Paine Falls and Indian Point

I recently had the opportunity to head out to the eastern part of Lake County and visit a few of my favorite parks out there for hiking and taking a few photos, Paine Falls and Indian Point. The parks are relatively close to each other, within a couple of miles, and are far enough off the beaten path that you really get that feeling of “solitude” while you’re out there.

Colonel Hendrick Paine, nephew of Edward Paine, founder of Painesville, moved his family from Parkman, Ohio, in 1818 to this little valley. It became known as “Paine’s Hollow.” Paine built a log cabin on the terrace on the north side of the valley. With the planning and financial help of his son’s (Elazer A. Paine) father-in-law, Samuel Phelps, Paine carried out the industrial development of Paine’s Hollow. He first built a sawmill.

In the years that followed, many other industries came to the Hollow. By 1840, valley businesses included an iron forge and furnace, a tannery, a shoemaker, a blacksmith shop, and a wagon maker. An ashery was built to produce lye for soap and potash production. The area also included several houses and a school for local children.

By 1850, surrounding forests had been felled and prosperity began to decline. With the lumber supply gone and new technological advances, water power was no longer needed. The area fell to ruin and many of the settlers moved to neighboring cities. In 1974, the area was named Paine Falls at which time it was dedicated as a park by Lake Metroparks. (Courtesy of Lake Metroparks website)

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service, Indian Point has one of the earliest architectural works in this part of Ohio. A tribe from the Whittlesey Culture lived here; a Whittlesey structure was built on the 100-foot ridge between Paine Creek and the Grand River. Two parallel mounds of their earthworks can be seen. The Whittelsey were an early people who lived from 900 AD to 1650 AD in stockade villages on high bluffs overlooking rivers and lakes. Because they had no contact with Europeans, the name of their tribe is unknown. The culture is named after the archaeologist who discovered the tribe.

Charles Lyman bought several acres at the Point in 1901. He had camped here often. In the years before World War I, he used the area as a military camp for high school boys. More than 150 youngsters attended Lyman’s Camp Wissolohican during its seven-year period of existence. Lyman began carving the names of campers into a Totem Stone, which can be seen along the trail near the point. Later, the point became a Finnish camp, Kaleva Lodge. During this time, a stone hut was built and used as a sauna, intact until the 1970s, when the park system dismantled it. The property was purchased from John Phelps in 1964. A plaque was erected here, in honor of James and Edna Phelps, his parents. (In 1802, part of the property had been deeded to his ancestors by the Connecticut Land Company.)(Courtesy of Lake Metroparks website)

For more infromation and directions to Paine Falls and Indian Point, please visit:

Indian Point Metropark

Paine Falls Metropark

Thanks for stopping by,

Sean

(Images acquired with Canon Eos 40D, 28-135 IS Lens and 72mm Polarizing Filter)

Landscape and Nature Photos

It’s been raining and cool these past couple days, not really conducive for getting out and about  for photos. (At least it’s not for me, I hate this type of weather.) I think I’m in need a “pick me up” so I’ve decided to post a few landscape and nature photos from recent trips to a few local parks.

Thanks for stopping by, maybe the weather will brake today.

Regards,

Sean

(All images acquired with Canon Eos 40D, polarizing filter equipped.)

Flowers, Lighthouses and Sunsets

If I were asked to give advice to someone just getting into sellling photos, I ‘d offer these three words, Flowers, Lighthouses and Sunsets. It doesn’t seem to matter where I post these types of photos, they always seem to be amongst the top draws of the portfolio. I’d also stongly recommend a polarizing filter, but that for another post. So without further adieu, I present a few Flowers, Lighthouses and Sunsets…

So there you have it. Lets see if this post gets the attention like these images do in my portfolios.

Thanks for stopping by,

Regards,

Sean

Going Green

Going Green…

It seems like you can’t go anywhere today without seeing or hearing about this notion of going green. Along these lines I’ve decided to post a few of the more environmentally themed photos taken with the Canon EOS 40D…

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by,

Sean

Mascots and Pepe the Free Range Pinata

Mascots: those sometime beloved, sometimes creepy characters used for product endorsements to push everything from auto insurance to burgers.

