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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Happy Holidays

Jerry Jelinek - photograph by Norm Jelinek
Happy Holidays!!!!

Hope your holidays are going well and you are enjoying the warmth of family and friends during this special time of year. 

Speaking of special, check out the cute little guy above.  That is me around 1968 or so.  My dad was the enthusiastic photographer for the family.   I have inherited literally thousands of slides, negatives and prints from the family photography collection.   The above has always been one of my personal favorites.   Captures the innocence of youth along with my trusty companion (St. Nicholas).   Come to think of it, I still have that same feeling of wonder this time of year. 

Speaking of wonder, recently I have been visiting the 'north pole'.   This is a display area as part of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Polar Expreess holiday train rides.   A hugely successful tradition around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park near me.    Literally tens of thousands of holiday delighted people ride the train to hear the story of the Polar Express along with riding by the north pole as part of the train ride.   Just check out of the wonder of this mother and son as they share the rider through the north pole. 




There are literally thousands of volunteers that share the holiday spriit both on the train and at the north pole helping to greet the riders.


This past weekend, we setup a LARGE group shot to showcase the volunteers at the North Pole.   







I'll leave you during this holiday time with a special note from one of my favorite authors:

Rachel Carson - excerpt from a letter written to Dorothy Freeman - 12/11/1953

"Christmas brings most of all a sense of rather starry wonder - from the wonder of the first one that still shines through the years, to the miracle of friendship and of the warmth and joy that fill the human hearts when it experiences that rare and beautiful thing, a sense of perfect communication with another. And so tonight I want to say thank you for those precious gifts of friendship and love and understanding, that cannot be bought and could never be replaced."

Love,

Jerry

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

My latest photographic project is teaming up the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with the Cuyahoga Valley Photographic Society.  

From September 2012 through September 2013, the photo society is photographing all aspects of the scenic railroad. 

The railroad runs through the Cuyahga Valley National Park and provides access to the park through the vintage tracks the cut through the valley floor. 






I got the idea of trying to capture more of the people and equipment that make up the heart of the scenic railroad.   Through the permission of the scenic railroad, I have been fortunate to gain access to the maintenance yard along with meeting and learning about the hundreds of volunteers and handful of salaried employees of the railroad.





The photographic project is still in its infancy, but already is rewarding me with unique ideas that I wouldn't have thought of capturing.






You can see my ongoing image galleries at my smugmug site:

Fitzwater Maintenance Yard

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Found this attractive Blue Jay this morning and they reminded to me to wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving.


For those looking for a more 'traditional' holiday image, I'll send you back to my Thanksgiving greeting from last year.

Thanksgiving Greeting 2011

Have a holiday full of family, friends, caring and LOTS of LOVE!!!

Monday, November 19, 2012

Old Building Details


Starting back in May, I began a long term project to create some abstract, high contrast black and white images around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park using old buildings as the subject.

November is a great time to focus the camera upon this project.     Here are some examples from the last few weeks.





You can view more of my ideas at the following web site:   Old Building Details

Thursday, November 8, 2012

1 Year Anniversary for the Blog

Hard to believe I started this web blog one year ago.   My first photos shared had deer in Cuyahoga Valley Nation Park during the fall rut.

The rut is upon us again.   I haven't been quite as lucky in capturing some of the beautiful animals this year.  Yesterday, I got one of the photos I've been hoping for over the last few years.  


This shot is a female white tailed deer that is backlit.  This means the morning sunlight creates the light in front of the lens and creates a glow in the scene captured.    Getting the deers morning breath was a bonus that gave this scene an extra burst of energy.

Hope you have enjoyed the past years blogs and are looking forward to more comments and photographic ideas into 2013.

Friday, November 2, 2012

High Water from Sandy

My heart felt support and care for all of the people affected by storm Sandy.    Really brings us together in a common bond of caring for one another.  

I was lucky that I never lost power or had any damage to any property.   I was very fortunate.

After the storm passed, I ventured out on Thursday to the same waterfall I shared with you 2 weeks ago - Blue Hen Falls.    The water had actually receded from its high water mark on Wednesday.    It was still very impressive.








Friday, October 26, 2012

Final Fall Colors


Last weekend was the final bust of fall color.   The final set of images features the beautiful Blue Hen Falls in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.






The final image is a reprise of my efforts to capture a large landscape of the Cuyahoga Valley in fall color:


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fall Color Part 2


The fall colors are fading fast, but the show has been very nice.   The first three images are from the beautiful Chagrin River area in the South Chagrin Reservation of the Cleveland Metro Parks.





This final image is from one of the beautiful small scenes in Bedford Reservation.


This will be the final weekend of good fall colors.   Don't' delay in getting out to enjoy the beautiful display. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Fall Color Explosion

The fall colors are coming AND going very quickly.    Literally everyday the colors change.  A fun challenge to capture as many locations as you can.   Here are some ideas I've been lucky enough to share over the past week.



From Bedford Reservation in the Cleveland Metro Parks.






Here are a few from a wet afternoon in the Chippewa Creek Gorge of the Brecksville Reservation in the Cleveland Metro Parks.




