Moon Shadow Self Portrait, photo by yooper1949.
We’ll stay outside and under the stars with this photo taken across from Pickerel Cove Campground in Isle Royale National Park. Carl writes that he was trying to photograph the bright stars filling the sky while keeping his shadow out of the shot. He finally decided to go with it (to great effect in my opinion).
Check it out bigger in his Under the Stars slideshow.
Light During the Storm, photo by Schlef.
Seth writes:
This is Point Betsie lighthouse near Frankfort, Michigan. As we came in from fishing for the night, a storm was kicking up. I headed up to the lighthouse to find a few other people watching the storm roll in; however, once it started to rain and lightning nearby I was left to myself. The clouds are being completely lit by a lightning strike.
For anyone who is a regular around the area, this was during the ridiculous wind storm during the beginning of September. Winds were between 20 and 25 mph and gusts up to 35 mph for over two days straight.
The winds were absolutely ridiculous. Check it out bigger in his Northern Michigan slideshow or view it on black.
More night photos from Michigan in Pictures!
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!
Zebra Mussels, photo by cedarkayak.
“In terms of the whole food web, I don’t think there’s any question that zebra and quagga mussels have had the largest impact on the biological communities of the Great Lakes”
~Tom Nalepa, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
Today’s villain in our Michigan Invasive Species series are Zebra Mussels & Quagga Mussels. That feature on Absolute Michigan goes in depth about who they are and what they do so I won’t go on and on here except to say that as someone who walks the beaches of Lake Michigan often, there’s few things that make me sadder or madder than these little bastards. They’ve trashed the food chain, spawned all manner of nasty plants & algae and they slice up your feet.
Todd writes:
This stretch of beach on South Manitou Island was once filled with sugary white sand. Today, the beach is covered in razor sharp zebra mussel shells. I knelt to take then photo, and when I stood, my knee was bleeding in 3 places.
Check this out background big and in his Lake Michigan slideshow.
End Of the Day, photo by Rob the Photog.
This week is Invasive Species Week on Absolute Michigan and Michigan in Pictures and today on Absolute Michigan we took a long look at the 800 pound gorilla of invasive species in Michigan, the Asian carp. These frightening fish have made their way up the Mississippi River and can weigh up to 100 pounds, grow to four feet in length, eat voraciously and make rabbits look like pikers when it comes to reproduction. Via TIME Magazine:
“They just eat so much,” says David Ullrich, executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. “They’re like the locusts of the river.”
That’s what makes them so dangerous to the lakes. Asian carp aren’t direct predators, but they eat plankton, which knocks out the bottom layers of the food chain. If they were to successfully establish themselves in the Great Lakes and start breeding, they could utterly disrupt the existing ecosystem, potentially starving out the trout and other native fish that make the Great Lakes a tourism hot spot.
Estimates put the Great Lakes sport and commercial fishery at $2.5 to $7 billion. While the loss of this would be a terrible shame, the thought that one day you wouldn’t see photos like this of a parent and child enjoying Michigan’s amazing fishery seems worse to me.
Rob feels this is one of the best photos he’s ever taken. Check it out bigger and in his slideshow.
And if you can, make sure you write your representatives to tell them how important it is to stop the Asian carp in Chicago!
Shell Cluster, photo by johndecember.
All week we’re going to be featuring invasive species – who they are, what they’re doing to our lakes & land and how folks are working to stop them. See the articles as we post them on Absolute MichiganMichigan in Pictures and !
I actually already blogged this photo to Pandora’s Locks: How Invasive Species got into the Great Lakes on Absolute Michigan. The book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn how the way the shipping industry operates guarantees that invasive species will spread.
You will note that John has TWO invaders here, the zebra mussel and the Asian ladybird beetle. Check this out bigger in John’s slideshow!
Crisp Point Lighthouse, photo by Mario.Q
Terry Pepper says that a visit to Crisp Point is a “must” for any lighthouse fans, as it remains one of the most desolate and beautiful locations in all of the Great Lakes. He should know, as he’s the last word in Great Lakes Lighthouses. On his Crisp Point Lighthouse entry he writes:
The Lake Superior coastline between Whitefish Point and Grand Island stands as one of the most beautiful stretches of shoreline in all of the Midwest. With pleasure boaters, tour boats and kayakers making their leisurely way along the coast to soak up the natural beauty. It is difficult to imagine that during the 1800’s this stretch of seemingly bucolic coastline was known to mariners as “The Shipwreck Coast,” with the hulks of innumerable vessels pushed onto the shore by violent storms out of the north, or lost in the pea soup fogs which frequently enveloped the area.
…Congress approved the establishment of four life saving stations between Vermilion and Deer Park on June 20, 1874, one of which was designated as Station Ten, and built at an unnamed point approximately fifteen miles west of Whitefish Point. Although David Grummond was appointed as the first keeper at life saving station 10, it would be Christopher Crisp who served as keeper from 1878 until 1890 who would have the most lasting impact on the area, as Crisp became so well known that the point on which the station was established would become forever known as “Crisp’s Point.”
Much more about the lighthouse at the link above and also from the Crisp Point Historical Society.
Check it out bigger and in Mario’s Great Outdoors slideshow.
Many more Michigan Lighthouses on Michigan in Pictures.
Thrill seekers, photo by R.J.E..
Today’s post is filed under do not try this at home. My daughter was a passenger in a scary car accident last night. Nobody was hurt but it’s important to remember that you always get a second chance until the time you don’t.
Check it out bigger and in RJE’s slideshow.
Winter Blues at the Ludington North Breakwater Light has more about the history of this Michigan lighthouse!
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).
Calm After the Storm, photo by unifiedphoto.
Yesterday the winds were absolutely howling in Northern Michigan under one of the strongest windstorms I’ve ever seen in September. The lake in the front is North Bar Lake and that’s Empire Bluffs in the background – both are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
On his blog Ken writes that this photo is the result of a beta version of Nik HDR Efex Pro software – impressive indeed! Be sure to check it out bigger and in Ken’s Landscapes slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures 