The Unique Mule – my niece has a few mules as well. Such a unique animal.
They become extremely loyal and trustworthy and their personalities are so enjoyable. Their surefootedness and brains under saddle will ease you even in the trickiest of trails. They will keep you laughing and bring a smile to your face even if you’re having a terrible day. Plus, who can resist their ears.
Always take a photo of a mule with a wide angle lens, makes their ears really stand out. So cute.
Mule Facts
First, let’s clarify what a mule is. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). A horse has 64 chromosomes, and a donkey has 62. The mule ends up with 63. Mules can be either male or female, but, because of the odd number of chromosomes, they can’t reproduce.
The term “mule” is used for either the cross of male donkey on female horse, or the cross of female donkey on male horse, although the latter cross is more correctly known as a “hinny.” Mules and hinnies each have one horse and one donkey parent,
The Horse of Course – I don’t have horses any more, but I am so thankful one of my nieces loves them and she has a few on her farm in Iowa. So I can get my horse fix on when visiting family every year.
December is Here – time to say good bye to all the fall colors in some parts of the world. It is that time of year when the leaves have fallen and walking in the woods is one of my favorite things to do.
The sound of crunchy leaves beneath your feet and this is the time of year to get a good look at trees when the leaves are all gone. There are so many unique shaped trees that one doesn’t always notice in the summer when they are hidden by a forest of green leaves.
New Painting Style – I am working on perfecting a new type of painting that I do on the computer. Which always starts with a photograph. This is using the smudge tool and actually painting across the face of the subject.
I really like it, it is fun to do and I have a couple of orders for customers to make with this new look. It works great with dogs and cats. I am still perfecting the horse portrait with this technique.
I have my first Art Craft show coming up soon that I am participating in. I will let you know how that goes in a few weeks. I just love visiting with folks and talking about photography and pets. A craft show is the perfect place for that.
I do a very light painting with the horses, just to give it some soft edges here and there. I don’t want to soften the harness, I want to keep that sharp.
The horse above is taken from the photo below, the horse on the right. If I see an animal that would make a good portrait like this one, I separate the subject from the entire scene and change the background to get rid of the distracting green leaves behind the horse.
I like that the horse on the right was looking right at me, that is why I chose that horse over the other one for a portrait.
New Flag for the RV – We stopped at a camping world which is a store with all things about RV’s and camping. They are known for their giant flag. I got to the door of the store and turned around to look at the RV and that was the shot.
Trees and Composition – As I am looking through some of my landscapes photos and waterscape photos, I realize how often I have a tree placed in the shot. Normally to the left or right of the composition because I do like how it frames the shot.
I like to have a foreground, middle and background in landscape shots when possible. For example this first photo. The rocks are the foreground, then the water and then the land in the back. This shot could have been even better without the tree branches on the right.
I did not have that much room to move around to avoid those branches, the rocks were pretty tuff to navigate.
This photo below has a look that I am standing on top of a mountain above the clouds in the distance. I like the perspective of that, but actually that is Lake Superior in the distance. It was an amazing view from there.
For the Love of Draft Horses – Some of you may know that I have a special place in my heart for horses. I received my first horse when I was a young girl. It was my best friend and I spent a life time raising them and taking care of them.
But when I was out on my own, I decided to start raising draft horses. They are amazing animals, just the sheer size of them and the ability to have them and just watch them up close was one of the thrills of my lifetime.
So any chance I get now, I to to horse shows or visit draft horse farms. Now I can take their photos and enjoy their beauty without having to clean the barn every day. That is a plus. 🙂
This draft horse below was in a parade that I was watching, these are Belgians and so pretty under harness.
I sell a lot of my photography on different sites on the internet. The draft horse prints sell quite often.
Here are three of my favorite sites I use to sell Prints;
500 px – This site is a great one, you can sell licenses to your work or just a digital download. I sold a photo of a lightning strike to someone overseas for $65.00. One just never knows what might sell. It is always a surprise and just fun to see that my love for photography will be used by someone else.
Fine Art America – I like this site because you can sell merchandise that they make for you and they accept art work as well as photography. It is like having your own store.
Adobe Stock – Adobe stock is the most popular one. People use this one a lot for downloading photos.
Plus I started my own website, Sandra J’s Photography, so I could sell pet portraits to my customers. Much easier then going through a third party. Plus folks can communicate what their needs are when ordering portraits to be done.
So if you are looking for some sites for yourself to sell on. These are a few that I like. There are plenty of them out there now a days. I belonged to one site for many years, but they finally went out of business. They could not keep up with all the new technology cutting their sales in half. One just has to do some research as to what works for you.
Unusual Sighting – I went for a walk yesterday morning and noticed some turkey vultures flying low and this one in the first photo landed on this street pole and opened its wings up and stayed like this for quite awhile.
