Posted by mark on Sep 04 2015 in Landscape Photography, Pictures Of Trees, Midwestern Landscapes, Allegan State Game Area, Allegan Forest
Posted by mark on Aug 07 2015 in Landscape Photography, Pictures Of Trees, Midwestern Landscapes
![Mosquito Landing Mosquito Landing](https://www.markcassino.com/b2evolution/media/blogs/calarti/2015/15-08-07/.evocache/15-1040_tu5_tm1.jpg/fit-1280x720.jpg?mtime=1438988914)
Taking a break from the stacked macro images... for the last several days I've been shooting medium format film with the trusty Pentax 6x7. Here's a scene from a woods in southwest Michigan... When I arrived in the woods the mosquito's were so thick that a swarm of them seized me and carried me deep into the forest, finally dropping me at this point. So - "Mosquito Landing."
Pentax 6x7, 55mm f4, Afga APX 100 (long expired), Rodial 1:25.
Posted by mark on Jul 13 2015 in Landscape Photography, Film Processing, Pictures Of Trees, Midwestern Landscapes, Allegan State Game Area, Allegan Forest
(Click on the image for a much larger file)
I had to laugh when I spotted this sign last week... The last time I was in this place - 11 or 12 years ago - I wandered deeper into the woods and found some large wooden signs, covered with just tatters of paper. Beyond that was a tall steep earthen berm and beyond that was an open field. I like open fields... It didn't take long before I knew I was on the wrong end of a shooting range...
This is a film exposure - 35mm Tri-X. Pentax Mz-S, FA 20-35 f4 lens, XI green filter, film devoped in HC110 Dil B. I am reviving my "sun dappled woods" project, last visited in 2008.
Posted by mark on Jul 01 2015 in Landscape Photography, Midwestern Landscapes
I spent last week hanging out in the Hocking Hills State Park in southern Ohio, hiking some of the trails and looking at waterfalls and caves. Here's a photo of the upper falls near Old Man's Cave (click on the image for a larger view):
Upper Falls Near Old Man's Cave
It's a little misleading in that the place was teeming with tourists when I took this photo. I did not have a tripod so I took a bunch of images at the lowest shutter speed that I could reasonably hand hold the camera - 1/8th of a second. It was a decent compromise in that any single image what reasonably sharp and the water was slightly blurred. Post processing the images today, I stack focused the group in Photoshop and that increased sharpness considerably by blending the sharpest bits of each of the 29 exposures. I then averaged the exposures and that created a more pronounced blur in the moving water. I blended just the blurred water from the averaged composite into the focused stacked composite for the final image. It would have been better to use a tripod and a ND filter, but this way I didn't have to carry so much while hiking.
Posted by mark on May 06 2015 in Landscape Photography, Midwestern Landscapes, Allegan State Game Area, Allegan Forest
This is a photo of a field of winter wheat at the edge of forest that was logged 15-20 years ago and which now has been overtaken by aspen trees.(Click on the image for a larger file.)
A little explanation... I routinely photograph in the Allegan State Game Area, a 50,000 acre (202 square kilometer) area of state land made up of forests, wetlands, pine barrens and oak savannas. The forest is actively logged and the land is used for various recreational purposes - hunting, horseback riding, snowmobiling, etc.
A few years ago the state plowed up some of the open fields and planted winter wheat - I really don't know why. Maybe it attracts game for the hunters. So - this is a photo of a field of winter wheat at the edge of forest that was logged 15-20 years ago and which now has been overtaken by aspen trees.
When I first started visiting the forest twelve years ago these trees were only about 8 feet tall and were home to many wonderful bird species. I saw more indigo buntings in those aspen in a few hours one afternoon than I have seen in all the other hours of my life combined.
The winter wheat is remarably green this time of year, and a few days of recent rain has made it more green.
And those aspen can be devilish if you wander into them without a compass or GPS - a disorienting maze and barrier of strong small trees.
Posted by mark on Mar 23 2015 in Midwestern Landscapes
March...winter departs and spring approaches. The snow recedes and uncovers detritus and trash as it shrinks into dirty little piles. Trees stand bare. Fallen leaves lay sodden and lifeless on the ground, weighted down and muddy.
November is somewhat like March, but November has its great scorpionic charm - the triumph of darkness that heralds the difficult months ahead - the advance of winter that one can love as one can love an enemy that forces you to draw upon your strength to meet them.
But March brings no challenges - spring is coming .. but it's not yet here. Winter lingers on as mere dingy inconvenience...
What to photograph in March's flat light? Dead leaves? Dead leaves swirling in icy cold water? Dead leaves covered with drying mud? Yes, yes and yes...
Its a foolish undertaking but I try to understand March - the nascent spring, the life potential not quite realized but inevitable, the feeble remnant of winter. A mystery.
Posted by mark on Mar 22 2015 in Midwestern Landscapes
Posted by mark on Mar 11 2015 in Pictures Of Trees, Midwestern Landscapes
This morning brought dense fog a warm air descended onto the snow covered landscape. Winter is end and spring is coming! Here are a few picture of trees from this foggy morning (click on the images for a much larger file):