Beaver Marsh Foggy Sunrise

Beaver Marsh is a true gem in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  A good friend of mine (Jeff Gibson) and I visited there last week to enjoy a colorful, and foggy sunrise.

After looking at my images, the above image just seemed to be lacking something.   That something was mood.   I converted the image to black and white and it felt a lot more like what I was feeling when shooting in the marsh.   The peaceful and serene feel of the marsh on a calm morning always makes me glad to get up early.

What is fun is to compare Jeff's image to mine from the same scene at the same time.  It is really amazing how two people bring there own photography and artistic ideas to the same location.  

Here is a link to Jeff's blog and images:

Jeff Gibsons Photography Blog

Cleveland Trust Building Revisited

The Cleveland Trust Building is one of the architectural gems in Cleveland Ohio.   The building built in 1908.   It has remained vacant for over 20 years, but luckily over the last 2 years, a group of photographers were allowed access to enjoy the beautiful building and vaults.

In April of 2011, I had my first look with my camera inside the building and was so overwhelmed by the images, that I knew I had to return.   Luckily, almost a year later, access was again granted.

Here is a link to my images from April 2011:  Cleveland Trust Building - April 2011

This year I wanted to concentrate more on the beautiful gearing inside the main vault door.   Truly a piece of art with all of the gearing and decorative parts of the 'machinery'

Here is a link to the images I shot just a few weeks ago:

Cleveland Trust - March 2012

Cleveland Botanical Gardens Orchids

Every year the Cleveland Botanical Gardens has an orchid show in February.  It is a great way to beat the winter blues by sharing some time with these beautiful plants.

Thanks to one of the administrators at the gardens, I was able to get access for a group of photographers to use tripod equipment along with access before the public was allowed in.

It really was nice to have the ability to use the tripod to compose images and take some time with a subject.

I tried up close macro images, along with small intimate landscape shots like the one above.

The beautiful colors and shapes are inspiring for all who attend.

The following is a link to my favorite images from a fun morning:

Cleveland Botanical Gardens Orchids

Cuyahoga River Mud Flats

Last weekend we had a cold morning and I ventured out to try and find some nice ice patterns.  I quickly realized that the conditions didn't get cold enough to form the beautiful ice patterns.

I decided to not give up and continued to explore a flood plain near the Cuyahoga River.    As I was exploring, the snow was gently falling and forming some beautiful patterns on the mud flats along the river.  

The snow was only sticking along the tops of the mud flats and melting in the lower parts of the mud flats that were warmer.   Really fascinating to see the formations.

You can see all of my abstract ideas from the mud flats along the Cuyahoga River.

Cuyahoga River Mud Flats and Snow Exploration - March 4

South Chagrin Waterfalls

Haven't been out much over the last few weeks.   Finally today, after a fun hike with the Cleveland Metro Parks, I re-visited a waterfalls that we saw on the hike.

This is an ephemeral waterfall.   After a heavy rain on Friday, the falls came to life and a pleasant place to visit with the camera.