So I walked up to it as close as I could and snapped a couple of photos, he is just airing out his pits I think. 🙂
As I rounded the corner this is what I saw. Turkey vultures and stray cats sharing the cat food. They were eating out of the cat bowls right along with the cats.
Not one cat went after one, I imagine they know these birds would be quite a match to take down being they are so large. So they all just share the food and co-exist.
Snow Covered Barn – I love this one covered in beautiful white snow. On a sunny day after a fresh snow fall, this makes for a wonderful photo.
Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
I had a great barn on my horse farm back in the day, with a hay loft like this one. Nothing better then bringing in the horses on a cold winters day, putting fresh hay in their stalls and watching them as they enjoy their food, just sit there and take in the peacefulness of the moment. Great memories.
Old Barns – There is nothing better then seeing old barns still standing on farmsteads around the country. I love looking for them and taking photos of them. This first one here is in Iowa, there isn’t a house there and more, but I can just imagine what this old farmstead must have been like back in the day.
With its windmill pumping water and the barn full of cows or horses. Children running and playing outdoors. These old buildings can tell a story just by their appearance.
I wrote about this barn a long time ago, I found this one in Washington at the Nisqually National Wildlife refuge. One of the biggest barns I have every seen.
And there was two of them.
During the holidays I like to take the photo of a barn and make Christmas cards out of them by doing a little photo manipulation.
Light House #5 is Copper Harbor Lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We could not get to this light house as the road was closed by the owner. There are some lighthouses that people have bought and refurbished and actually live in them. I took this photo with my phone actually from a look out point west of the small island.
Copper Harbor Lighthouse, the second lighthouse to be built on Lake Superior, commenced operation in the spring of 1849, and on June 20, 1860, Congress appropriated $3,500 for range lights to better mark the entrance to Copper Harbor. To determine the necessity of these and other proposed lights, the Lighthouse Board assigned a committee to visit the Great Lakes during the summer of 1863. The following information on Copper Harbor was included in the committee’s report:
This is the finest harbor on this part of the coast. It possesses good water, affords a perfect protection, and has sufficient depth on the bar for all vessels navigating the lakes, fifteen feet.
Some history of Copper Harbor below. Copper mining in the Upper Peninsula boomed, and from 1845 until 1887 (when it was exceeded by Butte, Montana) the Michigan Copper Country was the nation’s leading producer of copper. In most years from 1850 through 1881,
During the summer of 1840, Douglass Houghton, Michigan’s first state geologist, led a small party on an expedition to explore that area of the Upper Peninsula bordered by Lake Superior. On July 3, the party reached Copper Harbor, where it spent several days exploring the surrounding country and blasting for ores. After discovering veins of copper that varied in width from a few inches to fourteen feet, Houghton wrote, “I hope to see the day when instead of importing the whole immense amount of copper and brass used in our country, we may become exporters of both.”
Houghton wouldn’t live to see that day, as he drowned when his boat capsized off Eagle River during a gale on October 13, 1845, but he rightly foretold that the rich mineral deposits of the Upper Peninsula would only be developed with “many difficulties and embarrassments.”
In 1842, the Ojibwe signed the Treaty of La Pointe, ceding their mineral-rich territory and triggering a land rush that saw miners and investors buying up what they hoped was copper-rich real estate. The following year, the federal government opened a Mineral Land Agency at Copper Harbor to issue exploration permits and land leases, and Fort Wilkins was built in 1844 to maintain law and order.
Eagle Harbor Light is an operational lighthouse at Eagle Harbor in Keweenaw County, in Michigan. It sits on the rocky entrance to Eagle Harbor and is one of several light stations that guide mariners on Lake Superior across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
This light house is a beautiful well maintained house. A wonderful museum and very picturesque to say the least. Especially looking at it from over the water of the great Lake Superior.
In 1999 the Congress of the United States transferred ownership of the Eagle Harbor Light Station to the Keweenaw County Historical Society. The Coast Guard continues to operate the light at the top of the tower.
Video of the Eagle Harbor Light house and its surrounding area below or click this link; Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Video
Farming at Sunset – I had a couple more photos to post from the evening that we went out and watched the corn being harvested in Iowa. It is a busy time of year for the farmers as they finish up the field work.
Leaving Our Forested Home – Well, we are on the road again. I grew up in this area of forest and lakes and it is where I am most at home and where I can go to relax within creation, with an abundance of solitude and beauty.
When I was younger, I never got to travel much at all. I started working at the age of 13 and after the age of 18, I never missed a day of work. The only time I took off was the 3 weeks I went to truck driving school to learn how to drive a Semi Truck.
I have to say, I was so nervous those 3 weeks, not having a paycheck coming in. Even though I had planned for it. It was so strange not being at a job.
I was fortunate enough to retire from working early in my life and we have been traveling ever since. I love that I can take photos of all these beautiful places and share them with anyone who happens to pass by on this thing called the internet.
