Peaceful scene on the West Branch Columbia River.
It was a cool, wet, and foggy morning in Northeastern Ohio today; sometimes that’s all right. This sight on the West Branch Columbia River in North Olmsted caused me to abruptly pull off the road, grab my camera, and shoot a few photos in the light drizzle.
Berea Falls under Cloudy Skies
This evening and for the third time, recently, I tried photographing Berea Falls from an overlook deck in the Cleveland Metroparks. The first time I tried I had my best camera with me but ran out the battery with no spare on hand! The result was only so-so but showed potential for the site. The second time I tried on a sunny evening — brilliantly-lit treetops and dark, shaded gorge did not go well together. This evening my camera (the “middle” one) had a battery plus spare, and the overcast sky evened out the lighting. A tripod wouldn’t work from this location — scrub trees growing up around the deck block some of the view — but I found a way to elevate myself above the worst of the obstructions. I settled for f/11 at 1/60th of a second, and engaged image stabilization on the lens. I think it was a winning combination! I’ll be back another cloudy day armed with tripod and hiking gear to explore this beautiful area more thoroughly.
Sunrise reflected in still waters with lens flares all around.
Today was a nearly perfect mid-September day to be outdoors; I had to spend the day in the office. During my drive, however, I stopped briefly to take in the brilliant sunrise over Baldwin Lake in Berea, Ohio. Baldwin Lake is really a wide section of the East Branch Rocky River. A little farther downstream the waterway narrows and flows over a stony dam near the center of town. This morning, in the open shadows, the waters actually looked more like ice as they flowed over flat rock near the edge. Streams falling and splashing on rocks below were reminiscent, perhaps of icicles. But we’re getting ahead here… it will be winter soon enough. My respite was all-too-brief; I forced myself to look away from the sun, the blue sky, the dark and reflecting waters. I packed up my camera and headed out for my day indoors: it was a great day to be outdoors; I was in my office.
Shadowy morning light gives flowing water an icy pallor.
A Beach of Her Own
A Beach of Her Own: One way to secure your place on the beach is to go there when nobody else wants to. This woman was sunning herself today at Huntington Beach in Bay Village, Ohio. The wind was brisk, out of the north (across Lake Erie), with air temperature of about 65F degrees. Personally, when I used to sun myself, I preferred cool and quiet to basting in my own sweat with people cluttering up the place!
Atop a stack of CDs, a toy bunny looks into his room.
I stopped for lunch in Garrettsville, Ohio today. It’s an interesting old town with strong historical links to President James A. Garfield. The village also has one of the best Subway sandwich shops I know of. So after an enjoyable lunch I did a little walk around the downtown area spotting several good photo-ops; one such opportunity was the back window of one of the main street shops. Certainly the window sash and frame could use some attention, but I loved the texture of the wood, the weathered paint, and the ancient brick and stone of the building. Spotting the carefully-placed little toy bunny through the old glass was wonderful.
The shadow betrays no secrets.
During Sunday’s visit to Vermilion, Ohio we explored the old downtown area of the city. The district is a wonderful assortment of frame and brick commercial structures ranging from the grand to the humble, occupied and well-kept to neglected; there is a lot of character to those buildings and I enjoyed viewing and photographing them. I’ll post at least one more image after this pair but it is a challenging picture to get just right, and I may or may not succeed.
‘estaraunt no more.
The Curve of the Lake Erie Beach at Vermilion, Ohio.
Open fields of Hopkins Airport allow a view of the expansive storm in the east.
Driving home can be an adventure. Exiting the parking lot this evening I looked to the east and a huge and growing pile of clouds — a thunderstorm was brewing! So I adjusted my route to keep as much open sky around me as possible and headed out. The best vista afforded me was a grassy knoll just off the road, a short driveway for public access conveniently located nearby. The site overlooks Cleveland Hopkins International Airport so there was plenty of open space between me and the photogenic clouds. I popped from my car, hiked to the top of the mound, and made my exposures. I was aware of a second storm building and coming on from the west — behind me — but didn’t worry about it until I heard some rumbles of thunder. There I was, atop a rise and near an open area with a thunderstorm about to overtake me. Time to move! So, it was back to the car. Light rain had set in and my route now carried me into tree-lined streets and suburban settings not well-suited to sky photography. I’d planned a stop at Heinen’s Fine Foods so headed down a busy four-lane street. The storm rolled over us!
