Posted by mcc on Dec 01 2009 in Announcements
I just put the teacher’s guide for The Story of Snow online at storyofsnow.com. If it’s of interest - hop over there to grab it!
I just put the teacher’s guide for The Story of Snow online at storyofsnow.com. If it’s of interest - hop over there to grab it!
The 2009 Signature Gallery is getting set up and soon will be open!
This year the gallery runs from December 5 to the 26th, with the Artist Reception on Sunday, December 6 from 12 to 5.
The address is 4644 West Main Street. Our new location is in the Westwood Plaza at the corner of West Main and Drake Road - near Mackenzies¹ Bakery and around the corner from Coney Island. The space was formerly used by Wild Goose Chase and most recently Quilts Plus.
I won’t be participating this year, except for the inclusion of the three framed prints. (Go figure - we finally snag a location between a Coney Island and Bakery and I miss out!) But I plan to hang out at the reception for a while.
Stop in and see the fabulous assortment of art objects in all media at the gallery!
For info about all things Signature, visit the website at www.signatureartistcoop.com
The Kalamazoo Nature Center’s Buy Local Art and Gift Fair is coming up in just 2 weeks. I’ll be on hand to sign books and talk about snow crystyal photography from 11 a.m. till 1 p.m. The Art Fair runs from 10 to 4, and in the afternon the results of the Photoblitz contest will be unveiled. Holidays At The Homestead will also be in full swing, with live Celtic Music, horse drawn carriage rides, and other holiday festivities from the past at the historic DeLano Homestead. For more about the event, visit www.naturecenter.org.
And don’t forget the December 4 art hop at Nature Connection in downtown Kalamazoo!
A few days ago I set up a new blog, dedicated to The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder.
Check it out at storyofsnow.com.
Saturday morning. Though it is only late August, an autumnal chill has settled in on the land. My replacement K7 camera arrived earlier in the week, and I’m eager to get out.
Driving into the Allegan forest I see what looks like a hazy, light fog ahead. The clouds have thickened as I’ve headed west, from my house, into the game area. Driving north on 48th street, I look at the cloud of dust spiraling out behind the car and take that as a reassuring sign that while it may be cool, the rain is gone for now.
The car closes in on the mist and suddenly slams into a wall of water – a fine driving rain that splatters down heavily from the clouds above. Well, so much for signs. A mile down the road the rain passes and soon dust is billowing up behind the car again – and then again another micro downpour drenches the landscape.
I make my way a narrow two track to a small clearing, deep in the young forest. Here the grass has gown long and is dotted with patches of lupine and vetch. I spot one of the small toads I’ve been seeing this year, originally thinking it was a cricket hopping through the grass. But it manages to disappear before I get a shot. Wandering around in the tall grass I still up blue dasher, white faced meadowhawks, and several green darners – but they all settle back into the low grass some distance off, reluctant to fly around an perch in the cool damp day.
And then - another downpour. Here’s a snap of the road into the forest, just as the rain is starting to come down:
And one shot of an eastern tailed blue, the only decent macro shot of the day:
After an hour or so, I decided to call it quits for that day. The rain followed my home, and for the rest of the morning and the afternoon the mini downpours rolled though . Fortunately, Sunday was somewhat a better day for photos – more in my next post.
Sometimes I can’t think of anything to do. I get out into the woods or the fields, but can’t tell my left hand from my right. I bump along muddy dirt roads or down sandy two tracks, oblivious to the things around me.
I did manage to spot another tiny toad – this one a few hundred yards from the pond where I saw the last one. It was no larger than the other, but was much more animated as it made its way through the dried and cut up grass.
Other than that – one yellow dragon and one red dragon, and that was the whole day Sunday…
There was a surprise in my photos from last June. While shooting dragonflies in the usual haunts, I saw this specimen. I took it to be a dot tailed white face, but was perplexed by the whitish coloration at the base of the abdomen.
Looking through field guide I realize that this is a Frosted Whiteface -Leucorrhinia frigida. Considering the yellowish dots on the abdomen, this would be an immature male Frosted Whiteface. I don’t recall having ever seen this species before, and I’m sure I never photographed it. Great to see something new out there.
Shot on June 20th, 2009, in the Allegan State Game Area.
The traditional (for me) honey bee in a crocus shot. Rather late this year, coming in the last week of March…