This fall has been a bit unusual in many ways in SE. Michigan. I know that the summer drought contributed to a very early shedding of leaves before their time, which lead to a disappointing start.
But after the initial non starter of color, we finally received quite a bit of rain and some colder nights! This brought out some really vibrant autumn color on many of the maples and also the ginkgo trees, which I always look forward to every year!
The morning I photographed these ginkgo leaves it was rainy, misty, and really foggy. I think it shows off the color and lusciousness of the rain on the leaves. I love the vibrant golden hue of the ginkgo leaves!
“Luscious Ginkgo Gold” Beautiful golden Ginkgo leaves on a misty fall morning after a rain.
“Rainy Day Ginkgo” More rainy day ginkgo beauty!
I hope you enjoyed these fall images. I’ll be sharing a few more images from the season in the next couple of posts. All of our autumn color is gone now so I guess it’s time to get into all my photographs and see what I actually have.
I was fortunate to be able to attend The 2017 Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan this spring. I have been one other time but that particular year the tulips hadn’t even begun to bloom.
I was rewarded with beautiful tulips and daffodils this year at the festival, among many other types of flowers.
The lovely purple tulips above were some of the last I was able to see that day as the sun got lower in the sky.
The images below give you some idea of the abundance of tulips and wonderful color there at the Tulip Festival!
“Daffodil Tripartite In Sunlight” Just lovely little daffodils set against brightly colored tulips at The 2017 Tulip Festival in Holland, MI.
“Tulips in Rows” Beautiful rows of tulips with trees and flags in the background at The Tulip Festival.
“Tulip Festival Holland” Enjoying all of the many varieties of tulips at The 2017 Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan!
Spring has finally arrived here and even though almost nothing has bloomed yet in terms of flowers, I always enjoy when plants of any type start bursting forth from the ground. In this case actually from the shallow waters of a pond, just a preview of things to come.
In this photograph of aquatic reflections you can see the reflection of trees as well as that of the sky and clouds in both the foreground and background. Green plants that are growing just below the water’s surface are beautiful, as well as the vertical shadows that the cattails cast on the surface of the water.
This is a very simple composition, and I like all of the elements it has. Originally I thought of this only as a color photograph because of the beautiful greens, as a sign of spring.
I decided to do a black and white conversion though and really liked the feeling of contrast in the image as well.
I’m really looking forward to the changes this spring will bring, and surely hoping that we won’t have any more freezing temperatures that damage blossoms this year!
I wish a very happy spring to all of you, with plenty of outdoor adventures and beauty!
“Pond Plants in Reflection” Cattails in the shallow depths of a pond in spring with reflections and shadows!
I seriously can’t believe it’s that time again, but here we are at the end of 2016 and (drum roll) it is time for the Best of 2016! The time when we all must sort through hundreds, or thousands of photographs to narrow it down to our five or ten best, or favorite images of the year. In my case these are my favorite images of 2016. In the past I have usually posted 10 images, this year I found only nine to be my favorites.
This is the 5th year that I have participated in Jim Goldstein’s annual Best Photos Project that he hosts for all photographers who would like to participate.
Thank very much for all of your hard work Jim! I really appreciate it!
Before getting to my Best of 2016 images , you might like to take a look at my favorite images from last year. You can view that post here in my 2015 Year in Review.
“Golden Burst of Morning” An absolutely spectacular early fall morning with golden fog and trees in silhouette!
I had several occasions this summer and in early autumn to witness some amazing fog! I made a huge print of this for myself!
“Edge of Red Dawn” This was a particularly beautiful sunrise on Grand Traverse Bay in Traverse City, Michigan during late spring.
I was able to spend some time during spring in Traverse City and vicinity. I had come in hopes of experiencing the cherry blossoms but I was just a tad too late. The sunrises on the bay, like you see here, and time spent at Sleeping Bear Dunes was beautiful though!
“Lake Superior Colors” Wow, this day was simply wonderful! The winds were whipping, the waves on Lake Superior were coming in strongly, and the colors were popping in the whole scene!
While driving up H58 from Munising MI. to Grand Marais I just had to stop at this location and feel the strong winds pushing the waves ashore. The colors of the water, and sky were both amazing and there was a pop of orange color in small scruffy maples in the sand grass that just made the scene for me! I can seriously just allow myself to get lost in this photograph!
“Golden Sunlight Blessings” Another one of those days that start out heavy with fog and then all of a sudden the sun comes out and brings with it, magical rays of golden color and warmth!