In the beloved catagory I think most would say the Gecko is a relatively benign character, cute but not over the top, non-threatening and quite proper with it’s slightly British accent. Probably the biggest reason for it’s success is the clever word play with company name. Insurance is just another one of those things we pay for. It’s a living expense, but who would you rather get it from, a huge iconic corporate logo where you’re just a number, or a company mascot that’s not above having a little fun with it’s own name. I think in most cases the Gecko wins because oddly enough it humanizes an utterly inhuman product.

On the other end of the spectrum we’ve got the creepy catagory, all I’m gonna say is nightmare inducing big plastic headed King. This non-speaking character is ominous with it’s creepy smile and placed in “stalker” type scenarios that remind one of the Clown for Stephen King’s “It”.  I think this company is searching for another hook as we’re starting to see a variety of different themes in commercials. All I can say is ditch the King and start over. When was the last time you saw your competitior’s clown mascot in a commercial?

Somwhere in the middle there’s a cheeky garden gnome, a cheetah that’s trying to come off as uber hip, and finally my personal entry into the mascot fray: Pepe the Free Range Pinata…

Pepe is colorful, non-threatening, has a politcally correct past, and as you can see from the photos is up for traveling, visiting the park and other historic places. Pepe’s adventures might even find his way into a children’s book series if properly persuaded…

Book 1: Pepe the Free Range Pinata details how Pepe was born free in the Southwest United States and is befriended by Louise who takes him all over the country.

Book 2: Pepe visits the Lighthouse when Louise goes to Ohio to visit her family and learns all about lighthouses.

Book 3: Pepe and Louise visit the Park and learn all about nature and different plants at the park from Ranger Dan.

And so on, and so on…

Wow, all of that to post a few photos

Thanks for stopping by,

 

Sean

Finally! Blue Heron photos

Finally!

For the last couple of years I’ve seen a few Blue Herons making their way from park to park here in Northeast Ohio. Yesterday, for the first time, I was finally able to get close enough to capture a few images.

For anyone interested, the photos were taken early morning at the Nature Center in the North Chagrin Reservation Metropark in Lake County, Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sean

Random Photo of the Day …

Another random photo of the day post as today was a lot more hectic than I had anticipated. This is a shot of the Fairport Harbor Lighthouse early in the morning after a storm had blown through the night before. The combination of sun, clouds, and lighthouse make this photo one of my all time favorites. (Click thumbnail to enlarge.)

And here’s the photo data:

Camera : OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP SP560UZ
F Number : 6.3
ISO Speed : 50
Exposure Program : Creative (Slow speed)
Exposure Mode : Auto
Exposure Compensation : 0
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Focal Length : 10.3 mm
White Balance : Auto
Date/Time Original : 2008:08:09 20:54:43
Software : Version 1.1
Components Configuration : YCbCr
Compression : JPEG (old-style)
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
Exif Version : 0221

That’s about all I really have time for today. If you like any of the photos you see on this site please feel free to visit my albums over at Shutterpoint and comments are welcome here on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Smh

Random Shot of the Day…

Things have been very busy today and with the limited time I have I decided to post a “Random Shot of the day” Enjoy. (Click thumbnail for larger image.)

And for something a little different, I’ve decided to add the photo infomation as well…

Camera : OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP SP560UZ
F Number : 3.2
ISO Speed : 125
Exposure Program : Creative (Slow speed)
Exposure Mode : Auto
Exposure Compensation : 0
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Focal Length : 6.4 mm
White Balance : Auto
Date/Time Original : 2008:08:02 04:43:46
Software : Version 1.1
Components Configuration : YCbCr
Compression : JPEG (old-style)
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
Exif Version : 0221

That’s about all I really have time for today. If you like any of the photos you see on this site please feel free to visit my albums over at Shutterpoint and comments are welcome here on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Smh

Veteran’s Park early morning…

Snuck out early this morning with the Olympus SP-560UZ to Veteran’s Park just after sunrise, before the day started to get too crazy. It was a windy, slightly chilly morning after a storm the night before. The combination of wind, sun, clouds, and the park made for some nice pictures. Hope you enjoy. (Click thumbnails to enlarge.)

That’s about all I really have time for today. If you like any of the photos you see here please feel free to visit my albums over at Shutterpoint and comments are welcome here on the blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Smh