After dropping our cat off for a brief hospital stay, I stopped by Hinckley Lake for a hike and another effort at dragonfly photography. I was quite disappointed with my efforts on Sunday, coming way from that session with only a couple of acceptable pictures. So I walked the entire circumference of the lake stopping now and again to shoot images as opportunities arose. It wasn’t until I’d nearly completed the walk –about three-quarters of the way around– that I began to see a few dragonflies. I photographed one that perched for a while on a leaf of grass. Others stayed out of reach — too small and too far away for me to image properly. I noticed a large, dark variety liked to fly in figure-eight patterns in set territories and it occurred to me to try and capture dragonflies in flight. What the heck, it’s digital so I’m not wasting film! So I tried and tried and deleted a good number of blank or blurred frames in the field. What I got back, however, was astonishing to me and of better quality than I managed shooting still-life insects Sunday!
summer
All posts tagged summer
Don’t worry, I’m not sure how to pronounce it either! I believe it’s “Show-fel” but hesitate to say the name out loud. What I can say is that it’s one of the gems of Northeastern Ohio parks. Located in Lorain County and part of the parks system there, Schoepfle features large formal gardens, paved and earthen walking trails, ponds and a river, along with woodlands to explore. On a whim we took off Sunday morning and paid a return visit to the place spending an unusual and welcome time quietly watching and photographing the grounds and, in my case in particular, the dragonflies that flit around the ponds. I saw and photographed several varieties. We saw many thin and tiny blue-headed damselflies in the act of mating! Dragonfly copulation is an interesting hook-up (literally) and you can read about it elsewhere. At any rate I’m sorry to report that many of my photos did not live up to my expectations — and I wasn’t seeking dragonfly porn but beauty shots of the various gossamer-winged creatures. She Who Must Be Obeyed often bemoans her humble all-in-one pocketable digital camera but yesterday managed to out-do my digital SLR and its top-of-the-line close-focus telephoto. It’s a great little camera she’s got so I wasn’t too surprised. I’ll just have to learn from my mistakes and try again… maybe today!
Last night, September 18, was the first annual International Observe the Moon Night: a time to celebrate Earth’s closest neighbor in space, her own Moon. The forecast for the night called for mostly-cloudy skies and that’s what we were seeing in the early evening and when I headed to Stephens Memorial Observatory. I’d made an online posting stating that I would open the doors at 8:30 PM no matter the weather but if cloudy, would close at 9:00. Strange how things happen. As the appointed hour approached an opening in the clouds appeared overhead. At first the Moon was very hazy, then clear enough to offer fair views. I worked inside the dome preparing the big telescope for public use. By the time I opened the dome slit, the sky was completely clear of clouds! Over the course of the evening 33 visitors came and went and saw the waxing gibbous Moon and, later, Jupiter. The Moon put in a glorious appearance through the telescope’s vintage low-power eyepiece. Jupiter, still minus its Southern Equatorial Band or cloud belt, was also seen in good detail: the Northern Equatorial band was visible and, better still, we got occasional glimpses of cloud bands in Jove’s southern hemisphere. The four Galilean moons were also brightly present: three on one side, Io by itself on the other. Late in the evening clouds again intruded first covering the Moon, then Jupiter. Finally Jupiter would wink in and out of visibility as smaller and smaller openings in the clouds passed offering seconds-long glimpses of the beautiful distant scene. Jupiter was near its opposition this night at a distance of about 368 million miles. When told about the distance one woman exclaimed, “you can see 368 million miles with that?! {telescope} I closed the dome at about 10:45 when sprinkles were felt falling from the sky. The people were engaged and enthusiastic and the sights were quite wonderful.
We took the day off today to allow for travel time to a Recognition Dinner event this evening. We were busy as bees this morning with office work –sad, really, it was a beautiful morning– but relaxed a little more this afternoon. I decided to attempt some photos of a foliage plant, a “volunteer” of unknown species, that has been thriving at our back door. Those photos had mixed success. As I was about to pick up my tripod and head back indoors, I turned and noticed a couple of very large bees giving our bright yellow marigolds a going over. What the heck… I’ve got the camera with me, complete with macro lens, and bright light to work with; let’s shoot some bees!
I was pretty happy with the shots in general. The afternoon sunlight allowed for shutter speeds well over 1/1,000 second and that really helped when shooting handheld — bees and flowers move and focus shifts fast! Looking at the images on the computer screen I noticed details I hadn’t noticed before, especially in the bees’ wings. So I enlarged and cropped that area on one shot. I’m delighted. I could make that bee photo two feet wide and it would still look good.
I packed it in and said good afternoon to my buzzy little friends. Soon it will be time to get dressed and head out. I’m hoping for a nice evening. I’m also hoping my voice will hold out: I’ve had another bout of laryngitis and, though better today, my voice is still strained.
Bee good!
I spent a good part of Wednesday morning, before work, at Hinckley Lake. The weather was nice and I wanted to get out of the house and catch some tranquility before heading to the office. I watched a pair of Great Blue Herons posturing and eyeing each other. They were a bit distant for dramatic photos. So, from the waters’ edge, I shot a few images for the record but mostly watched the slender birds practice their slow motion choreography. Walking back along the path I made efforts at photographing some back-lit plants. Those images, it turned out, were not in good focus — manual focus on ground glass is not very precise and I wish for a split-focus screen for my camera (sadly lacking). Back at the boathouse, however, I caught sight of monarch butterflies feeding off bright yellow coneflowers. I shot many exposures of the orange and black beauties. Shown above is my pick of the bunch.
It was a dark and rainy weekend though not altogether a bad one.
Plenty of time for house felines to look out at the world through screened doors.
Time for the cat's people to slow down a bit, too.
Too hot to do much outdoors but too nice a day to stay in, we made an early visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was not a rushed visit and, with that early morning arrival, we received easy parking and quiet surroundings; often it was just us and the museum floor staff. The grand renovation is in full force so confusing detours still rule. While much of the CMA's permanent collection is off-exhibit (in storage) there is still much to be seen. It was a lovely spending the morning visiting old "friends," missing some others, and discovering new works. It was somehow reassuring to see some of the galleries of the 1916 portion of the building. For now, and unless I contact a curator with my avatar (profile) photo, the exact identity of the Asian sculpture will remain unknown to me… at least until the excellent Southeast Asian collection is once again put on exhibit. I viewed a local photographer's work in another gallery. He received a commission from a big local development foundation. Seeing those works hanging in a major museum, images which, to my eye, lacked composition, delivered no feeling, and were printed irritatingly flat (contrast-wise). Simply put, they were snapshots. Then my mind shot back to an earlier photographic exhibit I'd seen at the museum… a fellow got a grant from some organization and shot photos of fields of weeds. No composition. No message. No art (to my eye). Just overgrown fields, and possibly only a single field, picture after picture. High concept justified with many words explaining how it's art. Made me very jealous, even angry that my own work wasn't hanging there. Also disappointed in myself for not putting myself out there; how can it be in a gallery if one's art isn't put out for consideration? Much the way I felt today. I've been taking pretty pictures lately but I used to make art. I've got to get back to that place. Maybe I need an agent. Fortunately there were far more beautiful and inspired works of art to be seen and enjoyed, which we did. After the museum, a delicious lunch at the deli in Mustard Seed Market, Solon, then on to Hudson for a visit to a couple of favorite shops. Relaxed. Then home. A pleasant, aimless day.













