Central Campus, diagonal, with fence posts, photo courtesy UM Bentley Library
Michigan in Pictures regularly features awesome historical postcards from Don Harrison of UpNorthMemories.com. Don emailed me the other day to let me know that the 39th National Stereoscopic Association Convention will be held in Traverse City next month (June 4-10, 2013).
The event features speakers, workshops, 3D image competitions, exhibitions and a huge 3D Trade Fair where you can view and purchase equipment and photographs. While there’s no specifically Michigan tie, I thought it was pretty cool that Brian May, CBE, PhD, FRAS is one of the featured speakers. You may know Brian as the guitarist of Queen, but he apparently postponed a career in astronomy, returning to astrophysics in 2006. He’s also a life-long stereoscopy enthusiast.
Regarding stereoscopy, Wikipedia’s explains:
Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics or 3D imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word stereoscopy derives from the Greek “στερεός” (stereos), “firm, solid” + “σκοπέω” (skopeō), “to look”, “to see”.
Most stereoscopic methods present two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. These two-dimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth. This technique is distinguished from 3D displays that display an image in three full dimensions, allowing the observer to increase information about the 3-dimensional objects being displayed by head and eye movements.
The photo above shows the Diag at the University of Michigan. You can see it bigger along with dozens more from all across Michigan in the Bentley Library’s Michigan in 3D Stereoscopic Cards gallery.
For a real treat, request your free 3d glasses from the Civil War Trust and check out the 3D images of the photos!
Gorge Falls on the Black River Scenic Byway
May 10, 2013
gorge falls-black river, gogebic county, MI, photo by Northwoods Apparition
I’m always happy when someone shares a photo of a waterfall I’ve never seen. Michigan in Pictures has a ton of Michigan waterfall photos, so it’s not often that this happens! The GoWaterfalling.com entry for Gorge Falls explains:
Gorge Falls is named for the deep and narrow gorge above and below the falls. This was my personal favorite of Black River Scenic Byway waterfalls. It is also one of the easier waterfalls to visit, being only a short distance from the parking area. There are a fair number of stairs to the falls overlook. It is only a short walk upstream to see Potawatomi Falls.
I do not know how hard it would be to get to the east side of the gorge, or what the views are like.
The Black River Scenic Byway starts north of US 2 near Bessemer. There are signs on US 2. Gorge Falls is about 14.5 miles north of US 2. The scenic area is on the right and is clearly marked.
Click through for more and see a map of the Black River Scenic Byway.
Check Kirk’s photo out background bigtacular and see more great shots in his slideshow!
Sault Ste. Marie International Railroad Bridge
May 9, 2013
international railroad bridge, sault ste. marie, ontario / michigan, photo by twurdemann
The Library of Congress page on the Sault Ste. Marie International Railroad Bridge that spans the Soo Locks from Michigan to Canada at St. Marys Falls explains that:
The Sault Ste. Marie International Railroad Bridge has nine camelback truss spans crossing the St. Marys River with bascule and vertical lift bridge components crossing the American Locks at the St. Marys Falls Canal. It is the only bridge in the United States known to include these three types of spans in a single structure to use an interlocking mechanism to connect the leaves of the double-leaf bascule span.
It is Michigan’s most significant railroad bridge from an engineering history standpoint and is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Click through for some great old photos of the bridge and explore the various sections through Historic Bridges.
Check this photo out on black and see more great shots in twurdemann’s Sault Ste. Marie 2012-2013 slideshow.
More Michigan bridges on Michigan in Pictures.
April 4th: The Battle for Wexford County
April 4, 2013
Main Street in Manton, circa 1915, photo courtesy Seeking Michigan
Battle for Wexford County by Brenda Irish of Seeking Michigan begins:
The fight for the Wexford County seat is a story of bribery, corruption, intimidation, inebriated county officials and the organization of illegal townships to boost votes.
Cadillac’s decade-long struggle for the county seat came to a head on April 4, 1882, when ballots were cast throughout the county to determine whether the coveted prize should be moved from Manton to Cadillac. Twelve months earlier, residents of Cadillac and Manton had united to remove the county seat from Sherman to Manton. Now Cadillac was determined to secure the prize for itself.
Feeling duped by Cadillac, Manton residents were furious. A couple of townships destroyed their ballots, refusing to make a return. But when the “official” count of the April 4 vote was totaled, the results were overwhelming: 1,363 “yes” voters favored moving the county seat to Cadillac, while 309 voted “no.”
In the early dawn following the election, a train left Cadillac with the sheriff and twenty “specially deputized” men and headed to Manton to collect the county property. Legend has it that the train backed quietly into a sleeping Manton, coming to a halt in front of the courthouse. Within a half hour, most of the county records and much of the furniture was aboard the train. As the Cadillac faction attempted to remove the first of three safes from the courthouse, however, Manton residents awoke…
Read on at Seeking Michigan for the contested conclusion and more photos from Wexford County.
More history on Michigan in Pictures.
