Monochrome Weekend: Garter Snake

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Monochrome Weekend: T. Rex

From Wikipedia:

"Sue" is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is the largest, most complete and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found. It was discovered in the summer of 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her. After ownership disputes were settled, the fossil was auctioned in October 1997 for $7.6 million, the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur specimen, and is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.


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Gargoyle

Last June, I posted this through-the-viewfinder picture of the gargoyle who is normally perched next to our backyard pond. For this photo, I moved him to the driveway to catch his shadow.


Here's a shot of him back by the pond last Saturday. I could take another picture now, but there wouldn't be much to see, as the continuing snowfall has completely covered him.

Skywatch Friday Season 4, Episode 19

Twilight, St. Joseph County, Indiana

River Shards

One encouraging development in the area where I live has occurred at the former site of an industrial eyesore. The area once occupied by the abandoned Uniroyal factory in Mishawaka, Indiana is now a very pleasant park, named after former mayor Robert Beutter. The Uniroyal buildings were imploded on June 17, 2000, and in subsequent years the debris and pollution left behind by Uniroyal and its predecessor, Ball Band, have been cleaned up and the park has been established.

Demolition of the smokestack at the Uniroyal power plant, June 17, 2000

I stopped by the park yesterday and took a few pictures, a couple of which I'm posting here. A prominent feature of the park is a large reflective sculpture.

"River Shards," sculpture by Jan R. Martin, Beutter Park, Mishawaka, Indiana
"Hibiscus, Shards, Self," Photo by David A. Cory
From Mayor Jeff Rea's 2006 state of the city address:

The artist explained that his concept evolved from the park design that was developed by landscape architect,  Eric Ernstberger, of Rundel  & Ernstberger Associates. Mr. Martin stated “Mr.  Ernstberger envisioned three or four large vertical formations that would have a visual relationship to nature.  Starting with these parameters I began to choreograph in my mind a grouping of distorted mineral crystals displayed in monumental scale.  I decided it was important to try to unite the sculpture with the land and the water and therefore, the towers emerge from the bank of the channel.  A third, shorter tower is surrounded completely by water.  A  long horizontal section is supported by two of the towers and is used to create tension and visual emotion. This also serves to direct one's attention back toward the park.  I used mirror finished stainless to reflect the sky, the rive  and the people who come to watch the water flow over the weirs.”  The sculpture was started in January (2005) and is the result of over 1,500 hours of  labor of the artist. 

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Photo Hunt #175: Ripples

The guidelines for this week's photo hunt theme, ripples, suggest attempting to avoid water, sand, and flags. However, the first thing that came to mind was this picture taken in January. The water in our backyard pond was low. The pump would run until the float in the filter box dropped enough to shut it off. Then a little water would flow into the box, raising the float, and turning on the pump. This cycle went on for some undetermined amount of time. The temperature was low enough that a thin layer of ice formed on the surface of the pond. The intermittent action of the pump resulted in the rippling pattern you see in the picture, as the water flowed toward the filter box, which was just below the image.




PhotoHunt

Skywatch Friday No. 58

Western Sky at Sunset

Spider on Dewy Web

After experimenting recently with alternative forms of photography with the Lensbaby, and more recently a Holga plastic camera which--get this--uses film (!), I decided to delve back into the high resolution digital world with the Nikon D90 and the macro lens. I like this one, and thought it would be a good one for Nature Notes.

Click to enlarge, unless you're arachnophobic.

See more nature pictures at Rambling Woods

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Mellow Yellow Monday #31

Tiger Swallowtail

Water Lilly

Skywatch Friday No. 56

Late afternoon sun through the trees, captured with a Nikon D90. Lensbaby Composer lens, and an empty Robert the Bruce Ale bottle serving as a filter.

Skywatch Friday No. 55

Clouds at sunset.

Mellow Yellow Monday #29

I just discovered a very cool free program called Poladroid that transforms digital images into something resembling Polaroid snapshots. The pictures even develop on the monitor before your eyes. This week's Mellow Yellow entry was obtained with a digital SLR and then transformed in Poladroid.

Monochrome Maniacs

Spider and fly captured with Lensbaby Composer and macro attachment (the fly is below and left of the spider--click to enlarge).

Skywatch Friday No. 54

Crows perched atop a grain elevator, silhouetted against a foggy sky turned golden by the rising sun.

Mellow Yellow Monday #28

Orchid, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

Monochrome Moon and Clouds

Shots taken this morning at sunrise.

Skywatch Friday No. 53

This shot was taken in the morning, with clear blue sky below, a thin veil of clouds over the moon, and another layer of thin wispy clouds blowing by in the foreground.

Click to enlarge.

Mellow Yellow Monday #27

A picture obtained with a Lensbaby Composer and zone plate optic on a Nikon D90.

Morrow's Honeysuckle

This wild shrub has been on our property since we bought it ten years ago, but I never knew what it was. Now I have learned it is a species of Asian bush honeysuckle which is an invasive introduced plant that is considered undesirable. Oh, well.

See more nature pictures at Rambling Woods

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