arctangent's Photos

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Featured Galleries

Spring Forward - Blooms at the Conservatory

Rather than start a new gallery of spring blooms at the conservatories ...

Updated: Mar 21, 2013 2:09am CDT

2013 Calendar of Iceland

Please remember that all pictures in my galleries are copyrighted by m ...

Updated: Dec 11, 2012 2:21pm CDT

2013 A Year in Photography

I'm hoping to use this gallery to challenge myself to learn something ...

Updated: May 19, 2013 7:12am CDT

2013 Winter Wonder Time

I have arbitrarily decided that the first real snowfall, or the first ...

Updated: Apr 24, 2013 8:23am CDT

Your Bio

June 2011 - time for a new profile on smugmug.
My name is Elizabeth Jacob. I'm a retired scientist living in southeast Michigan. I travel when I can, and love traveling vicariously through the photos of others. Nature - experiencing it, learning about it, photographing it, sharing my love of it - are passions for me. The subjects of other photographers that interest me and engage me aren't limited to nature and travel, though.

My plans to create one or more collections of my own very most favorite images are still pending, with only a partial selection of favorite nature photos on public display. I hope to expand on that, finishing the nature photos and moving on to travel and to miscellaneous photos in the coming months.

I have recently begun to blog on wordpress, inspired by a number of other smugmug users who have chosen to use that service. My blog is still very much in a stage of infancy, but if you're interested in reading my thoughts on how words and images, mine and others, affect my life I hope you'll check out
http://lettersandlight.wordpress.com.

Also, I've created a gallery under my 'Public Collections' category to which I will collect virtual copies of each of my photos that I actually blog about
http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Public-Collections/arctangents-photos-blogged/17609815_Rd4JMd ). The captions of those photos will contain links to relevant blogs. Constructive feedback, either on the blogs or the photos, is welcome. FYI, don't expect any "how to" blogs. I barely know myself how I do what I do. I'm not about to try to tell anyone else how to do what I do.

I have decided to continue to make my pictures available for downloading, so I’ll repeat what I wrote in my original profile:

Feel free to use any of my pictures for any personal use. If, for any strange reason, you want to use them for commercial purposes, remember that they're all copyrighted, and you need to check with me.

If you prefer communicating directly, rather than via comments to photos or galleries, you can contact me at an email address that I reserve exclusively for things related to photography:

2lightmyway@gmail.com

Or you can use the email address that is supplied to some users when I leave comments. Either one is OK with me. I always love to hear from people.

As before, I hope you enjoy my pictures! To find all of my most recent uploads, just use the photo timeline searcher at the bottom of this page.

Most Popular Photos

Spotlight

The sun found a gap in the leaves, to shine down through the morning mists.

Trust

DP135-2013 Posted May 15; processed ditto

Songbirds in the woods around the Nature Center have learned to trust humans who hold out food for them in their hands. (Signs along the trails politely ask people to feed the birds ONLY by hand, not to put food on the ground for them, and NOT to feed the cranes.) On the last day of my sister's visit, we walked in these woods and fed the birds. Feeling their almost negligible weight and the tiny prick of their claws as they land and daintily snatch the chosen seed is a pleasure beyond description.

Kensington Metropark, Milford Township, MI
May 14, 2013
(For those who care, but don't yet know, this was a tufted titmouse.)

Curiouser and curiouser (I don't think Alice knows.)

DP128-2013 Posted May 8; processed ditto

I believe this is a cluster of mushrooms before they have grown their caps. If anyone can add to or amend this supposition, I'd appreciate the info. Here is a link to a picture of the type of mushroom I think it might be, when it grows up. http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/loadimage.asp?did=19772&blockName=Hypsizygus%20tessulatus
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Conservatory, Matthaei Botanical Gardens
Ann Arbor, Michigan
May 6, 2013
(For those curious about the lighting, it's all natural. The light came through the glass roof of the conservatory, through an opening in the foliage of taller plants in the Tropical House portion of the conservatory. I under-exposed a little, adjusted the white point in Lightroom 4 and darkened the background a little in Photoshop with the Levels slider, and that was pretty much it.)

Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica)
Látrabjarg bird cliffs, Westfjords, Iceland.

DP105-2013 Posted April 15; processed ditto

Taken June 18, 2010
(I decided that if I had to dip into the archives for today's post, I'd go way back, to a trip to Iceland from several years ago. I'm still chipping away at processing all those shots!)

Note added April 15 p.m. My heart is so heavy after the horrible events in Boston this afternoon that I just can't comment anymore today. I'll try to catch up tomorrow. I hope none of you were caught up in this unspeakable tragedy.

