long (overdue) exposures from Grand Rapids

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

first impressions

first impressions, photo by powerbooktrance.

This photo that Terry took of Grand Rapids last night was one of the first I saw this morning.

There’s a lot of people who are featured on Michigan in Pictures who really could have their own photo blog. Because this blog is all about views from everywhere in Michigan, I try to make sure that I don’t feature photos from my favorite photographers too often. That said, I do want to make sure that readers see their work, so I was stunned to find that I’d apparently never posted one of Terry’s photos here.

You can see more of his great long exposures of Grand Rapids and elsewhere (slideshow) including one of my favorites: Moon Patrol.

Bobcat in Michigan

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Bobcat

Bobcat, photo by pnygirl1.

Sometimes when I’m not sure what Michigan in Pictures will be about, I look at my Michigan events calendar for inspiration. There were no events, but the calendar also shows hunting information. I saw that on Monday, Bobcat Trapping Season opened in northern Michigan. That jarred me enough to go looking for stuff about bobcats in Michigan.

In this closer view of the cat, BJ says that she photographed this bobcat the Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids, that he was taken in from Tennessee as an injured animal and that his name is BOB.

The very excellent University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s Animal Diversity Web has information & photos about bobcat (Lynx rufus). You can find a lot more in the Wikipedia entry for Bobcat, which says that these cats are phenomenal climbers that are crepuscular (most active at twilight and dawn) and found all over North America. As to their size:

The adult male Bobcat is 28 to 47 inches long, averaging 36 inches; this includes a stubby 4 to 7 inch (10–18 cm) tail, which has a “bobbed” appearance and gives the species its name. An adult stands about 14 or 15 inches (36–38 cm) at the shoulders. Adult males usually range from 16 to 30 pounds (7–14 kg); females average about 20 pounds (9 kg). The Bobcat is muscular, and its hind legs are longer than its front legs, giving it a bobbing gait. At birth it weighs 0.6 to 0.75 pounds (280–340 g) and is about 10 inches (25 cm) in length. By its first year it will reach about 10 pounds (4.5 kg)

Don Harrison has several photos of a bobcat by the side of the road and also old postcards of a bobcat crossing the Military Rd near Stateline, MI and a bobcat at Lake Baldwin. Here’s a video of a bobcat crossing a bridge that gives you an idea of how these animals move.

Finally, any of you who were hoping for bobcat trapping are out of luck as the season is (permanently?) closed south of the bridge according to the DNR’s bobcat trapping page. Here’s the link to report bobcat, cougar and lynx to the Michigan DNR.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The Ultimate Sacrifice - Black and White

The Ultimate Sacrifice – Black and White, photo by DarrinW.

Darrin took this photo at Veterans Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I think it’s a good idea for everyone to take a pause in their activity this weekend to consider the profound sacrifices that so many have made on the behalf of our nation … and also that there are people today making those same sacrifices.

Of the nearly 4000 US Iraq War casualties listed at icasualties.org are 145 Michigan residents from Alpena to Ypsilanti and points in between. Take a moment to read the names listed under Michigan on this page.

I am reminded of a brief comment by former Governor William Milliken in this 2006 WKAR interview where he briefly touched on the war in Iraq, saying he was gravely concerned that Americans are not called upon to sacrifice personally in this war as we have been in past conflicts. Food for thought.

Speaking of WKAR, they are have a pretty cool Michigan Voices from World War II program airing at 7 PM Sunday night (Nov 11). Their web site includes stories shared by veterans – here’s a couple from Michigan WW II veterans and you can add your own story. There’s also a link to The War by Ken Burns on PBS that includes a number of online segments.

The Freep has a number of Detroit area Veteran’s Day observances and we received details on the Detroit Veteran’s Day March held today (Saturday, Nov 10) at noon from Grand Circus Park to Campus Martius. I suppose your local paper has more because there doesn’t seem to be a statewide listing to be found.

You might also appreciate the Michigan Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Michigan in Pictures, photos for “veteran” in the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr (slideshow), and many of the items at Absolute Michigan keyword veteran including Michigan Veterans and Veterans Day from last year.

Avalon

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Avalon

Avalon, photo by Mac Girl.

