My photo walk of 25 April 2009

25 April 2009

As a 67 years old diabetic I have discovered the health benefits of exercise. Part of my new exercise program is taking brisk walks, which helps lower blood sugar levels and burns off calories to help with weight loss. I have also discovered that I live in a beautiful community with many delights discovered only by exploring on foot. This was my first walk with a camera in hand.

The photos on this page were taken with a Canon G9 camera. ISO200 was selected since it was a dark day. I also opted for the highest quality of JPG photos instead of RAW, just to simplify processing the photos for this page. Click on any thumbnail photo below for a larger version in a popup window (which also includes camera setting information). Walking briskly made the small Canon G9 more attractive than my heavy SLR. I carried a small bag with the camera and a bottle of water. The G9 gave me the quality I wanted in a small package.

1. As I left the house for my walk I saw these just-opened tulips, a nice sign of the arrival of Spring. This was a nice start for my 62-minute walk. Things have only just started "greening up" in this area. We've had a tough Winter with lots of snow and very cold weather. It's a relief to finally see Spring really get underway with green grass and some sign of the trees coming alive. Very few of the trees have leaves yet, though.

2. My walk took me along the river that runs through town. This is across the street from the local High School and the access to the river is blocked by a wire fence with a strand of barbed wire running along the top. This may be a precaution against the students hiking down the steep slope to the river, which looks pretty risky to me. It will be interesting to watch the progress of the vegetation as Summer approaches.

3. The lights of the high school football stadium are striking against the gray sky.

4. "Mason High School / Home of the Bulldogs". As a senior citizen I have a free pass to attend their sporting events. The fence is rather high. To avoid having the fence in front of the entire stadium I held the G9 above my head. I was able to frame the photo using the large LCD screen on the back of the camera. The picture was quite clear even in the daylight viewing from an acute angle. So far the G9 is performing well. My only issue is that I need my glasses on for close subjects, such as the camera's excellent 3.0 inch LCD display, while for distant objects I don't use my glasses. For normal viewfinders, such as with an SLR, I can adjust the diaptor setting, but in this case I need my glasses. I am learning to wear my reading glasses pushed down enough to view over the top of them for normal vision while glancing down through the lenses for framing pictures.

5. A section of the river I'm hiking along.

6. I approach the next main road (Kipp Road), the first one that crosses the river along my path. As in many cities, walking is not ideal. I stayed inside the metal barrier walking along a very uneven path with lots of overgrowth. I had to watch my step, but that's much safer than walking in the street. I had to take particular care after rounding the corner, where there was a steep embankment leading down to the river.

7. I was struck by the bold color of the STOP sign as I arrived at the intersection. Wanting to avoid walking in the road I must stay to the right of the barrier, which requires that I walk carefully to avoid slipping. This area is not designed as a walking path!

8. I have made the right turn onto Kipp Road and reached the river. I carefully climbed down the embankment to approach the water (a somewhat treacherous adventure) to get a better look at the river flowing by. Here is an area where the water has backed up a bit and isn't really moving. A green scum has accumulated here which has a strange beauty. Click the photo for a better view in the enlarged version of the photo.

9. After crossing the river I came to the railroad tracks. We have frequent trains through Mason and I often hear the amazing sound of the train whistle, a remarkably pleasant and mystical sound I never tire of. The track bed is old and not capable of supporting high speed trains, so they creep along at relatively low speed between Lansing and Jackson carrying a huge amount of material. Care has to be taken crossing the tracks since there are some crossings without gates, just warning signs.

10. I have finally reached the official walking trail on the other side of the river from my home. Here is the start of the path from the South end. Entering the area with trees the sound of birds became immediately evident. Even in an urban area there is a lot of natural beauty and wildlife.

11. This ancient-looking tree has an impressive knot that caught my eye and demanded attention and a photo.

12. This is a huge and most impressive tree near the walking path.

13. Reaching the street (Jefferson Street, the division between East and West for town addresses) I found this path marker. In a later walk (without camera) I reached the Northern end of the path and found a nice stone marker dedicated to the Hayhoe family, who was responsible for building this wonderful walking path through our town. Perhaps later I'll document this monument in another photo-walk report.

14. Crossing Jefferson street I found another segment of this walking path which continues near the river. I was struck by the natural beauty of this brush area.

15. I liked this old green water hydrant with the red sign nearby. Click on the photo for a larger view where you can read the red sign.

16. In several spots along the path you'll find stone benches where one can take a rest and commune with nature. The bird songs continue strong.

17. The path passes by an old house that seems a bit worse for wear. It is picturesque, though.

18. As I passed this house the sounds of frogs became louder and louder. I didn't expect a frog pond along this path, but the sound became almost deafening. At some risk to getting wet I climbed down the path to try to spot the frogs responsible for this noisy chorus. At first all I saw was occasional spashes here and there and bubbles rising in the water. I finally spotted this little fellow being very still and motionless. I racked the lens out to its longest focal length and got this shot. Then it was off to home for me.

This was a good test for the camera's image stabilizer function since it was dark, exposure was 1/50 sec. at the maximum focal length. The photo shown is a crop of part of the photo, also.