the road and out of the art show circuit, could a gallery in the Keweenaw be a possibility in the future? Who knows. On the days these pictures were taken, it was probably some of the warmest days yet this summer. Meadows were full of the last colors of summer, brilliant magentas and yellows of wildflowers. We drove up to Brockway to hopefully catch a break from the heat with some wind. We were greeted with a wonderfully eery fog rolling in over the mountains and Lake Superior. The view from Brockway Mountain, Keweenaw Peninsula
meadow in the Keweenaw Peninsula

It's berry time

Northern Michigan wildberries-all berries in photo are hand picked wild UP berries

Went picking berries in the Keweenaw last weekend. Raspberries are at their peak. Thimbleberries will probably be peak this weekend. Blueberries are peak or getting past peak in the central UP around the Marquette area. Haven't found any blackberries this year. We hope to find some bilberries this weekend- best way I can describe it is a berry larger and sweeter than a blueberry. They are GREAT!

Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks Seacaves
Pictured Rocks coastline
Now's the time, when the water calms down and warms up, the days are long, to go out for a kayak at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The sometimes 200ft sandstone cliffs, colored from minerals seeping thru the rocks makes for a very unique and awe inspiring experience. Just make sure you are knowledgeable of the shoreline, and only go out on the calmest of days, as there's nowhere to take out if you are somewhere along the shear sandstone cliffs.

wierd summer

lake superior thunderhead
Thanks to everyone that visited us at Art on the Rocks this year. Sunday was especially not too kind to me this year, with what seemed to be a typical lake effect system dumping loads of rain Saturday night into Sunday and flooding out my booth location. Hats off to the Art on the Rocks crew for action in constructing a makeshift pallet floor to allow me to at least not have to pack up and leave Sunday morning. Wow, has it ever been cool and rainy in this part of the country this summer. Should lead to an especially brilliant color season this fall. Hope I have time to get out and do some photography as we have a very busy schedule already.

back from Ann Arbor

Just wanted to thank everyone that stopped by our booth in Ann Arbor 2009 this past week. We had our most successful show to date in the three years we've been doing art shows and I can't thank you all enough for your interest and support of our photography. If our conversation got cut short by how busy it was, hopefully we'll see you down the road at another lower Michigan show such as Arts Beats in Pontiac Labor Day weekend or Birmingham Common Ground show in late September.

With sincere gratitude,
Shawn and Brian Malone

Sarychev Volcano Sunset

I finally got to see a volcano sunset, and was it ever a treat. Last night the skies cleared and I saw the telltale white streaks way up in the stratosphere as the sun was setting. After the sun went down, the incredibly saturated colors appeared, with the "volcanic lavender" being very visible in crespiscular rays. This sunset had to rank up there with some of the best I've seen over Lake Superior. Just incredible.
Sarychev Volcano Sunset over Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula of Michigan

barely breaking 50 and drizzling

Have to turn the heat on again, it's so cold. Only in da UP, LOL. This big wound up low kicked our butts this past weekend with winds topping out at 50mph at our show in Mn. Weather is definitely the trump card in outdoor art shows. The booth held,(just barely- the pork chop lady wasn't so lucky) but you couldn't help getting seasick trying to look at the swaying artwork on the walls. Needless to say, our sales suffered as a result. It sure was nice to make it home safely after dodging a couple deer in Wisconsin as well...

Eagle with it's catch

Driving to and from town today, I saw an eagle with a fish in it's talons fly overhead. These birds are amazing, to be able to pluck a fish out of water with greatly reduced visibility on a whitecap filled Lake Superior. Pic shown here is from another time when I was on a kayak, and observed an eagle, again, fishing. They make it look so easy.

heading down the rainbow highway

heading east on M-28, Marquette County Mi

calm days

Deer Lake
This time of year, the winds start to settle down a bit and it becomes a great time to be on the water, if the bugs don't get the best of you.(Right now it's a 1-2 punch with the mosquitos massively populating and the noseeums showing up with south winds). Here's a sunset from Deer Lake in Alger County, water was calm as glass. The sun is setting after 9:30 now, with twilight extending to around 11pm or so. There's a ton of daylight to go make those daytrips, early morning or late evening. First light is around 4am. Can't believe the solstice is right around the corner, we still have the heat on, especially cold, cold mornings! Just like last year, June comes and goes before it starts to feel like summer up here!

