Madison Indiana Winter

OK although it has cooled down a bit I am still in need of a nice walk thru a cool environment, it doesn’t look like it will be coming outside real soon so I will just have to substitute a shot from a few winters ago.

This image came form Clifty Falls State Park near Madison Indiana, we had just received a nice accumulation of snow and the roads were clear enough for me to travel thru the park, it was just one of the many stream images I captured that day. You just can’t beat Clifty Falls for photography, the natural beauty of this park is unparalleled for this part of the country and is a must visit anytime you are in this area.

I purposely blurred the bottom and top part of this image just as a different look for this subject…not sure if I like it what do you think ?

 

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Just thought I might share this with you since the weather has been so hot, it’s kinda nice to go back in time a bit and enjoy a cool moment for a change. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look !

 

“Madison Indiana Tourism”

Two months from now the woods and canyons that surround Madison Indiana will transform from the dark bleak environment that we have lived with for the last few months, into a display of color and fragrance that makes it hard to even believe that it is the same area that we live in.

I still believe that this part of Southeastern Indiana with it’s many waterfalls and unique geographic features is the most under utilized area for tourism in the Midwest, I have traveled and hiked some of the other destinations in the East and this area is definitely right near the top for natural beauty.

With the beautiful hardwood gorges and 25 waterfalls 30 feet or bigger, the day hiker could go afield for many days just to witness the natural geographic wonders that lie in our own backyard.

And every spring these tree lined canyons explode with a display of wildflowers that rivals even the beautiful blooms of the Great Smoky and Appalachian Mountains, the only problem is I may be the only person singing the praises of this hidden gem we live in, for me personally that might be a good thing but in terms of economic and tourism dollars it’s not so good.

Clifty Falls State Park puts on a few nice walks thru the park in the spring but the area around the park is definitely being underutilized  and some sort of  leadership from city and state government needs to step up and promote the beauty that surrounds us here in Madison.

But if local government can’t get the job rolling maybe it’s time for the people in the private sector to take it into their hands and get the ball rolling and then maybe it would get noticed by someone higher up in the food chain and then we could give an already beautiful and Historic Madison another piece in the economic game of tourism dollars !!

Thanks for listening to my rant and here are just a couple of the beautiful examples of the area we call home !

                                                                                                                                                                                            

“Mystical Stream”

I have a little time today to post so here it is, shot this in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, love the surreal feel in this and how it seems the stream travels on thru the fog.

This is the part of photography I miss, I love my portrait business here in Madison Indiana but hopefully after I retire from my job I will be able to make more time for this part of my work.  As for the coaching part Lord only knows how long I can take that part of my life, great kids and extremely talented but they can really be frustrating at times lol !!

Been hoping for a little snow this year, lots of rain and storms but no snow, of course when we get closer to the wildflower season I am sure it will get a lot colder with a ton of snow…never fails !!

Hope you enjoy the image and thanks again for stopping by and taking a look, and make sure you click on the image for best result.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                               

 

“Clifty Falls Wildflowers”

Thought I might share another photo, this time a wildflower from early spring, early spring wildflowers seems like an eternity ago now but here it goes anyway. I shot this beautiful little wildflower in Clifty Falls State Park near Madison Indiana along one of the trails that crisscross the park.

Blue Eyed Mary’s are one of my favorite wildflowers to shoot because of the beautiful blue color and also the small delicate structure of the plant make it a great subject as well. These wonderful wildflowers can usually be found in early spring along rocky creek bottoms and along gently sloping hillsides, they are very easy to miss as you hike the woodlots and canyon floors because of the very small size of this plant but once you find them their color alone makes up for their size.

This particular subject’s bloom was a bit larger then a pea  and not an easy subject to photograph but after a little work I finally was able to bring out all the structure and color in this beautiful subject.

So if you ever get up to Clifty falls in the spring take the time to hunt for this little gem you will be glad you did, thanks for stopping by and taking a look, and as always click on the image for best viewing !!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

“Madison Indiana Waterfalls”

We keep getting closer and closer, I went out Sunday and explored a couple of my secret wildflower haunts and found that the plants were just starting to poke up thru the leaf cover, with temps rising into the 70′s over the next few days it looks like late this week and weekend will be my first serious shoots out in the woods !!

So in the meantime here is an image I captured of one of the many waterfalls that grace the landscape of Madison Indiana and the surrounding area, this one lies very close to a busy highway with thousands of cars a day flying by without an inkling of the beauty that lays just off the roadside from them….and I kinda like it that way !!

I had to isolate just a part of the waterfall because of the trees and debris that still hang over it from the ice storm we had a couple of years ago.  Time or a chainsaw will eventually bring about a clearing around the falls and hopefully I can then show you a better image of this particularly beautiful falls.

I really like the lushness of this waterfall the green colors in the pool kinda puts you in the mind of a tropical paradise, but that is very far from the truth with this particular falls.  The falls has a ton of garbage and other debris that has been thrown over the cliff and washed down by the creek over the years and has really made this beautiful spot almost a landfill, with the right leadership this place could well become a park as is the case for all the other waterfalls in our county.

Hopefully someday the local officials will understand this beautiful and amazing environment that surround our community and turn these wonderful sites into a place people can visit and explore, until then I will just have to share them wth you thru my photography and maybe someday you will be able to visit them yourself !!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look and as always click on the image for best viewing !!