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Too soon departed from this lovely place

Posted by Photonstopper on July 27, 2012
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Photo: Subdued morning light in a river valley. Photo by James Guilford.

Low-running water spills over the rocks of the West Branch of the Columbia River.

I do love the quiet beauty of the morning and I have been long remiss in visiting David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. There I have seen the West Branch of the Columbia River in full fury — roaring waters that threatened to end anyone or anything that ventures too near or happens to make a misstep. Recent drought conditions have tamed the rivers here. On this morning’s journey I promised myself to make a quick stop for a taste of tranquility; I am so glad I did. The morning light was subdued by clouds. To spite the drought the stony valley was lush, damp, and green. The river itself was running low, there was no flowing water at all in a tributary joining it, and the peace of the place was thick as the morning’s air. I was reminded of the first time I set eyes upon the park –one of my favorite places– and wondered how I could have stayed away so long. Time passed quickly and I was expected elsewhere. Too soon departed from this lovely place.

Photo: Stone bridge over mossy river bed. Photo by James Guilford.

A moss-covered rocky river bed runs beneath an old stone bridge.

Sometimes a cloudy day is just the right thing

Posted by Photonstopper on July 20, 2012
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Photo: Girl reads while waiting for bike rental customers. Photo by James Guilford.

Summer Job: Waiting for Bike Rentals at Century Cycles, Peninsula, Ohio.

I had trouble getting motivated and inspired to do anything today, picking up the camera and heading out into the cloudy, cool, and gray day was just the right thing. As I looked around and discovered quiet beauty and interest in so many places, I became energized. Ironically, it took what many would have considered a gloomy atmosphere to lift my feelings. Sometimes a cloudy day is just the right thing.

Photo: Bee probes a thistle flower for food. Photo by James Guilford.

A bee probes a thistle flower searching for food in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Brecksville, Ohio.

Gorgeous dragonfly in a Test Post

Posted by Photonstopper on July 16, 2012
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Photo: Dragonfly perched on twig with wetland background. Photo by James Guilford.

Dragonfly finds a fine resting place on a hot summer afternoon.

I’m trying out a new theme here at WordPress. I’ve long felt my photos were too small on the page so I’m employing (at this point, anyway) a theme that allows for “flexible” sizing including full-size display of images. Don’t know if I’ll stay with this but, since my blog has evolved into largely a photo-blog, it’s perhaps more appropriate.

Philosophy from a fungi

Posted by Photonstopper on July 8, 2012
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Photo: Fungi growing on the side of a log. Photo by James Guilford.

True recycling here.

Visiting the Hubbard Valley Park of the Medina County (Ohio) Park System today, we walked the woodland trail. The woods were lovely, dark, and deep, as has been restated by many. Among the beautiful sights was a rotting log hosting sun-spotlighted fungi. Philosophers, have at!

An electrical Fourth

Posted by Photonstopper on July 4, 2012
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Photo: Lightning discharge in the night sky. Photo by James Guilford.

One of many lightning bolts in a dry thunderstorm the night of July 4, 2012.

“Oh no,” I said, “here comes another storm!” It showed up as “small” on radar and I didn’t think much of it. What arrived, however, was one of nature’s natural fireworks shows, and in time to close out the July 4th holiday; the small thunderstorm came through dry and full of lightning. Most of the lightning was cloud-to-cloud and there were plenty of what I call “crawlers” — discharges that appear to move in branches across the bottoms of the clouds. I was caught by surprise! I love shooting photos of lightning, or, at the very least, trying to capture those images. This was the perfect opportunity — no rain to get in the way or ruin my lenses — but all my gear was stowed! I quickly gathered camera and tripod and headed to my sheltered observing post. It was a great show though, with a storm this active, I didn’t know where to aim for the best shots. Out of maybe 150 exposures, I got a good number with at least some streaks of lightning; out of those, I’d managed to get a couple of good images. Displayed here is the best of tonight’s bunch.