Locally Known as “the Bowl”
March 27, 2013
Locally Known as “the Bowl”, photo by karstenphoto
EDIT: Wow I really messed this one up, sleepily citing an article that gave the dune’s age in the millions of years. Thanks to Tom Burrows for the catch. Let’s see if this information on coastal dunes from the DNR makes more sense:
Michigan’s glacial history provides an explanation for the formation of dunes. The Great Lakes dune complex is relatively young, in terms of geological time. As recently as 16,000 years ago, Michigan was covered with glacial ice thousands of feet thick. This glacial ice contained a mix of boulders, cobbles, sand, and clay. During glacial melting, this deposit was left and is known as glacial drift.
This glacial drift is the source of sand in most of Michigan’s dunes. The sands were either eroded from glacial drift along the coast by wave activity or eroded from inland deposits and carried by rivers and streams. Only the hardest, smallest, and least soluble sand grains were moved. Waves and currents eventually moved these tiny rocks inland, creating beaches along the Great Lakes shoreline.
…Blowouts are saddle shaped or U shaped (parabolic) depressions in a stabilized sand dune, caused by the local destabilization of the dune sands. Blowouts, which originate on the summit or windward face of a dune, are often rapidly formed by the wind, creating narrow channels and exposing plant roots. Blowouts can create interruptions in the shape of parallel dunes that may result in deeply carved indentions called parabolic dunes. It is the combination of interwoven parallel dune ridges and U shaped depressions, including parabolic dunes, that characterizes the classic dunes from Indiana, northward to Ludington, in Michigan.
Awesome Michigan wrote a little about The Bowl at Holland saying:
The Bowl is an gigantic sand bowl, resembling a sort of concave desert.
Along with the other dunes and Lake Michigan itself, The Bowl was carved out of the earth by glaciers millions of years ago and was likely a small lake before drying up.Standing at the center of The Bowl and being surrounded on all sides by enormous walls of sand is quite breathtaking. The landscape is truly like no other. This awesome sight alone makes a trip to Laketown a summer necessity and a great, relaxing place to bring friends and family.
You can also check in there on Foursquare. Here’s another shot from the bowl from all the way back in 2007. Amazing to me how long Michigan in Pictures has endured – thank you all for staying with me!
Check Stephen’s photo out big as the Bowl and see this and many more in his FILM! slideshow.
More dunes on Michigan in Pictures.
crashing to Earth
March 19, 2013
crashing to Earth, photo by .brianday
Brian suggests the Cinematic Orchestra’s Outer Space to accompany this photo. View it on black and might I suggest queuing up the song above and digging into his Gray Matter slideshow.
More amazing work from Brian Day on Michigan in Pictures.
Ice on the Chippewa River
March 6, 2013
_JMC5873aw, photo by Jeff Caverly
Wikipedia’s Chippewa River (Michigan) says that the river runs 91.8 miles from its beginning in northeast Mecosta County in the village of Barryton to where it flows into Big Cranberry Lake in southwest Clare County. It’s a tributary of the Tittabawassee River and part of the Saginaw River drainage basin.
To learn more about the river and some of the natural preserves on the river, visit the Chippewa River Watershed. You can also check out the Chippewa River Water Trail.
Get Jeff’s photo background bigtacular and see more in his slideshow.
More Michigan rivers on Michigan in Pictures.
Men at Work, Snowshoe Edition
February 22, 2013
Real Photo Men at Work with Snow Shoes Winter Ice and Snow location Unknown, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison
Don Harrison collects and sells postcards. His Flickr features some really great old postcards, mostly from Michigan. Check this photo out background bigtacular and see many more in Don’s Winter slideshow.
More postcards on Michigan in Pictures.
Bond Falls in black & white
February 21, 2013
Bond Falls, photo by wingsfan1705
Michigan in Pictures has a number of photos from Bond Falls, but there’s always room for one more. ;)
Check this out background bigtacular and see more including some detail shots in Kim’s slideshow.
More black & white photography on Michigan in Pictures.
Roller Coaster Winter
January 30, 2013
unretouched foggy morning, photo by Marty Hogan
Yesterday featured some of the worst fog I’ve seen in years as temps wandered up near the 60 degree mark and melted a good deal of our snow. It’s still fairly warm around the state but today temps will drop back into the teens by tomorrow. Can you say roller coaster?
Speaking of roller coasters, the Detroit News reports that 2012 was a year of weather extremes:
When it comes to weather, 2012 was one for the record books as at least 160 extreme weather records were set in Michigan, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Last year’s statewide weather broke records across the spectrum including: 139 new heat records in 44 counties, 18 rainfall records in 14 counties and three snow records in three counties.
Michigan’s weather seems to be paralleling the national trend of record breaking heat, rain and snow. Across the country, the Defense Council — an environmental action group — tallied 3,527 monthly extreme weather events, raising the bar over the 3,251 set in 2011, which was the most ever set in a single year since monthly weather was recorded in all locations in 1980.
The severe heat is also held responsible for several extreme weather events statewide. Michigan witnessed four large wildfires and four abnormally early tornadoes, including the EF-3 twister that devastated Dexter, which occurred in mid-March.
That tornado was the 2nd earliest since we started measuring that 60 years ago. Read on for more.
Marty took this shot of the lethal fog on Whites Bridge Road in Ionia County. See it background bigtacular and see more in his Ionia County slideshow.
More fog & mist on Michigan in Pictures.
