Art, Nature & Progress: O'Donnell Park & the Milwaukee Art Museum

Milwaukee is continuing to grow.  Recently, a first-class hotel was built by the Potawatomi tribe as part of their casino, drawings were just unveiled yesterday for our new arena for the Bucks basketball team, and, in my own area, Wauwatosa, the Mayfair Collection has added Osgood's, an upscale casual dining and ice cream treat restaurant.

I went down to the Milwaukee Art Museum this past Thursday, and finally got to see the construction being done on what will be the tallest building in Milwaukee, the remodeled Northwestern Mutual building.  You can see the skeleton of the building above.

Here is an even better photo of the progress being made.

I also took some time, in the sunny, 70 degree weather, to walk around O'Donnell Park, which is located just west of the Milwaukee Art Museum, and considered to be the divide between downtown and the east side.  We still have some gorgeous autumn color to see.

I also took a photo of "The Calling" a sculpture famous in downtown Milwaukee, designed by artist Mark di Suvero in 1982.  The Art Museum sits to the bottom right.

I couldn't leave without taking some more photos of the Art Museum itself.  The museum is closed for remodeling and expansion, except for its temporary exhibit, gift shop, and café.  It will re-open on November 24.

 

Favorite Flower #1: The Dahlia

 

I've been photographing flowers since I bought my DSLR camera in 2012.  I learned how to properly photograph them when I attended a flower photography workshop at a local garden store in the spring of 2013.  I didn't have a favorite then, even though I think I took more photos of daisies than anything else.  But when I attended a Dahlia show at Madison's Olbrich Botanical Garden, I fell in love with them.  I loved the curves, the two-toned colors and the many different types I found.

 

Did you know that there are 42 different species of Dahlias?  They are native to Mexico, related to daisies, sunflowers, chrysanthemums and zinnias (all flowers I'm also drawn to), and are classified into 14 different groups based on their design.  For example, the dahlia above is part of the Pompon group.

 

There is also the Peony group:

 



 The Semi-Cactus group:

The Anemone group:

The Single-Flowered group: 



The Collerette group:

And the Fimbriated group:

 

There are also waterlily, "decorative", ball, cactus, star, double, and "miscellaneous" dahlias.

As you can see, there are so many different types of dahlias, that it's easy to mistake them for another type of flower.  They consider dahlias to be "octoploids", meaning they have 8 sets of chromosomes whereas other flowers only have two.  This is why there are so many different types.

The next time you go to a botanical garden, public park or flower shop, you just might find one of these beautiful, vibrant flowers (and not even know it).

Finally Fall: My Visit to the Mequon Nature Preserve

I don't know about you, but it seemed like it took forever for fall to officially come to Southeastern Wisconsin.  Usually, by early October, our trees are completely painted in fall color.  But it took until the third weekend of this month to be able to get photos of the gorgeous red, yellow and orange leaves.  To do this, I decided to venture out to the Mequon Nature Preserve, a 400-acre park north of Milwaukee that has six nature trails, an observation tower, an education center, and ecologically-friendly wetlands.

Not only do they have large parcels of forest, but they also have a nursery for the cultivation of new trees.

I was pleasantly surprised by all of the autumn color in the trees, especially the vibrant orange leaves.

The Preserve hosts educational field trips where schools can come in and learn about the environment including hikes through the trails.  And there is no fee for the visit.

I decided to try something new with the forest photographs, mostly because I had seen other photographers doing it.  I raised by camera and shot up into the trees wherever I saw color.

I love how some of these came out with the contrast between the blue sky, the autumn colors and the remaining green trees. 

I also like how the trees look almost like watercolor paintings (at least I hope they do)!

The Mequon Nature Preserve is a really nice place to take a quiet, leisurely, relaxing hike in the middle of Milwaukee, and a great place for children to learn about the environment.  I will definitely go back!

 

More Fun on 4 Wheels: The West Allis Classic Car Show

A few weeks ago, I went to a really cool auto show in West Allis, Wisconsin, a southern suburb of Milwaukee.  It was named, appropriately, The West Allis Classic Car Show, put on by downtown West Allis and celebrating its 25th year.  If you've read my previous blog posts, you know this wasn't my first photography expedition at a classic car show.  But I did learn some new tricks to getting better photos at any car show.

First, it's best if you can go to one of these car shows on an overcast day.  Sunny skies tend to make the paint jobs on some automobiles too bright (especially reds and pinks), make reflections more noticeable, and cause glare and sunspots.  The same goes for photographing flowers.

Also, find unique angles.  It's easy to get into a rut of always photographing the automobiles' grills, bumpers, fenders, dashboards, etc.  Change up your perspective and don't be afraid to crouch low to make the automobile look massive.  I admit I'm not in the best of shape, and the "squatting" took its toll on my legs the next few days, but the photos were worth the pain.

One part of these classic cars that's always fascinated me are the hood ornaments.  As a big fan of art deco design, I think these unique ornaments add class, sophistication and all-around great interest to these automobiles. 

A good rule of thumb is to photograph these ornaments like you would flowers. If you have a DSLR, put the camera in Aperture Priority mode (for Canons) and bring your f-stop down as low as you can.  Then make sure your lens is on Manual Focus, lock the focus on the ornament itself, and push the button.  This will blur out anything behind the ornament (especially people if it's crowded) and make the ornament nice and sharp.

I think the car pictured below, is the oldest automobile I've ever seen at a classic car show.  I believe it is from 1909.

The West Allis Classic Car Show was a better event than I thought it would be.  There were tons of great classic cars to see it was hard not to photograph them all.  I'm already looking forward to attending my next classic automobile show.

Summer Recap: The Pewaukee Antique Boat & Classic Car Show

Normally in most areas, there will be a boat show or a car show.  But, as I found out this summer in Pewaukee Wisconsin, they have an annual classic boat AND car show.  Apparently, this show has been around for 11 years, and I just found out about it this year (oh, if only I'd known).  But I have to say, it was one of the most impressive events I've come across in southeastern Wisconsin in many years.

I actually found out about this event thanks to Art's Camera, which sponsors monthly "Focus Group" events where local photographers can get together and meet at various places and events.  I saw a lot of photographers at the event, as well as members of the Plein Air Painters of America.

First, let me talk about the boats.  There were a lot of custom-crafted boats from all over Wisconsin for people to see on Pewaukee Lake.  I was thrilled to see that each boat had its own theme as well as the creativity & pride these boat-owners had for their watercrafts.

They did have some classic boats on display as well.

The highlight for me was all of the classic cars they had on display.  I got to the event early (it started at 9:00 am) and enjoyed watching as the car owners maneuvered their way along the lakefront to get their prime spot to be viewed.

I have photographed classic cars before.  In fact, their one of my favorite subjects.  At this event, I tried using the same shallow depth-of-field I use when photographing flowers to isolate the most interesting part of the cars, especially the hood ornaments.  But three of the photos from that day became some of my most favorite photos I've ever taken.  They are shown below:

I will definitely make it a point to attend this event next summer.  It's not only a great way to spend a summer day but it's located on one of the most beautiful lakes in Wisconsin.