This morning I was driving in the Olmsted Township (Ohio) area and felt like I could use some quiet time. A favorite place is David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls. As soon as I got out of my car I knew the park was the right place for me. I began my stroll along a path that leads to the falls, photographing interesting and beautiful rocks and plants along the way. As I drew closer to the falls I noticed something gray standing up from the shadowed rocks and water … a Great Blue Heron was looking for breakfast! Dressed in light-colored clothing, I felt the bird would quickly spot me and flee the scene. No, it held its position, standing in the water flowing over exposed rock. I shot many images, expecting each to be my last before the great bird’s departure. The heron stayed still, until I got a little too close for comfort. The Great Blue Heron — actually a bit small – probably a youngster — warily began to stroll away from me. It walked across dry rocks, then out to the main falls, and along the edge of the cascade. Finally it reached the end of the falls across the river from me and too far for good picture-taking. The bird felt safe and I was out of time. I headed back to the car. We had made our decisions to just walk away.
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On a recent afternoon walk around Hinckley Lake, a glimpse of something caught my full attention. There, at the edge of the shadowy woods, was a red leaf illuminated from behind by a narrow beam of sunlight. The leaf was bright as flame and struck me as ever so beautiful. Studying the image later I noticed the leaf was not perfect in structure, nor were its neighbors on the same plant. I guess the lesson here is that, despite our imperfections, we can shine and be admired if we let the inner light shine through.
I paid a visit to David Fortier River Park in Olmsted Falls this morning hoping to use my Canon DSLR to capture some morning scenes. I forgot, however, how cold the camera was from in-house storage and how well-insulated the camera bag was. I uncapped the lens at the park in the humid morning air and voila! Dew instantly covered the lens! It was unusable for the entire time I was at the park. So, I used my iPod Touch to capture this and a couple of other scenes. Lesson: Have the camera out the whole trip and the lens will be free of fog (besides being available for instant use)! Also, the iPod is a pretty darned good “go everywhere” camera.
We had a lovely time Sunday exploring the little town of Milan, Ohio. Milan’s claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of inventor Thomas A. Edison. The American icon spent the first six years of his life in Milan and maintained a lifelong fondness for the place. We purchased tickets and received an informative and personal guided tour of the residence. She Who Must Be Obeyed carried her camera and shot enough photos of the objects in the house that her collection could serve inventory purposes! I carried my iPod Touch and shot only one space — the light coming in through a tiny, narrow dormer on the second floor. We toured the grounds on our own and then walked around the village square. I shot quite a few scenes of old buildings and the like and it would be worthwhile returning one day to do some more. My favorite shot of the day, however, was of the wall and window of a garden shed. The wall was a velvet red and the contrasting white window frame and mullions showed signs of their age.
The weather was splendid today, if slightly cool for August in Northeastern Ohio. We took a little jaunt down to the Ira Road area of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to walk the wetlands boardwalk portion of the Towpath Trail. It wasn’t long before we spotted the first, and boldest, of three Great Blue Herons. This big guy was perfectly happy to stand in the shallow waters of the abandoned canal stalking prey as we watched from the nearby trail. I’ve a wonderful set of shots of the big bird staring, preening, and yawning. This closeup, however, is my favorite and possibly my prettiest shot of a heron yet.
The heron was, however, all about making a living and we as we watched it spotted something between the lily pads and, with lightning speed, struck at its prey full-force. Whatever the would-be lunch was, it got away this time, leaving the heron thrashing in the water, even appearing embarrassed as it flapped up to a log to shake off water and shame.
Within sight of the big bird I thought I saw something much smaller and less familiar but I wasn’t sure. Was it an upturned lily pad or, yes (!), a Green Heron! Typically skittish I fully expected the little thing to rocket skyward as I approached on the trail. Like it’s giant cousin, however, the Green wasn’t shy and went about its business with us watching. It had been about two years since I’d last seen a Green Heron and this was a welcome sight.
It was a great day (and photographically productive) in the soft sunlight and fresh air spent stalking the stalkers!
I stopped by the Lake Erie shoreline again Saturday morning. The sun was breaking through some high clouds and I wanted to see the interplay of morning sunlight and lake waters; It was exciting! The waves, while not large, constantly smashed against break walls and crawled up the sandy beach. The sky, to the east and south, was mostly clear but clouds were moving in from the northwest. I had a wonderful time, shooting more than 200 exposures of waves, water, sun, clouds, and more. A couple of my favorite “sun” photos are shown here. Maybe, one day, I will post more here or on my gallery site. For now, these will have to do.
It was a beautiful Sunday with partly-cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s so we set off to explore a place new to us: Liberty Park, a Summit County MetroPark in Twinsburg. Our favorite area was the Twinsburg Ledges and its woodland trail. The gravel path took us deep into the dark woods amongst tall trees, low ferns, and moss-covered rocks. There were many beautiful sights along the way but a standout was a cave, of sorts.
A short spur trail leads visitors to Glacier Cave which is not so much a cave as a deep opening in a rock wall. Cave or not, the exposed rock face was fascinating: strong striations run across the conglomerate rock, tree-filtered sunlight accentuating the textures. Inside the crevasse and looking up, one can see soft light penetrating the open space, caressing moss-covered, sculpted rock. At the bottom of the shaft was a beautiful opening where light, tinted green by tree leaves, bounced off red rocks, illuminating an already-colorful wall.
We will return, hopefully soon, to Liberty Park. Armed with tripods and plenty of mosquito repellant, we will be better prepared to spend time and make even better images.
This morning’s excursion was to Rocky River Park in Rocky River, Ohio. The day had beautifully dawned, the air was cool and comfortable, and low waves were coming in to shore from Great Lake Erie. There is a breakwall running parallel with the shoreline and not far out. The waves rising in the shallows crashed against blocks of old stone, spraying into the air, sometimes forming tall fans as if the water was seeking return to the sky from which it fell.
The hot, and wet weather we have “enjoyed” lately have been great for plants and perhaps better for fungi. Various, mostly unattractive, ‘shrooms have been popping up in the garden mulch. What caught my eye this morning, however, was a tiny garden — really tiny — of bright orange fungi sprouting from the top of a fencepost outside our door. I grabbed my little PowerShot G11 and clicked off a few macro shots of the little wonders before we took off for some grocery shopping. Returning about an hour later, I took another look at the object of my attention; they were withered and sad looking. I suspect they’ll show themselves again since the little growths are only the tops of fungus that runs deeper into the seams of the wooden post.