We are living in some very strange and dangerous times right now, nothing like I have ever seen in my life time.
But, I will continue doing what I know how to do best. Living life to the fullest as best as possible, enjoying that which is created for us, the beauty of creation that surrounds us everyday. Life goes by so fast, I spent my entire life working and now I will relax and enjoy whatever time I have left, not to destroy but to create, photos that will float around the old internet way pass when I leave this earth.
For every click of a camera, history is being recorded of what was and what can be.
Turning Water into Electricity – Calm lakes surrounded by colorful forest only visible from above. These photos were taken mid September, just as the colors were starting to turn.
A beautiful lake surrounded by forest here at Victoria Dam in Michigan.
Side note: looks like a few bloggers including my site, are having issues with comments and the like button being blocked. So incase you are reading this and the comment sectioned is closed, word press is at fault for this. I have not turned them off. Hopefully it can be fixed, I will let you know if I find anything out about this situation. 😊
At Victoria, water from the diversion dam flows through the intake structure at the dam into wood-stave pipeline and steel penstock to the turbines. The force of the water passing through the blades of the 65-inch diameter cast steel wheels drives the turbine and generators to produce electricity.
The Victoria units operate at 300 rpm with a maximum operating head of 215 feet. (Head—the difference in water elevation at the dam and the tailrace or discharge elevation.) With maximum head, a pressure of 93 pounds per square inch (psi) exists at the turbine water wheels.
After the water passes through the turbines, it is discharged into the west branch of the Ontonagon River, then into the main Ontonagon River, and finally into Lake Superior at the Village of Ontonagon.
Rainfall and melting snow throughout the 801-square-mile watershed upstream of the Victoria eventually end up as water at Victoria Dam. Some of this water is held in storage at UPPCO’s Bond Falls Reservoir, Bergland Dam, or Cisco Dam, and flows as river-run directly to Victoria. (UPPCO refers to the Upper Peninsula Power Company.)
At Victoria, this water is used for power generation. However, if the river-run exceeds the storage capacity of the Victoria Dam and the 850 cubic feet per second utilized by the turbines while operating at a full load, it is necessary to spill the excess water through the radial spill gates. Normally the greatest amount of water is spilled during the spring snow-melt or runoff.
Because water can be stored upstream of Victoria for release and use during dry periods, UPPCO is able to operate the power station about 80 percent of the time during the average year. The least amount of generation occurs during July and August when the river-runs are sometimes down to 150 cubic feet per second.
AI Generated vs Digital Painting vs photography. Well, we are being submersed in the AI world, adds popping up and sites that you need to pay for to use the AI generated systems.
So I clicked on one sight that lets you have one free photo generated AI photograph. The complete image is below of my two dogs. I have to admit, the photo is as cute as it can be, especially my little dog down in the bottom corner. She isn’t as fuzzy as the image implies, but so cute I think. This would be great if I were into writing children’s books or animated movies.
This type of generation is photo generative, there is also word generative images that are actually quite beautiful as well. They look like something right our of a movie, an imaginative world of soft, gorgeous colors. All of which I believe is an expression of art. Art has no limitations.
This next one is what I like to do. Create a painting from one of my photographs. This I actually use my mouse and brush over the image one area at a time. Along with other editing layers that I apply to my liking. It is relaxing to do and just plain fun for me.
This is the photo I took of my Chloee to create the art print.
But, the photo print below is what I really like to do. We are camped at a spot with a lot of family’s stationed at the army base here. The woman next to us has this beautiful Great Dane, her husband has been deploy to Israel.
So I went out and photographed her dog and made a couple of paintings for her and gave them to her with out her knowing that I took the photos. It is a wonderful way to give back and I just love photographing pets, so I am glad I can do this. He is such a beautiful dog.
In Search Of Historical Bridges, I just happened to come across this one last month. As a photographer, shots like this is what makes being a photographer so much fun. I am always in search of scenic views when I am not out looking for wildlife to photograph.
Google maps has become my new source to help find lost treasures like this one. I was in an area and typed in the search bar on my phone, bridges and arched bridges. One showed up in this tiny little town not far from where I was at. So off I went in search of this little arched bridge.
It is called the Historic Ramsay Keystone Arched Bridge. The Ramsay Bridge is 130 feet long and was built over the Black River in 1922.
So we arrived at the bridge on a rainy morning, from this side of the bridge it did not look like much of a view, a lot of over growth surrounding the bridge and it was hard to get to and I thought, well the bridge itself is pretty cool looking.
So we left and thought we would go look at one more thing and on the way back, maybe the rain will have stopped and we will look one more time.
We went back to the bridge on our way home and the surprise to this location, was to go to the other side of the bridge. That is where the shot was, a perfect amount of shrubs and colored leaves surrounding the bridge as if it was framed right out of a story book.
