up_hunter_point_026_m1_screen, photo by pntphoto.
This photo is part of a set of photos from Hunter’s Point Park near Copper Harbor, Michigan that I think is best viewed as a slideshow (you can also see where it is on a map).
The web site for Hunter’s Point has a neat aerial photo in which you can see the Isle Royale Queen ferry which was captured along with fireworks & northern lights in this photo.
State Fair, 1974, photo courtesy Archives of Michigan
The Image of the Month for August 2007 from the Archives of Michigan:
In this 1974 photo, six year-old Jennifer Weise tugs on a Holstein cow’s ear. The animal was one of 8,000 displayed at the Michigan State Fair that year.
Michigan’s first State Fair was held in Detroit in 1849. The Michigan Agricultural Society sponsored and organized the event. The fair moved to Ann Arbor in 1850 and then back to Detroit from 1851-1862. From 1863-1904, it rotated amongst different Michigan cities.
Read the rest of the history of the Michigan State Fairs (there’s also a UP fair) and click for the official sites for the Michigan State Fair (Wednesday, August 22nd through Labor Day, September 3rd, 2007) and the Upper Peninsula State Fair (held August 13th – 19, 2007).
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Grandfather Beech (4 photos), by Eye See 360
I am pretty sure that the above photos are by Betsy Lewis , whose work is featured at the Tahquamenon Area Library in Newberry. The Mining Journal has an article on the exhibit. They had planned around an arts grant from the state (which was cut), but they are still holding an amateur photo contest. It’s the 4th annual and the theme is Trees. You can get more information about the contest right here, but even if you don’t enter, consider what Betsy has to say about trees:
Our economy, our recreation, our lives are dependent on trees. They build our homes, provide fuel, jobs, clean the air, provide respite for us and are home to many creatures besides us. They provide roots, they are flexible, they bend, they break, they change. They surround us and uplift us and inspire us to reach for the sky.
Tahquamenon Falls, photo by A. Runyon.
Well, about a month ago I blogged this photo of the Mackinac Bridge.
Apparently, Amanda found this on the other side. She has another equally amazing photo right here, and you can read more about the Tahquamenon Falls on Michigan in Pictures.
I have to add that it’s a beautiful thing when someone makes a photo like this available in “background size”. ;)
Northern Lights, photo by Harry Thomas
My friend Harry sent me this photo of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) over North Lake Leelanau. He says that at about 2am on a very windy Tuesday night, the neighbor’s sailboat came off the mooring. He got up to check his boat and got a light show! And yes, that is a shooting star in the top right … how amazing!
I thought I had the comprehensive Northern Lights post already on Michigan in Pictures. Turns out not. I’m not sure that this is, but if you add links to more Michigan Northern Lights photos in the comments and I include a link to the Michigan in Pictures northern lights tag, we’ll have a good start!
No post about the Northern Lights is complete without a link to the Michigan Tech based Aurora Page, which has been a source for Information, links and images about the “Northern Lights” on-line since the Web began. The site’s creator, Michael Dolan, took some great photos of the Northern Lights over Lake Superior (click the images when you get there for best quality images) and this site is simply the best Aurora Borealis resource on the internet.
Also in the U.P., Ann and John Mahan have an Aurora Borealis gallery that has a lot of Upper Peninsula photos (as well as others from the Great Lakes region). They have some cool books too! You can get some more Lake Superior aurora shots from Shawn & Brian Malone.
Heading back to Leelanau County, photographer Ken Scott has some Northern Lights in his online gallery (more in his books as well!). While we’re in Leelanau, I guess I can add a link to my Northern Lights gallery on Leelanau.com (I have a few are wallpaper-sized on Flickr and there’s some Northern Lights backgrounds on this page). In the interests of completeness, I better include a link to Wikipedia’s Aurora entry.
Keep your eyes on the skies, because Northern Lights often come in waves and if you DO see them, be sure to post them on the Michigan Northern Lights Log on Absolute Michigan!
This morning I looked at fireworks photos from this year’s Independence Day fireworks displays at Sylvan Lake, Muskegon, Schoolcraft, Detroit, Traverse City, Lansing, Bay City, Jackson, Wyandotte, Lost Lake Woods, Rockford, Ann Arbor, Flint, West Branch, Kensington Park, Detroit and even my hometown of Leland. They came in classic red, white and blue, understated yellow, even black & white. There were photos of the crowd, the fireworks barge, photos from who knows where and even one in my inbox from Saginaw. Had I had the link for the Michigan Fireworks page, I could have driven around to some of them!
In the end, I thought it best to wait until next year to allow folks to upload their photos from July 4, 2007 (and the 3rd, or whenever your town celebrates) and look to last year.
When I did, I realized that there’s nothing that can compare to watching the July 4th fireworks celebration at Copper Harbor, Michigan and having the Northern Lights come out.
Lake of the Clouds by Night, photo by SpringChick.
Spring Chick writes: Lake of the Clouds at dusk. I love the mirrored, mystic look to the lake in this photo. I also found it interesting that the sky colored in the east. I could visit this place every day and never tire of it. Porcupine Mountains, MI.
This photo is part of her Porcupine Mountains set (best as a slideshow) and yes, it makes an amazing background for your computer.
Lake of the Clouds is in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, which was established in 1945 and is Michigan’s largest state park. The “Porkies” are located 15 miles west of Ontonagon in the western Upper Peninsula, and the 60,000 acre park features virgin timber, secluded lakes, and miles of wild rivers and streams. If you it that link above you can get trail maps (they allow mountain biking too) and backcountry camping information.
The Wikipedia Porcupine Mountains entry says that the Porcupine Mountains were so named by the native Ojibwa people because their silhouette had the shape of a porcupine. Also see Exploring the North’s Porkies page, this cool Ski the Porkies site and a map to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.
Soo Locks Celebration – 1905, photo by Detroit Publishing Co.
The fantastic American Memory feature of the the US Library of Congress had this picture titled Reviewing stand, Saint Marys [sic] Canal celebration. It was taken in 1905, the very first year of a celebration that continues today: the annual Soo Locks Celebration (also known as Engineer’s Day). It’s held every year on the last Friday of June between 10 AM and 4 PM. For those following along, that’s tomorrow, July 29, 2007.
You can click for a whole gallery of shots from the Soo Locks – Sault Ste. Marie Canal on the St Mary’s River from American Memory, see some photos of the Soo Locks and past celebrations from Joel Dinda and tune into the locks via the Soo Locks SkyCam.
Michigan Orchard in Snow, photo by coonjamm.
Today’s photo of a cherry orchard near near Paw Paw from February will hopefully remind those of us tempted to complain about the heat of other things we could complain about.
I’d also like to call attention to Van Buren County, Michigan our latest Michigan shoreline county article on Absolute Michigan.
Mackinac Bridge Tower, photo by A. Runyon.
Amanda assures us that she wasn’t driving.
Head over to Absolute Michigan for a cool look inside the Mackinac Bridge towers and click the button below for lots more Mackinac Bridge info.
Michigan in Pictures 