Happy for the quiet walk

Posted by Photonstopper on July 1, 2012
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Photo: Eyes and wings of damselfly that clings to a reed. Photo by James Guilford.

I see you! A damselfly clings to the side of a reed away from the photographer.

Thinking to avoid the hot sun of midday but wanting to get out, we decided to take a nice, leisurely walk in shady woods somewhere. We paid a visit to the Carlisle Reservation of the Lorain County Metro Parks. The woodland trail turned out to be a good choice for avoiding excessive sun in the 90-degree heat and moderate humidity but woods are very good at blocking breezes; we wound up pretty sweaty by the end of our little hike. Of course I carried a camera –in this case my trusty old Canon Digital Rebel XT– always on the lookout for picture possibilities. I checked each of the several ponds we encountered for the usual subjects: birds, snakes, frogs, and dragonflies: No (wading) birds at all! No snakes seen. Lots of quick little frogs. And a nice selection of dragonflies! I’d decided to carry a “walking-around” zoom lens with modest telephoto abilities and it was both fun and frustrating to use that lens’s limits and capabilities to best effect. My favorite results are shown here. We left Carlisle ready for cool beverages but happy for the quiet walk.

Photo: Dragonfly perched on a curved twig.

Sometimes keeping your distance makes for a better view!

Visiting Wooster

Posted by Photonstopper on June 30, 2012
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Photo: Fire escape system on the side of a building. Photo by James Guilford

A mess of fire escape iron on the side of a building in downtown Wooster, Ohio.

With summer weather already settling in on us, we did our errands this Saturday morning and then slowed down with a relaxing visit to Wooster, Ohio. The city’s downtown area features a number of interesting shops, restaurants and cafes. Downtown Wooster is also home to a number of business start-ups and a major rehab/development project — I see in that, and in other places I have visited recently, a sense of optimism and indications of a real upturn in the regional economy.

Photo: Wayne County Courthouse, Wooster, Ohio. Photo by James Guilford.

Detail of Wayne County Courthouse, Wooster, Ohio.

The Wayne County Courthouse dominates the downtown area and is surrounded by wonderful old brick retail merchant structures dating, it appears, from the mid-1800s. We enjoyed visiting the shops and snapping photographs of the buildings.

Photo: Sandstone carving from Wayne County Courthouse, Wooster, Ohio. Photo by James Guilford.

Carved sandstone decoration on Wayne County Courthouse, Wooster, Ohio.

Among our favorite visits this day were RoomScapes (where we found wonderful, expensive, “Stressless” reclining chairs by Ekornes we may buy), SoMar Wine Cellars (we bought some good wine there), and Today’s Kitchen Store (a return visit to purchase another excellent pan). The merchants were all friendly, helpful, and conversations with them casual and enjoyable. So’s we would not “cook” our wine purchases in the car (sunny and ~87 F), we made our stop at SoMar the last of our visit and headed home.

Green heron revisited

Posted by Photonstopper on June 26, 2012
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Photo: Green Heron on tree branch. Photo by James Guilford.

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) running across a tree branch arch.

I decided to take some time to see if I could capture a better portrait of the skittish Green Heron I watched the other day. So I revisited Medina County’s Alderfer-Oenslager Wildlife Sanctuary. Today I arrived armed with my wonderful 400mm telephoto lens and began stalking heron. I looked along the boardwalk, no heron. I checked the banks of the wetland and in the trees… nope. Red-winged Blackbirds aplenty but no heron. I looked around the smaller pond above the wetlands and still found no little heron. Oddly, this day very few dragonflies were visible either. Disappointed and about to give up hope, I spotted “Little Green” on the banks of a very small and shallow pool near the large wetlands. The heron was scuttling along the edge of the water, apparently looking for prey from upon the muddy banks. He hiked up and across a fallen tree branch that formed an arch, then back to the mud. I managed to squeeze off a few shots but then my quarry took off. No, I hadn’t spooked it… another Green Heron was flying over and mine gave chase. I stuck around for quite a while after that but the birds did not return.  So I took off, myself.