Linda is one of Michigan in Pictures’ biggest fans and yesterday she dropped the fact that much of Michigan was facing what could be the driest September since we started keeping records in 1877 until recently! mLive shared that although September 2024 remains historically dry, the rain of the last few days is helping to combat the drought.
Also I am of course very happy to add the latest photo the Michigan in Pictures Duckie Project, a decade-spanning chronicle of our feathered, floating friends!
The newly discovered asteroid, named 2024 PT5, will temporarily be captured by Earth’s gravity and orbit our world from September 29 to November 25, according to astronomers. Then, the space rock will return to a heliocentric orbit, which is an orbit around the sun.
…The space rock could be anywhere between 16 and 138 feet (5 and 42 meters) in diameter, potentially larger than the asteroid that entered Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013 … But as a mini-moon, Asteroid 2024 PT5 isn’t in any danger of colliding with Earth now or over the next few decades, de la Fuente Marcos said. The space rock will orbit about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) away, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
Kathie shares that Thumb Lake in Charlevoix County was foggy and lovely when she took this back in October of 2009. See more in her Top 40 gallery on Flickr. Also I get that we’re all worked up about AI, but please look at the 2009 date of the photo ;)
During the 20th century, expanding cities, new technologies, and changing lifestyles generated demand for new housing, offices and infrastructure—increasingly built to towering proportions. The booming construction industry depended on skilled workers capable of navigating great heights … Named for their historical role maintaining ecclesiastical buildings, ‘steeplejacks’ are the skilled tradespeople who assess, maintain and construct tall buildings, structures and towers.
On Saturday the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians held their first annual Sturgeon Release Ceremony to return Nmé (Lake Sturgeon) into the Boardman-Ottaway River. The event included a ceremony, prayers, food, drinks, and a community release of hundreds of juvenile Nmé. The photo shows Percy Bird releasing a young sturgeon into the Boardman-Ottaway.
Michigan Sea Grant shares that lake sturgeon live longer than any other fish species in Michigan with males living an average of 55 years and females 80-150 years. Despite their long lives, sturgeon are very slow to mature. It takes about 15 years for male lake sturgeon to reach reproductive maturity and 20-25 years for females. In early spring, adult sturgeon enter fast-flowing rivers to spawn. Female lake sturgeon spawn once every four years, each depositing million of eggs on gravel bars. It is estimated that only about 10-20 percent of adult lake sturgeon within a population spawn during a given year.
Thank you to the GTB Natural Resources Department & Grand Traverse Band members and all who were part of restoring balance to Michigan’s waters. Also thank you to my friend Holly T. Bird who shared this photo with me. She doesn’t have a photography website, but she is the co-executive director of the amazing organization Title Track that uses creative practice to build resilient social-ecological systems supporting clean water, racial equity, and youth empowerment.
This photo I shared eight years ago is a great example of contre-jour, the term for shooting directly into the light source. Luther explains that the light creates a form of the subject without releasing its precious and cluttered details unto photography’s artistry. See many more examples in his Contre-Jour gallery on Flickr and for sure view & purchase his work on his website.
…also known as sun rays, are a mesmerizing atmospheric optics phenomenon that captivates the imagination. These ethereal beams of light, streaming through gaps in clouds, create a breathtaking display of nature’s beauty. The parallel columns of sunlit air, separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions, give the impression of diverging rays, much like the parallel furrows of freshly ploughed fields or a road that appears to narrow with distance.
The visibility of crepuscular rays is made possible by the scattering of sunlight by various atmospheric components. Airborne dust, inorganic salts, organic aerosols, small water droplets, and even the air molecules themselves all play a role in scattering the sunlight and making the rays visible.
I shared this photo several years ago and I’m not gonna say I won’t share it again! 😅 John took the pic at Sunday Lake in Wakefield. For more, follow him on Facebook & view and purchase his work at michigannutphotography.com.
One of the most popular petroglyphs in the park is a figure of an archer, known in Anishinaabemowin as ebmodaakowet. The figure’s body is an arrow, as is his hat, and he holds a bow and arrow in his hands.
“Early on, when archeologists who were not consulting with tribes, you know, saw that, they thought, oh, surely this must be a hunting magic. They took it very literally. ” explained Tchorzynski. “But actually, this ebmodaakowet is actually shooting the arrow of knowledge seven generations into the future. And this was a carving that was left with great love and great affection for descendants in the future, to remind people of our responsibilities to be good ancestors, to preserve and remember, and our obligation to shoot the arrow of knowledge into the future as well. We all must be good ancestors.”
The fragile carvings are easily affected by natural forces. The Marshall sandstone is a very soft rock, and so many of the petroglyphs have faded naturally throughout the centuries. Over the years, the petroglyphs have also been damaged by human hands. Parts of them have been vandalized, and pieces of the stone have been chipped away and taken. In order to protect the carvings from degrading over time, a wooden pavilion was erected over the site. A rope now separates visitors from the rock.
I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. -Louisa May Alcott
It’s been too long since I shared a photo from Beth. I just love her work!! See more in her Waterscapes / Nautical gallery on Flickr & safe (but interesting) voyages.
If you’ve been following Michigan in Pictures for any length of time, you are almost certainly familiar with the work of Michigan Nut aka John McCormick. He just announced that his 2025 Michigan Calendars are available so what are you waiting for??
You don’t take a photograph. You make it. ~ Ansel Adams
Great photography is not easy! Karl shares “Laying practically under my tripod and up against a prickly picker bush, I’m narrowly able to cram in this craggily white birch with a few remaining autumn leaves that are just barely hanging. In the crisp and cold October morning air, I caught one of the nicest and richest sunrises I’ve ever experienced over Lake Superior. This was a good morning.“
Michigan in Pictures 