Almost Frozen, heavy on the “Almost”

Almost Frozen

Almost Frozen, photo by suesue2.

Sue says that Stony Creek Lake (at the Huron-Clinton Stony Creek Metropark is not quite ready for ice skating or ice fishing.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources would like to underline that warning to ice fishing and snowmobile enthusiasts:

“Just because a lake or stream is frozen doesn’t mean the ice is safe,” said Lt. Creig Grey, marine safety and education supervisor for the DNR Law Enforcement Division. “Ice fishing has its own set of safety rules that if not followed, can cause a day of fishing to end in tragedy.”

According to Grey, you can’t always tell the strength of ice simply by its look, its thickness, the temperature or whether or not it is covered with snow. New ice, he said, generally is much stronger than old ice; a couple of inches of new clear ice may be strong enough to support you, though a foot of old, air-bubbled ice will not.

“Clear ice that has a bluish tint is the strongest,” Grey said. “Ice formed by melted and refrozen snow appears milky, is very porous and very weak.”

Three Faces of the Barton Dam

Barton Dam (Photomatix HDR)

Barton Dam (Photomatix HDR), photo by jhoweaa.

The photographer has posted three versions of this photo of the Barton Dam in Ann Arbor and is interested in hearing which of the three folks prefer. They also write “I really like this dam. It was designed by University of Michigan Dean of Architecture Emil Lorch and built in 1912” and provide a link to this great historical photo of the Barton Dam being built.

Here are the other two images (original and normal HDR):

A visit to Cranbrook House and Gardens

Untitled, photo by Rhonda_Marie.

Last weekend, the Exposure.Detroit group on Flickr held a photography meetup at Cranbrook. Here is a link to many more great photos taken at Cranbrook.

Cranbrook House and Gardens in Bloomfield Hills is the heart of the over 300-acre National Historic Landmark Cranbrook campus. The English Arts and Crafts-style Cranbrook House was designed by Detroit architect Albert Kahn in 1908 for Detroit News publisher George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth. The home is the oldest surviving manor in the metro Detroit area. According to the Cranbrook House and Gardens site:

The Booths commissioned the finest artisans, craftsmen and studios of the period to furnish the house with handcrafted furniture, tapestries, tiles, stained and leaded glass, and other works of fine and decorative art.

The 40 acres of gardens that surround Cranbrook House were originally designed by George Booth to entice visitors to savor the serenity of the spring and summer months. From the symmetry of the Sunken Garden to the scent of the herbaceous garden to the casual beauty of the bog garden, there is something to capture everyone’s interest. Sculpture, fountains and architectural fragments enhance the setting with spacious lawns, specimen trees, and a lake stretching out beyond the fieldstone walls.

Also see Cranbrook’s History in the Cranbrook Archives and How one man’s bad luck paved way for creation of Cranbrook from the Detroit News Rearview Mirror. Also see this map of the Cranbrook area with geotagged photos.

Ice Macro

Ice Macro by photoqueen1234

Ice Macro, photo by photoqueen1234

Of course, this photo looks great larger … and Toni has a few more like it.

Ford Airstream

Ford Airstream

Ford Airstream, photo by Spencer Olinek.

Spencer calls this a wonderfully crazy concept from Ford and Airstream. As a former Airstream owner, I have to agree!

You can get many more photos of the Ford Airstream Concept on Flick and also in this Ford Airstream photo gallery at Airstream.com. If this wacky ride isn’t your style, you’ll probably find something to your liking in the 2007 North American International Auto Show pool.

Also, as a part of our auto show coverage, we have posted our latest Michigan Automotive History feature on the Ford Motor Company.

Early Morning Ice in the Law Quad

Early Morning Ice in the Law Quad

Early Morning Ice in the Law Quad, photo by bleeding.patriot.

The photographer writes Ann Arbor has been hit by several days worth of freezing rain. Nearly 1/4 inch of ice has accumulated on the trees, creating a surrealistic winter effect.

Here are a whole bunch more photos of Michigan’s January 2007 ice storm and you can read more about the impact in Winter hits home, with a vengeance in the Detroit News.

Detroit Public Library Mural

Detroit Public Library

Detroit Public Library, photo by DSPII.

Mac also has a photo of the exterior of the main branch of the DPL.

I searched and searched for information about this mural and found nothing, even at the Detroit Public Library web site. I did find several more pics from the library at DetroitFunk. Still, if anyone knows the tale of this mural, I would love to hear it!

.exposure.detroit.people mover safari

Untitled, photo by tEdGuY49.

On December 30th, members of the Exposure.Detroit group took a photo safari on the People Mover in Detroit. Ted has a whole set of photos from the outing that you will want to check out and you can also click for a slideshow of a bunch of photos from the People Mover safari. (and you should – there are some really excellent photos there!)

The concept of a real-world photo outing ties in very nicely with an article about online communities extending to the offline world today on Absolute Michigan. It would be great to hear from folks about what they think of this.

Water And Sky 2

Water And Sky 2

Water And Sky 2, photo by s•stop.

I didn’t say anything about the last photo I blogged from this photographer, and though I feel that I should say something about this one, all I can come up with is: “Check out all Sam’s photos because he has some amazing shots from all over the world.”

Holler: Detroit Photos + Detroit Cobras

Edited Dec 20, 2014: Unfortunately the photo that was featured here was deleted. Here’s the video instead…

Absolute Michigan’s first Michigan photo-video titled Holler: Detroit Photos + Detroit Cobras featuring great photos of the Motor City and a rockin’ Detroit Cobras tune.

Thanks to all the photographers who shared work that is in here and also to those who did but aren’t (there’s over 1500 pics of Detroit in the Absolute Michigan pool!)

PS: There’s 20,000+ pics of Detroit now!!