Monarchs at Peninsula Point

Perched where Lake Michigan meets the Bay de Noc, the 1865 Peninsula Point Lighthouse once guided schooners through treacherous waters and now serves a gentler purpose each autumn.

As summer fades, thousands of monarch butterflies funnel down the peninsula, pausing on golden sprays of wildflowers to rest and refuel.

From this quiet Michigan shore, these delicate travelers will soon embark on an astonishing 2,000-mile journey to the mountain forests of central Mexico—a migration as enduring as the little limestone light itself.

Video of Monarchs and Bumble Bees or click this link here; Monarchs of Peninsula Point

Lantern for Wings

Ring Billed Gulls, gulls are everywhere. Some people don’t like them, I on the other hand do like them. They come in so many different color patterns and are easy to photograph. Mainly because they have become used to people and hang around looking for food that we leave.

But, I did find out that these birds do eat a lot of bugs, which I did not know. I watched them towards evening one night and they were picking bugs out of the air, all over the ground. I am all for that.

We are traveling the UP of Michigan right now. I am behind on my photos because there is just so much to see up here. The lake is gorgeous. We are traveling just ahead of the fall colors, I hope to get some good shots of fall for you all. But, it needs to catch up to us as we start to head south. 🙂

Ring Billed Gulls

The UP, also known as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the folks are known as Yoopers. I am a yooper, even though I moved away for awhile. I was raised up here and have moved back here.

We are traveling the UP this fall, I will be sharing photos as we go. Have a great weekend. 🙂

New Pet Art

New Pet Art

Chasing the Perseids Beneath the Milky Way

Every August, I look forward to the Perseid meteor shower. It’s a time when the night sky puts on one of its best shows, and this year I set out with my camera to capture not just the meteors, but the Milky Way stretching high above the trees.

As I reviewed my photos later, I noticed something curious. There were so many streaks across the sky—but not all of them were meteors. Thanks to some help I received recently, I learned something new: most of the long, evenly bright lines in my photos aren’t actually shooting stars at all. They’re satellites.

Here’s how you can tell the difference:

• Satellites appear as long, straight streaks of light. They tend to be uniform in brightness, and many of them are nearly the same length across a long exposure. Sometimes they even show up with a faint bluish tint.
• Meteors (shooting stars), on the other hand, look different. They can flare brightly for just a moment, often with a glowing head and a tail that tapers off. Their lines are not as uniform—they’re sudden, sometimes irregular, and they often stand out against the steadiness of the satellites.

Learning this changed the way I look at my night sky images. Instead of being disappointed that not every streak is a meteor, I feel even more amazed at how much is happening above us—meteors burning up in the atmosphere, satellites silently gliding in orbit, and billions of stars making up the glowing river of the Milky Way.

Standing under that sky, with my camera pointed upward, I felt small but deeply connected—reminded that every night, there’s a vast universe at work above us, whether we notice or not.

Have a Great Weekend,

Chasing the Perseids

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“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

On the Road Again – Every time we start to travel again, the song, On the Road Again pops into my head. I think Willie Nelson sang it.

This is one of my favorite views as we travel north to the lake.

As you crest this hill, it almost looks as if the road is climbing straight into the water. The deep blue band on the horizon is Lake Superior, but the way it appears higher than the roadway is a trick of perspective.

The land between the hill and the lake is covered with dense forest, and from this vantage point you can’t see much of it. Because the treetops are relatively dark and flat compared to the brilliance of the open water, your eyes are drawn past them to the lake itself. The curvature of the earth and the way the horizon meets the sky add to the illusion, making the lake appear to rise up like a wall in the distance.

In reality, the lake sits much lower than the roadway—you’re just seeing the vast expanse of water meeting the horizon. It’s a reminder of just how immense Lake Superior really is: so big it looks like an ocean, and so wide that the horizon line can easily trick your eyes.

On the Road Again

The Living Roots of the Beech

At Dixon Springs State Park, the American beech trees stand like ancient guardians of the forest. Their smooth gray trunks rise tall, but it is their roots that stop me in my tracks. Instead of remaining hidden beneath the soil, they sprawl across the ground, immense and powerful, gripping the earth as though holding on for centuries.

