Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: steel

Hastings, Michigan. I trust this sculpture has a name and an artist, but found no obvious sign at the site. If someone knows, please fill in the missing details. Thanks. It's Gaze II by James Oleson. Some details in the links in the comments, below. Hastings' central business district is full of sculptures, but I really don't know any details. Hastings is a town I travel through, not a town I visit--and the sculptures are downtown, which my route through town skirts.

A thing about steel mills: Everything's so large that even enormous trucks look small. This is an example. Taken at Algoma Steel, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on June 21, 2004

Continuing our Soudan Mine tour. As you can see, the mine commanded the local high ground; that's Tower Soudan, Minnesota, down below. Terrific view. Soudan Underground State Park; 1990. Shot with my Minolta Freedom camera.

When this barn was built, apparently in 1923, it was widely acclaimed as the world's first all-steel barn. A couple years ago I discovered this 1926 Popular Science article about John Cole and his barn while I was looking for something else. What I didn't know was Cole's barn's location, except that it was "near Mulliken." Then two or three weeks ago I stumbled on Historic Map Works -- where I found this map , and was able to locate Cole's farm at the corner of Mt. Hope and Mulliken--three miles due south of my house. From there it was just a matter of comparing the Pop Sci photo with the actual barn. Turns out I've known the barn for decades , but hadn't recognized its significance. Neat, no?

In Barry County (Michigan) on the Thornapple, southeast of Hastings and about a mile downstream from Charlton Park . I was standing on this bridge when I took the barn photo I posted earlier today. This 1903 bridge was originally known as the Sponable Bridge and took the McKeown name in the 1930s. Both names commemorate the same farm--the farm whose barn I photographed. The state's description of the bridge attributes the name change to the rural electric companies standardizing road names in the 1930s, which is probably more interesting than the name itself. The bridge now lives in a little park, with its 1997 replacement crossing the Thornapple just downstream from the old bridge. There's quite a bit more information on the Historic Bridges website ; worth a look.

Perhaps the prettiest Laker ever, Edward Ryerson is parked at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Permanently, near as anyone can tell. Since the owners are unwilling to sully her fine lines with a self-unloader she's a wasted ship, never stirring out from this mooring. Might as well send her to the breakers.... Sorry 'bout the slight incline. Shooting conditions were not ideal.

Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.

This one's for Tarboat, who asked if I'd taken more photos of Esser Steel's Algoma works. At Soo, Ontario. I do. There will be more....

Last November 24 I took a double handful of pix around town.... This is on Charlotte Highway (same as Mulliken Road), just north of the tracks, not far from downtown Mulliken. Near as I can tell this barn's in the village, though it's not clear why the village boundaries are so much larger than the settled portion. ========== Eventually a photo-a-day project consumes you. You watch for photo ops constantly, mentally framing everything you see. You take odd routes to places just to scope out the scenery. You start carrying your camera nearly everywhere. Your attention wanders at inconvenient times and places. The project begins as a lark. After a few weeks it becomes part of your routine. After three months it's become an obligation. After six months it occasionally becomes an obsession. By the 300th day it's become--well, more than a hobby, but probably less than a job. It reflects your mood, and influences your mood. This is not entirely a good thing. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 10 Title of " roll :" Mulliken Other photos taken on 11/24/2012: none.

I wandered around town last February 5, mostly taking unsatisfactory photographs of things I'd capture better some other day. Some days I'm just an uninspired photographer. Davis Construction built (land-filled) a little storage area and stacked a bunch of beams near Mulliken Road a couple years back. Apparently they've found a use for these, since they're now gone.... This pic's not as sharp as I'd like, but is the best of the day's outtakes. All the day's pictures were shaky.... ========== On the whole the Droid Bionic's camera app's decent, and well-designed, but unexceptional. The photographer's got about as much control as with any compact camera, and the touchscreen's an acceptable interface for changing settings. But the screen's not so good as a shutter release. The hardware, on the other hand, is problematical. I'll discuss that a bit later. One thing learned during the previous day's experiments was that the Bionic's camera app had a bug. If you set the camera to Black and White, then changed other settings, the software'd forget about the B&W setting unless you intentionally reset it. Looks like that bug's since been fixed, since I can't reproduce it today. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 15 Title of " roll :" Around Town Other photos taken on 2/5/2012: none.