Category: Michigan Page 20 of 37
We recently decided to become members of the Belle Isle Conservancy. This was an interesting choice of membership because with a recreation passport, there is no fee to enter the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. The reason we decided to join is because the Belle Isle Conservancy is part of the American Horticultural Society’s reciprocal admissions program. What does this mean? It means that we get free admission and free parking at botanical gardens all around the country including Windmill Island Gardens in Holland and Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. I’m hoping to find a garden to visit on our road trip this summer. Not to mention we are supporting Belle Isle and the restoration projects going on in the park. I strongly suggest photographers check out becoming a member of a local botanical garden to get the reciprocal access to gardens around the country!
This banana photo was taken in the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle. When I walked by the banana plant, I thought the one partially eaten banana was interesting. And, I wondered, what inside the greenhouse would have eaten it?
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Hartwick Pines State Park is one of the largest state parks in Michigan and is interesting because it is home to 49 acres of old growth pine forest with trees that are estimated to be between 350 and 375 years old. Somehow, these pines that was spared from northern Michigan’s booming logging industry in the 1800s. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built two buildings to house the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum, which focuses on the history of logging in Michigan, back when Michigan was the largest producer of lumber in the United States.
The above photo shows the Hartwick Pines Chapel, also known as “Chapel in the Woods” which is a popular location for weddings in a natural environment. It is also a great spot for quiet meditation during your exploration of the park.
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This past weekend, we headed to The D for the first Pure Detroit Skyscraper Tour of the season. The tour starts at the Guardian Building (a view of the interior of the building can be seen below) which is an Art Deco marvel unlike anything I had ever seen before. From there the tour guide, who is a historic preservationist and urban planner, takes you around several blocks and tells you about the history of skyscrapers and architecture in Detroit. It was interesting learning about the history of the city from original 1701 Detroit settlement to the Renaissance Center, or as our tour guide like to call it, GM’s Galactic World Headquarters,. The building pictured to the left is one of the newest buildings featured on the tour, One Detroit Center, which was completed in 1993 and is the second tallest building in Michigan (second only to the Renaissance Center). The best thing about this tour? Its free! Pure Detroit offers this tour as well as tours of the Guardian Building and Fischer Building that are free and open to the public every Saturday and Sunday. Visit PureDetroit.com for times and for more information. I’m making it a goal to go back and do a tour of the Fischer Building this summer.
The downside to doing a skyscraper tour is that is was hard to get a good shot because everything around us was so, well, tall. And, the few shots I got inside the Guardian Building didn’t really turn out because I had my aperture too wide so one point is in focus while the rest of is fuzzy and while that is great for portraiture, it doesn’t look right in architecture photography. The photo above was actually taken with my iPhone. I will have to go back to the Guardian Building and try it again with different settings.
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Next weekend is the start of the annual Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan. The Tulip Festival was recently voted the Best Flower Festival by USA Today readers. It beat the Rose Parade, seriously. We went last year and it was a little too crowded for my taste (I never would’ve been able to get a shot like this because people would’ve been in it). With the warmer weather we’ve had this spring, everything seems to be blooming about 2 weeks early, so it seemed this past weekend would be a great time to visit. Of course, we decided to go on Sunday and it rained all day. I can’t complain, though because it led to some really great water droplet photos! And the rain kept the fair weather tourists out. Of course, the down side to touring a garden in the rain is muddy shoes and it made it tricky to get the angles I wanted.
At Windmill Island Gardens we got a break from the rain and toured the authentic Dutch windmill (not pictured). The thing that is crazy about the windmill is that it is a working flour mill run by the only non- Dutch Dutch Certified miller. Not to mention the fact that this windmill is over 150 years old and was the last windmill to leave the Netherlands. We bought some of the whole wheat flour that they mill there and I am excited to make some pancakes next weekend.
Thanks for stopping by! For more information on Tulip Time and Windmill Island Gardens visit Holland.org. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.
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I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for Greenfield Village to open up again for the season. We had a beautiful day this weekend and we had to head over for our first visit of the season. One of my favorite places to visit is always the glassblower shop. The people who work here are amazingly talented and they are so fun to watch. We also rode the train and got an interesting lesson in the history of gasoline (it was more interesting than it sounds, I promise) from the driver of a Model T. It is always fun to step back in time at Greenfield Village! I can’t wait to spend more time there this season!
Photographing glassblowers is tricky because it tends to be dark in the glassblower shop and of course, they are moving around in there so a fast shutter speed is key. So, I popped on my nifty fifty and had to deal with the limited focal range. I set my ISO to 1600 and opened my aperture to f/2.5, that gave me 1/160 shutter speed and allowed me to freeze some of the motion.
Thanks for stopping by! To plan your visit to America’s Greatest History Attraction, visit TheHenryFord.org. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram, and Flickr! To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page.