These roots tell a quiet story of survival. Beech trees grow with wide, shallow roots, spreading outward instead of digging deep. In the thin soils of this rocky landscape, erosion slowly pulls the ground away, leaving their anchor system exposed. What might seem like vulnerability is instead a display of resilience: roots transformed into sculpture, strength revealed rather than concealed.

And yet, even in their strength, these roots create space for tenderness. In the grooves and hollows between them, small flowers push through—violets, spring beauties, tiny blooms brimming with color against the gray bark. The tree’s great foundation becomes a shelter, a cradle for new life. Mosses creep in, insects find refuge, salamanders slip into damp pockets. Life gathers at the feet of the beech, nourished by its presence.

There is a lesson here. We often think of roots as hidden things, unseen but essential. Yet the beech reminds us that what is exposed—our struggles, our scars, our grip against the shifting ground—can be just as vital. In showing their roots, these trees reveal not weakness but strength, not barrenness but abundance.

The next time you walk beneath their branches, pause to look down. You may find yourself staring at more than a root system—you may see a living testament to endurance, shelter, and the surprising beauty of resilience.

The Living Roots of the Beech

Perseid Meteor Shower, well, not many shooting stars. Still to bright out with the full moon every night this week that I took these photos. Barely see the milky way.

Did one star trails combo facing the camera north. That is always fun to do. Making a circle out of the stars movement after you stack them. This one took 237 photos to make this one shot. I took them with my little go pro camera. Just put it on a tripod, turn it on and go back to bed. 🙂

This one below is 327 photos stacked facing SW.

Perseid Meteor Shower

Autumn is Around the Corner

Autumn is Around the Corner

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

Crooks Bridge, we only went to 11 bridges out of the 32 bridges in the area. This one we did not drive across. Most of them you can drive through.

But this one here is leaning a bit, it is hard to see but there is a cable from the bridge to the tree on the right. That is what is holding this one up. It leans just a tad.

Amazing craftsmanship goes into building these covered bridges. I had no idea they looked like this on the inside. They sure look sturdy enough with the heavy duty lumber.

Crooks Bridge

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Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

Sandra J’s Photography

Thank you for stopping by.

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“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

Working Mills and Covered Bridges, if you are ever near Rockville Indiana, make sure to drive around and see some of their covered bridges. They do give out maps to find them all as well. Plus some of the areas have fall festivals like this place in the photo here.

They have a campground in the back, lots of things to do. We were there during the off season. So it was like a ghost town. But the mill in the photo is an working mill.

The man who owns it showed us around, they mill their own flours and such. We told them what we do with photography and he asked if we would take an aerial photo of his mill.

So we took the one below and gave it to him.

Working Mills and Covered Bridges

Sandra J’s PhotograSite

Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

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“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

Its a Boy, well this was a surprise to see a buck up here. I hardly ever see one. I am guessing it is her baby from last year. The new fawn was hanging around with him like the are related. 🙂

Have a great weekend.

Its a Boy

Sandra J’s PhotograSite

Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

Sandra J’s Photography

Thank you for stopping by.

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“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

Perseid Meteor Shower, a couple weeks ago I stayed up late into the night to photograph the Perseid meteor shower. Well, it did not disappoint, except for the full moon rising that night, I could still see a lot of movement in the heavens.

The cameras has a hard time picking them up because it just did not get dark enough. But on this photo, the moon made the wispy clouds light up the sky for a bit. I like that.

My tiny little go pro camera picked up this strange light, only one photo of it. I have never photographed this ever in all the shots I have taken. Plus I was only shooting at 10 second shutter speed, sometimes 5 seconds because it was so bright.

I pointed this camera to the north and it caught this. So I asked the internet what it thought it was. It says it is a plane, more than likely. The straight lines are the lights on the wings and the lights down the middle is the one that blinks under a plane.

Makes sense to me. I will go with that. 🙂 Never know what you might see if you step out at night and look up.

