Repairing the break wall (SWF)

While spending some time in Petoskey, MI recently, we noticed they were doing some work on the break wall. The weather was perfect while we were in town, giving me a great opportunity to get some nice shots.






Along the pier (I can't decide which I like better, the color or B/W). What do you think?


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Flower power - part 2

Day lillies

Flower power - part 1

Echinacea

Relfections at the pier

Still life

The sky at the Wilds

I have talked about the Wilds, an incredible conservation destination in southeast Ohio, a lot over on my other blog. I have visited there twice in the last year: most recently for a Birding by Ear camp, but I was also there last September for camp specifically for photographers. It was awesome, and I learned so much. Last year's photography camp was the very first one, and it was such a success, that they are doing it on two different weekends this fall. Barb and Jerry Jividen are the photography facilitators. They are a kind and knowledgeable couple when it comes to nature photography, and I guarantee you will be in for a treat if you participate in any of their workshops. The photo camp weekends at the Wilds this year are scheduled for September 25-27 and October 2-4. Registration is limited and pre-registration is required. Go to the Wilds website for more information.

Here's a very small sampling of the photos I got during last year's camp.


Sunrise at the Wilds


Storm brewing


Magical rainbow


Sunset safari


Rhino sunset

Thunder and flowers

As storm clouds rolled in one recent evening, I decided to grab my camera and my polarizing filter to see if I could get any interesting shots. Here's what I came up with. Composition could use a lot of work, but I was somewhat limited in how I could put things together because I basically had hillside on either side of me here, so I had to hold the camera below the flower (instead of level with it) to get the sky in the shot.


The one on the left is the original; the one on the right had some tint adjustments made.

Original...

Crop, version 1

Crop, version 2

These 2 photos are shown exactly as they came out of the camera.

Flash was used on all of these photos. I tried to get a few without the flash, but it just wasn't possible.

Gad zukes! Project #2

When I harvested zucchini the other day, the other thing I had in mind for it, besides the pickles, was to make a zuke pizza. Specifically modeled off of this recipe, which just happens to involve lemon juice (which is ingenious and delicious!) from my fave new food blog, Smitten Kitchen. I love the recipes on her blog, and I love, LOVE the photography on her blog.

I'm one of those people who buys cook books (and cooking magazines) more for the pictures than the recipes. I have a couple of cookbooks (mostly about bread) that have very little in the way of photos, so they have to inspire me in a different way. But good pictures of food... wow, I love it. The Smitten Kitchen site, in fact, turned me on to a blog called Still Life With, which is solely devoted to food photography and food styling. Absolutely crazy, but I love it.

So, my point in telling you all this is that these food blogs (and others) inspire my photography. As a result, sometimes I just have to bring my camera into the kitchen and record the moment... and then share it with you! And so I give you Zuke Pizza (mostly in monochrome, because that's the kind of mood I'm in).

Gad zukes! Project #1

We have an over-abundance of zucchini in our garden this year. Already. In the middle of July. It's ridiculous. To deal with some of it, I made pickled zucchini. Here's a few snippets of the process...

slice, dice, salt

Boil up some brine and soak those zukes



Can it!

Jill and the bean

Food foto

Scones, anyone?

Welcome to Photography of the Hills

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my new blog! While this is a companion to my nature blog, it will focus primarily on photos and photography.

As I mentioned over on my other blog, we will be heading off to Michigan for vacation soon. Here are some photos from previous trips up north. Enjoy!