Dahlia, Oh Dahlia

Dahlia, Oh Dahlia

Dahlia, Oh Dahlia © 2012 Bo Mackison

It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between. ~ Diane Ackerman

Dahlias are my favorite flower to shoot. When I find a dahlia I love, I usually return a dozen times so I can capture the dahlia in its many stages, from bud to petals scattered on the garden earth. But when a dahlia I fall in love with is in a garden 200 miles from my home, I can’t visit over and over. The next best thing? Take an hour’s worth of photos in this patch of dahlias, every angle, in diffused light, in sun patches. Blowing in the breeze, and captured in a still air.

After I processed with photograph by de-saturating the colors, I could only look at the giant photo on my computer screen and think, “Dahlia, oh dahlia!” I’m in awe of this beautiful flower.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is busy at work, finishing a few new photographs to bring to the Third Ward Art Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this coming weekend. More info to follow.

Boardwalk to the Beach

Beach Boardwalk

Beach Boardwalk © 2012 Bo Mackison

An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day. ~ Henry David Thoreau

What a thrill to watch as the sun rises over Lake Michigan. And then another thrill – equally as amazing – when I turn away from the sun, and see the sunlight’s effect on everything within my view.

This photo was taken just north of Bailey’s Harbor, a small village in Door County, Wisconsin. The boardwalk is lined with snow fence for the summer as a beach grass re-introduction project is kept protected from the many feet of the beach visitors. The snow fence, a rather mobile fencing structure, always provides wonderful opportunities for photography. I am especially thrilled with the zig zag lines on the wobbly fence as the day’s sun lifts from the eastern horizon, and swathes the worn fence in deep golden tones.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Bo is now home, and looking through the many photographs she took on her weekend trip to one of Wisconsin’s finest Vacationlands, Door County.

Skillful Sailing

Sailboat and Anderson Dock

Sailboat and Anderson Dock © 2012 Bo Mackison

It is not the ship so much as the skillful sailing that assures the prosperous voyage.” ~ George William Curtis

The sun set behind the clouds, so we missed a stunning sunset. But after the sun disappeared, we walked around Anderson Dock for another hour, as there was no dearth of photo opportunities.

The sky remained a pale gray, but Green Bay had a silvery reflection, and shimmered as a sailboat pulled close to the dock to pick up a passenger. The building, now the Frances Hardy Gallery, was built in the late 1800s and was one of the main docks on Green Bay. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today it is a big attraction for many vacationers visiting Door County. The town of Ephraim allows graffiti – within posted parameters – following an old custom of the dock.  Over a hundred years ago, when sailors docked at Ephraim, they often carved their names and the name of their ship on the walls of the building.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is taking an August break from writing long blog posts, but the photos continue while she and Sherpa spend a few days in the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.”

Pretty Chairs All in a Row

Ephraim Beach

Beach Chairs © 2012 Bo Mackison

We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin . . . and the sand out of our belongings.  ~Erma Bombeck

Door County, Wisconsin. The chairs all in a row, the boats all anchored, Green Bay placid. In another three hours, this beach will be filled with vacationers. Lots of splashing, calling, sun-worshiping. But at 7:30 in the morning, there aren’t too many people wandering around. It’s one of the best times of the day, my way of thinking.

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 Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is taking an August break from writing long blog posts, but the photos continue while Sherpa and she spend a few days in the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.”

Pre-Occupied

Chair, Occupied by Flowers

Chair, Occupied by Flowers © 2012 Bo Mackison

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. ~  Thich Nhat Hanh

I saw this lovely chair in front of a shop window while walking on Main Street in Galena, Illinois. It’s not every day I find a chair already taken — by a swag of fragrant lavender!

August Break 2012

 

Bo Mackison is a photographer of the seeded earth and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is taking an August break from long written blog posts, but the photo walks and photo-blog continues.