An Epic Roof Raising

October 28, 2012 by 1 Comment
The Roof is on the Ground

The Roof Rests the Ground ©2012 Bo Mackison

Epic Systems has a Roof Raising

How do you build an 11,000+ seat auditorium so that visitors and employees of Epic Systems will be able to walk on the grassy area on the top of the building? You dig a huge hole and build most of the seating area under ground level.

Construction at Epic's Deep Space

Construction at Epic’s Deep Space ©2012 Bo Mackison

But first, you construct a slightly domed roof on concrete supports at ground level, a roof that weighs nearly 10 million pounds. Then on a calm autumn morning, you assemble skilled engineers and construction workers at the site from around the world, and you crank the roof into the air, inch by inch by inch!

I checked on the progress of the roof on  Saturday morning. It was 18 inches from its original resting place.

A Roof Raising - Deep Space at Epic

The Roof is Raised © 2012 Bo Mackison

Auditorium is Aptly Named Deep Space

Twenty four hours later, the roof hovers 80 feet in the air. It will stay there as work progresses to construct the permanent struts underneath. Then the roof will be lowered about 10 feet into its permanent position.

It is hard to imagine the immensity of this auditorium, named Deep Space. It has 1/7th of the number of seats as does Lambeau Field, and its footprint equals 13 football fields. There is still a lot of work to be done, but its completion date is estimated to be less than a year from now.

Beautiful sunny weather and almost no wind provided a perfect setting for the lift. And the roof raising went according to plans. What a lot of work and effort and detailed planning. Wow!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She has always been fascinated by architecture. How thrilling it was to watch this roof raising!

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The Bliss of Falling Leaves

October 16, 2012 by 2 Comments
Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves ©2012 Bo Mackison

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering to the ground. ~ Emily Bronte

Falling Leaves

This has been a wonderfully bright and colorful autumn. The trees held tightly to their leaves longer than usual, giving me plenty of opportunity and  time to photograph autumn color before all of the falling leaves left only bare branches.

I have always had a special affinity with autumn, loving the trees and their layers of colors, loving the crisp, cool evenings in fall after a summer of sticky, humid nights, even loving the annual raking event we always had on a weekend in late October.

Blog Anniversary Winner

I celebrated the 5th anniversary of Seeded Earth Studio’s blog a few days ago, and offered a give away, a photograph, to one of my blog visitors who left a comment on the blog birthday post.  I said I would pick and announce the winner on my birthday, and so the day has come. There were 20 comments. I used a random number generator from the internet to choose a number.

And that number is: #10.

Counting the comments, the winner is #10 — ta-da — Susan Vial.

Congratulations, Susan. I’ll be contacting you very soon, as soon as I return from my Chicago Adventure! Sweet!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is attending the Filter Photo Festival in Chicago the week of October 15.  Bo will be blogging about her conference experience – workshops, lecture series, gallery walks, portfolio reviews, and much more. 🙂

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Blue Skies, Yellow Trees

October 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Autumn Trail ©2012 Bo Mackison

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” ~ George Eliot

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

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Autumn Hike in Wisconsin

October 13, 2012 by 7 Comments
Autumn Walk XI

Let’s Take an Autumn Walk ©2012 Bo Mackison

A Colorful Autumn Hike in Wisconsin

One of the urban parks in Madison, Wisconsin – Owen Conservation Park – has a maze of hiking trails. There are dozens of paths, views of the city, prairie remnants, trails through hardwood forests, and a small pond for water fowl. The park seems specially designed for a colorful hike in autumn.

Autumn Walk VII

View Across the Prairie ©2012 Bo Mackison

Prairie view. Most of the golden-rods and asters – the last blooms in autumn – have now gone to seed. The prairie is filled with fluffs of white blowing seeds.

Autumn Walk III

Autumn Colors in the Woods ©2012 Bo Mackison

The forests, though small, have a fine variety of hardwoods. Maples, oaks, hickory are the predominant species, and together produce a fine color mix of yellows, oranges, reds and browns.

Autumn Walk XII

Leafy Shadows in Autumn ©2012 Bo Mackison

I love to hike when the sun is still low enough in the morning to cast leafy shadows on the tree trunks in the more open spaces.

Autumn Walk VI

Reds and Yellows in Autumn ©2012 Bo Mackison

Sumacs give the park’s open spaces a deep red glow. More whites in the prairie — fluffy seeds. Yellow ashes still have some of their leaves.

Autumn Walk V

Autumn Walk in the Forest ©2012 Bo Mackison

Another path through the woods and I’m back to the parking area.

Autumn Walk I

Owen Park Road ©2012 Bo Mackison

Even while leaving the park, there are so many trees in bright colors. I pulled along the side of the road a half-dozen times for that “one last shot.”

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Thankful for the opportunity for a nature walk today.

She is attending the Filter Festival in Chicago the week of October 15. Workshops, lecture series, gallery walks, portfolio reviews, and much more. But no opportunities for walks in the autumn woods.

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The Trees Speak of Connection

October 12, 2012 by 3 Comments
Olbrich Autumn Wonders - A World of Yellows

World in Yellow ©2012 Bo Mackison

Know that the tree is not just the form, it is not just a certain species the botanists’ talk about, it is an unknown god – so green in your courtyard, so close to you, beckoning you, calling you again and again. ~ Osho

My Connection to Nature

I often think that trees are the finest species on this earth. I love photographing flowers, grasses, natural landscapes. But there is something about the trees. In my part of the world, I am never far from some type of tree. There are usually a few trees in every yard, and large stands of trees in whatever direction I head from my home.

Grounded in the earth, they often stretch a hundred feet high, their tops surrounded only by sky when I peer at their crowns. I like being able to reach out my hand, rest my palm on the trunk of a tree, and feel a deep sense of connection to nature.

And I am happy that there are trees not only in my yard, and in my community, but I am also happy that there are trees even in downtown Chicago. I’ll be in Chicago next week. And I’ll be noticing the trees that grow there, even in the midst of a crowded metropolis.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Yesterday she finished the printing of two sets of fine art photography and today she is putting the final touches on the two portfolios.

She is attending the Filter Festival in Chicago the week of October 15. Workshops, lecture series, gallery walks, portfolio reviews, and much more. Opportunity awaits.

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