Houses

Last St. Patrick's Day was hot-- shorts and tank top weather . Joan and I took in the parade at Grand Ledge, then wandered around downtown--both of us snapping away with our new Nikon 1s. This house is right in GL's heart, overlooking Island Park. The first days with a new camera are about learning the controls. What do you have to do to change the exposure? What does this dial do? What should the standard setup be? How hard are the menus to navigate? What's the best way to hold the camera? On this day, those questions were more important to me than the photographs. The electronic viewfinder, in particular, was proving troublesome. Its delays cost me most of my attempted parade shots. I'd see something worth shooting and move my camera to my face. 3 long seconds later the camera would show me the view--after everyone had moved two steps down the road. I'd eventually learn to turn off the V1's screen and use the EVF exclusively, which removes the wait. Eventually. Not on March 17. I did get some fine pix, though, and learned enough to justify the effort. This photo especially pleases me . ========== I started the day with a baker's dozen 366 Snaps shots. They were uniformly dull. While none were technically bad, they were more documentary than interesting. The Village Hall shot really was my best choice. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . (Well, it would be more accurately described as a photo I took the same day, since it was taken hours after I posted the project shot to Flickr. I'll get back to real outtakes tomorrow.) Number of project photos taken: 13 Title of " roll :" Home and Downtown Other photos taken on 3/17/2012: 240 photographs, mostly in downtown Grand Ledge, using the brand-new Nikon 1. About half were of the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

That's its name. Portland's superficially like Grand Ledge--it's the next town down the Grand River, about the same size, differently photogenic, and fiercely proud of its past . ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366 Snaps project discussion for March 21 .

The road between Mulliken and Portland mostly runs straight, but there's a twisty stretch in the middle where the road has to dodge Michigan's wandering Grand River. This house and its the collapsed barn (see the first comment) were the hub of what appears to have been a very small farm--forty or so oddly-conformed acres bounded on the east and west by the river. That field has been combined with the next farm's field, but the land's apparently been leased or sold to a farmer who lives outside the river's oxbow. This place was for sale a couple decades back, and was occupied for a time, but it's long been empty. There's a second residence in the yard--an abandoned trailer that's just rotting away. ========== A year ago today my photographic objective was this farmyard. I took pix of two other nearby yards, and couple other photos, but those were insurance shots. I'd post a photo of this house to 366 Snaps on July 21. Over the year I shot pictures in this vicinity quite regularly, but there's enough variety in this stretch of gnarly road that I'd not expect anyone to notice. And here's a differently-processed version of the July 21 photo, with a rather different commentary ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 10 Title of " roll :" Charlotte Highway Other photos taken on 3/24/2012: I was twice outside shooting flowers using the V1, for a total of 80 pics. I get excited about spring. Wish it was here.

Apologies for the late post today. I've been distracted by Randall Munroe , and by his minions . A year ago today I drove into town for breakfast at Bob Evans, then stopped at the credit union on my way back. I took photos coming and going, and got some I was pleased with. Then I posted a novelty shot.... I've really not much to say about this specific photograph. I rather like it, though. ========== Got home, and found The King of All Cats staring me down from the neighbor's walk. Blondie'd been lording it over the other local cats for 8 or 9 months at this point, but his reign was about to end. To this cat . Blondie's an apparently-feral cat who was born in the remnants of the grain elevator at the end of our street. While still quite young he discovered that one of our neighbors puts food out for the wild kitties, so he started hanging around down here. He was just a gorgeous kitten--a blond ball of fluff. When he banished the previous king--a noisy and mean ol' tom--we were quite pleased. Blondie's still around--we see him every now and then. Some days it looks like he plans to reclaim his throne. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 11 Title of " roll :" Out and About Other photos taken on 3/27/2012: none.

