photo

March Madness x3: MSU Spartans, UM Wolverines & Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Posted on March 14, 2011March 18, 2011 by farlane

Darius Morris by JS_Owens || MSU Basketball #10 by Blackbeard Ben || summit league championship by elishapage

After weeks of uncertainty, the state of Michigan was rewarded with not one or two but three NCAA Tournament bids!

The University of Michigan Wolverines (20-13) received a #8 seed, higher than most expected and meet #9 seed Tennessee at 12: 40 PM on Friday in the West Regional in Charlotte. It’s a high seed but a tough slot as they will likely face #1 seed Duke in the 2nd round if they advance. The good news is that Duke is considered by many the weakest of the #1s and Tennessee is 4-7 over their past 11 games.

The Michigan State University Spartans (19-14) managed their 14th straight NCAA bid, a #10 seed. They square off against #7 seed UCLA at 9:20 PM on Thursday in the the Southeast Regional in Tampa, Fla. If the Spartans win, they would probably meet #2 seed Florida on Saturday. While MSU always seems to endure some struggles, this season has been especially trying.

Michigan’s third bid went to the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (25-9). They received a #13 seed and will face one of the dominant teams of the season who fell on hard times late, #4 seed Texas (27-7) in Tulsa on Friday at 12:15. The Golden Grizzlies are #2 in the country in points per game and shooting percentage, something they will really need Friday!

You can check out the bracket on ESPN, read more at the Freep and also check out Pat Forde’s Big Breakdown of the Tourney.

March 11, 2011 Northern Lights over Lake Superior

Posted on March 12, 2011 by farlane

Editor’s note: I had planned a post about Michigan St. Patrick’s Day parades, some of which take place today or tomorrow. Check out information for St. Paddy’s celebrations in Detroit, Bay City, Clare, Flint,Kalamazoo, Grand Ledge, Saugatuck, Traverse City and Muskegon. Sorry about that, but when the Aurora Borealis calls, I’m picking up the phone!

March 11 Northern Lights over Lake Superior, photo by Shawn Malone

Last week Michigan in Pictures featured an article saying that the prospects for Northern Lights viewing in Michigan were looking great for the next couple of years. Thanks to Pure Michigan’s Facebook, that post became the most popular ever.

Yesterday on Facebook (does it look like I’m spending too much time there??) I saw that photographer Shawn Malone of Lake Superior Photo had captured a fantastic series of northern lights shots over the frozen landscape of Lake Superior near Marquette in the early morning of March 11th. She writes:

Nice to see the northern lights back, I caught the tail end of the strongest part of the display. These were taken along the Lake Superior shore near Marquette MI.

Lights were bright, brightest I’ve seen them in years. Snow did a good job reflecting the light hitting it.

See the whole gallery on Facebook. Shawn and Brian haven’t posted the photos to their site yet, but when they do, they’ll likely be in the Northern Lights section which includes some truly jaw-dropping photos!

If you’re interesting in keeping up with geo-magnetic forecasts, I would recommend NOAA’s Space Weather site, which includes the ability to subscribe for updates (link to “Email Products” at the bottom of the page). Definitely tune into the Northern Lights on Michigan in Pictures, and if you see the aurora, post a comment on the Michigan Northern Lights Log!

Absolute Michigan Photo Fridays: Churning

Posted on March 11, 2011March 11, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Churning, photo by Jeff Gaydash.

For those of you who are looking for another photo every week, I encourage you to check out Photo Fridays on Absolute Michigan. Almost every week, we feature the work of one of the great photographers in our Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr, along with some of their thoughts about photography and the state of Michigan.

We started in 2006 and have posted almost 200 Photo Fridays. With 2805 photographers as of today in the group, we’ll be done in 53 years!

Definitely view Jeff’s photo from Port Sanilac bigger and check out his sets including Piezography Prints, The Great Lakes, Architektura and Explored! (slideshow).

Jumping through March

Posted on March 10, 2011 by farlane

6 March 11, photo by singlecupofcoffee

March is one of the toughest times to be a Michigander as Mother Nature teases us with the promise of spring and then reminds us that winter isn’t yet over. Megan Elizabeth has decided (once again) that the best way to get through March is by jumping, and she’s selected umbrellas for the win.

Check this out bigger and in Megan’s march twenty-eleven JUMPS slideshow, and if you have your own strategy for dealing with March-induced cabin fever, share it in the comments!

Holga: Lake Erie

Posted on March 9, 2011March 9, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Holga: Lake Erie, photo by Matt Callow.

Matt took this shot of an ice-locked Lake Erie 4 years ago. A check of Great Lakes Coastwatch shows that there’s still considerable ice on Lake Erie!

You can see it bigger in his Holga slideshow.

Many more Holga camera shots – including another one from this location by Matt – on Michigan in Pictures!

