” Calla Lily Flame “

After posting all the shots of the fire at the Courthouse in Madison Indiana, I thought I might deviate  from the journalistic side of photography a bit and head back over to the artisitc side. But I still thought I might keep a fire flavor to it and post this shot of a  group of Calla Lilies that I think resemble a flame, don’t know if you all think they rsemble a flame as well but  at least thats what I will call them.

I blew this one up to about 30×40 and it really looked nice, it was a bear getting that feat acomplished but was definitely worth it.  Calla Lilies really are a beautiful subject too shoot and almost always look great printed and displayed, thay have become one of my favorite subjects and I always enjoy shooting them.

” Madison Indiana Courthouse Fire “

I thought I might post a few more shots of the fire that nearly destroyed the Jefferson County Courthouse in Madison Indiana. The fire did not completely destroy the structure the dome and roof were completely burnt up, but the other parts of the building wrer spared except for water and smoke damage.  The files that dated backed to the Civil War were largely intact and were being freeze dried for further restoration, the fire did a lot of damage but with great work from the Madison and surrounding area Fire Departments they were able to save most of the structure and important documents.

It was really nice to see the community pull together to protect such a valuable piece of History and the out pouring of support and donations to the fireman and County Government was tremendous. The Bicentennial Celebration is going on and clean up and reconstruction on the courthouse will begin on Tuesday.

The other thing about this whole episode was the incredible amount of people with cameras and camera phones that were at this event, even as of this morning many locals and out of town visitors have stopped and shot many images of the Courthouse, I couldn’t even guess on how many shots were taken. I shot close to 500 myself most of them will never even be opened up on my computer but like most records or files will be saved for the  future.  I did want to do something a little different with my images and try to give them a darker mood and covert some of them to B&W to give them a edgy or gritty feel.

These were all captured in the opening moments of the fire and I believe convey the stark mood the whole scene had taken as the fire burnt the Courthouse Dome. Just something a little different from all the cell phone and normal sots everyone else were taking, hopefully construction the Courthouse will be sift and they can keep intact the wonderful history and beauty of this magnificent structure, thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!

Click on the images for the larger files for a better look.

“Virginia Bluebells”

Here is one more Bluebell from earlier this spring, it was great year for Virginia Bluebells, there seemed to more blooms than usual and the flowers were full of color and didn’t seem to have many blemishes.  It was  a pretty good all around wildflower season as well, I shot a large variety of flowers and got quite a few good compositions.

I think I might post one more but hopefully I can move on too other things to shoot so I don’t bore you all with my subjects. We have been experiencing a generous amount of rainfall the last couple of weeks so I am hoping I can get a few nice waterfall or creek compositions on here for something  a little different.

I wish I could get a little more motivated and shoot all the beautiful falls that grace the area I live, I counted one time that we have from one side of our county to the other over 30 waterfalls 30 feet or bigger that if you get enough rain make for a amazing scene.  It is just very hard considering most of the falls, not including the ones at Clifty Falls State Park,  are quite difficult to reach.

Maybe someday when I have more time I can go out and capture all of them and convey their beauty to you, but for right now I will stick to the easier stuff, thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!

‘Wild Geranium”

I guess I better post them while I have got a chance, I shot this one at Clifty Falls Sate Park a couple of days ago, this is the first shot of this lovely little flower that I have been happy with.  Many times in search of this flower I have either been too late or in the wrong place, I got lucky with this one and hit it at the right time, I would have liked to have been able to get a little more dof out of this one but the wind was just strong enough to force me too shoot at a higher stop.

As of right now the woodland flowers have all but disappeared from the area and all that is left is in bad condition, it has been a pretty good year with lots of rain, but the cool weather has caused a lot of the blooms to get spots or other markings on them. I might post a couple more after this one, but if the rain continues I might be able to concentrate on the waterfalls and streams that dot our area before summer arrives and everything drys up.

I hope everyone is having  a great day and thanks for stopping by and taking a look !!