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“2015 My Year in Review”

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Here we are at the end of 2015, and what a year it’s been! As I’ve done for the past four years in a row, I am posting my favorite images of this past year. Not necessarily the best, but my personal faves. It was hard to narrow it down to only ten, but I finally did after a lot of going back and forth. These are not in any particular order and are of several different subjects. I hope you enjoy them! If you would like to look at my 2014 year in review you can check that out here. Best of 2014

Jim Goldstein in his Blog Project has hosted the year in review or top 10 images on his blog for a number of years, and I always look forward to it!  There are photographers from all around the world with amazing images! I hope you’ll check out his blog and take a look at the wonderful array of photographers and gather inspiration from their images! His post should be up in the early part of January 2016!

"Kayaking at Miners Falls" Gorgeous blue waters of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore in summer!
“Kayaking at Miners Falls”
Gorgeous blue waters of Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore in summer!

 

"Great Lakes Autumn Waves" A beautiful and windy day on Lake Superior near Munising in autumn!
“Great Lakes Autumn Waves”
A beautiful and windy day on Lake Superior near Munising in autumn!

 

"One Very Fine Day" This was a fabulous day in Marquette Michigan on Presque Isle Park!
“One Very Fine Day”
This was a fabulous day in Marquette Michigan on Presque Isle Park!

 

"Life is But a Dream" This was one special sunset on Lake Michigan! The waters were like glass, and the whole world seemed alive with the colors of sunset. There were several people kayaking and canoeing on the smooth water! Dreamy!
“Life is But a Dream”
This was one special sunset on Lake Michigan! The waters were like glass, and the whole world seemed alive with the colors of sunset. There were several people kayaking and canoeing on the smooth water! Dreamy!

 

 

"My Sweet Lady" This year was a great year for peonies! I particularly loved this huge specimen!!
“My Sweet Lady”
This year was a great year for peonies! I particularly loved this huge specimen!!

 

"Grape Hyacinth"2 One of many beautiful Grape Hyacinth this spring!
“Grape Hyacinth”2
One of many beautiful Grape Hyacinth this spring!

 

"Beautiful Cedar Falls" I had the opportunity to go to Hocking Hills in Hocking County Ohio this summer. The many waterfalls in the location and the amazing rock formations were wonderful! The summer was a dry one, so the water flow wasn't as strong as I would have liked, but it was beautiful to me anyway!
“Beautiful Cedar Falls”
I had the opportunity to go to Hocking Hills in Hocking County Ohio this summer. The many waterfalls in the location and the amazing rock formations were wonderful! The summer was a dry one, so the water flow wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, but it was beautiful to me anyway!

 

"Afternoon in Shades of Gray" This scene in late fall with a beautiful snow just begged for black and white processing!
“Afternoon in Shades of Gray”
This scene in late fall with a beautiful snow just begged for black and white processing!

 

"Sweet Potato Mash" I had a year with a lot of motion blur abstracts, and this is one of my favorites!
“Sweet Potato Mash”
I had a year with a lot of motion blur abstracts, and this is one of my favorites!

 

"Song of Light" A bokeh delight in the fresh summer grass! One of my favorite bokeh- nature abstracts this year!
“Song of Light”
A bokeh delight in the fresh summer grass! One of my favorite bokeh-licious abstracts this year!

 

As we end this year and head into 2016, I’d like to wish everyone and their families all the best in the New Year. I wish you all good health, good times, plenty of adventures and family to enjoy it with!

I’ll end 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 ~

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“Delicious Autumn”

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In what I consider to be the most glorious and delicious of all seasons, autumn!  I’ve chosen quite a few lovely quotes about fall and added some of my recent photographs.

The first image is from the shores of Lake Superior with the leaves in an early state of change, the winds blowing strongly and waves rolling in, crashing against the rock and shoreline!

The second image is from an early morning walk with the sunlight shining brightly through the myriad of colorful leaves on the ground!

Enjoy the images and quotes below!

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ~ George Elliot ~

“Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn.” ~ Leo Tolstoy ~ as said to Nikolay Strakhov

"Great Lakes Autumn Waves"
“Great Lakes Autumn Waves”

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” ~ Jim Bishop ~

“..I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~

"Of Light and Leaves"
“Of Light and Leaves”

“Just after the death of the flowers,
And before they are buried in snow,
There comes a festival season,
When nature is all aglow—
Aglow with a mystical splendour
That rivals the brightness of spring,
Aglow with a beauty more tender
Than aught which fair summer could bring….”
~ Emeline B. Smith ~

“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day!
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree…”
~ Emily Brontë ~

 

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“Fly the Flags”

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On a recent trip out to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore. I passed through Traverse City. As I drove along 31, which hugs the shore of Grand Traverse Bay, I kept seeing sailboats pass by on the clear blue water.

I decided to make a quick stop into a spot for viewing, hoping to get in some nice contrast with the beautiful blue water and white sailboats. While there, I headed up to where a jetty ended into an overlook area and two flags were flying in the breeze.

By the time I had reached, all the sailboats had long since sailed away! So consequently I never did get any images of the sailboats, but I did like this composition of a part of the jetty, a walkway, lines, flags, and clouds, so I grabbed this shot!

To me it really calls out summertime, and beauty! I hope it does for you too!

Enjoy!!

Flags upon the Bay.
Flags upon the Bay.

“When Leaves Fly”

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One late autumn day while driving by the campus of EMU, I spotted a nice curve in this parking lot, and sidewalk on the right, which happens to lead to the Student Center.
I pulled in and popped out of the car to see if I could get some nice angles even though there were cars everywhere as well as students going to and fro.
What I didn’t think about until I got out of the car, was the wind. It was pretty wild that day! This image isn’t the one with the nicest curves, I have other ones that are much better than this, but it is the one with plenty of leaves moving around, and some leaves in the air.
You can get a good feel for the type of weather that day. Sunny, and really windy! Enjoy! 🙂

A windy day on the campus of EMU.
A windy day on the campus of EMU.

“Where Lake Michigan Was”

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Lake Michigan is a a wondrous place to see. There are so many variations in the types of shoreline, whether it be a sandy beach, rocky shore, or huge sand cliffs. Also the water colors can go from variations of blues, to greens and sometimes browns.
At this location I was surprised this year to see how much the drought had affected Lake Michigan. I know it affected smaller lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams terribly!
I took this shot from a very low vantage point because of strong winds, but it really gives you an idea of where the water used to be, which is the area where you see the rocks. You can still see the strong surf that day as it was quite windy, and the waves were high.
The sky was also quite beautiful and the cloud movement was swift with the wind current!
I’m hoping that there will be enough precipitation this year to make up for what was lost. I hope that when I see this shoreline next year the view will be that of much more water!
For now though we can enjoy that which is now exposed, and discover things that have been hidden for hundreds of years.
We have such a bounty here in the States and in Canada of having the Great Lakes, which are really unlike any other in the world. We should visit them, enjoy, and take care of them.
Make sure that wherever you go, you take only photographs, and leave only footprints. Preserve what God has given us so that all the generations that come after us are still able to enjoy the bounties!! 🙂

"Rocks, surf, and layers of clouds"
“Rocks, surf, and layers of clouds”

“Patterns in the Sand”

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It’s truly amazing what water, and wind can do in creating patterns in the sand. This image is one from the shores of Lake Michigan. I kept going along the shore to one beautiful pattern after another. Simply wonderful!!Image