I Am a Barn....

Another picture I've been meaning to take again is one of the barns on Morgan Road.  The colors were starting to come in nicely behind it.

 It is a barn....

 creaking and old...

 standing in what used to be a field...

 The barn has a friend...An old friend perhaps?

 How you been other barn?

 Well you know...Just barny....

 Oh look, it's Morgan Road.  Also looking like fall.

 The rowdy neighbors across the street.

And we are back to the creaking barn.

An Evening at the Ann Arbor Airport

I decided to head over to the Ann Arbor Airport tonight.  I was going to head over to one of the Pittsfield parks but I heard aircraft flying overhead and well....

 I believe this is a Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1/2.  It can be used as either a trainer or an aerobatic aircraft.  It is powered by 180 horsepower engine.

 Another angle of the biplane.

 And the biplane flying away.  Actually, it wasn't quite flying away as the pilot was doing touch and goes, so I would see it again.

 This plane landed as I was taking pictures of the other.  Thanks to an alert reader, I now know that is is a Pilatus PC-12.  It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft in Switzerland.  It is powered by a Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop.

 The plane as it was taxiing.  It is actually a pretty neat looking aircraft.

 The biplane again.   After seeing this plane, I was actually pretty happy that I decided to go to the airport because biplanes are pretty cool.

 A Cessna 150.  As I've said before, general aviation is not my forte, so I can't specify the plans.

 I believe this one is a Piper Arrow.

 Another angle of the Piper Arrow.

 Some sort of stunt aircraft.

One more shot of the Great Lakes Biplane.

Happy Halloween From Michigan Exposures

I think I'm going to make this a tradition on this blog.  Namely, where I take a phantom picture of Phantom for Halloween.  I'll try to do different angles. 

So I would like to wish you a Happy Halloween with the phantom Phantom.

Enjoy.

The Fallasburg Bridge in the Fall

Then I decided to head over to the Fallasburg Bridge.  I was actually hoping to catch some fall colors around her.  I was actually kind of hopeful as I was taking the road that leads from I-96 to the Bridge as there were some pretty nice colors there.

 Those hopes were quickly dashed as I reached the bridge.  There were a few colors left but they had mostly blown off.  The water was smooth enough to give me some good reflection shots though.

 So I ended up walking to and over the bridge to get some different shots.  Well they aren't much different from the shots I got last time except that there is a little more color in them.

 Crossing the bridge.  I still like the 5 dollar fine.  I wonder what it would be if you actually adjusted it for inflation.

 A little color.  As much as I prefer the view from this side, I'm not really sure if people are meant to go over here as the ledge is a little on the narrow side.

 Heading back to the car and getting other angles.  As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

 The more typical covered bridge angle.

 Trying from different spots in the park.

 I like this shot well enough but...

 I switched over to manual mode in order to get a less washed out look for the backdrop.  I think I like this shot better.

 I really like this shot.  The reflection in the water is just about perfect.  I may want to crop it a little bit to get rid of the distracting grill to the side.

 As you can see, not much in the way of leaves left.

One more shot before heading home.

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I think I got some nice shots.

The Michigan State Capitol Building

My main reason for visiting Lansing was to get some pictures of the Capitol Building.  It has been a while since I've done so and I've been wanting to do so for a while.

 I kind of like some of the statues that are around the building.  This is dedicated to an Engineer Unit that fought in the Civil War.  They were mustered in Marshall Michigan.

 The Capitol Building itself.  This is actually the third capitol building.  The first was in Detroit when the state was founded in 1837.  When the capital was relocated to Lansing due to a fear of a Canadian unit stationed in Windsor, a wooden structure was erected.  Construction on this building was completed in 1878 and it was inagurated in 1879.

