The Days of Summer - Day Eighty through Day Eighty-six

Summer is nearly at an end.  This is my next-to-last installment of my Days of Summer photography project.  I began this project on the Summer Solstice (21 June 2018) with the idea that I would photograph something in nature every day until the Fall Equinox (22 September 2018) and share one image from each day of the summer.  If you've missed the previous seventy-nine photographs, you can start to get caught with the images that I shared last week.

Day 80 (08 September) - Golden

This image of the sun shining through a Boxelder (Acer negundo) was photographed at Forest Hill Nature Area.  This is one of my favorite photos of the summer.  In addition to the sun, I like the contrast of the light sky with the band of dark trees on the horizon, the goldenrods lit up by the setting sun and the shadows in the foreground.


Day 81 (09 September) - Eastern Hemlock

We spend so much time looking down, sometimes we need to remember to look up.  This photograph was taken during a hike at the Chippewa Watershed Conservancy's (CWC) Audubon Woods Preserve.  Audubon Woods is my favorite CWC nature preserve.  On September 9th, I led a group on an off-trail hike at the preserve.  One of the sites that I led the group to was this small grove of Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) trees.  Most visitors to the preserves never leave the established trails and I wanted to show off some of my favorite sites in the woods including this grove.


Day 82 (10 September) - Milkweed Portrait

When I started this project I knew that it would be a challenge to take a good nature photo every day, especially once school started.  Fortunately there are many local parks and preserves that can be easily accessed within a few minutes distance from schools or the office.  On September 10th, I did my first school programs of the 2018-19 School Year.  This photo was taken in the field behind the Conservation District offices after completing my classroom presentations for the day.


Day 83 (11 September) - Ah-choo!

This picture was taken at Chipp-A-Waters Park in Mt. Pleasant.  This bumble bee (and a bunch of other insects) were eating pollen and nectar from Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) blossoms.  I took several pictures of this bee as it foraged, but this was my favorite.  I like how you can see the bee's long tongue as it sips nectar.  I have never found Sneezeweed growing wild in Mt. Pleasant.  These flowers were planted about a decade ago as part of restoration project.


Day 84 (12 September) - Fall Abstract

I photographed these poplar leaves at the Conservation District offices.  This trees has been changing color and dropping leaves for about a week.  I thought about cropping the right leaf out of the picture to make the picture more of an abstract image, but decided that I liked the contrast of color.


Day 85 (13 September) - Coral Mushrooms

Recent rains have caused fungi to fruit in every local woods.  This image of coral mushrooms was taken at the CWC's Sylvan Solace Preserve.  I think this is one of several species of Ramaria fungi - there are several yellow Ramaria species that can be difficult to tell apart.  I would have liked to have taken several more images of this mushroom, but the rains have also caused mosquito populations to explode!  I couldn't stop in one place for more than a few seconds.  I am generally pretty tolerant of mosquitos, but they are absolutely miserable right now.


Day 86 (14 September) - Bean Fields

The final image for the week was taken in southern Isabella County.  Mid-Michigan is farm country and soy beans are one of the major crops.  I really liked the color of the sky when I took this picture and wanted to find the simplest landscape that I could.  The row of trees blocked out more distant elements and let me focus on the field and sky without worrying about other distractions.  The color of the ripening bean fields, sky, and clouds remind me of an impressionist landscape painting.

I hope that you have been enjoying viewing this series of photographs as much as I have enjoyed capturing them.  I am into the final week of the project and I don't know what my next photographic journey will be.