Photographs by Frank

28 October 2017

Photo Pairs

Filed under: Autumn — Tags: , — Frank @ 6:00 PM

I made a few new Autumnal Abstracts this past week.

Inspired by this post (at The Online Photographer), I decided to present the new work in pairs.

Choosing the pairs was a interesting process. Starting with about two dozen photographs total, I made and discarded many pairs before settling on these three.

The first pair is comprised of two different exposures of the same small scene (a pair of brightly colored leaves, if my memory serves). I chose the second pair because they both have somewhat linear patterns and they have contrasting palettes; warm colors vs. cool colors. The third pair was chosen because they have similar palettes and both include red in the lower right quadrant.

None of these pairing were planned.

The last pair, however, were intended to be displayed together from the moment I pressed the shutter release back in August (see this post).

What do you think?

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6 October 2017

Good Oak

Filed under: Uncategorized — Frank @ 10:00 PM

There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.

To avoid the first danger, one should plant a garden, preferably where there is no grocer to confuse the issue.

To avoid the second, he should lay a split of good oak on the andirons, preferably where there is no furnace, and let it warm his shins while a February blizzard tosses the trees outside. If one has cut, split, hauled, and piled his own good oak, and let his mind work the while, he will remember much about where the heat comes from, and with a wealth of detail denied to those who spend the week-end in town astride a radiator.

 

The words above are the first three paragraphs of the entry in Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Journal  titled “Good Oak”.  Among the many memorable passages in this classic work, this one is always foremost in my mind.

Recently, Joan and I had occasion to visit the Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

These folks are the caretakers of the Leopold family’s “shack” and of the Parthenon. While we were visiting, I was delighted to find that the site of the “good oak” whose demise under the saw Leopold goes on to describe in his essay had been marked for posterity.

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2017 Road Trip — Cranes

Filed under: Birds — Tags: — Frank @ 9:45 PM

On our way home we spent time at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin; rather than repeat what is already written, you can read about the history of the ICF by  clicking here.

In addition to their ‘signature’ whooping cranes, the ICF displays all of the fifteen species of cranes found world-wide. I did not photograph all fifteen, but did get a nice selection of photos of these captive animals without too much man-made stuff interfering.

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2017 Road Trip — River Bottom Homestead

Filed under: Landscapes — Tags: , — Frank @ 9:30 PM

Within the CW Russell NWR, a short but muddy walk from the road, lies the remains of an old Missouri River homestead.

Two generations of log cabin are present… an older wood chinked structure and a newer cement chinked structure. The older structure once had a sod roof. The newer structure was used recently enough that it once had electricity.

There are also the remains of a number of outbuildings (barns and sheds) as well as remnants of fences and corrals.

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2017 Road Trip — Landscapes

Filed under: Early Fall,Landscapes — Tags: — Frank @ 9:00 PM

When in Yellowstone one must make photographs of the geothermal features. Here are mine!

The microbial mats around the geothermal features are a source of constant fascination to this retired biochemist.

TAC polymerase which makes the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) possible was isolated from Thermus aquaticus, a bacterium that lives in hot springs.  Possibly, this fact is the source of my interest in these mats.

 

Yellowstone NP

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We also spent a very cloudy drab afternoon in Grand Teton NP. The afternoon included a stop at the overlook where Ansel Adams’ well know photograph titled “The Tetons – Snake River” was made; the view has changed much since 1941-1942.

 

Grand Teton NP

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Other Black & White Landscapes

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1 October 2017

2017 Road Trip — Wildlife

Filed under: Autumn,Birds,Mammals,Wildlife — Tags: — Frank @ 10:30 PM

On Labor Day (4 Sept) we headed out on the road. Our immediate destination was western Montana and a nephews wedding on the 9th.

After the wedding festivities were over, we began the meat of the trip. Our first destination was Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), just to the west of Yellowstone National Park, our second destination. We spent five nights in Yellowstone and then wildlife refuge hopped back east.

We visited C.M Russell NWR, Bowdoin NWR, and Medicine Lake NWR all in Montana, Lostwood NWR, Des Lacs NWR and Upper Souris NWR in North Dakota and Agassiz NWR in Minnesota. We also visited the International Crane Foundation and the Aldo Leopold Foundation in  Baraboo, Wisconsin before heading home.

We arrived home yesterday (Saturday, 30 Sept) having driven just over 7,400 miles in total.

Of course, I made one or two photographs along the way! Here is the first installment… wildlife photographs.

More to follow over the next few days.

Birds

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Mammals

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