Opposites

I've always been intrigued by how often nature seems to show contradictory behavior. Years ago, the US Forest Service used to jump to the rescue of the great forests by taking extraordinary measures to put out all forest fires. Now there are times when they let some sections burn or even set forest fires (controlled burns) Why? Because they discovered that some trees and plants only regenerate if they have been through a fire. So something as destructive as fire causes new life — doesn't seem right.
Lots of people nowadays are turning to vegetarian diets (and I can see the wisdom of that choice) but I find it somewhat humorous that the Good Lord created some plants that eat animals — as in the pitcher plant that traps insects and slowly dissolves them into food.
I captured this image the other day on the beach near Petoskey State Park. I was struck by the contrast. The sand was smooth and sculptural while the water was textural and flat. The lighting seemed soft on one and harsh on the other. These results were both caused by the same force — the wind, but with very different results.
It's pretty obvious to me that the Lord loves diversity — well some diversity. He obviously doesn't like both good and evil — so I guess there is diversity about diversity. I think I better stop now.

Stakeout

Most of Thursday morning last week was spent up on Sleeping Bear Point. There are always beautiful grand landscapes to capture — which I did. Then after my traditional lunch — Surf-n-Turf (a hamburger and smelt) at Art's Tavern, I headed with a couple friends to a beach near the Homestead Resort. We walked the shoreline toward Pyramid Point but unlike our morning excursion there just didn't seem to be any interesting subjects. After the turn-around in the shadow of the point's tall bluff I decided to walk a few yards inland instead of retracing my steps at the water's edge. Sometimes the waves and wind place some interesting objects in the grass. I passed a section of beach that a local camp uses in the summer and noticed this group of stakes — simple, rusty, utilitarian, stakes. Probably there to hold up a volleyball net in the summer months. But I loved their simple shape and their interaction with each other and the shadows they cast. Call me crazy but this was my favorite capture of the day. Maybe not as impressive as the grand dunes with their windswept lines of snow and sand, but elegant beauty in my mind.
Next time you're out for a walk look for the simple beauty in things — especially in the person that's walking along side you.

Sorry I've been gone so long but I've really been in a creative slump lately. I can always blame the weather. I think in the month of January we had 25 of 31 days at below normal temps — and for Northern Michigan that's cold. It's not that I'm a weather wimp. In general I can deal with the cold and snow but trying to deal with the weather and your camera system — switching lenses, changing settings, etc — it's tough. BUT really I've just been lacking in some creative enthusiasm. I happens to the best of us. I did read a good book though -- Blue Like Jazz. A real honest, refreshing, account of a person's life journey. As is often the case it is literature, music, or something other than the media that I work in that can get me out of a slump.
So I went to the dunes the other day to gather some images -- I heard temps were going to be reasonable and the sun was to be out most the day. I left home at 5:00 am and arrived at 7:30 and snow shoed up Sleeping Bear Point for a 8:00 am sunrise. The day didn't turn out to be all that productive as far as images go but just being outside and x-c skiing and shoeing was great for the spirit. Attached is one image that worked well -- although it's too much like other stuff I've done. I think I need to experiment a bit more to produce something more exciting.
See you SOON.

Beach Berries

It was a rainy day in Petoskey on Sunday — as it was in much of the midwest. It wasn't a "beach" day in the ordinary swimmer and sunbather sense, but foul weather only serves as a challenge to my creative spirit, so for me it was a beach day. I put the all-weather cover on my camera and headed for the State Park. On my ten minute drive I was conceptualizing the images — the concentric ring patterns left by raindrops as they hit the surface of the small backwater pools or beads of water sliding down slender blades of beach grasses.
You would think that my artistic genes would tell me to explore some new stretch of the park, but here I was making my way along the same old stretch of Little Traverse Bay. It was a surprisingly pleasant stroll. The wet, firm, sand lessened the walking resistance and the rain was light. I figured I had at least an hour before my jacket fabric would begin to saturate and chill me.

At my usual turn-around point I make a slight detour inland to a bank of vegetation that held a mound of dark soil. It was the deep red leaves that first drew my attention — then the fleabane and the berries. The water on the leaves added color saturation and some highlights for some excitement. It wasn't what I imagined I'd be taking pictures of but the unexpected is good creative nurishment. I saw a very rich tapestry. What do you see?