Hairy and sparkly.

DP095-2013 Posted April 5; processed ditto

Brown Spiderwort, Siderasis fuscata
Family Commelinaceae . . . Native to South America
The points of personal interest to me in the sight, and hence the shot, were the overall hairiness of the leaves (about which more later) and the zillions of tiny rainbow sparkles on the surfaces of the leaves. You can only get a hint of the sparkles even in the large sizes, but can readily see them in 'original', especially in the purple underside of the center leaf..

About the hairs: I did a little looking online about terminology for leaf parts and learned that leaves which have hairy surfaces are termed 'pubescent', and there are dozens of technical terms for the exact nature of the hairs. For example, these straight, fine hairs which cover the surfaces, not just the leaf margins, would be termed 'sericeus', provided they are soft (silky) and not stiff or stinging or aren't sticky from secretions or...you get the picture.
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Matthaei Botanical Gardens Conservatory, Tropical House, March 29, 2013

FYI, if it matters, the shadows were cast by natural light. I didn't use a flash. Also, I don't know for sure what all those pale yellow bits that dot the leaves are. They fell from taller plants onto this low-growing spiderwort. They don't really look like pollen, but maybe...

An almost red subject for an almost-Valentine's Day post for DailyPhotos.
I hope to have something red to post for tomorrow, and to warm up to that possibility, I chose pink for today.
This is the bloom (not really open yet) of the bromeliad Aechmea mariae-reginae. The pink is, of course, part of the foliage, not part of the flowers. Don't you just love bromeliads?

DP044-2013. Posted February 13; processed ditto.

Taken February 12 at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens Conservatory
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Saguaro starset.
Part of the set of pictures I took of our first sunset in Tucson. And a glorious one it was, too.
DP024-2013. Posted January 24; processed January 23.
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Taken from our rental house on Ponce de Leon Drive in the Catalina foothills.
Tucson, Arizona
December 20, 2012 (5:10 pm MST; I hadn't yet reset the time on my camera)

The geometry of shadows.

DP118-2013 Posted April 28; processed ditto.

As the sun moves across the sky, this shadow of the braces in the atrium roof takes on different aspects as it falls on the cylindrical walls of the stairwell.

Remodeled Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project Building.
North Carmpus, University of Michigan
April 27, 2013.
(Yes, I know the shot should include the top of the roofline. It was there in the original, but I decided I'd rather have to crop it off in the course of removing some perspective distortions than leave it along with those distortions. I'll have to reshoot it some day, allowing more around the edges for such cropping.)

Giant Raspberry.

DP136-2013 Posted May 16; processed ditto

I thought I'd follow up yesterday's shot of a sublime experience (hand feeding wild birds) with something on the ridiculous side. This is the sculpture representing the sense of taste in the Five Senses portion of the Lena Meijer Children's Garden. I used the eyeball from this garden as my opening shot when I joined the DailyPhotos community. This outrageous over-sized tongue with its Clara Bow lips (or as Jean-Yves suggests, Mick Jagger lips) makes me laugh. I hope you at least get a chuckle from it.
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Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park
Grand Rapids, Michigan
May 13, 2013

I was very cheered yesterday by the overwhelming response to my shot of the titmouse feeding from my sister's hand. Thanks to all who took the time to comment. The shot shot to the number 2 spot in my Popular Photos ranking. I wish each of you could, someday, have the same thrill we enjoyed. At least now you know one place to come to in order to do just that.

Patience isn't a trait associated with squirrels. I think that's why this one's air of seeming resignation appealed to me.

DP037-2013. Posted February 6; processed February 4

Fox squirrel, Sciurus niger. The most common squirrel around these parts. Also the largest and most enterprising when it comes to trying to get onto and even into our bird feeders. This one was on a branch of an oak tree that stands 15-20 feet off the rear deck that's on the top floor (of three floors) of the house, waiting for me to leave the premises. Earlier it had been displaying and scolding me, but it soon saw that had no effect.

January 27, 2013

Red Crossbill ( Loxia curvirostra; finch family Fringillidae) - a first for me!
What a thrill to see a bird species for the first time. What a bonus to have that sighting come at our bird feeders where not only can I get sufficiently long viewing times to satisfy my curiosity and confirm my ID, but I have some hope of getting a recognizable photo of it.

The only camera I had at hand with enough zoom capacity to pull the bird in from a distance of ~20 feet was my Canon Powershot SX50HS P&S, which is pretty noisy and not great at focusing where I want it to. But at least I think you can see it really is a red crossbill.

