Michigan Archives - Page 33 of 37

Belle Isle Conservatory

On February 22, 2016

Today I’m continuing my recount of my recent wintery voyage to Belle Isle, Michigan’s 102nd state park. The conservatory may have been the part of the park I was most excited to check out! One thing I was not prepared for was the stark contrast between the cold outside and the humid warmth in the conservatory. The abrupt change wreaked havoc on both my camera and my glasses! It felt like forever before I could see again! So, tip for photographers and glasses-wearers alike, put a cap on your lens or glasses in your pocket before you walk in, especially in colder months.

The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory opened along with the Belle Isle Aquarium in 1094. The Conservatory, remodeled in 1980, is the oldest, continually operating conservatory in the United States. The building has five different areas, each houses a different climate from cacti to the soaring palms pictured to the left. Fun fact: 50 years after the greenhouse opened Anna Scipps Whitcomb (daughter of James E. Whicomb, founder of the Detroit News) donated her collection of 600 orchids to the conservatory. This gave Detroit the largest municipally owned orchid collection in the country. Many of these plants were saved from Britain during Word War II. (Historic Detroit)

About the Photo:
There’s not much to say about this photo. It was a single exposure with basic edit done in Lightroom. Although, I think I was annoying another photographer who was trying to take engagement photos. I was standing directly in front of the bench she wanted the couple to sit on . Other photographer, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens handheld

Date Taken:
January, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr!

Photo Impressionism from Chris

By Chris

On February 19, 2016

In Chris' Corner, Michigan

Red Berry Tree Impression by Christopher Mowers on 500px.com

Hello everyone, this is Chris, the less interested in online interaction, other half of Go See Do Photography. I have recently agreed to post some of my work once a week.

Although Ashleigh and I have a lot of photographic taste in common, our styles are a bit different. Lately my two main areas of focus have been on black and white, geometrically motivated photography, and in a little practiced, not well liked style called photo impressionism.

I grew up being shown the works of the old impressionist masters, and Claude Monet in particular. As different as photography is from painting, there is still a small group of photographers that carry this style of image forward into the age of digital photography. The image in this post is one such example.

About the Photo:
The image on this post is a composite of 8 images. I went out to my front yard in broad daylight and took 8 pictures of this tree that is by our driveway, with each exposure moving slightly to get different parts of the same tree. I shot at F11 in aperture priority mode, ISO 100. I was zoomed to 55 mm on the 18-55mm lens. I opened the images in Lightroom to do a basic edit which I applied to all of the images, then I opened them as layers in Photoshop. Once in Photoshop, I chose the layer that I wanted to be most prominent and placed it on the bottom of the stack. I then changed the opacity of the other layers to be between 25% and 50%. I blended all but the background layer using the “lighten” blend mode. I then applyed a few final adjustment layers to get the brightness, contrast, and saturation the way that I wanted them to be.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens handheld
Photoshop CC 2015 is also essential for this style of work

Date Taken:
February 13, 2016

Thank you for reading. You can see my best work on 500px and can also find pictures of the “trying my hardest to be good at this” type on Flickr or Pixoto.

Also, be sure to like the Go See Do Facebook Page, and follow Ashleigh on Instagram and Flickr! Check out our Gear page to see inside our camera bag!

Wordless Wednesday: Carving the Bear

By Ashleigh

On February 17, 2016

In Michigan, Wordless Wednesday

Belle Isle Aquarium

By Ashleigh

On February 15, 2016

In Michigan, Project: State Parks

I have wanted to visit Belle Isle in Detroit for some time now, so when we had a warm(ish) winter weekend, I made my way east. I had driven through Belle Isle once before, but it was before the park service took it over and was in a deserted, dilapidated state. It was good to see the historic buildings being restored and people walking around, enjoying the beautiful weather.

While its still being renovated, I fell in love with the Belle Isle Aquarium. Before it closed in 2005, it was the oldest, continually operating aquarium in North America. It reopened in 2012 and now seeks to inform the public about invasive species that are taking over the great lakes. The aquarium first opened in 1904 and was designed by famed architect Albert Kahn. The stone facade atop the doorway depicts two spitting fish and the emblem of Detroit. (Belle Isle Conservancy)

About the Photo:
For this trip, I stuck mostly with my 18-55mm kit lens. It is the widest lens I currently have and it was a sunny day so I wasn’t worrying about speed. This shot was a tough one to get as people were coming and going from the aquarium and I was kind of standing in the way. I decided to shoot up high and get less of the doorway to avoid having people in my shot. This was cropped down a bit and a basic edit from RAW done in Lightroom.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens handheld

Date Taken:
January, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr!

Wordless Wednesday: Frozen River

By Ashleigh

On February 10, 2016

In Michigan, Project: State Parks

Wordless Wednesday: Blue Sky Windmill

By Ashleigh

On February 3, 2016

In Michigan, Wordless Wednesday

Snowfest

By Ashleigh

On February 1, 2016

In Michigan

This past weekend was Zehnder’s Snowfest in Frankenmuth. I really wanted to go and get some shots of the action! We chose to go on the coldest day but I’m glad we did because I didn’t want any sad, melting sculptures (this weekend we got temps in the 50s!). Frankenmuth holds a special place in my heart (and I’m sure I’ll share why in a future post) so I will take any excuse I can to visit. As expected, it was packed and all the restaurants had long waits, but that didn’t matter, I had my camera in my hand!

I wanted to focus on getting environmental portraits of the snow carvers because I feel it adds more story to the image. This was a lot trickier than I thought. Many of the sculptures were surrounded by ladders and other clutter. Tourists were taking selfies and there were piles of discarded snow everywhere!

About the Photo:
Since we were visiting at night and I knew I was going to try to capture the carvers at work, I grabbed my fastest lens and was prepared to crank my ISO, although some of the sculptures were well lit enough to bring it back down. This was shot wide open (f/1.8) with 1600 ISO to get my shutter speed fast enough for my 50mm lens. Luckily I was shooting towards the sky, so I was able to crush the blacks in Lightroom and get rid of any noise without worrying about losing my background. I planned on bringing my tripod but I forgot it at home and I was glad I wasn’t lugging it around. It would’ve been a pain to set it up and take it down at each sculpture. This is a time I feel I could’ve benefited from the added stability of a monopod.

Camera Gear:
Nikon D3100 with 50mm f/1.8 lens handheld

Date Taken:
January 29, 2016

Thanks for stopping by! If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! Check out my new Gear page to see inside my camera bag! For more information on Snowfest and other Frankenmuth events, visit Frankenmuth.org