Finally some fall color displays from Brecksville Reservation of the Cleveland Metro Parks.


Don't wait too long, you might just miss the beautiful display.   Colors are changing faster than ever.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Belated start of fall

Indigo Lake Sunrise

The fall season is upon us here in Northern Ohio.    Probably my favorite time of year.  The air is cool, the leaves are changing into the beautiful colors to treat the eye.

After a very harsh, dry and hot summer, the changing of the colors was very much in doubt.   Luckily, mother nature has decided to grace us with an early display that promises color riches over the next few weeks.

The above image is from my favorite location in September for a colorful sunrise.  The beautiful Indigo Lake in the Cuyahoga Valley National park has a spectacular display of golden rod and the air can be ripe with beautiful morning clouds.  

As the air changes, so does the resident deer.   The white tailed deer begin the mating season and it can make for a beautiful display of deer among the changing fall colors.


Finally is the start of the gran show itself - COLOR int the leaves.


The early signs are very nice.   So lets hope the color continues and I can find enough time to capture the scenes of fall.

Enjoy your fall season.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Necessary Wires Project Update


Well my project with electrical wires has a name 'Necessary Wires'.      As I've seen these electrical towers and wires through my 'photography eyes', I realize how much of a scar they place on the landscape.

Don't get me wrong - in our modern culture, electrical wires are as almost as necessary as water and food.  We rely on them so much, that thinking of existing without electricity is literally impossible for me to imagine.

But as you drive around, notice how much 'landscape' we dedicate to this subject.  It really is astonishing.



As I mentioned in my last web blog, I have been exploring the electrical towers and wires with a cloud texture.   Well 2 weeks ago, there was a storm that came through the area and gave us some much needed rain.   I was luckily ready to capture some of the most impressive cloud formations that I have seen recently.


As you can imagine, the clouds are really the star of these shots.   For 30 minutes, the clouds turned and swelled and creating some gorgeous formations in the sky.   Luckily as dramatic as these looked, they didn't produce any violent weather, just a nice day of steady rain that the plants really needed.


Maybe there's a metaphor between the 'power' in the skies making a textured backdrop agains the 'power' in the wires.


I'll leave this with one final thought.    As I was exploring a huge field of towers and wires, I came across this dead blue heron bird.


I can't be 100% certain that this poor bird was a victim of the electrical wires, but look at the first image in my blog post from today.   That is the field of electrical wires that the bird was found near.

We have a price to pay for our need for these 'necessary wires'.    This poor bird is my thoughts often as I see our landscapes with rolling wires.

You can view more of my Necessary Wires images on my photography web site:

Necessary Wires Project

Friday, August 3, 2012

Inspiration comes form different experiences



Some of you read my blog a week ago entitled "For Something Completely Different".  A good friend asked me what inspired me to photograph these subjects.     When I published the blog, I didn't completely know, but the evolution has become clear.

While out driving, I began to notice some patterns in telephone poles,electrical poles, patterns at electrical sub stations and the way we as a society are so dependent upon electricity.   The method of transporting this lifeblood began to fascinate me.  

I can't shoot a single image, or write this web blog if it wasn't for electricity.  Not to mention the fans, lights, radios, tv, computers, cell phones etc that are such a vital part of our society.   All of these need electrical power.

As I looked more at what I was 'feeling' in the wire and poles,  I realized there was an image in my mind made by a famous photographer.   I knew the image was at my home in one of my photography books, but couldn't recall who took the image.



The answer came to me in a most unusual way.    While I was attending a private showing of a photography collectors home a few weeks ago, we were looking at original prints by Robert Frank, Richard Avedon, Alfred Steiglitz, Gertrude Kasebier etc, I was enjoying the prints so much.   Then then owner proudly displayed 2 prints from Margaret Bourke-White from some of her early work in Cleveland.   Even though the pictures weren't of electrical towers, something told me - THIS IS THE ARTIST.   I kept thinking of her as I drove home, and sure enough, when I opened one of my books featuring Ms. Bourke-Whites images, a famous print she made of the NBC radio tower jumped out at me.   You can view the image here:


You will notice where my inspiration came from. 


Excited to discover what inspired me, I have begun in earnest to grab my own ideas on this creation of art from mechanical structures and the necessity for them in our society. 



Quite by accident, a new turn in this project has evolved.    The first set of images I've shared are a very stark contrast, very monotone black and white images.   With modern software image tools, it is a trivial task to create these types of images.     While out shooting one morning, a new twist came into my project - the introduction of clouds.



You will notice this is the same exact composition as the 2nd image posted above, but this new image has a cloud texture.   It gives the emotion of the image much more mood and a slightly darker feel.   I have kept the same composition ideas as my first impressions of the wires and towers, but added the cloud layers.


As you can see, the clouds and different lighting can add an entirely different emotion to the image.


With dramatic storm clouds, the wires and pole almost become secondary to the mood of the photograph.


The clouds can also transform a simple subject and impose a human iconic symbol to the scene.



You can view my continuing ideas of electrical wires and poles at my smugmug web site:

Electrical Wires 2012