May 2009 Newsletter
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Is there anything that feels better than those first genuinely warm days in the springtime, when the world has awakened from a long winter's sleep? The grass is green, the flowers are blooming and the birds are singing. As I write this, I have been watching an oriole collect nest making materials outside of my window. Seems that there is a lot of string and other good nesting materials tangled in my raspberry bushes.
This spring was a little late, but as always, it has finally arrived in the north country. I enjoyed a wonderful trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in April and another trip in early May to Holland Michigan for the "Tuliptime" festivities.
Many of my new images will soon be added to the website. In the meantime, new images are added more frequently to my blog.
2009 Art Shows
Holland, Michigan that is. Their annual "Tuliptime Festival" has been rated as one of the best festivals in the country. After my visit, I can understand why. The streets are lined with colorful tulips, tulip farms abound and the people are some of the friendliest I have ever met. The The lakeshore is a great place for iconic images of lighthouses as shown below the Grand Haven Lighthouse and Pier.
The Downtown Frame Up on Front Street in Traverse City has just added more of my photos such as Council Lake to their gallery. They have a large selection of other local artists and do an excellent job with all of my framing. You can print and bring this coupon in for discounts on framing, selected posters or prints.
The Great Smoky Mountains Photo Trip
The opportunity to get away to enjoy and capture spring in the Southern Appalachians was needed after a long difficult winter. Though their spring seemed a bit late by their standards, it was fine by me. Many of the familiar woodland wildflowers were blooming and the iconic dogwoods were just starting to blossom. Below is an image that has been manipulated in Photoshop© using what is known as the "Orton Effect". To me this yields a dreamy, yet dramatic representation of a beautiful scene. The location is Tremont Creek which is overlooked by most visitors to the park, except for the kayakers and fly fishermen. A thank you to Terry Clark for his Photoshop assistance on this image.
Summer is one of the best times to travel in the north country. Long days with mostly comfortable temperatures and great places to see and explore. Some of the web sites to try out for trip planning in the Traverse City and surrounding area include: Pure Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Traverse City Visitors Bureau and many more. There are of course so many other destinations to choose from.
As always, thank you for taking the time to allow me to share my photography with you. I will try to keep capturing images to share and posting on my website at www.tomhaxbyphotos.com or more immediately on my blog. Thank you also to Traverse Magazine for featuring one of my images in their May edition. As always, they do a great job of highlighting the special things about being "Up North".
Although economic times are currently tough, things will get better. However, nature is still out there to provide a soothing peace. As summer arrives, I hope that you will take the opportunity to put aside your cares to enjoy a picnic lunch, a stroll in the woods or maybe a paddle trip on a river.
One more quote is appropriate, this time from Kermit the Frog ; “Well, you know, it's interesting being 50, ... You start to reflect on your life. And you look back over the years at everything you've ever done. And, with age, middle age, comes wisdom. But I have to say that I'm not sure that 50 for me is the same as 50 in people years.”
Finally, if you know of someone whom you think would like to subscribe to my newsletter please e-mail me with their e-mail address. The newsletter is free, hopefully informative and subscriptions can be discontinued at any time. Also, comments are always welcome.