Beyond the trees at the end of the road, is our little cabin in the woods. No one can see us back there but the sky’s are wide open to us on the other side of those trees. What I like to call my little corner of this big old world. 🙂

Perseid Meteor Shower

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Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

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“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

A Storied Legacy at the Heart of Rockville

The town of Rockville has around 2500 people, it is very small and it has a wonderful old main street with a few shops still open. But, what surprised me the most is this building here. You can see the clock on top from anywhere in the town.

The town is the county seat, but to find such a building like this in such a small town, is quite a surprise to me. So I had to look up the history of it.

Early Structures (1826–1832)

• When Parke County was established in 1821, Rockville was chosen as the permanent county seat in 1822. A modest log courthouse, also used as a church, was completed on the town square in 1826 P

The Brick Courthouse (1832–1879)

• That initial log structure was replaced with a more durable two-story brick courthouse in 1832. This functional building served the county for over four decade.

Current Courthouse (1882–Present)

• In 1879, county officials commissioned Thomas J. Tolan and his son Brentwood, a prominent Fort Wayne architectural duo, to design a grand new building.
• Completed in 1882, at an approximate cost of $79,000, it was dedicated on February 22—George Washington’s birthday.

• The courthouse is a centerpiece of the Rockville Historic District, which earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993

Why So Grand for a Small Town?

• The courthouse wasn’t just functional—it was a statement of civic pride and permanence. The size and ornamentation symbolized Parke County’s aspirations and identity, establishing Rockville’s stature as county seat.
• Built in a popular architectural style of the era, its grandeur projected power and stability—a common trend across American small towns looking to cement their place in history.

A Storied Legacy

Now we know 🙂 have a great weekend.

Covered Bridges of Park County- we were told about a small town in Indiana named Rockville where they have over 30 covered bridges around their town.

So we had to stop for a visit and check some of them out. I have never photographed or even drove through a covered bridge. Very interesting and quite the technology that goes into to building one of these.

Most of them were built a long time ago as well. This one was built in 1867.

While Parke County’s covered bridges are now beloved tourist attractions—and the county actively moves some for preservation and accessibility—most bridges were originally built locally over the last 150+ years. Only a select few have been relocated for reasoned preservation and public display.

Underneath this bridge I found this old rusty wagon, those must have been a ruff ride with those wheels.

Covered Bridges

Old Buildings, I do love old buildings from barns to small town main streets that seem more like a ghost town than actual old buildings.

But the old main streets look like something out of a western movie from back in the day. Except for the mountain dew machine and the coca cola sign.

These buildings are not that old actually, it was a small town in Indiana that was just shut down for the off season.

Old Buildings

My Favorite Color – occasionally I will stop by an old car show. I actually had a 69 Nova SS back in the day. It was so fun to drive.

Now I don’t know cars at all, I don’t know what this car is here at all. I am sure maybe one of you might know. All I know is that out of all the beautiful colors parked along the street. This one caught my eye.

My Favorite Color

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

The Snow Shoe Hare – This guy finally came out of the woods as well this month. Such a beautiful rabbit. I will have more photos of it later. They having amazing eyes and of course huge snow shoe feet. 🙂

The Snow Shoe Hare

I Love September – normally September means cooler weather and the start of fall colors. Normally I saw, because one never knows for sure and it depends on where you live.

The fawn is growing up and making its appearance in our yard. Still showing its little spots.

Video below of Mom deer getting her morning coffee. 🙂 Or click here, Mom deer morning coffee.

I Love September

Last of the Fair Photos – the local police department put on a free barbecue and a short demonstration of the K9 Deputy Dog.

This particular dog came from Germany, was trained in Wyoming for an FBI Agent. The dogs are trained using tools like getting their favorite toy to fetch.

Well, this particular dog became so obsessed with wanting to play fetch, he wasn’t able to do all the other jobs needed to be with the agent.

He became the K9 deputy of this unit here in Iowa. He is exceptional at sniffing out drugs and he can take down an assailant when needed. According to the officer.

He really likes getting the tennis ball more than anything though. 🙂

Video of police dog below or click this Link Here Police Dog

Last of the Fair Photos

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

During the night a couple weeks ago, two meteor showers peaked simultaneously

Southern Delta Aquariids – Alpha Capricornids

I could not get a good photo at all because of the smoke lingering in the atmosphere and some clouds every night.

