The Barton Dam

I headed up to Grand Rapids yesterday for the ArtPrize but I ended up taking a kind of round about way to get out of town.  Part of that way was passing by the Barton Dam.  I decided to stop by there because I haven't taken pictures there in a while and there were hints of color in the area.

 Looking down the river from the bridge.  It seemed like there was more color as I was heading in than on the river.

 It was a fairly nice day to take pictures though.  Since the dam was shut off, the water was pretty smooth so the reflections were nice.

 Sadly, I was shooting right into the sun.

 Again, I would have liked this picture a little more had I not been shooting into the sun.

 Tried to get a framed picture.

 I really like the colors on the dam itself.

One more picture before leaving.

Whitefish Bay and Friends

I decided to head down to the Detroit River tonight because I saw that there was going to be a ship passing that I hadn't caught yet.  Plus it was a nice enough night.  Little did a realize there was a Red Wings game and that kind of affected things.

 Well, I did manage to catch the Whitefish Bay as she was making her way down the River.   She is one of the Chinese builds for the Canada Steamship Lines and was launched this year.  Unlike the Baie St. Paul, she is still looking new.

 Not quite so new is the Tug/Barge Lewis Kuber.

 What I didn't realize is that there would be a gathering of ships at one end of the Detroit River.  From left to right, the Wicko, Federal Shimanto and pulling in is the Kaministiqua. 

 But back to the Whitefish Bay for a second.  She's 738 feet long and 78 feet wide.   Her holds can carry almost 38,000 tons of cargo. 

 Slowly she works her way down the river past the grain elevators and what not.

 Not one of the better views of the Detroit skyline but it's still not too bad.  The light was just about perfect for this too.

 One more shot of the skyline.

And one more shot of the gathering of ships as the Whitefish Bay makes her way to Naticoke.

An Evening at Gallup Park...Again...

Despite not thinking that I had enough time, I decided to head over to Gallup Park to take a few pictures.  Especially since it was a pretty nice night and we aren't going to too many more of those.

 The light was almost perfect but I knew I didn't have too long.

 I kind of liked how smoothe the water was.  Made for some nice reflections.

I really liked the way this boat was reflecting in the water.

 I kind of liked the way this picture turned out.

 I really like this one though.

 The fall colors are starting to make an appearance.  I think the golden light of the sunset really brings them out.

 Then I decided to try something a little different and got some foreground in the picture.

 And then I moved to get a different angle.

 I really like this shot.

 Looking up at the orange leaves of the tree.

 And then the goose made appearance.

 With what I assume is his family.

 With the sun setting, I tried to take a couple more pictures.

So we leave you with one more shot of the sun setting behind the trees.  I hope you enjoyed this.

Wandering Around Eastern Michigan University

I decided to go for a walk over to Eastern Michigan's campus tonight as it was a pretty nice night and I haven't been there in a while.

 First I stopped at the Peninsular Paper Company because I liked the way the light was hitting the area.  I especially liked the way the light was hitting the trees and the reflection on the water.

 So I shifted the camera over a little bit to get some of the other trees.  It looks like the colors are starting to come in.

 A shot of Pray-Harrold with the light hitting it just right.

 A shot of the statue in front of the Rec/IM.  It is a swimmer diving in the water.

 Sherzer Hall.  Sadly, the light was starting to wane on me.

 A shot of Sherzer from the front.

 And then I wandered over to Starkweather Hall.

 No tour of EMU would be complete without a stop at the Water Tower.

 Part of Cross Street.

 I kind of wish this would have turned out a little better.  I think the trees may be a little too dark, but I still kind of like the picture.

And a shot looking up at the Clock Tower at Pierce Hall.

That's No Moon

Well actually it is a moon and not a space station.

But it still looks pretty cool.

Dinner at Godaiko

And for dinner on Saturday night, I decided to go to Godaiko.  It has been a while since I've had proper sushi.  Godaiko is a Japanese Restaurant in Ann Arbor just south of I-94 on Ann Arbor-Saline Road.  It is pretty good.

Since I was flipping through my pictures from the game, I had my camera with me, so I decided to take a picture of the sushi bar.  I should have tried to get them when they were doing something though.  Oh well.

Eastern Michigan Football Vs. Ball State Cardinals

So I went to the Eastern game on Saturday to do my pictures for Eagle Totem.  It was homecoming (which seems early this year) and the MAC opener for EMU, so I was hoping for a good game.  Or at least a decent game.

 The band heading over towards the Convocation Center so that they could enter the field.

 The players heading back to the tunnel after the pre-game warmups.

 I kind of liked the looks of this Eastern flag in the sunlight.

 It seems that one of the traditions for the Homecoming Game is the parade of International Students.  It is amazing to think of how many countries are represented at Eastern.

 The Color Guard from the EMU ROTC batallion. 

 The band starts to take the field.  Normally during Homecoming, there are members of the Alumni Band but I didn't see too many of those this year.

 Another shot of the band.

 A closeup of one of the band members.

 The Color Guard during the Star Spangled Banner.

 This is an eagle that is brought over by the nice folks at the Leslie Science Center.  I think it is pretty cool that they have been doing this and I hope this continues.

 The cannon crew during the Star Spangled Banner.

 A shot of the drum line.

 A closeup of the eagle's face.

 Another closeup of the eagle.

 The eagle and her handler from the Leslie Science Center.  The Leslie Science Center is located in Ann Arbor and if you get a chance, you should go visit there.  They have a number of birds of prey that they are trying to rehabilitate.

 After EMU scored on their first posession, Ball State had to return the favor.

 Darius Jackson running with the ball.  I don't remember if this is the run where he fumbled or if that was the next run.

 I believe this is Bronson Hill, running with the ball.  I don't understand why Jackson got the start over Hill because Hill is a beast.

 I wish I would have caught this as the ball was approaching, but I do like this shot.

 Ryan Brumfeld shaking a tackle.

 Tyreese Russell trying to stretch for the endzone.  He did not make it though.

 I'm not sure who is getting tackled.

 A shot of the band during halftime.

 Another Eastern player getting tackled.  I think if I were going to do something to this shot, I would crop a little tighter on the players tackling.

 One of too many cases where the Ball State player breaks free.  I'm not sure if it was a poor defense scheme or poor tackling but either case reflects badly on the coaching.

 At least Swoop was still in good spirits.

One of two pictures that pretty much sums up the game.

However, I think this picture sums up the game even better.  Ball State player Horacio Banks running pretty much unmolested to the endzone.  As you can see, there isn't an Eastern player around him.

 

When I started this gig, I watched EMU have a 6-6 season and nearly make a bowl game.  In my second year, EMU's season wasn't quite that good and this season isn't looking like it will be much better.  I am not really a fan of changing coaches but I think that Ron English has had plenty of time to build a program.  From where I stand, it's not a lack of talent that is holding Eastern back because from what I seen, Eastern has some talent.  It just seems like they aren't ready for the games or something.

 

So we'll muddle through this season and see what happens.