Pajareo sin fronteras

A couple days ago, my family decided to skip the snow and cold of upstate Michigan to go visit relatives in downstate Michigan. Naturally, we drove down only to find that the lower part of the state was being hit by a huge blizzard, so the first part of that plan didn't work out so well. However, it was nice to see aunts, uncles, and cousins, and the best part was that we got to visit Detroit briefly, to eat lunch and see the Detroit Institute of Art.  Detroit is still the largest city in Michigan, but it's a study in desolation and destitution; the population has shrunk by about half, and it's mostly a maze of torn-down or abandoned buildings and ruined neighborhoods. There is a small section of the downtown that is still relatively vibrant, but there are even more parts that look post-apocalyptic. It's hard to escape the fact that it's a violent, poverty-stricken city, haunted by the ghost of former glory. I wish I had pictures of some of the huge, grand old bui...

After an absurdly long travel time and an even more absurdly long period without sleep, I've finally come to the end of my first semester of freshman year, and arrived back in Michigan. So hopefully I'll be able to take some more pictures over this break, now that I don't have soul-crushing schoolwork to worry about.  Naturally, this is December in Michigan, so the weather leaves something to be desired. Right now it's cold, grey, and snowy, but the day before yesterday (when I took these pictures), it was just cold and grey. Climate change sucks. But, it had also been a long time since I'd taken pictures, so I wasn't in a mood to be picky; instead it gave me a good opportunity to work on some more creative picture taking, and on my post-processing techniques. These pictures were all taken along the Leelanau Trail in Suttons Bay. I wish I'd stood a little further back, but with a moving dog, that's not always easy. ...

So "a couple days" turned into a couple weeks, but I figured I'd wander back here to post some more pictures. Fall is winding down here in Vermont; leaves are off trees, and snow is forecast for this weekend. Not that I'm complaining- as long as we get a decent ski season, I'm happy. These are some more abstract or close-up pictures I took of the fall foliage and things like that. Intimate, minimalistic photography is one of my favorite styles, and it was nice to be able to practice it some more over this fall. Celebrating the arrival of the Dalai Lama... Did I mention that I got to meet the Dalai Lama? Because I totally got to meet the Dalai Lama.