I only captured one or two shooting stars. I could barely see them without the camera.

This next shooting star night called the Perseids is happening in August. If I get some shots I will share them with you soon.

This is about the only colorful lights I saw during the event. Two lights from a town glowing in the night sky.

During the Night

Highly Compressed Photos, sometimes folks send my a photo that they want touched up a bit. But, there is only so much I can do with them because of compression. Here is an explanation as to what happens.

I can still work with the photo and make it into a painting. One can’t enlarge the photo into a huge print because of the loss of pixels. It will still print, if you print smaller sizes though.

Why Photos Lose Quality When Sent by Text or Social Media

When you send a photo through text message or social media, the platform doesn’t send your original, high-quality file. Instead, it compresses it to make it smaller and faster to send.

Here’s how compression works:

• The file is shrunk – The service looks for areas in the image that look similar and merges them together, storing less information.
• Tiny details are tossed out – Subtle textures, fine lines, and small color changes often get blurred or smoothed over to save space.
• Resolution is reduced – Many platforms lower the number of pixels in the photo, which means less detail when you zoom in or print it.

The more times a photo is sent, saved, and re-uploaded, the more it’s re-compressed. Each “copy of a copy” loses a little more detail—like photocopying a photocopy until it looks fuzzy.

This is why, when I turn a texted or social-media photo into art, I’m often working with fewer fine details than in the original. I can enhance it, sharpen it, and bring out color, but some of the original crispness is gone forever—compression makes sure of that.

Before, a text message photo

After, a double exposure art print of the above photo, to soften it.

Highly Compressed Photos

Creating images that speak to the heart.

Each photo I take is more than just an image—it’s a piece of a story, a glimpse into a moment that stirred something in me. Whether it’s the pure joy of a child hugging her sheep or the quiet bond between a girl and her horse, my passion lies in capturing the emotions that live within these simple, beautiful connections.

I don’t just take photos—I create art that I hope will make you feel something too. Even if just for a moment, may it lift your heart, bring a smile, or remind you of the beauty in the everyday.

Creating Images

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sandra J’s PhotograSite

Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

Sandra J’s Photography

Thank you for stopping by.

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Water Landscapes

“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”

Horse Portraits, a couple of horses I photographed at the fair we were at. I don’t know the folks who owned the horses. In scenario’s like this. I like to photograph what catches my eye. Looking for a pose from the horses with the ears up and looking at something.

I use these as my sample portraits for my customers on my website. Plus sharing the beauty of horses with all of you. 🙂

Horse Portraits

The Hand Shake , one of my favorite parts of a show is the hand shake from the judge. No one knows who is the winner at this point. The judge does not line them up by 1st, 2nd, 3rd.

He lines them up and then pauses for a moment. Having everyone watch in anticipation. Then he goes up and shakes the hand of the winner. Always a fun time.

The Hand Shake

Fair Time – A Summer Favorite

Fair time has always been one of my favorite parts of summer. It’s more than just a local event—it’s a true celebration of community, bringing together people of all ages. One of the best sights is watching the younger kids proudly show off the animals they’ve raised, all hoping to take home that coveted grand prize.

But the fair is about so much more than ribbons and trophies. It’s a hands-on way to teach the next generation about animal husbandry—how to properly care for livestock, understand their needs, and take responsibility. It’s also a chance for kids to get outside, work hard, and learn the value of dedication… all while having a great time doing it.

There’s something special about the mix of tradition, learning, and pure summer joy that makes the fair unforgettable every year.

Fair Time A Summer Favorite

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

My Cat – I think my cat likes to mess with me. Some days she is just chilling, looking peaceful and sitting quietly as I photograph her.

Then she does this sudden move and looks at the ceiling like a giant spider is going to land on my head. As I am looking all over trying to see what she is looking at.

The next minute she as a look that says, ” Just Kidding”, nothing there, Gotcha. They are way smarter than we think they are. 🙂

My Cat

Sandra J’s PhotograSite

Sandra J’s Adventures Outdoors

Real Christianity the Great Awakening

By RJ Dawson

Sandra J’s Photography

Thank you for stopping by.

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Water Landscapes

“Capturing the world, one breathtaking moment at a time.”