Day 243 > Don't It Make You Smile?

Something entirely different for all you mushroom haters out there! haha

Day 242 > A Natural Wonder

I know, I know....ANOTHER mushroom. I really can't help myself. It's like an addiction, really.

Day 241 > Big White Mushroom

I've mentioned I like mushrooms, yeah?

Day 240 > A Very Hungry Caterpillar

A hungry cater pillar munches away on the leaf of a milkweed plant readying itself for the metamorphosis into an adult Monarch Butterfly. Soon after it gets it's wings, it will join the massive migration of it's kind to it's wintering grounds in Mexico. There it will produce another generation that will again make the trip northward in Spring.

Day 239 > The Living Suffer On

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Day 238 > Monarch Butterfly On Goldenrod

The goldenrod is blooming everywhere now. Summer's days are numbered...

Day 237 > On The Docks

I took a walk along the Sturgeon Bay docks this morning...

Day 236 > Wind Point Lighthouse / Racine, WI

My weekend trip to Chicago gave me the opportunity this morning to stop by one of my favorite Great Lakes lighthouses on the return trip through Southern Wisconsin.

Day 235 > The Chicago River

I was back in Chicago on Sunday for a Pearl Jam concert so I took advantage of the day in the big city to explore the the amazing urban views along the Chicago River.

I'm Off to Chicago Again...

I'll be leaving bright and early Sunday morning on another road trip to Chicago. Pearl Jam plays Sunday night! Daily photos for Sunday and Monday will be up by Tuesday morning at the latest...

Day 234 > At The Farmer's Market

Loose, cut flowers used by a vendor to put together bouquets for customers at the Saturday morning farmer's market in downtown Green Bay.

Day 233 . Heavy Surf, Heavy Sky

A dramatic scene at the Algoma Pier on Lake Michigan in the aftermath of overnight storms.

Day 232 > Untitled

Allouez Cemetery; Green Bay

Day 231 > Swallows on Tugboat

Revisiting the Carla Anne tugboat on the Fox River...

Day 230 > An Empty Shell

The outer shell of a nymphal Cicada left after the emergence of the adult insect.

Day 229 > Cedar Path

Following a footpath through the cedar forest of the Baird Creek Parkway...

Day 228 > Baird Creek Crossing

Besides being a priceless natural area in the city of Green Bay, the Baird Creek area also serves, for better or worse, as a very popular riding place for off road bikers who are drawn to it by the challenging topography it's steep hills and deep ravines offer. Local riding clubs often construct bridges such as this to connect trails on either side of the creek.
If you ask me this one looks a little... iffy.

Day 227 > A Mushroom Colony

Potawatomi State Park; Door County, WI

Day 226 . Big Baird Creek Fungi

Did I mention I love mush rooms?

Day 225 > Ribs

I love mushrooms so I've been quite thrilled with the number of amazing fungi popping up everywhere since recent storms brought an end to a very dry midsummer here in Wisconsin.
I had several impressive species to choose from this morning but opted for this nearly dinner plate sized mushroom not only for it bright orange color and interesting texture but especially for the exposed ribs along it's outer edge..

Day 224 > Pearls

Dedicated to spider-haters everywhere...

My New Blog For 2010 > Wish You Were Here: Postcards From A Lonely Road

Though it may seem a bit premature with another 142 days of shooting yet to do for this photo project, I had been giving some thought lately to what will follow this blog after it's completion. There is little question in my mind that I will be taking the day off next January 1st but it's occurred to me recently just what a big part of my life shooting has become...almost like an occupation. The daily photo hunt has become so much of a routine that it's now hard for me to imagine going even a few days without venturing out in search of fresh images to share.
I had been considering various new themes for 2010 but after this year's demanding schedule I've decided to take a more relaxed approach to my art...shooting as regularly as possible but at a pace that does not negatively impact my mental health.
On the drive home from shooting one day last weekend a new blog title and concept suddenly came to me that will allow me to carry on exactly as I'd like to.
I was so excited about the idea that I immediately got to work creating the the new blog and the result, along with the first photo post can now be found here: http://wishyouwerehere-tditzgb.blogspot.com/
Obviously my focus will still be on this blog until the end of 2009 but in the event of a day that offers more nice images than needed I may periodically post at the new one.
I hope that everyone who has enjoyed this blog will come along on my next photographic venture into the blogosphere.

Day 223 > Morning Dew / False Indigo Seed Pods

Signs of the waning summer.

Day 222 > Crown-Tipped Coral Fungus

Coral Fungus are one of my favorite mush rooms so I was quite happy to spot from the trail this morning a large, perfect clump growing on a rotting log in the forest at Baird Creek.

Day 221 > Beauty And The Barbs

Barbed wire and wildflowers in the Baird Creek Parkway.

Day 220 > Warning Signs

Everywhere, warning signs.
Triple threats in a scene of quiet serenity.
From above, an ominous sky warns take cover! from an approaching rainstorm.
Straight ahead, a signpost warns visitors: NO TRESPASSING!
And underfoot, even the beach itself, buried deeply in the discarded shells of an invasive mussel that imperils the Great Lakes, warns of ecological disaster.

So much for serenity....

Day 219 > Wild Cardinal Flowers

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Day 218 > Echinacea Purpurea

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Day 217 > In Deepest Sorrow

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New Chicago Trip Photos Up on Flickr

For anyone interested, I've finally gone through about 3/4 0f the Chicago trip pics and posted the best on my Flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tditz_gb/

Enjoy.

Day 216 > A Plea Yet Unanswered

She's waited nearly 100 years, a monument of patience.

Day 215 > St. Johns 1:38am

I've sacrificed quite a bit in the name of this photo project in the past 215 days...time, money, my mental health...
Now, as I write this at nearly 3am after returning from an after midnight shoot, I can add SLEEP to the list. However, I do enjoy the aloneness a sleeping city offers so I don't really mind the loss.

Day 214 > A Black Bouquet

Amid the beauty of the color and light.... a dark side... jagged edges... a black bouquet...

Day 213 > Only Nature Is Eternal

Allouez Cemetery; Green Bay, WI
I often wonder on my frequent visits to cemeteries here and there what will have become of such places a thousand year from now. Will they remain as they are today or will there be nobody to tend to the mowing and pruning and general upkeep that maintains their park-like appearance?
This little bell flower growing up between iron and concrete may seem fragile by comparison to it's surroundings but given time the iron rail will corrode and fall. The concrete will crack and crumble. Yet the little purple flower, a foot soldier in the land's reclamation, will remain to flourish amid the ruins of what once was. Only nature is eternal...