With its babbling brook running slowly underneath the bridge, it is a true picturesque view.
Needless to say when I stumble apon an area like this, I am smiling.
At 57 feet, the height of this bridge is also quite impressive, but it is the impressive stonework’s ability to stand the test of time that truly wows.
And what is a keystone you might ask (or capstone) – it is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch or vault to bear weight.
Autumn and Thanksgiving – this first photo I made for all the young children in our family for them to try and find all the animals in the photo. This makes for a great puzzle as well. You can make a puzzle out of any photo you take these days.
This years fall colors were so different I think, they had a softer, almost pastel color to the leaves.
Like that old cereal called Captain Crunch, these colors remind me of that.
Old Grist Mills – A Gristmill is a facility where grain is ground into animal feed or flour. Gristmills were vital to the development of the Midwest. Without them the early settlers would not have been able to feed themselves or their livestock. Since every settler had to journey to the mill, they were a hub of many activities where families exchanged news and socialized. At one time Iowa had 500 gristmills.
We found this mill in Iowa in a town named Lime Springs. I took this photo last week when I was visiting my sister. We went for a drive, which I love to do. Never know what one might find in the small towns of Iowa.
Grist is grain that has been ground or is in the process of being ground. It may or not be bolted (sifted) into flour or ground further. Grist is any material that is being processed by a mill.
Below is Pine Creek Mill in Muscatine Iowa, I photographed this one years ago. They were such an important part of life back in the day. I find the history of how things were made so interesting now, amazing the innovative ideas people have come up with to make life easier in some ways.
Visiting the mid west in the fall, especially Iowa, you are bound to see the combines running as the corn and beans need to be harvested.
This individual in the video below is someone we know and I asked him if we could make a video and take a few photos as he was combining at sunset. I gave him the video and photos, he has never seen his hard work looking from a drones perspective. You can see the corn rows are very straight as well.
Years ago, I knew a farmer that always drove around the countryside, after he planted all his fields. Just to see if his neighbors’ rows were straight. Just a thing farmers do I guess.
I am trying something new here with this video. I will see if it works after this post is live. I entered my video right into a block here on word press, which should show up below, hopefully. So that you can see the video right from reader and not having to go to the web site itself.
I also imbedded the video from my you tube account below, which only shows up on my page site, just incase it did not work above. 🙂
Using External Lights for wildlife photography. I tried something different this year with the squirrel photography. I have a table set up along the tree line that I put bird food on.
I put this Queen Ann Lace flower on the table and sprinkled seed all around it. I couldn’t have asked for a better pose from this red squirrel as he jumped on the table and then made his way behind the flower to eat a few seeds.
But it is dark over by the trees, so I set up a light on a tri pod to brighten up the area for more detail. It worked perfectly.
Photography is a great way to let your creativity come to life. Sometimes wildlife goes along with it and makes it more fun. Have a great weekend. 😉
Reflection Photography – The best time for reflections is usually in the early hours of the day or in the evening. The mist and the colored clouds of the sunset are a great subject.
Or with an overcast sky, the reflection can help to make an otherwise boring sky interesting.
Horizontal lines make for great reflection photos of tree lines along a lake, but don’t forget to get that wide angle lens out especially on a river where you can capture the bank on both sides of the water. Gives your photo a wonderful sense of depth.
Quiet Morning Hours to calm ones spirit. It is my favorite time of day when the waters are calm and the light reflections on the water gives way to patterns of ethereal beauty.
Drone Photography, Autumn is the best time of year to get the drone up and flying. My husband does all the drone photos and it is a wonderful way to see all the trees turning color.
We only use the drone for landscape photography in designated areas. It provides for a wonderful view from above. Looking down on the world that was created for us.
Tree tops – Autumn Colors Short Video below. You have to visit the site to see this video, they don’t play on reader. I will add the link here, but sometimes that doesn’t work either. Or you can come on over to my You Tube channel and see all my videos over there. 🙂
Fall Garden Pollinators, the bumble bees are still hard at work. Bumble bees are keystone pollinators in the ecosystem. They pollinate food crops, trees, and of course, flowers. In my own yard, I realized that the more native plants I planted, the more pollinators visited my garden. Which has been beneficial for my food crops!
Amazing how all of creation has a purpose and it all works as designed, the pollinators being an example of such design.
Bees sleeping outside the nest will sleep under a flowerhead or inside a deep flower like a squash blossom where the temperature can be up to 18 degrees warmer close to the nectar source.
On the road again Just can’t wait to get on the road again The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again On the road again Goin’ places that I’ve never been Seein’ things that I may never see again And I can’t wait to get on the road again
On the road again Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway We’re the best of friends Insisting that the world keep turning our way And our way Is on the road again I just can’t wait to get on the road again
