Buck Creek

 A gorgeous sunset at Buck Creek State Park a couple of nights ago. 

Fog rolling in from the Prairie View area

More CJ Brown Auroras

 This Solar Max Cycle is churning up Auroras that were visible last night into the southern US.
We photographed them from the CJ Brown Reservoir and the show did not disappoint!
Here's a few favorites, and many more are uploaded into our Auroras Gallery (linked above). 

Ohio Auroras.....Again!!!!

Tonight we had another Aurora show at CJ Brown.
We hadn't intended to stop there, but fellow photographer, Mary Ann, messaged me that she and her hubby were there and that they had some faint color.
We dropped by and as we were chatting in the dark and getting chilled, the aurora popped up and put on a show!!
The Kp Index (measurement of Earth's magnetic field) had suddenly jumped up to 7.
The colors and pillars were faintly visible to the naked eye, but our cameras caught them beautifully. 
I was without my tripod, but thanks to the OM-1's 7 stops of image stabilization, I was able to hand-hold these shot. They were all 4 second exposures. In addition, the OM-1's Starry Sky autofocus mode locked focus on the stars effortlessly. 
Some favorites.

September Evening Light Show...

 We took a short drive through Buck Creek State Park and caught the brief end of the sunset. We thought that we'd missed the sunset colors....but little did we know that the real show was just starting! As we parked and walked down to the CJ Brown Beach a huge wall cloud was moving in and the lightning show began....here's my favorite shots. These were all shot using the OM-1's Live Composite mode. In that mode, a base image is captured and then subsequent exposures are added to the base image....but only new light is added. It's great for lightning and fireworks. The skill is in holding the camera still (while hand-holding) for the entire time that images are being captured...these shots are from 10-25 seconds each. From the beach and parking lot at CJ Brown.

Old Mackinac Lighthouse Point

We some unexpected view of the Aurora last night when a cracked developed in the Earth's magnetic field. 

Not the best auroras we've experienced here in Mackinaw City,  but still lovely!

Arrowhead Orbweavers

 I've been seeing a good nymber of Arrowhead Orbweavers this season. Such an interesting spider. 

Here's a few from Cedar Bog and Buck Creek State Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Osprey Encounter

 This Osprey came in CLOSE!

Our experiences with two local Ram Service Centers

I've added a page with the details of our experiences (a really bad one and a really good one) with two local Ram Service Centers.
Why am I posting this? I feel it's important to let others know when a business does not offer good customer service and to also let folks know when they do!
Feel free to share!

Our Experiences with Key Chrysler (bad) and London CDRJ(good)

Macro Photography Set Up

 My macro night setup. OM-1 with 90mm macro lens. 
The rechargeable LED Cube lights are perfect for a constant, meterable light source. 
They are mounted on my camera with a coldshoe bracket and a ball head extender so that I can direct the light as needed. 
Amazon LED Cube Light
Amazon Cold Shoe Quick Mount
Amazon Cold Shoe Ballhead Mount

Moth light UV set up....we have several around our yard. 

A video I shot a few years ago showing in-camera focus bracketing with the Olympus/OM-1 cameras. I was using the EM5 M1 then, but now use the OM-1 and it stacks up to 15 focus-bracketed shots in the camera. 

Cedar Bog Lovelies!

Some looks from my walk at Cedar Bog today. It was a great day for Spideys, and I'm still seeing the Elfin Skimmers. 
It's always a treat to see Elfin Skimmers....the smallest North American Dragonfly. Cedar bog is one of the few spots in Ohio to see them!
I was fortunate to share my walk with Cathy from Detroit. She was visiting Cedar Bog, hoping to see some new Dragonflies and Damselflies. Her sharp eyes spotted a couple of these spiders!
 

Arrowhead Orbweaver

Elfin Skimmer (male)

Elfin Skimmer (female)

Long-tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp

Spined Micrathena Spider

Emerald Jumping Spider

Emerald Jumping Spider

Emerald Jumping Spider

Spined Micrathena Spider

Labyrinth Orbweaver

Paiute Dancer

Seepage Dancer

American Rubyspot Damselflies

 American Rubyspots are Damselflies that prefer a stream habitat. They can be found along Buck Creek here in Clark County. Males are a brilliant metallic red with gold trim, and females are a bronze to greenish color. Although there are approximately 40 species of Rubyspots, the American Rubyspots are the only ones that can be found in our county. A few from yesterday.