Woodward Avenue: Mile by Mile | Exposure.Detroit January Show

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

A Hundred Views of Woodward

A Hundred Views of Woodward, photo by Terri Light Photo – Detroit.

The January Exposure Detroit Show is a group project titled Woodward Avenue: Mile by Mile. The show explores the architecture, people and energy on Woodward Avenue from its start at Michigan Avenue to where it ends in Pontiac through the lenses of a number of photographers in the Exposure.Detroit group on Flickr. The show will be on January 15, 2011 at the Bean and Leaf Cafe in Royal Oak.

All photos in the show are black & white, and you can see many of them at the edwoodwardproject tag on Flickr. Of course, the way to see them all is to check out the show from January 15 – February 3!

Michigan in Pictures has a great view from Detroit’s Golden Age Looking up Woodward Avenue, takes you cruisin’ Woodward in 1951 and many more photos from Woodward Avenue to explore. You might also enjoy the Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s grand old ‘Main Street’ from the Detroit News’ Michigan History section and M-1 Woodward Avenue at Wikipedia.

Check this photo out bigger and in Terri’s massive Belle Isle and Detroit slideshow. More of her work at terrilightphoto.com.

January 2011 Michigan Events!

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Ludington Michigan New Year's Day Sunset

Ludington Michigan New Year’s Day Sunset, photo by ShaneWyatt.

Our January Event Calendar is posted on Absolute Michigan. Check it out for all kinds of January fun!

Shane took this photo as the sun was setting and the winds were whipping along at 40 MPH at the end of the first day of the 2011 in Ludington. Check it out bigger in his Michigan slideshow.

More sunsets on Michigan in Pictures.

Behind the scenes with America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Posted on by farlane


Mother Goose & Friends, photo by Eric Smith

The Michigan Picture Project had a great photo feature last year on America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (music & animated clown warning), held every year in Detroit that lifts the curtain with a stunning selection of HDR images of the floats in the warehouse. On Parade in Waiting they write:

The Thanksgiving Parade that fills Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit for several hours every year is actually an ongoing work in progress that has delighted spectators for decades. Detroit’s first Thanksgiving Parade in 1924 featured 10 floats inspired by nursery rhymes, including Mother Goose and The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, along with several marching bands. As the parade grew into a major event, new floats and characters joined those original figures, and all of these parade creations emerge from storage in huge warehouses to march again down Woodward Avenue.

Floats added in recent years celebrate Downtown Detroit, the Automobile Industry, and American Freedom. Many skilled hands collaborate to create each new float and every giant head that entertains the thousands of parade-watchers who line the route. During the weeks leading up to the parade, the floats and figures come out from warehouse storage, to be polished up in preparation for the big day. Photographer Eric Smith used a digital technique to convey the storybook magic of the parade characters as they wait to come to life.

Detroit’s Thanksgiving Parade was produced by the J. L. Hudson Company from the parade’s beginning in 1924 until 30 years ago. The store’s Display Department created and cared for the floats and giant heads. In 1979, Hudson’s passed parade sponsorship and control to Detroit Renaissance, and in 1983 that responsibility went to the Michigan Parade Foundation. Since 1990, The Parade Company has managed the parade with enthusiastic help from thousands of volunteers and support from dozens of Detroit businesses and civic groups. 

Click here to see this and the other pictures bigger and see more of Eric’s work at ericsmithphotography.com. Don’t miss the parade at 9:20 AM on Thanksgiving!

Crane Fest: Sandhill Cranes at Baker Sanctuary

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Crane Fest

Crane Fest, photo by .jowo..

Joel says that last weekend the Michigan Audubon Society and Battle Creek Kiwanis hosted Crane Fest at Baker Sanctuary, near Bellevue. The event celebrates the annual fall migration of the Sandhill Crane. While we’ve missed that, he writes:

Thousands of Sandhill Cranes gather at Big Marsh Lake every evening in October. Well worth your evening.

What my camera cannot capture is the glorious racket these large birds make. Absolutely incredible.

Shot from the Kiwanis Youth Area, which will be open from 4 to 7 every Saturday and Sunday in October. If you can’t make the festival, you can still see the spectacle. Go. You’ll enjoy!

Check this out background boomtacular and in his Baker Sanctuary slideshow.

10/10/10: Football, Fall and our Future

Posted on by farlane

4th & Goal ...
4th & Goal … photo by NightFox Photography

Tomorrow is 10/10/10. While it could be that something catastrophic or wonderfully amazing happens, if it doesn’t you may be looking for a few things to fill the time.

The Big Ten

The University of Michigan Wolverines meet the Michigan State University Spartans at 3:30 PM today. MSU has won the last two meetings and both teams are undefeated and in the AP Top 25, with the Spartans at #17 and UM ranked #18. Tomorrow, green & white or maize & blue will have something to crow about … and the Paul Bunyan Trophy. While State is my alma mater and 2nd favorite college football team, I’m going to side with my dearly departed grandmother and a childhood of 3 yards and a pile of dust with Bo and say Michigan 35 – State 32 as Denard Robinson continues his campaign for the Heisman right over Greg Jones.

