Four Seasons Galleries

2013 Spring Came Late This Year : After a brutal winter, and an interminable cold grey March, things are finally starting to bud, leaf, bloom, awaken. I can't expect anything quite as spectacular as last year. I'll be grateful for small favors from Mother Nature.

2013 Spring Came Late This Year

After a brutal winter, and an interminable cold grey March, things are ...

Updated: May 25, 2013 4:15am PST

2013 Winter Wonder Time : I have arbitrarily decided that the first real snowfall, or the first time I see persistent ice on ponds or puddles, or the first day of December, whichever comes first, will mark the beginning of winter from a photographic point of view. The 2012-2013 winter season, by this reckoning, began November 23 with a brief blizzard which left a temporary slight accumulation of snow. The title for this year's gallery reflects both the fact that winter in a cold climate can be wonderful, and the fact that the lack of snow for the past couple of years has left me wondering what this year's season will bring.

2013 Winter Wonder Time

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

Updated: Apr 24, 2013 6:23am PST

2012 One Extraordinary Spring : I cannot remember another spring when every single flowering plant outdid itself in production of a profusion of blossoms. Even trees which typically produce a good crop of blooms only every few years burst forth. Overall, it was the warmest spring on record for Washtenaw County. Whether that was the cause of the extraordinary blooms, I couldn't say. After a record breaking warm winter, we almost literally skipped spring and jumped right into summer. A prolonged period in middle through late March with temperatures from twenty to forty (yes!) degrees above normal daytime highs for that time of year turned our area into a virtual hot house, forcing plants into premature blooming and leafing out. But not enough insects to pollinate them. This was followed by several nights of extremely hard freezes which destroyed a good portion of the fruit crops throughout Michigan and blasted the wonderful display of magnolia blossoms. April was much cooler than March! About normal or even slightly cooler, with many more nights dipping into the lower 30s or upper 20s. It was the first time on record that the average daily temperatures of the two months were reversed, with March being the warmer month. April was drier than normal, too. Nevertheless, the warm March kept almost every flowering plant on a blooming schedule that was 2-3 weeks ahead of what is typical. The entire month of May was hot, and extremely dry.

2012 One Extraordinary Spring

I cannot remember another spring when every single flowering plant out ...

Updated: Mar 25, 2013 1:27pm PST

2012 Fall - Turn Turn Turn : Whose turn is it to turn today? A chronicle of the progression of changes in the natural world from September through November (the months that comprise the climatological season of Fall or Autumn in the upper midwest). I'll try to confine the images to sights seen only at this time of year. While the weather remains warm, flowers and vegetables continue to grow as though the fall is an extension of summer. I don't consider them to be seasonal sights. There are separate galleries for garden flowers and for fruits and vegetables throughout the year. There will be a certain amount of overlap between those galleries and this one.

2012 Fall - Turn Turn Turn

Whose turn is it to turn today? A chronicle of the progression of cha ...

Updated: Jan 30, 2013 8:30pm PST

2012 Summer - Hottest & Driest on Record : This is my first attempt at a gallery devoted specifically to sights seen only during the summer months. In southeast Michigan, where I live, the meteorological seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, begin on the first of the respective months of March, June, September, and December. There are, in my mind, definite changes in the natural world around me that signal the arrival of summer, and in most years they do pretty much coincide with late May or early June. Summer arrived a little early this year because of the exceptionally warm (record-breakingly warm) spring, but I decided to mark its photographic start with June. I have included a few shots from late May when they are of sights that typically mark the onset of the summer season. Here are some of the things I associate with the arrival of summer in terms of plant and animal life: The last of the native trees to bloom, catalpas, put on an amazing display. Meadows and prairies spring to life with a variety of composites and clovers, among other prairie flowers. Butterfly weed (orange milkweed) blazes forth, brightening the roadsides. Other milkweeds, though not as showy, bloom as well. Roses of all kinds delight my senses of sight and smell. Garden flowers gather momentum as annuals begin to bloom among the perennials such as iris, glads, coneflowers, columbines, etc. Fruit ripens on trees, shrubs, canes. Mosquitoes hatch. Male mallards change 'coats' into their dull summer duds (eclipse plumage). Waterfowl young along the river begin to fledge. People add swimming to their activities on the local lakes.

2012 Summer - Hottest & Driest on Record

This is my first attempt at a gallery devoted specifically to sights s ...

Updated: Dec 18, 2012 3:58am PST

2009 The many moods of Winter : Mid-January through mid-February is, to me, the period of deepest, though not darkest, winter. I can already sense the lengthening days. I've started the gallery with pictures that illustrate the transition from autumn into winter, and have progressed to pictures of full blown winter! Brrr!!! Winter is not always bleak. It also has what I call its "manic" phase...the bright happy face of sunny days with sparkling snow and crystal clear air. Enjoy! (FYI: As of January 16, I have moved the earlier winter pictures into Nature /Four Seasons / Winter - Barely.) Once summer arrives, I will move some of the place-specific landscapes to the separate galleries for those places.

2009 The many moods of Winter

Mid-January through mid-February is, to me, the period of deepest, tho ...

Updated: Nov 16, 2012 3:53am PST

2010 Fall Fiesta - flowers, fruit, foliage, forms, fun : Like many of you, I adore the autumn season. I'm getting a very late start on this year's gallery of seasonal shots, but I'm hoping to finish with a flourish. Stay tuned. This is very much a work in progress.