…or Millenium Park, Grand Rapids. Katie says it’s one of her favorites.

Justice & Monroe

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Justice & Monroe

Justice & Monroe, photo by nofunk.

…in Downtown Grand Rapids. Part of Nolan’s Grand Rapids set.

I found places where they say “The historic Justice & Monroe building in Grand Rapids” but I can’t find any history. Anyone know anything about this very cool looking building?

Envision Michigan

Posted on by farlane

reflection off the grand by oldbrushes

reflection off the grand, photo by oldbrushes

One of my big goals with Michigan in Pictures is to share the beauty of our state, and I’ve been happy to discover so many other people like Kathy who feel the same love for Michigan and want to share it too.

It’s no secret, however, that our state’s economic and political environment is less than beautiful. An organization that I’ve been working with lately, The Center for Michigan, is striving to aid in in the transformation of Michigan’s business, economic, political and cultural climate. To that end (they write):

We’re launching the Envision Michigan Story Competition. Submit your best shots and you can win some of $30,000 in college scholarships, $5,000 in great Michigan vacation packages, or weekly shopping sprees to Meijer.

Entering is very easy. Just pick your best photo and explain it in a 350-word caption. For your best chance to win, make sure your caption explains what you love about our state, what you want to change about our state, your best vision for Michigan’s future.

You can also enter essays and videos – click for all the details on the Envision Michigan Competition and please share this around with everyone you know!

If you’re a Flickr user, you can also add your photos to their Michigan photos group.

Reflections of the Past

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Reflections of the Past

Reflections of the Past, photo by the pentax hammer.

Gary says:

Yeah, I know… everyone in Grand Rapids has taken a photograph of this. But how many of them did it the way I did? Leaning against a lamppost, hand holding a camera to capture 3 RAW shots, without a tripod? NOW you are only talking about half of the residents of Grand Rapids!

The old building is the beautiful McKay Tower. The new building is… well… just another glass building :-)

See the same building in winter…

Downtown Grand Rapids

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Downtown Grand Rapids

Downtown Grand Rapids, photo by DarrinW.

Darrin says that this is one of his favorite vantage points to view downtown GR, and he’s put it up big enough that you can make your desktop another excellent place to view Michigan’s second largest city!

Steel

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Steel

Steel, photo by MxPx.

Construction in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Be sure to look at it bigger.

Vintage Base Ball and the Kent Base Ball Club

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

2002 (213)

2002 (213), photo by xman12.

I think it’s pretty cool that just hours after Brian H got me interested in the Kent Base Ball Club, Detroit Tiger pitcher Justin Verlander hurled a no-hitter.

The Vintage Base Ball Association says that base ball (two words prior to the 1880s) is a re-creation of the game based on rules of the late 1850s, 1860s and 1880s. Michigan boasts 13 base ball teams – more than any state.

The Kent Base Ball Club of Grand Rapids is a founding member of the Vintage Base Ball Association.

Grand Rapids’ first team, the Kent Base Ball Club of Grand Rapids was formed on April 4, 1867, when a group of Civil War veterans formed a club to continue playing the game they had learned while in the army. Silas K. Pierce, who had recently moved to the city from Ionia, was elected as the club’s first president…

One hundred and twenty-three years later, in 1990, a group of local enthusiasts led by city historian, Gordon Olson, decided to reorganize the Kents and play the game of base ball as it had originally been done in the 1860s. Olson had found the original constitution and by-laws of the Kent Base Ball Club in the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Center at the public library, and was curious to see how the old game compared to its modern counterpart. The newly reconstituted Kents now play an average of 12-15 games per summer, and have appeared in Columbus, Ohio; Fayette State Park, Greenfield Village, Old Kent Park (all in Michigan), and Doubleday Field at Cooperstown, New York. In period uniforms, they do their best to live up to the enthusiasm and dedication to sportsmanship and fair play that motivated the original Kents.

Every year in early June they play the Silas K. Pierce Cup (State of Michigan Championship) at John Ball Park in Grand Rapids and you can get a schedule, more history and links at their site.

xman12 has over 1200 photos of the Kent Base Ball Club in action.