The Tenth Month

October in Michigan means apples and cold nights and fall color and haunted houses. Dig in.

10/10/10

October 10, 2010 is being promoted as a global work party by the 350 Movement. Simply put, 350 is the parts per million of CO2 that science says will roll back global warming. Plant some trees, explore going solar, lay plans for transforming your business to meet the challenges of the future, get out with friends on your bikes or find another way to say “Michigan is in this for the long haul”

Check Cory’s photo out bigger and see this and more in his slideshow.

The Nameless Wizard at the Michigan Renaissance Festival

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Untitled, photo by Michael Zz.

The annual Michigan Renaissance Festival takes place Labor Day – October every year. It features jousting and other re-enactments, lots of vendors and people dressing up like this and having fun. This weekend they host the Michigan Longbow tournament and celebrate the harvest, while next weekend it’s a celebration of chocolate and a farewell to the festival.

Check this out bigger in Michael’s portraits & stuff slideshow and have a magical weekend!

More portraits from Michigan in Pictures.

Would the Loch Ness Monster be considered an invasive species?

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster, photo by Eridony.

Because the Emerald Ash Borer isn’t very photogenic, we’re taking a break from Invasive Species Week to bring you a reminder of another kind of invasion that’s about to descend on Michigan: the fabulous Grand Rapids ArtPrize! 2009 brought all kinds of incredible sights to the city, including the Nessie Project. See a bunch of them in our ArtPrize Video from 2009.

ArtPrize starts next Wednesday (September 22) and continues through October 10th. We will once again be On Location with Absolute Michigan, and we encourage you to attend and to share your photos from ArtPrize in the Absolute Michigan pool and also to the ArtPrize Promotion Group for anyone who wants to share their photos & video of ArtPrize installations and the accompanying hoopla with bloggers and online media outlets.

Be sure to check this out monstrously massive and see it and many more in Brandon’s ArtPrize slideshow!

Ann Arbor Farmers Market and the Ann Arbor HomeGrown Festival

Posted on by farlane

squashes for sale at the farmer's market
squashes for sale at the farmer’s market, photo by msdeena

Deena took this at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market (many more photos from the market on Real Time Farms). They are a producers-only market, which means everything there is grown, baked or crafted by the vendors who sell them. This Saturday (Sept 11) they are celebrating local food at the annual Ann Arbor HomeGrown Festival! On Absolute Michigan we wrote:

The Ann Arbor HomeGrown Festival is hoping you’ll help them raise a ruckus in the historic Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market pavilion this Saturday (September 11) from 6-11 PM. They’re celebrating food, farms and community with great eats and cool beverages, live music and fun for the whole family!

Entry to the Festival is FREE, and food and drink are available to purchase. A bevy of chefs are working with nearby farms to create affordable tasting portions of the best of the region’s harvest. They’ll have dozens of local libations (beer, wine, mead and hard cider) for grown-ups to enjoy. Project Grow will be back with their astounding heirloom tomato tasting – over 50 varieties to try! Lots of kids’ activities (mural arts, music-making), a huge silent auction, a “Know Your Farmer” farmstand, dozens of artisan vendors, and a fantastic lineup of music for shaking your tailfeathers. They’re on Facebook too!

Be sure to check this out big as a pumpkin and also see her massive farmer’s markets set (slideshow).

2010 Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk

Posted on by farlane


Mackinac Bridge Walk, photo by mackinacbridgerun

Every year, thousands of people come to the Mackinac Bridge on the morning of Labor Day for the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk. They’ll do it again at the 53rd annual walk on Monday, September 6, 2010 from 7-11 AM.

The Mackinac BridgeGet all the history of the Mackinac Bridge Walk from Michigan in Pictures and click that button for tons more info on the Mackinac Bridge.

View the photo larger in mackinacbridgerun’s slideshow.

2010 September Michigan Event Calendar

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Road 442.jpg

Road 442.jpg, photo by smartee_martee.
“When the goldenrod is yellow,
And leaves are turning brown –
Reluctantly the summer goes
In a cloud of thistledown.”
~ Beverly Ashour, September

In September, Holly steps back in time, Romeo bites into a peach, Hamtramck and everyone else celebrates Labor Day, Detroit gets its jazz on, Marquette & Old Town Lansing play the blues, Rochester celebrates art & apples, Mackinaw City enjoys hops & fun, Grand Haven reels in the salmon, Kalamazoo and Muskegon gets their Irish up, Paw Paw welcomes the wine Harvest (and Leelanau does too) and Grand Rapids comes back for seconds with the phenomenal ArtPrize! that’s just a few highlights!

You can check out many more September events and hear Earth, Wind & Fire singing their ode to the 9th month at the September 2010 Michigan Event Calendar on Absolute Michigan.

Marty took this shot on Road 442, north of Danaher in Luce County. Check it out background big and in his brilliant Michigan Fall Colors slideshow!

More fall wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.