2010 Fall Fiesta - flowers, fruit, foliage, forms, fun

Like many of you, I adore the autumn season. I'm getting a very late ...

Updated: Nov 13, 2012 5:47am PST

2012 Winter - Not Worth the Wait : Final assessment as of March 2012: No, it wasn't worth the long wait. I can't remember a year when there was so little true winter weather in NW Ohio and SE Michigan until January. So little snow. So little weather that was cold enough for long enough to allow ice to form on rivers, lakes, ponds, or even puddles. It remains to be seen whether what is left of this year's winter can make up for this deficiency. Yes, as a photographer I long for long snowy cold spells punctuated with the clearest brightest sunniest days of the year. As of early January, my photo opportunities have been pretty pathetic. Things didn't get much better during February. March turned out to be the warmest March on record for Ann Arbor, with a higher monthly average temperature than the following April!!!

2012 Winter - Not Worth the Wait

Final assessment as of March 2012: No, it wasn't worth the long wait. ...

Updated: Feb 11, 2012 6:50pm PST

2011 - Full Blown Fall : Sights of the season from the time that some trees and shrubs reach their full color development to the melancholy end, when all that glorious color has fallen and blown away. This year, pictures start in late September. It remains to be seen how late into the calendar this gallery ends up going. Not every picture will be of bright fall foliage, but all the pictures will depict things seen only at this time of the year. For pictures from early through mid-September, when color in the foliage is just beginning to develop in a few trees, and many wildflowers are still blooming, see the 2011 - Leaving Summer Behind... gallery in this same Four Seasons sub-category.

2011 - Full Blown Fall

Sights of the season from the time that some trees and shrubs reach th ...

Updated: Jan 27, 2012 5:24am PST

2011 - Winter, What can you show me this year? : Every year, I feel a sense of anticipation as winter approaches, wondering what fantastic sights it will bring. The expected snows and freezing conditions arrived later this year than in some, and combined with travel in December this has delayed my winter photography by almost a month. I hoped for some special treats of the season, though, before it ended. Unfortunately, they were few and far between.

2011 - Winter, What can you show me this year?

Every year, I feel a sense of anticipation as winter approaches, wonde ...

Updated: Nov 10, 2011 1:17am PST

2011 - Leaving Summer Behind and Heading into Fall : It's September...still officially summer, and still potentially uncomfortably hot. But the signs of change are everywhere. Autumn is on its way. Hurray! This is intended to be a collection of images that depict the end of the growing season, when nature's color palette changes and a mixture of things still growing and ripening and things dying or preparing for a long cold sleep surrounds you as you move through the shorter, cooler, wetter days.

2011 - Leaving Summer Behind and Heading into Fall

It's September...still officially summer, and still potentially uncomf ...

Updated: Oct 05, 2011 9:27pm PST

2010 Springtime Beauty Pageant : All the variety of buds, blossoms, blooming things of spring

2010 Springtime Beauty Pageant

All the variety of buds, blossoms, blooming things of spring

Updated: Apr 27, 2010 10:28am PST

2010 Winter Gifts : My cold climate provides sights in winter that fire my imagination and light my photographer's eye. These are some of the greatest gifts of the winter season.

2010 Winter Gifts

My cold climate provides sights in winter that fire my imagination and ...

Updated: Mar 05, 2010 8:35am PST

2009 Autumn Joy : Observing the kaleidoscope of color changes that autumn brings to the upper midwest fills me with great joy each year.

2009 Autumn Joy

Observing the kaleidoscope of color changes that autumn brings to the ...

Updated: Dec 11, 2009 2:31pm PST

March: Out with the cold and in with the new : Spring comes slowly around here, buffered from the extremes in warming or recooling experienced in the interior mid-west by the proximity of the Great Lakes. While this allows the successful cultivation of orchard fruit (few late killing frosts), it means that March is mostly pretty dreary. These pictures document the first signs of rebirth and reawakening in the natural world, and other signs that Spring is getting the upper hand on Winter.

March: Out with the cold and in with the new

Spring comes slowly around here, buffered from the extremes in warming ...

Updated: Mar 15, 2009 5:38am PST

A Walk in the Woods - January 2009 : Take a walk with me through Wildwood Preserve Metropark (Toledo, Ohio) on a cold sunny January day. All the pictures in this gallery were taken in the two and a half hour span of my actual walk, and except for the first, panorama, photo are ordered chronologically. I wanted you to see the woods as I saw them, coming and going, and see how the light and shadows changed over that period. For more on Wildwood Preserve, here is a link to the park's website: http://www.metroparkstoledo.com/metroparks/wildwood/

A Walk in the Woods - January 2009

Take a walk with me through Wildwood Preserve Metropark (Toledo, Ohio) ...

Updated: Mar 01, 2009 5:59am PST

2008 Impressions of Autumn : Images of everything associated with the season. Note added March 1, 2009: Once each fall season is long gone and interest has waned, I will move images of certain subjects to more specialized galleries. For example, pictures of fruit, nuts, berries, and some of the details of foliage.

2008 Impressions of Autumn

Images of everything associated with the season. Note added March 1 ...

Updated: Dec 05, 2008 8:14am PST