olmsted falls

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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.

Beautiful serendipity

Posted by Photonstopper on August 30, 2011
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Photograph: Morning light, water, and stone in a shallow stream. Photo by James Guilford.

Sometimes good things happen when you least expect them.

I hadn’t paid a visit to one of my favorite places in a long time so this morning, on the way to work, I stopped by David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls. It was quiet and dark under the clear, early-morning sky. I carried my little Canon G11 camera towards the rock-lined stream and river that converge in the valley park and gingerly stepped out upon the rocks. I photographed ancient, water-sculpted rock walls and flowing streams. I took images of the rich green colors and leafy trees, light and dark reflected in the water that led to the park’s stone bridge. It was beautiful and relaxing just being there for 10 minutes. Realizing it was time to resume my trip, I carefully stepped across the damp, slippery rocks, looking down to avoid water and a sure tumble into the shallow stream. Then, either at a glance or in the still-live LCD panel of the camera, a sight caught my eye: all of the elements I sought combined, in painterly fashion, in one image. I took one shot, made my way (still dry) to my car and headed off. Only tonight looking at the photographs did I see that, for all of those carefully-composed photographs, my favorite and the best of the morning was that “accidental” vision. Beautiful serendipity.

Not a peaceful scene

Posted by Photonstopper on March 10, 2011
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Photo: Flood waters rush through a rocky ravine. Photo by James Guilford.

A full day of steady rain floods a normally-quiet stream as it rushes to join the roaring West Branch of the Rocky River. Photo by James Guilford.

I stopped in Olmsted Falls on my way to work this morning. Last week I had marveled at the scene I’d witnessed crossing a bridge there during historic flooding. I hadn’t stopped to photograph the view and regretted it ever since. I vowed not to repeat that mistake. Since yesterday, 24 hours of rain combined with snow melt and saturated ground made for new flooding. A tiny, rock-lined tributary in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, dangerously rushed with muddy water to join the roaring West Branch of the Rocky River. Most of the time one can (being careful not to slip on the moss) safely walk on the exposed stony stream bed. The River normally falls gently over exposed rock, shallow and quiet enough to have played host to a wading heron I photographed last year.  Not today. It was not a peaceful scene.

Photo: Rushing waters join a stream and river. Photo by James Guilford.

Turbulance abouds as flood waters rush over a rocky streambed and join the flowing chaos of the West Branch of the Rocky River in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. Photo by James Guilford.

G11 – First Light

Posted by Photonstopper on July 6, 2010
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G11 Test Photo
G11 Test Photo

"First Light" in astronomy is the official fist observation or image made through a new telescope. In my case I decided to try out my new Canon PowerShot G11 compact camera during my morning commute to work. Results from this "first light" experience are very impressive! Details are sharp (see 100% view below), shadows are open, and color is excellent with the camera set for ISO 200, and "Program;" images recorded as Fine JPG. The only trouble I had was with a quick macro flower shot I tried –it didn't focus– but it's likely I simply need to "Read the Freakin' Manual" to fix that. This is gonna be fun!

G11 Trunk Detail #0011
G11 Trunk Detail #0011

One more shot from the morning's test images…..

Horseshoe #0019
Horseshoe #0019

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Fishing in the Falls

Posted by Photonstopper on June 18, 2010
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Falls Heron #4832
Falls Heron #4832

Before Thursday morning, I had never seen a Great Blue Heron fishing in rushing waters. Herons usually frequent the shallows of quiet lakes and streams. They wade slowly along and watch for fish to scatter from around their feet then stab at them with their sharp beaks. This bird stood still, one eye on the photographer, one apparently watching for fish, as river water cascaded over smooth rocks. I'd a little extra time on the way to work and, seeking calm, stopped at one of my favorite natural spots. The heron was a total surprise.

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{Sigh!}

Posted by Photonstopper on May 29, 2010
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Thursday was a really, really lousy day at work! Started out in the wee hours with a power failure in the server rack, then a yahoo co-worker moved a couple of networked printers before their time putting them out of use, then the HR manager's PC died, and on and on and on. By the end of the day I was stressed out, my body hurt from head to toe, I was angry, frustrated, and I was physically exhausted having stayed up late with observatory programming the night before and scrambling to work an hour early when I discovered there was a crisis in progress. This morning was a time to unwind a bit on my way to the place of Thursday's torments.

Olmsted Irises #4778
Olmsted Irises #4778

One of my favorite local places is a city park in Olmsted Falls. There, amongst hand-carved rocky walls, grow mosses, flowers, and trees. Nearby a river slowly wears down its rocky bed creating the falls for which the town is named. The light and the atmosphere are peaceful there. It's on my way to work.

Olmsted Irises #4781
Olmsted Irises #4781

Several varieties of iris grow there, surely planted by forgotten hands. They glow softly in the early morning light amongst the rock walls.