Pictured Rocks

Went for a hike in Pictured Rocks yesterday. One thing is for sure. It's skeeter season. Since we live closer to the east side of the park, that's where I get to more frequently. You can see it all here, lighthouses included. It's amazing the diversity of natural features in that park, from the waterfalls and lakes to the huge sandstone cliffs, to the amazing dunes and pristine beaches that stretch for miles. The early spring wildflowers are at their peak and the trilliums are starting to turn pink. Miners beach is a very scenic place. The falls at the east end of the beach have a really neat sandstone texturing at the base of it, in which a lot of new sand has built up this year, covering a lot of this layered sandstone.
Pictured Rocks waterfall- anyone know if this falls has a name?

One of my fav hiking trails in the park also starts at this location and gets to the top of the huge sandstone cliffs relatively quickly. It's a place of solitude to be sure, but the initial hike up the big hill gets your heart pumping.
.hiking trail, pictured rocks national lakeshore

On a clear day...

You can see forever. This is the view from Sugarloaf Mountain on 550 near Marquette a couple days ago. You can see the Huron Mountains I believe, in the top of the pic and the beach of Wetmore Landing in the bottom. This has to be what I have concluded one of the most beautiful vistas in the U.P and Upper Midwest. Thanks to conservation efforts, the view in many directions is still of rolling hills and forests, although more and more development is creeping in on the southeast view, not to mention what seems to be more and more towers every year. I can't remember the facts on the Little Presque Isle area which is the coastline you see in the pic, but I believe this large tract of shoreline is protected from development and is really a gem of solitude along the Lake Superior shoreline.

Spring-the other color season

06/03/09-spring new leaves, upper michigan
Have you ever noticed in the spring, at certain times when the different maples and oaks start to grow their new leaves, theres a time in the Spring season that can match the intensity of color that you see in autumn? It's a different mixture of colors, with the spectrum of greens from dark navy green to lime green mixed in with the reds of the new maple leaves and yellows and limes of new oak leaves, frosted with whites of some other blooms.

a day of nests

I should go out looking for morels more often. 9 times out of 10, I don't find morels, but rather stumble upon something else. Today it was nests. I was walking a two track in Hiawatha National Forest, saw a bird flutter out of a cut out dirt mound on the side of the road which drew my eye to a hole in this mound of dirt, and there I found two baby birds and a blue egg in a nest. I think they are robins. Funny how when babies are first born they have fuzz, not feathers, and their eyes are almost as big as their heads, and not open yet. They open their beaks when they hear their mother's chirps.
A little later, I was walking in a dense patch of trillium, a bird fluttered up and out,- it was a duck which had been sitting on it's nest of at least a half dozen eggs. No morels for me today, but plenty of bird nests!
bird nest with babies

it's good to be home

We're back from one of our longest trips of the year. Just did an art show in Cincinnati, We were lucky to dodge the tornados and hail Saturday night, the heat held off for us and overall it was beautiful weather for the three day show. We did well and it was nice to get a taste of summer on our venture south. We filled up on our share of Montgomery Inn Ribs and Skyline Chili- world famous Cincinnati favorite dishes. It was also nice to get a short but sweet visit in with my family. I grew up in Cincy and wow, after having lived in the U.P. for so long now it sure is a different world in that part of the the midwest, most strikingly climate wise- we returned to freeze warnings this evening in the UP, and I notice we still have only buds on our big oak tree. On our drive home, once we crossed the Mackinaw Bridge, we returned to empty roads and the slower pace of life we moved to the UP for.
To live in the UP means sometimes you are rewarded with sights seldom seen elsewhere in more populated areas. Today Brian got one of those rewards, as he and his friend Gary got to see a MOOSE driving back from L'anse to Negaunee:
it's a MOOSE!

This fella was a big 'un. I've never been so lucky to see a moose up here, only tracks. Maybe I'll get lucky this year.

looks like Spring has Sprung

First off, our thoughts and prayers out to everyone that was affected by the fires. We are unable to answer everyone's questions about areas affected by the fires, TV6 and the DNR I would say are some possible sources to find out that info. Also the township halls could probably provide more in depth info as to specific areas affected... And again, thanks to all the people that fought the fires, including our friend Chris Lamere and others in the volunteer depts. Lets hope things stay quiet tonight, red flag warnings AGAIN in the western UP.

On to happier things, the hummingbirds are back, and they closely guard their feeder. Here's a lucky shot of a hummingbird dive bombing another not so lucky bird just wanting a little drink of that yummy sugar water.

