From the Archives of 2008—10
November 14, 2022
Here’s a sprinkling of photographs I took at various locations near or along Ohio’s Vermilion River in 2008.
1 The datura flowers at Schoepfle Garden were a frequent subject of my photographs in 2008. Here a fly contemplates the flower’s stamens and pistils.
2 This photograph as well as those numbered 3 through 7 and 9 through 11 were taken at Schoepfle Garden.
3
4
5 Schoepfle Garden usually has a large stand of the Wyoming variety of canna lilies.
6 While the Wyoming’s flowers are attractive enough, the leaves are what interest me the most.
7
8 In a scene gruesome but graphically appealing, these flies were caught in a spider web over the river.
9
10 An almost-waterfall was letting loose from the top of this cliff while mist still hovered over the river.
11
12 Over the bridge from Schoepfle Garden the river winds through an area accessed with a treacherous path not not quite visible in the far left part of this photo.
13 The treacherous path is worth negotiating to find scenes colored like this.
14 The Vermilion River flows through a park called Mill Hollow, about six miles from Schoepfle Garden. The shale rocks at Mill Hollow are a lighter color than those at Schoepfle. 
15
Romancing Reality 
In #3 the purple in the background nicely complements the richly orange backlit subject in the foreground. Similarly in #4 the blue makes a good background contrast, and in #5 green plays that role. I’ve never seen as many insects caught in a spiderweb as you’ve shown in #8. Those shale rocks at the end would have attracted me, too.
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November 14, 2022 at 9:15 PM
Thanks, Steve. The purple in #3 was iris. I photographed them, too, of course. A swarm of flies must have been going down the river for so many to be stuck in that web. If I remember right (gad, it was 14 years ago), the shale was across the river from where I started. We must have been having a drought for me to be able to walk across. I took many other photos of those rocks, most of them apparently with no thought of composition. I think I’m more aware of composition now than I was then. Nice to know you can learn something after 14 years of practice.
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November 14, 2022 at 10:15 PM
I share your interest in the leaves, Linda. I would have been thrilled to see #10 show up on my monitor if I had taken it. And the shale shots are borderline cosmic!
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November 14, 2022 at 10:21 PM
Thanks, Ken. I used to go out on photography expeditions with a friend who sometimes would say, “All I got was rocks and leaves.” Well, rocks and leaves are me. Don’t mind if I do. I hadn’t thought of the shale shots as borderline cosmic, but thinking back to your old cookie sheets, you’re right. Yeah, #10 was a thrill. It took quite a few tries with different shutter speeds to finally nail that one. The mist was a bonus.
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November 14, 2022 at 10:30 PM
They’re all beautiful but #13 is just outstanding. You arranged the elements in the frame so nicely, the colors, the broken reflections, the patterns and shapes — simply a joy to look at.
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November 15, 2022 at 12:03 AM
Thank you, Alex. I haven’t been to the part of the river shown in #13 in a while. Maybe I can get there next summer or fall. I really love the restricted palette there. I’m so happy to bring you joy.
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November 15, 2022 at 3:20 PM
Great photos!
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November 15, 2022 at 4:26 AM
Thank you, Anita. Thanks for commenting.
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November 15, 2022 at 3:21 PM
Proof that you’ve been good at this for a long time. My runaway favorite is the last image – wow! And the one before. But there are many others that deserve a nod, too. I agree about the canna leaves, which are beautiful in both photographs. I really like the falling water drops in that shimmering light. And the warm maple leaves against that cool background (#4). The flow from light to dark in #9, the calm of #11, and the quiet palette in #13 are expertly seen.
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November 16, 2022 at 11:26 AM
I’m having trouble with WordPress today. Can’t see what I’m typing, so I hope this isn’t gobbledygook. Thanks for all your nods, Lynn. The last photo has been a favorite of mine for some time. The dripping cliff resonates in my mind, too. But some of the others I’d almost forgotten about.
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November 18, 2022 at 3:37 PM
Beautiful pictures.
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November 18, 2022 at 2:11 AM
Thank you, Jessica.
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November 18, 2022 at 3:40 PM
Wonderful images, Linda. I am really intrigued by the ones from along the river. The weathering on the rock shown in the last two is beautiful; The leaf in the last one is a perfect addition. Maybe we can meet there sometime?
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November 18, 2022 at 3:22 PM
Well, I think the leaf is gone by now. 😉 But we could definitely go to this area. We’d need a drought to cross over to where these rocks are. Not sure we should hope for that, but this is a nice time to remember that wishing doesn’t affect the weather.
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November 18, 2022 at 3:46 PM
A nice trip into the archives, Linda. #10 is wonderful.
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November 18, 2022 at 5:03 PM
Thanks, Steve. Somewhere, I have a print of #10. Wonder where . . .
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November 23, 2022 at 1:11 PM