A male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) shyly paddles in the wetlands of Sheldon Marsh.
Working on my annual photo calendar for family and friends, I realized I missed posting here a few shots I love from 2018. This shy male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) we spotted in the wooded shallows near the path in the Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve, Huron, Ohio. The bird soon paddled deeper in the wetland wood disappearing completely from sight. September 2018.
The gazebo at the center of Public Square, Medina, Ohio, all dressed up for the holidays!
It was worth braving the 24°F temperature to pay a return visit to Public Square Wednesday night, camera and tripod at-hand, to shoot some holiday pics! The recent official tree lighting was fun but, with the large and excited crowd, not a good time to set up the camera for long exposures. I’m hoping one of these, or other of my non-holiday shots will be published in the city’s bicentennial book.
Buildings along North Court Street, Medina, Ohio, are outlined in lights with windows dressed for the holiday season.
Besides the brilliantly-lit iconic gazebo, the buildings around and near Medina’s historic town center are outlined in white lights, lights are strung in the branches of sidewalk trees, and most businesses have decorated their storefront windows. It’s a little early in the holiday season but the sights were worth cold fingers and feet.
South Court Street viewed from Public Square, Medina, showcases businesses and buildings in their holiday finery.
Times Remembered. Rustic items sit on a porch under patriotic bunting lit by late-day sun.
A beautiful autumn day, a rarity this year, presented an excellent opportunity for a little walk. Exploring the area in the late afternoon was a pleasure and offered a few opportunities to record what I saw. My favorite sight and photo of the day was the porch of an ochre-colored house. Antiques and rustic items lined the outside walls, a patriotic fan bunting glowed in the natural spotlight of sun through trees.
Golden Glow. Late-afternoon sun highlights a cluster of yellow tree leaves.
A juvenile American Bald Eagle (One of two seen Wednesday!) glides on the updrafts along the shoreline at Lake Metroparks Lake Erie Bluffs park.
Sighting an American Bald Eagle in Northern Ohio was once, not that long ago, seeing a rare bird. Fortunately the eagle population is growing and sightings are more common, though still thrilling.
A juvenile American Bald Eagle glided on the updrafts along the shoreline at the Lake Metroparks Lake Erie Bluffs park. While we eventually saw two eagles of the same apparent age, I was only able to photograph (above) this one; I believe it to be in its first year. The distinctive white head and tail feathers take about five years to fully develop.
A mature American Bald Eagle soars over Sheldon Marsh State Park, Huron, Ohio.
On an earlier September visit to Sheldon Marsh State Park, Huron, Ohio a mature American Bald Eagle soared majestically over exciting visitors as it fished the shallow waters on a Sunday afternoon. We saw the bird swoop in low over open waters, apparently missing the fish it had spotted, then climbing high to continue its patrol of the wetlands. Other visitors saw the bird catch a fish, only to have it escape. Even a fierce predator misses most of the time.
A severe thunderstorm passes to the south of a farm in rural Wayne County, Ohio as bright sunshine illuminates barn and field.
One good thing came from my extended storm chase that afternoon. While my hopes of spotting a powerful approaching storm were washed away by torrential rains, the drive home revealed the beautiful contrast between peaceful, sunlit farm scene and a threatening sky. — September 21, 2018
The thunderhead of a passing storm with mounds of mammatus clouds beneath.
So I went out chasing what promised to be a big, powerful thunderstorm about 30 miles away only to be greeted by a wall of water. I get home, have dinner, and discover I’m under a gigantic thunderhead with cirrus fringes and gobs of beautiful mammatus beneath all surrounded by a beautiful blue sky. Storm chaser Dorothy was right, “There’s no place like home.” — September 21, 2018
That’s not fog that car is headed towards — it’s a “wall of water — torrential rain about to descend upon your intrepid photographer ending his remote storm pursuit.
We saw many beautiful things on a recent visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Among the beautiful objects was a pair of funerary portraits: one of a young man painted about 138 – 192 AD, the other a young woman painted some time in that same period. The subjects’ gaze is haunting, their faces are at once attractive and lost; they could be our friends or neighbors but are now separated from us by nearly two millennia. Eyes of the present meet eyes of the past and we mourn a man and a woman we cannot know.
“Funerary Portrait of a Man”, about AD 138 – 192, Encaustic on Linen, Egypt, Roman Empire, Antonine, Cleveland Museum of Art
“Funerary Portrait of a Woman”, about AD 138 – 192, Encaustic on Linen, Egypt, Roman Empire, Antonine, Cleveland Museum of Art
Funerary Portraits: “So-called mummy portraits were apparently painted during the owners’ lives and hung in their homes. At the time of the owner’s death, the portrait was taken down, cut from its frame, and trimmed to fit the deceased’s mummy, to which it was bound. It was at that time also that the gilding on the center painting was added.” — Description by the Cleveland Museum of Art
Encaustic? Wax painting. See WikiPedia.