This was yet another day that started with heavy low lying fog that rose higher just as the sun began to shine! It created a delightful atmosphere with it’s warm hues! I really loved the sunbeams streaming through the tree and fog! It looks amazing in a print or canvas!
“Autumn Winds and Color” Brisk winds on an autumn day in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan bring waves crashing against the rocky shore!
One of my favorite places to stop at along highway 28 just outside of Munising, MI. It’s always beautiful in autumn with the fall color set against the evergreen trees and rocks!
“Stairway to Lake Superior” Follow the stairs leading down to Lake Superior on a windy and stormy fall day with gorgeous colors in the waters of the lake, clouds in the sky, and fall foliage!!
Along H58 from Munising MI. to Grand Marais there are many beautiful places to stop, all within Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore area. This wonderful location had superb conditions when I arrived there! I just recently made a large print of this photograph.
“Fall within Lake of the Clouds” Peak fall color at Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula!
This autumn I spent several hours at Lake of the Clouds with the weather changing from full rain to completely sunny and everything in between. It is spectacular no matter what the weather!
“Laughing Whitefish Falls” Beautiful water flowing at Laughing Whitefish Falls near Munising, Michigan this autumn.
Having been to Laughing Whitefish Falls before, I have often found it to have quite a low water flow. I know my timing has been off because after a rain this place can present with torrents of water. I happened to catch it at a good time this year with a nice, full, but not overwhelming, flow of water.
This concludes my Best of 2016 favorite images. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to experience these places and make these photographs!
Finally as we enter into the new year, I would like to wish all of my family and friends, all of you who read my blog, and everyone from near and far a most wonderful and adventurous 2017!!
I’ll end this post with one of my favorite quotes:
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” ~ Edward Abbey ~
In this first image you’ll see beautiful Lake of the Clouds, which is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!
This year as usual when the end of summer approached, I started planning for my fall photography trip or trips. I couldn’t wait to see the world around me turn to gold, orange, and red! As it turned out in Michigan, as well as many parts of the country and world, timing was a bit off. I had to keep changing the dates of my trips to adjust to the lack of fall color where I was going.
Finally in early October things started to look more positive, and I headed for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which I do every year, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
One of the most beautiful places to me, in the Western UP, is Lake of the Clouds. I drove from the city of Marquette out to The Porcupine Mountains to get there. It was raining heavily the whole way out, but I had been watching the weather forecasts and radar earlier in the day, in hopes that there might be some kind of clearing by the time I arrived.
As you can see from the photograph above the clouds were still thick but oh so beautiful as the rain storm had broken and rays of sun were changing the landscape. I felt such a wave of relief come over me with each passing minute with the continuously changing weather!
Last year, although beautiful in it’s own right, my entire trip to Lake of the Clouds, and indeed most of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was filled with very heavy rain and thick fog. This time though was wonderfully different and I was so thankful!
“sunshine on Lake of the Clouds” Almost totally clear at “Lake of the Clouds” on a bright fall afternoon!
After nearly all of the clouds had passed, and as I moved from one vantage point to another, the sun began shining on nearly everthing in late afternoon, illuminating all the trees in their glorious fall color! This was the final payoff before I left the area and made my way back to Marquette.
“Presque Isle Reflections” Beautiful clouds reflected in the pools of water on the rocks at Presque Isle Park.
In Marquette, Michigan at Presque Isle Park I had also been trying to escape the rain. Upon arriving everything was wet with a light drizzle and quite overcast. I decided to enjoy myself regardless of the weather, and honestly in this location there is so much to see, and quite enjoyable no matter the time of year or type of weather!
The clouds began breaking just a bit in different ways which created beautiful reflections in some of the pools of water on these volcanic rocks.
“Rocky Stormin” Sunlight and storm clouds on the rocky shores of Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Michigan.
In this last image the sun was shining brightly on the rock with dark clouds in the distance. It created a beautiful contrast to the scene! Darkness and light, warmth versus cool, and plenty of texture!
I hope to share more of my images from my trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with you in future blog posts. I surely hope you enjoyed these! 🙂
One very early morning just a few days ago I decided to take a drive in the countryside on some local dirt roads. It was foggy and nearly dark when I started, but as the sun rose I was rewarded with an amazing sunrise with golden rays of light streaming through the trees as I drove along.
The image above is a tighter version of the first tree I saw, with many streams of light coming through the fog. Simply dreamy to me!
“Your New Day Rising” Stunning Golden sunrise through the fog!