Olmsted Tadpoles #4793
Olmsted Tadpoles #4793


An unkempt and smelly lily pond is adjacent to the park's tiny parking lot. I was looking for frogs or turtles, and even heard but did not see a bullfrog. Then I noticed the tiny black dots floating amidst the tangles of pond weed… tadpoles! Hundreds, maybe thousands of tadpoles were swimming everywhere. Most were of a very small, deep brown or black variety dotted with yellow. What I thought were bubbles of gas burbling occasionally to the surface turned out to be much larger bullfrog tadpoles! They darted to the surface, gulped air, then dove back to the relative safety of the pond floor!

Olmsted House #4796
Olmsted House #4796


Before leaving, I strolled to the bridge carrying a street over the river valley and crossed to the north side. There, perched just on the river bank, is a house of enviable location. Still, I got my respite and a bit of stress relief through a much less permanent visit to a tiny city park. One of my favorite places for, now, several decades, David Fortier River Park.

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Pardon me if I’m confused.

Posted by Photonstopper on April 30, 2010
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Hard to tell it's April
Hard to tell it’s April


It was another beautiful spring morning and I had a tiny bit of spare time… enough to stop by the park in Olmsted Falls. I spent a relaxing few minutes enjoying the fresh air, listening to water flowing over rocks in the nearby river, and observing the morning light's effects on the scenery around me. I was about to leave, not even having unpacked my camera, when I spotted some young tree leaves. They were lit up in a golden tone I haven't seen since last fall… in April. I can't explain the biology and physics at work here, not that it matters much to the resulting beauty of early morning light pouring through young tree leaves with a dark wall of rock as background. One day the weather is hot, the next morning there's frost on the windows. These leaves look like fall but the day felt like spring. Pardon me if I'm confused.

Top Side of the Leaves
Top Side of the Leaves

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Ice house

Posted by Photonstopper on March 1, 2010
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Ice House
Ice House

My "vacation" week ended today. I'd taken time off to complete my annual publishing project. It didn't get done. A mixed bag this week with good days and bad:

  • Got called to work on an emergency when a primary server began malfunctioning.
  • Didn't need to commute in bad weather but…
  • Shoveled lots of snow.
  • Installed updated publishing software (Adobe InDesign) which works great.
  • Still struggling with publication layout due to lack of inspiration.
  • Had nice days out with She Who Must Be Obeyed yesterday and today including a stop in Olmsted Falls and their shopping area full of restored/rehabbed historic buildings.
  • Wrote my first DVD video review for posting on Amazon.com: National Geographic's Five Years on Mars.
  • Tasha's skin disorder –severe itchiness about the head and neck– we thought resolved has relapsed. Depressing.

So back to the paying job tomorrow. The ice house photo came out well also further proving the new Canon "L" lens is of excellent quality.

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Rain, art, and bad optics

Posted by Photonstopper on September 28, 2009
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It was rainy and cloudy all day Saturday and all night. We got a decent amount of rain and it was needed. She and I went out for the weekly provisions and rambled around a bit. Lunch out was fancier than usual for us… a pleasant visit to Camille's Sidewalk Cafe in Rocky River. She had a veggie roll-up ("Too much lettuce," said She.) and I enjoyed the veggie panini sandwich. We did not sit at sidewalk tables! Inside, however, was cheerily busy, bright, and clean. Back at home, though She wasn't feeling her best, it was time for yet another harvest of basil and another big batch of pesto. We've now socked away a whole winter's supply of the tasty green mixture good for pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, even crackers! A bit of summer on a cracker will be a fine thing a few months from now!

I've continued work on the show and supporting materials and online stuff. I bought a new domain name, set up hosting, created a subdomain pointing to my online gallery space. Something's tangled up in the DNS but we'll get it straightened. It was a busy evening. I finally dug out and stripped the old, framed black & white photos from their stretch-wrap cocoons. There's some good stuff there, amongst the framed work and I'll want to make a final selection of, perhaps, four of them to show alongside the new stuff. Ah, memories!

Today we had a quiet morning at home with waffle breakfast. After lunch we headed out and strolled around Olmsted Falls, visiting David Fortier River Park. I got some nice photos there under changeable skies and a thick canopy of trees. That wide-angle zoom lens, however, continues to perplex me. Am I expecting too much of it? Am I being too critical when examining the details at outrageously high magnifications? It doesn't stack up to the clarity of my "L" series telephoto on the same camera body, evidenced in photos shot in the same park and conditions this afternoon. {Sigh!} I'll probably wind up sending it back to Canon Factory Repair, as invited earlier. Thing is, I don't want and don't believe I should have to pay anything more to achieve the results I rightfully expected when I first bought that lens.

Busy week coming up with a mix of work, art, and a high-level meeting concerning the Observatory. Stay tuned!

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