Me in the William Clay Ford...Sort Of

One of the things about being a photographer is that there aren't a ton of pictures of me.  Since I was with a friend, I had him take a picture of me while I was at the Dossin Museum.  I've been meaning to get a profile picture of myself.  So enjoy.

The Dossin Museum has the pilothouse for the William Clay Ford.  It is pretty neat because you can look around and it stands over the river a bit so it almost feels like you are in a ship.  On my head is Michigan Hat IV.  It is styled after the one that Bo wore.  So now you see the face behind the camera.

Just a Train Car

As I was heading back to the car, I noticed this shot.   I kind of liked it.

Just a train car.  I kind of liked how the picture lended to the rule of thirds.

More Ships at Rest....

So I decided to do a little seeking out of some more ships that are laid up.  I really was jonesing for some ship pictures.  Another blog I go to had some pictures of a couple of the Interlake ships near Ecorse along with some pictures of the Boblo Boats.  I vaguely remembered where the Boblo boats were parked, so I went looking for them.

 The first ship I found was the Boblo Boat Columbia.  Boblo Island was a amusement park that remained in operation from 1898 to 1993.  This particular steamer is the Columbia which went from Detroit to Boblo Island.  It was about an 18 mile ride.  She was constructed in 1902 in Wyandotte, Michigan.    She was a steamer and the first with a proper ballroom.  I'm not sure which boat was in this commercial but one of them was.

The Columbia is being sold to a group in New York which plans to restore her.

 Another shot of the Columbia.  In the back is the Ste. Claire which was built in Toledo in 1910.  She is going to be restored by another group at some point.

 A pair of Interlake ships in winter layup.  The ship in the front is the Herbert C. Jackson.  The one in back is the Honorable James L. Oberstar.  Both ships have appeared on this blog before.

 Another angle of the Colubmia.

 A closer shot of the Jackson.  Unfortunately, these were in the best location and I couldn't get much closer than this.

 One more shot of the Columbia.

I believe this one is a tug.

And Our National Bird....

So of course, I had to stop by the eagle.  It was getting a little dark and it was windy.  So windy that it was difficult to keep my camera steady.  As a result, these pictures aren't quite as clear as I'd like.  However, I like my eagles.....sooo...

 I think the rest of the group is gone for the time being because I only saw two eagles.  I am assuming that this is the nesting pair.  Unfortunately, I can't tell the two apart.  I kind of wish this eagle were in a more open spot.  Oh well.

 Another shot of the eagle in the tree.

 As I was about to leave, I saw another eagle flying in.  I tried to snap a pic quickly but I think it was a little on the blurry side.

This one is a little better...but not by much.

Our Almost National Bird

So I went up to my mom's today and as I was heading down the last stretch to get to her place, I saw a gaggle of turkeys near the side of the road.  I had to pick up something for her and the place was closing, so I had to double back and the turkeys were still there.

 I think Benjamin Franklin at one time proposed that the turkey become our national bird.  I'm not sure if he said it as a joke or something else.  But I guess turkeys can be quite nasty when provoked.  At any rate, it is a pretty cool looking bird.

 Here is a pair of them as they are walking along.  I was kind of surprised they didn't start to move away.

 I think I kind of like this picture.  I'm guess these two are keeping an eye over the group.

And a shot of the gaggle.

Mail from the Westcott...Again...

So it's that time again.  Namely where I post a picture of the Westcott and answer questions and comments that have been posted on my blog.  I've been getting a few more comments lately and I appreciate them.

To the people that posted from the Belle Isle Aquarium.
Thank you for your posts and I hope that there was a large enough turnout at the Shiver on the River to justify reopening the Aquarium.  From the sounds of your posts on Facebook, this is becoming a reality.  I really hope so.

In regards to the Detroit Churches.
Yes, I will try to get inside one of these days.  Like I said when I made the posts, if they looked that cool on the outside, I can only imagine what the insides look like.

To the folks from Bay City that posted.
Yes, it was Billings.  I used to go there all of the time when I was kid.  They had lots of neat trinkets.  It is a shame that they closed down.  But then again many stores that gave Bay City character closed down.

My valentines day got a bit more traffic.  Thanks for that.

Is the ice tree still on Belle Isle?
The tree is but it wasn't covered with ice when I went down there.  I'm hoping this remains the case.

Viagra or Cialis?
Seriously people, quit leaving your spam comments on my blog.  I think it's great that you think I have enough traffic to warrant that but still.  I don't understand Russian, Polish or Spanish.  I don't really care about helper drugs.  I don't want a Prada purse.  So leave me alone...please?

So the Westcott heads back to its spot by Riverside Park in Detroit.  Another mail session complete and another freighter on its way upbound or downbound.  As always, feel free to leave comments and I will address them in the next session of the Westcott.

A Retrospective Again...

I did something stupid on this blog.  A couple weeks ago, I did a retrospective post where I compared some of my earlier posts to some of my more recent posts.  Then someone pointed out a mistake and I thought I was clearing out the mistake.  Well, I ended up clearing out more than just the mistake.  And to compound matters, I must have hit save inadvertently.  So my original post is gone.

It is just as well I guess.  This time I picked some better examples.

In the three years that I've been doing this blog, I would like to think that I've grown a bit in my photography.  In some ways, I think I have.  I find myself thinking about the shot a little more now and I also find that I am having more and more shots that I like from a shoot.  So at any rate, let's take a look back.

 A frequent subject of this blog is the Mackinac Bridge.  It was the subject of my 12 month shoot and it is one of my favorite structures in the state of Michigan.  This was one of the first pictures I took when I got an SLR.  As you can see, it is not quite straight in the picture.  While I like my attempt at framing, I'm not sure about how it turned out.

 This was a more recent picture.  While I didn't try to frame it, it is at almost a similar angle.  I like this picture a little more because it feels a little more dramatic. 

 One of the things that gets me about building shots is how they look like they are going to fall backwards.  I know there are some tricks for avoiding that but I'm not quite sure how to do it.  Again, the picture looks crooked.  Also, do you notice the little gray specs?  I found out those are dust specs. I've figured out how to deal with those in the meantime.

 This is a much more recent shot.  The building is straighter and there are no dust spots.  I think it also a little more to the rule of thirds.

 Another frequent topic on this blog is shipping.  I didn't really have many early examples of ships, so I had to pull out a picture I had of a tugboat.  The picture definitely isn't straight.  I feel like I need to watch for the boat to fall over the edge.  I suppose with a little post processing, it might be a nice picture.

 This is a more recent ship shot.  The misty look aside, I think this is a much better shot.    Again, I was being a little more cognizant of the rule of thirds. 

 This was a shot I took prior to getting an SLR camera.  I don't think it's a bad shot but I could have waited a bit.

 I like this one a little better.

 The next set of pictures is probably not a fair comparison since I've been able to get down on the field.  But still, I think I've shown improvement in my sports pictures too.

 I like this shot quite a bit better.  You can see the player's eyes and can see that he is booking.

 Basketball is probably a fairer comparison since I was able to get closer to the floor for the games.  While I like this shot, I think it could have been better.

 I like this one alot better.  Again, I have the player's face in the picture and it seems a little more dramatic.

 This is a fairer comparison as the angles are about the same.  I don't have the puck in this picture nor any of the faces.

I like this one even better.

Like I said, I hope that I've grown in my photography.  Please leave comments in the comment section.

Thanks.