DP040-2013. Posted February 9; processed February 8.

Ann Arbor, Michigan
February 6, 2013

I'd love to hear whether other people in the upper midwest or northeastern part of the U.S. have seen this bird this year, and if so, under what circumstances. I've read that Michigan is along the northern edge of its wintering grounds, and a little south of its southernmost breeding grounds.

Prairie Falcon, Falco mexicanus.
DP029-2013. Posted January 29; processed January 28.
This was one of four birds of prey (not all raptors) that flew during the 10 am Raptor Free Flight program (one of two such each day). We saw a peregrine falcon fly in the afternoon show. They are similar in size and general appearance. Both are awesome fliers.

I should explain that the 'free' in the title of the program, Raptor Free Flight, refers to the birds flying completely free out over the desert. Nothing compels them to return to their handlers except their knowledge that by doing so they get food and shelter. None of the birds was captured from the wild for the purpose of use in the program.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (commonly abbreviated by the obvious acronym, ASDM)
Tucson, Arizona
December 21, 2012 (10:14 am MST)

Ice abstract.
This is a shot of a portion of the unused tailrace at the Geddes dam. It's the one that gets the best afternoon light, and fortunately it's also the one in which the gate is usually down. It's one of my favorite places to photograph reflections in water. On this day I saw it for the first time with a partial cover of fragmented ice that floated like clouds over the background reflections from the concrete walls and the metal railings. Because of this illusion of clouds, I decided to flip the image vertically. You can see the unflipped version side by side with this version in a new gallery I've created to show alternative versions of posted DailyPhoto shots, and modified versions of uploads in response to viewer suggestions (for which I am always grateful). The gallery link is at the bottom of the caption.

DP043-2013. Posted February 12; processed ditto.

Geddes dam, Huron River, Ann Arbor
February 9, 2013

Take Your Pick gallery: http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Photography/Take-Your-Pick/27975689_qs5bJs

D122-2013 Saucer magnolia
Revisiting the tree in 'Blizzard of Buds' DP119-2013, now that it is in full bloom

DP123-2013 Posted May 3; processed ditto
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Forest Hill Cemetery, Ann Arbor
May 2, 2013

Snow and Ice. Shapes and Shadows.

Large rocks line the slope of the shoreline under the bridge. These were coated in snow over ice, and the undersides of the rocks that were nearest the river received a fringe of small icicles, nearly uniform in length and diameter. The hand railing that lines the viewing (and fishing) platform beneath the bridge was casting a pattern of shadows over the whole.

DP046-2013

The Huron River where if flows beneath the New Dixboro Road bridge.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
February 9, 2013

Green Flash.
I've heard about this optical phenomenon, seen only at sunrise or sunset under certain conditions, but I'd never seen it, much less photographed it, until last December. If you're curious about the phenomenon, you can start by looking at Wikipedia's articel, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_flash. To answer Paul's question, the flash was just that, very brief. One or two seconds.

DP072-2013 Posted March 13; processed ditto
The uncropped full size green flash shot can be seen here, http://smu.gs/Yrp6U9, along with the other two shots in the same 'Arizona Skies' gallery.

This composite features images taken a few seconds before, at, and a few seconds after the flash. The camera times are respectively 5:25:04 pm, 5:25:17 pm, and 5:25:30 pm

Note the overall greenish cast to the entire shot at 5:25:17 pm compared with the bracketing shots. Note also the tiny turquoise green spot just at the horizon where the sun disappeared (clearly visible in the larger sizes)

Tucson, AZ
December 28, 2012

For the three shot sequence, before, at, and after the green flash, I did minimal processing either in Lightroom or Photoshop beyond some minor exposure adjustment to try to get the overall exposure in each shot similar, based on eye-balling the histogram. I applied the same noise reduction to each, and that was about it. I was shooting in aperture priority, RAW, AWB, with the camera set to make minimal internal adjustments . Any color differences you see were present in the sky.

Peony season! Hurray!

DP138-2013 Posted May 18; processed ditto

The start of the peony season is a highlight of the spring for me. It begins with the early blooming tree peonies, such as seen here.
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Peony Gardens, Nichols Arboretum, Ann Arbor, Michigan
May 17, 2013

$A little R & R ... reflection and refraction, that is. Ice on a tree snag in the shallows near the shore. It's been in the water long enough to acquire quite a 'fur' coat of aquatic plant life from the look of it. DP068-2013. Posted March 9; processed ditto. Huron River at Gallup Park, Ann Arbor March 4, 2013$