Tulips on the Square

Tulips on the Square at Wisconsin's State Captiol

Tulip Bed on the Square © 2010 Bo Mackison

We went on a brief foray to the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison this past Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, appropriate for May Day, and evidently everyone else must had the same idea. We began our morning by ducking into a little spot for a bite of breakfast (Bradbury’s — yummy!) and then we ventured forth towards the market.

I was briefly distracted by this beautiful bed of tulips — love that red fringe — and so I had to take a few photos. I liked how there was a streak of sunlight showing off a few of the flowers. Then I dodged a few hundred people in the first half of the first block while trying to check out the asparagus and spinach. We decided to turn around and head home before we’d barely gotten started. Too many people.

I think I may be a rainy day friend of the Farmers Market. It has gotten so popular that the best time to check out the produce and visit with the vendors is either when the market opens at 6 am or when it’s cloudy and chilly.

Might get my chance this coming weekend — rain in the forecast.

Capitol Silhouette

Capitol Silhouette © 2010 Bo Mackison

Capitol Silhouette © 2010 Bo Mackison

New news from Seeded Earth Studio!  I have recently taken official steps to branch my photography into two directions.

I shoot a lot of nature and landscape photography, and these photographs will continue to appear (almost daily) on the Seeded Earth blog.

But I also have a passion for visiting and photographing historical places, and I’ve recently started a new website and blog which focuses on this genre of photographs. The new site is called, quite originally, Historic Places Photography. I feature a historic building (for now, mostly from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Arizona) two to three times a week.

I intend, in the future, to offer architectural photography to the dedicated people who undertake restorations of historical properties, and also to provide downloadable walking tours featuring photographs and information on the architecture of historic buildings in smaller cities and towns throughout the Midwest.

For now, I hope you’ll visit Historic Places Photography and check out the photography.

Majestic Capitol

Dusk on Capitol Square

Dusk on Capitol Square

Bench and Bank

Historic American Exchange Bank Building

Historic American Exchange Bank Building

The American Exchange Bank is on the Capitol Square across the street from the State Capitol Building. The building is constructed with huge blocks of Wisconsin sandstone. That was the building material of choice for many of the historic buildings in south-central Wisconsin, and the sandstone apparently held up well.

This structure, built in 1871, is still a handsome place.

One of the best things about Madison’s downtown square, however, is the number of benches always available for a quick rest or people watching.

Hub Caps, Light Show

at Texx Tubbs

at Texx Tubb’s

I think every display of hub caps should be lit with Christmas lights –especially when they are wall decorations at the local taco place.