This house belonged to Sabrina Nickel in 1895. Like the George Potter house at the end of my street, it likely predates the village of Mulliken. Actually, this house is just outside Hoytville, but it was the next farm over from Potter's when the village moved. I eventually posted a similar photograph to 366 Snaps on December 22. And there's another version in the Outtakes queue . I'll try to remember to point you back here when it shows up. ========== Last March 28 was a busy day. I took a few flower pix around the yard, then went on what can only be called a scouting trip around the local backroads, looking for potential photographs. Then I dug out my old FujiFilm F200--destined to be my April camera--and played with it a bit (this perhaps proves I can learn from mistakes). And I took the Nikon 1 and the F200 to a ballgame. ========== I briefly discuss the 366 Snaps photo in the day's other outtake. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 24 Title of " roll :" Local Farmyards, mostly Other photos taken on 3/28/2012: As noted above, I played around with the F200. About 60 photos worth of play, in two or three sessions. Here's the best of that set . I also gave the V1 a workout at the ballpark-- judge for yourself .

A nice farmyard, three or four miles from my house. I've mentioned before I could likely do 365 Local Barns without repeating. ========== Stir crazy! Eventually you grow weary of photographing the house, the yard, and the village green. So I climbed in the car and wandered the nearby backroads. Where I discovered someone had installed a tall radio tower since I'd last looked (not pictured--sorry.) I've since learned that it is part of an effort to build a wind farm west of Lansing. It seems the folks making the proposal were/are studying nearby wind patterns. At the time, though, the tower seemed pretty mysterious, out in the middle of a field and nowhere near a business. (FWIW, the wind farmers now seem to have moved their efforts a bit north from here, though the tower remains. We'll eventually see how things work out.) For 366 Snaps I posted a photo of a local field.... ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 9 Title of " roll :" Roxand Other photos taken on 4/25/2012: The Nikon 1 took 61 shots this day, mostly for the daily flower census.

One possible 365 daily project would demonstrate Dr. Sandeen's point. I may do that. Ernest R. Sandeen (1931-1982) was my academic advisor at Macalester College. His main area of study was American Fundamentalism, where he's still recognized as an important scholar , but he was also interested in American architectural history. Ernie attributed his architectural interests to growing up in Oak Park , though his enthusiasms in the field extended far beyond Frank Lloyd Wright. Ernie's Architectural History class changed the way I look a buildings, but less than his Puritanism freshman seminar changed the way I read history. This man had a major impact on my life. And he died way too young, a few days before I graduated. ========== Sandeen's point about "farm houses" was that farmers, like everyone else, mostly build houses in whatever architectural style is currently popular. This is obviously true. It's disguised by the fact that most large farm houses in the Midwest date from the late 1800s, and that the houses likely to survive for decades are the most expensive and substantial structures. This is a differently-processed version of the day's 366 Snaps photo. The other's a pure Ilford look; this one's got the contrast pushed to near the limits. ========== I've shown you this structure before, in an earlier 366 Snaps outtake . That photo's discussion applies as well to my July 21 photo excursion. ========== This photograph is an outtake--actually, an alternatively-processed "print"--from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 24 Title of " roll :" Around Home, Around Mulliken [more like "Charlotte Highway"] Other photos taken on 7/21/2012: none.

East of Mulliken.

These guys are above Tippy Dam .

Kalamazoo's Jim Brignall was running for Congress in the fall of 1972, and I joined a trip Jim made around the district one Saturday. The mid-day caravan stop was in Grand Ledge--I think at what's now the Log Jam, though I expect it had a different name back then--with a rally in the parking lot before a short luncheon & meeting. (The next stop was at Frontier Days, in Charlotte. The second annual Frontier Days, I see .) These houses face that parking lot. Every now and then I try to capture them in a photograph. Sometimes I try to imagine a distant time when they had neighbors across the street. ========== A year ago I'd grown bored with the daily photo project, and needed new photographic subjects. Downtown Grand Ledge is photogenic--this is both a cause and an effect of its history as a tourist destination--so I expected to find something to rekindle my interest in the project. After the GL visit, I found breakfast. The car dealer photo I posted to 366 Snaps was taken from there. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 23 Title of " roll :" Mostly Grand Ledge Other photos taken on 9/11/2012: none.

