Tuesday, October 26, 2010

299/365 - 17

Shadows of a ruler.
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More fun with lighting, as I make my ruler turn into something curiously spooky.

Monday, October 25, 2010

298/365 - Pumpkin Pi

Three pumpkins, one carved into a letter pi.
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The result of last week's pumpkin carving extravaganza, front and center -- Pumpkin Pi, aka the Pimpkin! Sarah and I carved this as part of a grad student social. Left and right, pumpkins carved by my housemate and his girlfriend.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

297/365 - A matter of scale

A big trash can, and a tiny recycling bin.
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Michigan Tech has a (very small) recycling program. Somehow, I can see why more people choose to throw things away, than choose to recycle.

296/365 - Queen of the mountain

Sarah, with an ultrawide lens, on a rocky bluff.
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Beware of Sarah, for her very step shakes the heavens and the earth!

This lovely portrait of the lovely Sarah was taken at Copper Falls bluff, one of my favorite locations in the whole world.

295/365 - Don't cross!

A sign: Cross only when traffic clears, next to a busy road
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No, seriously!

These appeared at the highway crossing between Michigan Tech's dorms, and the main area of campus (with academic buildings). Apparently they're necessary, although I'm not really sure what the point is. If you don't understand the basic concept, I don't think that this sign will help all that much.

Then again, we already have a history of weird signage here in da UP.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

294/365 - Concentration

Sarah carving a pumpkin.
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Today, we carved a pumpkin... very, very carefully.

292, 293/365 - Shadows

Shadow of a hook
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Shadow of a hook. This is a little hook in my room's wall. I lit it with my LED headlamp, and shot this a whoooooole bunch of times!

Sharp-edged shadow of a leaf.
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This old leaf lives on with its crazy shadow!

291/365 - Typing

Fingers typing on a keyboard.
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One out of many attempts at this shot. This one is not the sharpest, or the cleanest, or anything... but it's definitely the most evocative of the movement!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

290/365 - Patterns

Light patterns.
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A cheese grater, lit from within by my LED headlamp. Weird? Yes. Awesome patterns? Also yes!

289/365 - Oak and Pine

An oak leaf nestled among pine branches.
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In was a forbidden love...

Friday, October 15, 2010

288/365 - Quincy Boiler Stars

Star trails over mine ruins.
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A contrast to yesterday's photo -- the Quincy #2 rockhouse, as well as its neighboring boiler house, under the stars.

Clear nights when I can stay up late are few and far between, so I jump at the chance to enjoy them when I can!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

287/365 - Stormy Rockhouse

Sarah's eyes.
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The old Quincy #2 Rockhouse, after a passing fall storm.

285, 286/365 - The Lovely Sarah

Sarah's eyes.
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The Lovely Sarah, eyes and all!

This is my second try -- the first is below, but the focus was somewhat imperfect.

Sarah's eyes.
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... and the original, not quite perfect.

Monday, October 11, 2010

284/365 - Over the hill

A cinder block building looking across a hill.
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The Centennial Mine #1/#2 hoist -- actually, just the cinder block addition on the back, which held the mine's compressors. The hoist itself is nothing but a foundation, to the left. In the far distance, the shaft house hides behind an old town dump which was mysteriously created between these buildings.

The compressors were still mounted inside this building up until just a few years ago -- as you can see over at Copper Country Explorer's Centennial mine page. Sadly, they are now gone.

283/365 - Red on the rocks

Red leaves on a vine, climbing on a stone wall.
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A red vine climbing an old Quincy hoist house.

281, 282/365 - Keweenaw Landscapes

A rock in beach sand.
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The Calumet Waterworks is a township park on the shores of Lake Superior -- once the site of the waterworks for the Calumet and Hecla mine. Now, it's a beautiful sandy beach (which is rather unusual for the Keweenaw). Here, a rock rests in a nest of sand.

Two sticks resting against each other on the beach, in black and white.
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A few miles down the road -- what could it be?

280/365 - Bullseye!

A dart in a dartboard, in black and white
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Boiinnnnnnggg!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

279/365 - Paradise Landscape

My car's windshield washer fluid sprayer, with a shadow.
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A fall landscape, from the beautiful "Paradise Plunge" up the hill behind my house (ok... several miles behind my house).

Be sure to click the photo, to see it large and on black. It's quite stunning that way.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

278/365 - Be afraid. Be very afraid!

My car's windshield washer fluid sprayer, with a shadow.
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Be afraid, be very afraid... little windshield wiper guy!

Monday, October 4, 2010

277/365 - Rust Points

Rusty metal with shadows.
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The start of a texture series? Maybe!

This texture comes to you from the Quincy Roundhouse, which is being restored to its former glory (or at least, brought up to fire code).

Sunday, October 3, 2010

275, 276/365 - Keweenaw in the Fall

A brightly colored fall maple leaf.
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A maple leaf, hanging deep in the woods near the old Copper Range rail line passing between the Michigan Smelter and Atlantic Mine. The old rail line is now an ATV and snowmobile trail, and it runs through some very rugged and beautiful territory.

The half-sunken Quincy No. 2 dredge with fall colors and reflections.
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The old Quincy #2 Dredge (previously seen from the water) in the fall. This view comes from the opposite direction compared to that previous photo -- this time, looking towards the mainland from the massive Quincy stamp sands, an EPA superfund site now covered with topsoil and grasses.

Friday, October 1, 2010

274/365 - Redridge

A lake with fall reflections.
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An autumn view of the Redridge reservoir.

The reservoir was created by the massive Redridge Steel Dam, which was built by a combination of the Atlantic and Baltic Mines. Both needed water for their mills, which were built on Lake Superior, nearby. Together, they built a unique dam, which still stands today.

However, the dam is not fully intact. It had holes cut in it during the 70's, to reduce the level of the water and avoid the danger of overflowing. The reservoir used to be filled to the top of the tree level in this photo, but now it is considerably lower. There are fields full of preserved tree stumps left on the new shores.