In this next image I got as close as I could to a cornfield with a lone tree and an amazing sunrise just atop the tree! What a glorious morning! As the nights are cooler with autumn having arrived, I hope for a few more mornings to enjoy the fog before it turns to frost!
I truly cannot believe that it’s almost September, and it still feels like summer! The weather hasn’t changed, our temps are as hot as they’ve been off and on for the last couple of months. In Michigan, usually August ushers in a slight change, you’ll have cooler nights, and mornings. You’ll feel autumn coming. Well not this year, in fact it seems that all of 2016 so far has felt quite a bit different than normal. Who knows what we have in store for us this fall and winter!
I know I’ve been pretty neglectful of my blog for a while. Life has been extremely busy, and honestly doesn’t look like its going to slow down for a few months. I did have the opportunity earlier this summer though to visit Lake Superior Provincial Park, in Ontario, Canada. It was wonderful!
I thought I’d just go ahead and share a few images that I’ve made this summer, from that location. Two of the photographs are processed in black and white and one in color.
“Agawa Bay Rocky Shore” Beautiful and scenic Agawa Bay in Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada!
“Chippewa Falls and River” A summertime view of Chippewa Falls in Ontario, Canada!
“Chippewa Falls” Mono A Beautiful long exposure of a section of Chippewa Falls, processed in black and white!
These images were all made this summer during my trip to Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Even though the weather there was pretty hot at the time, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the heatwave we were having in SE. Michigan at the time!
Not only was this location an extremely beautiful place to see , but also a quite welcome reprieve from the oppressive heat! I can only imagine how amazing this area would be during autumn with all it’s color! Hopefully I’ll get the chance to find out some day! 🙂
I hope you’ve enjoyed the images. As always, these photographs and many many more are all on my websites, and available for purchase as prints, canvas prints, and more! Check them out here. http://rcnaturephotos.pixels.com/ and www.rachelcohenphotography.com
Spring seems to start of pretty slowly here in SE. Michigan, but once the temperatures warm a bit, which they did to a very large degree this year, the garden blooms begin to appear quickly!
These are some of the first flowers to bloom in the garden this spring, after the initial daffodils and crocus.
The lovely light purple Iris basking in the warm light of the morning sun makes a lovely image!
“Dahlia Darling” Beautiful mauve and white petaled Dahlia!
The Dahlia were especially beautiful with their large blossoms, and stunning colors!
“Iris abstract” I love the different varieties of Iris, and this one was one of the first to bloom this year!
The small details in this purple Iris was one that was perfect for a macro shot!
“Peony in Peachy Pink” A beautiful macro of a peach and pink hued Peony!
The peonies are still blooming, but this one was the absolute first to blossoms this spring. The hue was a bit different this year, with more of a peachy hue. I think it makes a beautiful macro!
As spring draws to an end, I’ll be photographing all the many blossoms that pop up, and sharing more garden photos here on my blog.
I hope that you too are enjoying whatever is blooming in your area, and your garden! You just gotta love those garden blooms!
I was going through some of my photographs recently of The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia that I made during a Mid-June trip. I found these two images of a very beautiful, humid, and stormy summer day in the mountains!
The clouds were dark and heavy as was the air all around. The kind of air with humidity that gives layers of haze in the distance, and feels thick to breathe.
The forests were full of trees and were a lush green from previous rains, giving beautiful contrasts of colors in both greens and blues!
I’m looking forward to heading back to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Shenandoah National Park sometime this spring or summer. There’s always an ever changing landscape there just waiting for me around the bend!
“Storm on Blue” Gorgeous clouds in the Blue Ridge Mountains during a summer storm.
I really love the bright and vivid colors that spring and summer bring to the garden! These photographs are from warm weather times, which I can’t wait to see again soon!
I’m not one to shy away from photographing vibrant colored flowers, or autumn leaves either, as you all may know!
I know the names of the orange and purple flowers, but I wasn’t able to ID the deep fuchsia flowers above. If anyone knows the name, please feel free to let me know.
“Orange Excitement” All the shades of orange burst through in this summertime photograph of Butterfly Weed!
Last summer we had loads of Butterfly Weed. I used to love to sit in the garden near it watching both bees and butterflies take advantage of all that it has to offer.
“Purple Veronica” Lovely hues of purple and green in this patch of Purple Veronica!
The Purple Veronica was also prolific! There were so many patches of it growing in the garden. I love the form and shape as well as the different hues of purple!
Finally, I’ll leave you today with a flower quote:
