After The Storm

It's been raining a lot this summer. The last few days were no exception. Here are some of the flowers in the garden after the most recent storm.


Mexican Sunflower

Rose of Sharon

Mexican Sunflower

Mexican Sunflower

Spring Time is Portrait Time...

...for iris.
I've kept very busy this month between a photography workshop in the Smoky Mountains, a few charity photo gigs, and some personal things (like family birthdays etc)

But it is spring in southwest Ohio, which in my mind means...
Spring flowers... and especially Iris portrait time. Here are a few:

Woodland Poppy

Iris #1

Iris #2

Iris #3

Daffodil

Iris #4

Iris #5

Iris #6

Iris #7

Iris #8

Iris #9

Iris #10

Iris #11

Iris in Profile and more than one too many

What's For Dinner

A Cooper's Hawk sat down for dinner next to my driveway a couple days ago. It was not going to be interrupted, so it let me approach with my camera.

There may have been a murder involved.
Here are the mugshots.


Face Forward

Look To Your Right

Look To Your Left

Inside and Out

Just to post a photo or two. A couple of days ago I went down to Cincinnati's most iconic building, The Hall of Justice, aka Union Terminal - The Museum Center for the "Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away" exhibition. It's a very cool building and at some point I'll have to take my cameras. Until then, here are just a few phone photos.

(and the Auschwitz exhibit is very good too, if you don't see contemporary parallels, you're not paying attention)

One of the Murals

The Ceiling

The Outside

The Approach

The "Revisit"

There are two types of "revisiting" that I've been known to do. The first type is when I wander back through my catalog of old photos and "revisit" them in terms of editing and processing. I've had a very long blog post in draft for a bit on that topic. It's so long that I'm considering moving to Substack for it and other essay style pieces I like to write...but

The second type of "revisiting" is what I'm here to talk about. Revisiting a place or setting. i.e. going to the same place on vacation every year and taking a similar photo each time. Or maybe recreating a specific pose or family portrait every year at Christmas or some other annual event. These photos show changes over the years from "hey that big tree is gone" to "that's the year Aunt Edna was sick and didn't come." It can be nice to see the changes over the years, yet get a sense of stability from the things that stay the same, visit after visit.

We make time for a getaway fairly regularly to Hocking Hills area of Ohio. The drive isn't too bad, just a couple hours or so. And the scenery, hiking, and quiet are all much appreciated. A great place to spend a few quiet days by ourselves or maybe another couple. So over the years there are a few things I've taken very similar photos of almost every trip.
Cedar Falls is the place I'll feature today.

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio June 2017

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio January 2021

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio A Day Later - January 2021

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio April 2022

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio May 2025

Cedar Falls, Hocking Hills Ohio December 2025

When Fall and Winter Collide

One nice thing about an early November snowfall is that the fall colors are still around. The white snow gives a nice contrast to the reds, yellows and oranges of autumn. This year we got such an early snowfall. My favorite "golden gingko" was just letting go of it's leaves. Pumpkins were still on porchsteps. Burning bushes were burning and flowers were still in bloom.

The Golden Gingko

The Burning Bush

Last Flower of the Season

Fall Colors Along the River

The Pumpkins Are Not Happy

The Joy of Oversleeping

For much of nature and landscape photography, the general rule is be early...earlier than you think is early.
Stay late, later than you think is late.
Many types of wildlife (I'm thinking birds right now) are more active at the crack of dawn and then again at dusk.

For landscapes, nice colors, skies, and shadows are also more prevalent during the "golden hours" just before and after sunrise and sunset.

With those thoughts in mind, I set my alarm to get up early and get to the Magee Marsh boardwalk shortly before sunrise and hopefully see some birds.
Except I forgot to hit save. So I woke up just minutes before sunrise, 45 minutes later than planned. I rushed out the door of our hotel for the 25 minute drive, the sun was already on the horizon. And then, a mile down the road I saw this:

Port Clinton Lighthouse at Sunrise, Port Clinton Ohio

I still managed to be the first one at the popular birding boardwalk, and did capture a few bird photos, but the photograph that made my day was that sunrise.

Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

Great Egret, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

Green Heron, Magee Marsh Wildlife Area

Taking the Kids on a "Bug Hunt"

Sometimes it's difficult to get my grandkids interested in getting outside and walking around, just looking at things and exploring. They'd rather play inside, play on the computers, other electronics, or boardgames. A few days ago I made them go on an "adventure" with me, a short walk in a nearby nature preserve. They didn't fall for the "adventure" gimmick so there were complaints... but then I got them looking for bugs and butterflies for me to photograph as we went along. Lots of butterflies were spotted but wouldn't stop to pose. A few dragonflies were the same, but then a couple decided to be perfect models.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

Spring and Summer Arrive Earlier and Earlier

I've been taking photos of flowers, bugs etc consistently since I retired and moved here permanently 7 years ago. At least for south western Ohio, the Ohio River valley outside of Cincinnati, spring and summer seem to be arriving earlier and earlier. Here are photos I've taken in the past few days. Hellebores have been blooming since at least Feb 1 and are still going strong. Many daffodils are still blooming whie the grape hyacinth are at their peak. The tulips and woodland poppies are blooming a week earlier than they've ever bloomed before. Today I noticed some iris about to bloom (a good freeze will kill them). I know 7 years is an inadequate sample in the scheme of things, but it's still a sample that gets one thinking.


Grape Hyacinth

Daffodils

Hellebores (aka Lenten Rose)

Tulips

More Tulips

Honeyberry

Woodland Poppy