Five Things You Need to Know about Michigan in Pictures

Posted on March 8, 2011March 8, 2011 by farlane

Untitled, photo by ansonredford

Yesterday was the busiest day ever on Michigan in Pictures thanks to Pure Michigan featuring us on the PureMichigan.org Facebook. It’s so great that they noticed us and I wanted to post a little note of thanks and also to let new folks know a thing or two about Michigan in Pictures, so (stealing a page from Absolute Michigan) here we go with Five Things You Need to Know about Michigan in Pictures:

Founded in December of 2005 by the same folks who produce Absolute Michigan, Michigan in Pictures has been around for a while, longer even than Pure Michigan! In that time, we’ve posted a photo a day (except for Sunday), and that means we have hundreds of posts – 1654 to be exact – about just about everything, including the Lake of the Clouds in the Porcupine Wilderness State Park.
In addition to searching for photos, you can also click the categories in the right bar or below every photo to see pictures of everything from Michigan parks to lighthouses to historical photos to wallpaper for your computer background!
A common question is “How do I get my photos on Michigan in Pictures?” You can click here for the long answer, but the short answer is that most of the photos come from the Absolute Michigan pool on the photo site Flickr. If you want a chance to see your photo featured here, add them to that group on Flickr!
One of the things that we feel pretty strongly is that photographers need to be recognized for their work, so we always try and give you something about the photographer and links to other places you can see their work. We always respect copyright and urge you to do the same!
You can also share your photos with us and our readers on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook.

Anyway, thanks for reading Michigan in Pictures and please feel welcome to subscribe to Michigan in Pictures for new posts by email using the form at the top right!

Anson took this photo in September of 2006 – check it out background boomtacular and in his Porcupine Mountains slideshow!

Celebrate the Great Lakes at the Benzie Water Festival!

Posted on March 7, 2011March 7, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

The Beach at Green Point Dunes, photo by jimflix!.

The 2011 Benzie County Water Festival takes place next weekend (March 19-21, 2011) in Frankfort. The Water Festival moves around Michigan, bringing the message of the vitality of Michigan’s water all around the state in different seasons.

We have an in-depth feature on Absolute Michigan about the festival that includes a number of videos featuring Water Festival presenters including Tom Kelly of the Inland Seas Educations Association; Derek Bailey Tribal Chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Hans VanSumeren, Director of Northwestern Michigan College’s Water Studies Institute and musicians Seth Bernard & May Erlewine.

This will be a unique event designed to engage folks in the stewardship of the Great Lakes, the global freshwater crisis and the cultivation of a vibrant and sustainable local culture. A family-oriented, community-centered program will feature Michigan musicians, speeches from water luminaries, interactive multimedia projects and presentations, artisan foods and beverages, workshops, visual art, theater and dance, children’s activities, an ice fishing contest, as well as connections to campaigns and projects protecting our water locally and/or addressing global water challenges.

The Benzie County Water Festival is co-sponsored by the Benzie Conservation District and Absolute Michigan. For more information, check out the Benzie Water Festival Facebook

Get much more information about performers, presenters and special events at water-festival.org!

Jim took this shot at the Green Point Dunes Nature Preserve, a gorgeous nature area that is part of a huge swath of Lake Michigan shore that has been protected. If you check it out bigger, you can see the Frankfort Lighthouse in the distance (and yes – Jim has one or two shots of that!).

Northern Lights: Best Viewing in a Decade for Michigan

Posted on March 5, 2011September 22, 2012 by Michigan in Pictures

aurora borealis #6, photo by ats8110.

In Best northern lights viewing in Michigan on mLive, Kim Schneider writes that:

The Aurora Borealis is entering a new cycle of higher activity, offering the best viewing in 10 years in Michigan, said astronomer Dick Cookman, a retired professor of astronomy, geology and environmental science at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. Cookman posts monthly night sky updates at enerdynet.com, the website of his Suttons Bay science and nature store, Enerdyne.

The strongest solar flare in four years erupted a couple of weeks ago, Cookman said. If not for the cloud cover that obscured the drama, it would have led to light displays visible as far south as Upper Iowa, South-Central Wisconsin and mid-Michigan. The best part, he noted, is that the 7- to 11-year cycle is just beginning, offering great northern lights viewing possibilities likely to peak in 2012 or 2013.

Read on for viewing tips and some great links. You can see more of the aurora borealis on Michigan in Pictures including what makes the colors of the northern lights, predicting the northern lights and unlocking the mystery of the northern lights. If you do see the aurora borealis, be sure to post it to the Northern Lights Log on Absolute Michigan.

Aaron took these near Clare in November of 2004 and asks if you see the Big Dipper. Check out the Northern Lights gallery on his website or his aurora borealis slideshow.

Winter Stars

Posted on March 4, 2011March 4, 2011 by Michigan in Pictures

Winter Stars, photo by marubozo.

One of my favorite local radio programs is Bob Moler’s Ephemeris, which has tons of information about the stars and night sky and serves as a great reminder to “Look up!”

Check this photo out bigger and in Jeremy’s Astronomy slideshow.