Parts of Eastern Michigan in the Fog

I figured that since I was in the neighborhood, I would also take a couple shots of the area of Eastern's campus near the Water Tower.  It actually has some of my favorite buildings.

 The front entrance of McKenny Union.  One of these days I'm gonna try to get a full shot of it.

 Looking at Pierce Hall through the fog.

 Sherzer Hall slightly obscured by the fog.  I'd have to say this is one of the neater buildings on campus.

 The tower of Starkweather Hall.

 Looking at the front of Sherzer, unfortunately it may be a little on the blurry side.

 Another angle of Sherzer.  This one is probably one of the better angles because it isn't too obscured by trees.

This is Briggs Hall.  When I was a student at EMU, I hated this building.  Recently I learned that used to be the site of the football and baseball fields.  It's kind of a shame that they are a ways from campus.  But there's no looking back now as most of the land on campus is spoken for.

The Water Tower in the Fog

After the paper building, I figured that the Water Tower would look pretty cool in the fog as well.  And I was not disappointed.

 I think this may actually be the first time I've gotten a picture of the water tower in the fog.  And I'll have to say it looks pretty cool.  It's a shame it wasn't lit up a little bit though.

 Just another angle.

 Sort of looking up at it.

As I was heading back to my car, I really liked this look.

Peninsular Paper Building in the Fog

It was a pretty foggy night tonight as I arrived home.  I didn't have too much time so I just decided to head over to the Peninsular Paper building to catch a couple pictures of it.  I've been meaning to do so for a while and I figured tonight was as good of opportunity as any.

 I don't normally do ruin porn but I don't think this really qualifies as it either.  For being an abandoned building it's not in bad shape.  Plus, I think the dam next to it makes a decent waterfall.

 The same building from a slightly different angle.

 So I went over to the other side of the bridge to get this shot.  I kind of like the effect of the Huron River disappearing into the fog.

 For this shot, I pulled the camera out a bit to get more of the surroundings.

 And then I tightened in to get just the building.  I would have loved to see this place in its hay day.

 This is from the Peninsular Place Apartments.  This used to be the site of the paper mill.

 I think I would have liked this shot a little more without the orange things in it.

 Another angle of the former dam and the building.

And just the dam.  Like I said, it reminds me of a proper waterfall. 

A Hawk....

I apologize for the not so good picture but I've been trying to get a picture of this hawk for a while now.  For the past few weeks I have been seeing him hanging out on either Prospect or Ford Roads.  But it seems like he's always been in spots where I couldn't stop conveniently.

Well tonight he was perched in a spot where I could stop.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got out of the car, he started to take off.  Also unfortunately, the light wasn't the greatest so the picture is a little blurry.  And I was shooting into the direction of the sun, so it's just a shadow.

At any rate, I'll keep an eye out for him and try again.

Belle Isle in February

It was a nice enough day today, so I decided to head over to Belle Isle to do my February shots.  I was hoping that there would still be some snow on the ground so it at least looked like Michigan in February.  But alas, that was not to be.  Oh well.

 Looking at the Scott Fountain from the west side of the island.  I would have to say that I love the looks of this fountain and I can't wait until it is shooting out water again.

 A closeup of the fountain.  Unfortunately, it was fenced off and that kind of distracts from the looks.

 Looking towards Downtown Detroit from the fountain.  Well at least the trees look like they should in February.

 Looking at one of the towers on the Casino.  It's not really a gambling place though.

 The side of the Casino.  I guess one of the things that I like about Detroit is the uniqueness of its buildings.

 Looking at the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon from across the river.

 A closeup of the Carillon.

 A shot of the Carillon with some of the vegetation that is kind of close to it.

 Looking down The Strand.

 Looking at the Alpheus Williams statue as you are heading towards the center of the island.  He was a General in the Civil War and held a variety of jobs in Detroit.

 Looking at the statue from the front.

 Looking at the statue from an oblique angle.

 This is the Belle Isle Police Station which was constructed in 1893.  I'm going to wager it is probably one of the more beautiful police stations in the state if not the country.

 Another shot of the Williams statue.

 This is a statue of Dante Alighieri who was the author of the Divine Comedy.  If I remember my history correctly, it was one of the first major western European works that wasn't written in Latin.  Also if I remember correctly, it was controversial because it depicted some of the major religious leaders in Hell.

One of the things I like about Belle Isle is that I am always finding new things as I wander to different parts of it.  This statue was close to what used to be the Belle Isle Zoo and is a statue of Johann Schiller.  He is the poet who wrote "Ode to Joy" which was later turned into the 9th Symphony by Beethoven.

So that's Belle Isle in December.  I hope you enjoyed.

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery

The GPS brought me home by way of M-43 and I noticed a sign for this fish hatchery.  I'd never been to a fish hatchery before so I decided to stop.  I guess that is one of the things I like about doing this blog because it gets me to do stuff outside of the box (for me).

The hatchery was established in 1927 and renovated in 1983.  It is run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and provides a number of different fish species for the Great Lakes.  There is a little visitors center at the hatchery that is pretty neat.

 As I was walking in, I noticed the snow on these trees and kind of liked the effect.

 In the visitors center were some exhibits.  This particular one is a fish tank full of little salmon.

 This is a stuffed Missassagua Rattlesnake which I believe is Michigan's only poisonous reptile.

 A lake sturgeon.  This particular one was the record sturgeon caught on the lakes.

 In another part of the center, there was a fish tank full of younger sturgeon.  Unfortunately, it wasn't too well lit.

 I believe this is a chinook.

 This is a coho salmon.

 Outside there is a pond where they let you feed the fish.  It was pretty neat watching them swirl around to get at the food.

 I kind of liked the reflection of the trees on the water.

 Another shot of the tree stands.

 In order to feed the fish, they gave you some tokens for a dispenser.  I was going to keep it but I figured a picture of it was just as good.

 The back of the token.

 A path of trees on the way out.

 Another shot of snow covered trees.

 I kind of liked the look of staring up at the trees.

One more shot.

All in all, I had a pretty fun day.  The weather held up for the most part although it was snowy during parts of the day but it wasn't causing too much trouble.  The fact that I got home at a realistic time was a plus as well.

I guess I'm gonna have to head back to get pictures of Grand Haven at some point.