Wildfires break out in UP

map showing approximate area of black river falls fire
Update 5/22/09- TV6 has said the fire is contained and roads are reopened. Our hearts go out to those that lost all. We know some on the volunteer fire dept that didn't get much sleep the past couple days... thank you so much for the hard work in getting this beast under control. The link for continuing coverage on the Black River Falls and other fires is here:----continuing fire coverage

Update:05/21/09- The fire in Ishpeming,the Black River Falls fire, has burned 770 acres, taken at least 33 structures and homes. Black River Falls obviously must be pretty scorched as well, looking at the fireline map. Looks like the homes lost are on the west side of 581 between a little north of CR CG to CR CS. I hope they can keep this fire from jumping 581 when the winds pick up today out of the W NW. Now they say the fire is 65% contained.


05/20/09-
As of now there are two near L'anse,(one near Pinery location) one in Ishpeming Township near Co Rd. 581 and one near Champion (Fish Lake Grade). My husband just drove thru L'anse and Ishpeming and said the smoke was thick. They are evacuating homes on 581. These firefighters are up against hellish conditions today. Pray for these fires containment. Just saw firefighting equipment drive by, looked like a fireline grader.
It will be interesting to see the cause of these fires. Red Flag warnings have been issued well in advance of these incredible weather conditions, and common sense says you don't burn when it's 90 degrees with a 40mph gusting wind out of the south......(btw, we had the largest degree swing in high temps from day to day- today !- 44yesterday, 89- officially today).
Funny, when I lived in places like Cincinnati, I worried about tornados. Here, it's definitely fires. We have nothing but miles of woods to the south of us... tinder dry right now.

it's time

The great morel mushroom hunting season is upon us. They started finding them in the southern UP last week. With this crazy forecast, high of 40 today, 86! tommorrow, that should get em sprouting, although that warm of air might wilt ones already ripe to pick.

time capsules

oak leaf etchings

Sometimes you find interesting subjects in the wierdest places. This oak leaf was held captive for months by it's stem stuck between two timbers on my back porch. When the gales would come, this thing would flutter in a perfect circle, creating these etchings in the wood of the porch floor. The snows came and covered it up. When the snow melted, the mangled leaf was still there. Finally the stem broke and the oak leaf etching ended. This piece "Oak Leaf Etchings", will be available for sale in my art booth under one of our new collections called "Time Capsules"- a wide variety of subjects showing an era long past, as well as subjects simply showing the passage of time, such as this crumbling oak leaf.

If you haven't noticed, yooperdaily is being neglected due to the onslaught of the art show season. I'm going to find a way to update on the road, but during these past couple shows, it just hasn't been possible.

We will be at the East Lansing Art Festival on the corner of Abbott this coming weekend. - if you're in the area stop by say hi.

wierd day

Can't say that I've ever seen this before. We had some good size thunderstorms roll over the lake today, complete with hail. As the storm moved slowly across the horizon, this really dark fog would bubble up on the edge of the horizon, then dissapear. It was really wild looking. Any meteorologists out there, I'd be interested to learn what causes this, I imagine an extreme temperature differential. Got some very dramatic sky photography out of these isolated storms. There might be a keeper or two.

Sugarloaf starkness

a view from Sugarloaf Mountain
Just got back from downstate where the trees are in full bloom, some with leaves on them already, and the grass is oh so green. I guess they've had record rains and it shows with rivers crested over their banks.
This time of year is so fleeting, and the newness of Spring evenmoreso. Up here, the maples are just starting to bud, and there's some patches of grass to be seen here and there. Pictured above is a view from Sugarloaf Mountain. I chose black and white for constrast between the sky, rocks and trees, as there's really not much of anything for color yet. It is pretty amazing on some days, when everything starts to bud, how there can be close to as much color in the trees as in autumn. We're still a couple weeks away.

image candidate for unsolvable puzzle?

Guess what this is........


I was photographing the ore dock when I looked down and saw these vivid designs in the water. I had to act fast as boats were putting in, ruining the calm waves that were reflecting these colors. .

A lot of people have a fascination with these docks, used to load coal and ore into the freighters. It's easy to see why, they are huge. If you can see at the top, those are rail cars that give you a sense of scale. Marquette has two docks, with the upper harbor one still in use today. Most of the time you see pics of the docks with freighters right next to them. This pic of dock only really conveys how big this thing really is. Marquette Upper Harbor Ore Dock