 In the middle is the statue of Austin Blair.  He was Michigan's governor during the Civil War.  He was a strong advocate of abolition.  He was also one of the leaders of banning capital punishment.  He was born in New York in 1818 and moved to Eaton Rapids in 1841.  He served as governor from 1861 until 1865.  From 1867 to 1873, he served as a State Senator but failed in his bid for US Senator because it was believed that he represented the interests of Detroit over others.  From 1881 to 1889, he served as a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents.  He died in 1894 and is buried in Jackson, Michigan.

 Looking up at the Capitol Building.

 Another angle of the Capital Building.  The building itself is an example of Neoclassical Architecture.

 Moving away from the Capitol a bit.

 This is one of the reasons why I wanted to head to the Capitol.  I was hoping to catch some colors.

This statue is dedicated to the Michigan 1st Sharpshooters, which is another unit that fought in the
Civil War.  This unit fought in the Wilderness Campaign, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Appomattox.  They suffered 362 fatalities during the war.  Michigan was actually one of the larger contributors to the Civil War.

 A statue dedicated to the men who fought in the Spanish-American War.

 Another shot of the Capitol Building.

 A closer view of the Austin Blair statue.  It's actually kind of amazing how many progressive governors Michigan has had over the years.

 A different angle of the capitol.

 Trying to catch more color in the picture.

 A shot from across the street.

Some of the other wars that Michigan has contributed to.

I actually like our capitol building.  I'll say the same thing about this that I'll say about the US capitol, it's a shame the people in it can't live up to the building that houses them.

Slightly Wandering Around Lansing

I decided to head over to Lansing yesterday.  I was thinking about going to the Michigan Historical Museum but I got a late start so I didn't go there.  I did however wander around the area near the Capitol Building.  One of these days,  I should do a more proper architecture tour of Lansing.

 The first building I ran across was the Boji Tower.  At 23 stories, it is the tallest building in Lansing.  It is also known as the Olds Tower or the Capital Bank Tower.  It was originally constructed as the Olds Tower and was named after Ransom E. Olds the person who Oldsmobile was named after.  Construction began on November 14, 1929 and was completed in 1931.  Shortly after construction, it was renamed the Capital National Bank Tower after the bank that Olds founded.  In 1954, it was renamed the Michigan National Bank Tower and held that name until 2001 when the Bank was bought by Standard Federal.  Before that, there was also a neon "Michigan National" sign.  In 2005, it was given its current named after the Iraqi family that owned it.  At the top is the radio antenna for WJZL.

It is 297 feet tall and is constructed brick and limestone and would be considered Art Deco.  Part of it is used as the main hearing room for the Michigan Senate.

 The Cooley Law School was founded in 1972 and named after Thomas M. Cooley.  He was a former Chief of the Michigan Supreme Court and Dean of the Michigan Law School.  This is part of the school's main campus and it has satellite schools in Grand Rapids, Auburn Hills, Ann Arbor and Tampa, Florida.  It's combined enrollment makes it one of the larger law schools in the country.

 The Cooley Temple Conference Center used to be a Masonic Temple.  It was constructed in the 1920's.

 Another view of the Boji Tower although I will admit that I pretty much took this one because of the reflection of the Capitol dome in the other building.

 Looking up at the Boji Building.

 One more view of the Boji Building.

 Now known as the Comerica Bank Building, this used to be the Lansing Bank Building.  Construction was completed in 1931 and  at 15 stories, it is the third tallest building in Lansing.

 Looking down Michigan Avenue to the east.

 Not sure what this building used to be.

 Some of the details on the Comerica Building.  I really like the way they used to style the buildings in the 30's.  It certainly beats the soul-less buildings of glass and steel.

 Looking up at the Comerica Building.

 Some other details.

 And other details.  I kind of like the Native American and Bison.

 As I was taking pictures, this firetruck passed by.  I had to rush to get its picture.

 A picture of the frieze on the Lansing City Hall.  It is an otherwise unremarkable building.  The frieze of course has symbols for the history of Lansing.

One of the churches near the Capitol Building.