A day late with this one. Yesterday was pretty strenuous. Back in March I discussed the houses along M-43 on the south side of Mulliken. Like most of the others, this one started small and got expanded; in this case the expansions resulted in a still-small house. This particular small house is locally notorious. In May of 2012 we arrived home one evening to find it surrounded by police and other emergency vehicles. ========== Last November 6 was election day. My 366 Snaps photo was of the entrance to Roxand Township Hall, our local voting place. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 26 Title of " roll :" Birds - Mulliken Other photos taken on 11/6/2012: I took advantage of the setting sun to capture some high-contrast pix, using the D300.

I didn't really have an idea for a 366 Snaps photo a year ago. Off on my usual Friday eat breakfast and run errands excursion, I was pleased to find these combines parked about a mile from my house. I'm not a farmer, but I love the big equipment the farmers use to make their livings. I may have mentioned this before . ========== Figured I'd post one of these last November 9, but when I returned home I found a tree trimmer working across the street, and went with a photo of that project. Later I recovered the color on a photo of the cat , and posted that as well.... ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 17 Title of " roll :" Taffy - Harvesters - Tree Trim Other photos taken on 11/9/2012: none.

Downtown Grand Ledge.

I used this photo as a Facebook cover a year ago. Joan's sister's reaction was "Bang!" I wasn't surprised. Here's the classic opportunity shot. You grab the camera and shoot through the car window because, well, it's obviously a photograph. My camera was on the seat, and turned on, but set up poorly for the situation. It all worked out, but needed some post-processing effort to make the image presentable. That's the Spitzley place in the background, and the deer are less than a half mile from my house. But somehow we've never seen deer in our yard. Sometimes I wonder about that. That's not to say that I actually want them to visit. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . 366 Snaps project discussion and stats for November 17 .

A year ago I spent the day with my brother, as our sister had other commitments. I took nearly a hundred pictures in their poorly-lit house of various knickknacks, most of which turned out poorly, but those pix were a stretch for the camera in the first place and I wasn't particularly disappointed. The photo above is of the roof of their garage, where the light was fine. The 366 Snaps photo I took on my way to Kalamazoo, at the corner of M-43/M-50/M-66 (call it Woodbury, I guess) . I was stopped, while the other car was in motion. Not one of my normal pix, but I rather like the effect. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 100 Title of " roll :" Kalamazoo Trip (card FULL) Other photos taken on 12/7/2012: none.

'Twas raining a year ago, which wiped out what remained of the recent snow. I shot a few pix around Mulliken, then headed to Grand Ledge. After a Sophia's breakfast I headed downtown and photographed anything that caught my attention. Given where I parked, I likely dropped a package in the mail. Someone had plans for this house a couple springs back--it looked for a time like they'd add another layer of siding over some insulation--but that effort had apparently fallen through by the end of the year. Which left the house showing some prep work, which certainly didn't improve the place. It was likely a very nice house back in the day. ========== The 366 Snaps photo was of the backside of an oft-modified house. From the rear the long sequence of rebuilds and additions is quite evident. Eventually you fill the back lot; they've reached that point. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 26 Title of " roll :" Grand Ledge, mostly Other photos taken on 12/10/2012: none.

When you reach the east end of Needmore Highway you likely turn south, and are rewarded with this view. This was generally the highlight of my drive to work, but I'd admired the view long before I moved to Mulliken. A couple miles out--just beyond the more distant farmyards--Otto Road dips yet again, down to the river. When I was a serious bicyclist my most strenuous workouts involved those climbs. Nowadays I mostly avoid hills, which is pretty easy around here. You could turn north, but Otto and Needmore both jog, and the left turn's a bit off the line. A north turn takes you to the RC plane airport . ========== The 366 Snaps pix were attempts to capture the falling snow in an image; most failed. ========== This photograph is a non-outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 19 Title of " roll :" Snow in the Banana Republic [ a comment on Michigan's then-newly-signed "RTW" law, about which I'm still angry ] Other photos taken on 12/11/2012: Two "Sky Shots," one of which is displayed above.