Life: Through the Lens

Have you ever heard of Dale Chihuly ... a master glass artist? I had seen one of his indoor exhibits in Chicago a few years ago and was intrigued by his use of color and design and medium set in natural settings. Each piece of glass, or exhibit, tells a story meant to blend art and nature. Then just a week ago I accompanied my favorite 5th grade class, my classroom of budding photographers, on a field trip to Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, in Grand Rapids, MI, where a huge Chihuly exhibit was nestled not just indoors, but outdoors in waterfalls and ponds, over hillside and gardens. And I was blown away. His "fine art glass blowing" is exquisite. My photographers did an awesome job of "looking at different angles," developing artistic "compositions" and determining "point of view" - all vocabulary terms they'd learned during my in-school instructional time with them. This age group just soaks up the arts, and I am once again moved to f

Travels near and far takes us to the zoo this week. The last day of summer vacation before school started, we took two of our grandchildren to the zoo and had an excellent adventure. The weather was nice and cool, perfect for the animals to come out and play. Okay, so maybe not ALL the animals wanted to play. The picnic lunch was perfect, too, and there's always ice cream for desert at the concession stand. The challenge with zoo photography is trying to get a shot of an animal without showing glass, or caging. One trick is getting in close so you can chase out that reflection, or shoot through the wires. And sometimes there's not much you can do. It depends on your equipment, to some extent. In this case, I just didn't have either enough lens to allow me to zoom in through the bars, or a way to get so close I could actually put the face of my camera between the wires. This was definitely not one of those kinds of photo opportunities, as you can see by the expression on h

The Old 27 Motor Tour "Back in the Day" Every year they come through, those old car enthusiasts and their spiffed up rods. Making pit stops along the way, they drive a route that used to be traveled all the time, but now has taken second place to the highway. The highway - that sign of "progress." For a while in August, however, the Michigan "old 27" route is buzzing with the sound of mufflers, rough motors, and smooth ones. The sound of laughter evident, and the signs of a simpler time, as they say, are spit and shined for display. I remember my own pink poodle, Fifi , who went with me everywhere. Now here's a great way to travel. Ready to hit the road! So shiny you can catch the reflections of a glorious summer day. Automobiles "smile" as hundreds of people come out to photograph them. And luggage is packed for the journey...luggage which is as nostalgic as the vehicles. For a little while everyone relaxes and reminisces and remembers