Sheets of wind-driven rain keep people in their cars.
The light rain became a deluge. Winds picked up and rocked the trees. Nearby lightning with immediate thunder came like shots. What fun! Traffic was slow and visibility just good enough so I felt safe the entire time. Making it to the grocery store parking lot, I pulled into a space, rolled down a window facing away from the wind, and caught a few shots of the sheets of wind-driven rain hitting the cars and pavement. It was only a few minutes after I’d moved my car to a more suitable parking spot that the rain diminished enough for me to go inside and get some groceries. When I was done and exited the store (oh, maybe 15 minutes had passed) the rain had stopped and sun was brightly shining in a clear western sky!
A slice of the monster.
The eastern sky, however, was now filled with the towering clouds that had just unleashed such chaos. Near home I made one more weather-related photographic stop. From a parking lot overlooking church lot below I tried to take in the scope of the storm clouds now passed; it was still too close, too large to capture in one shot. So I give you this image of one slice, exposed for the clouds with the sky turning an unnatural deep blue. Yes, a simple drive home can be an adventure.
The charming Learned Owl Bookshop in Hudson, Ohio
I paid a visit to Hudson, Ohio Wednesday morning. Before meeting a local gallery owner, I took a quick personal photo walk on the city’s main street; I’ll be providing a photograph for auction in October in a gallery event benefiting local breast cancer support services. Among the many small stores in the old business district is the charming Learned Owl Bookshop. The quirky little shop has (so far) survived Borders, B&N, and Amazon. Here’s hoping for many more years of good reading from this place!
Juvenile Great Blue Heron, Panting on a Hot Afternoon
It was Labor Day today! We slept in this morning, got ourselves together at a leisurely pace, and decided to pay a visit to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Ohio) through the Ira Road Trailhead. The access point is very near the heron rookery we visited several times this spring. Some of the offspring of this year’s matings have taken up residence — temporarily, at least — in the large wetland area just north of Ira. The young birds are not very experienced and are not very shy around humans so it is easy for noisy park visitors to get a good look at them. The big, though immature, birds also go about their business within easy reach of any photographer’s lenses. We shot scores of images, watching the herons as they perched on logs, preened, panted (it was a very hot and humid day), hunted, and flew; it was as if they were posing for a big photo shoot and not unlike Sunday’s cooperative dragonflies! Once we got our fill of heron studies for the day, we strolled along the expansive boardwalk. There were turtles, fish, dragonflies, and flowers to shoot along the way. Sweaty and ready for lunch, we finally headed out and after a fine sandwich at Bruegger’s Bagels, Hudson, Ohio, decided to take a stroll around Peninsula, Ohio.
Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, Peninsula, Ohio.
The (now) tourist town was full of Labor Day visitors and is a hub for walking and, especially, bicycling on the CVNP’s Towpath Trail. There is also an excursion railway run by the Park Service that passes directly through town. We hiked up the rail line a way, chasing an image I had in mind (it looked better inside my head), then headed back toward town and the rail depot. Looking back over my shoulder, I noticed what appeared to be thick fog covering the rails behind us. But that didn’t make sense. Looking back again I could see that it wasn’t fog coming our way… it was rain; heavy rain! Luckily we only needed to pick up our pace a bit to reach shelter under the covered open-air waiting area for train passengers. Under shelter, we watched as the drenching rain arrived. It had been so hot and humid that most folks caught in the rain did not seem to be in a hurry to get out of it.
Heavy Rain? Not Such a Bad Thing!
Those under shelter sat back and enjoyed the cooled air and watched as hikers and cyclists passed by. Not a bad way to spend a time on a hot afternoon. When we arrived home I began editing my photos from the day. Several of what you see here I also shared on Google+ as part of a special Labor Day event staged by the Canon User’s Circle — folks from around the globe all submitting photos on this day made using Canon gear — a very cool project! That, in a nutshell, was our Labor Day; one of the best I have enjoyed. The happy feeling might even make it through tomorrow when we go back to work!
PhotonStopper 