Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: vine

I miss our trellis.

From our recent visit to Maple River State Game Area.

At the Eaton County Fairgrounds.

A surprisingly difficult photograph....

There's a fan-shaped trellis at the back of our yard, hidden now behind the lilac hedge. A dozen or so years ago, when the trellis was still visible from the yard, I planted a honeysuckle at its foot. Darned thing wouldn't grow, and never flowered. Every spring it peeked out, spread its tentacles two or three feet, mostly along the ground, occasionally grabbing one of the bushes, but never growing long enough to take advantage of the trellis. Until this year. This spring it's filled the trellis and blossomed. Really not sure what's changed, though I'm pretty sure it's nothing we did. Since we can't see the trellis from the yard, and the adjacent house is vacant, the effort's pretty much wasted. Life's a mystery.

One of the trails at Michigan's Leelanau State Park leads to a viewing platform which overlooks Lake Michigan. This grape vine's been threatening to claim the platform for its own purposes for several years, now.

We spent Sunday evening at the family farm, celebrating Joan's father's birthday. The late-afternoon sun was making things interesting, so I wandered the yard looking for photographs. The farm has a small vineyard. Evidently the birds have been harvesting the vine--as each bunch ripens, they pick it clean. By the time we arrived, the only survivors were at the north end of the garden. Presumably, by now, these last few are gone.... ============= A bit over-processed, but I like the effect.

A flower a day for January ....

A flower a day for January ....

A flower a day for January ....

Since all of my daily picture project photos were of the Bob Robinson sign, today you get one of the day's "other" photographs, taken in the yard with my Nikon 1. But you also get one of my longer stories, about last October 6th's 366 Snaps pic. I'm reading on the porch when a lady comes round the spruce and says "Hi! Mr. Bennett?" I say "No, Mr. Dinda. But close enough." "I'm Amy Robinson and my husband, Bob, is running for county treasurer." I tell her "Good" and establish that I actually know who Bob is. He'd run in the Democratic primary for state rep two years before and had caught my eye, though in the end I'd voted for Theresa Abed . We chatted for a bit and Amy went on her way. When Joan got home from work that night I told her about Amy's visit. ========== In the 1970s I ran voter contact campaigns for the Kalamazoo Democrats, so I recognized the encounter technique. The name thing is a mark of professionalism, despite the ID bobble, as it meant they'd purchased voter lists. Depending on where they got the list they may well have known that someone in this house votes Democratic and contributes money to campaigns. Amy'd done well, from both her side and mine. I'd found a candidate I wanted to support. She'd found a supportive and knowledgable voter who recognized her candidate. Usually the non-hostile responses you get to campaigns for county office are more ambiguous. I sought out Bob's campaign website and made a donation. ========== A couple days later Amy was back. She found Joan working in the garden and asked if we'd be willing to let her put up a yard sign. Joan retrieved me from inside the house and we agreed to the advertisement. Of such contacts are grass roots political campaigns built. Bob won. ========== This photograph is a non-outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 9 Title of " roll :" Bob Robinson Other photos taken on 10/6/2012: I shot a couple dozen pix and stashed 'em in a folder called "Fall Color in the Yard."

This, friends, is why you buy a macro lens.... ========== Joan had been harvesting onions, and left them on the picnic table to dry. I couldn't resist 'em, and my 366 Snaps photo resulted. The processing shows the effect of Bibble Pro's Bleach Bypass preset. Then I decided to see what I could manage with the turning leaves on the vine. Probably that was the better photograph. ========== This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps . Number of project photos taken: 18 Title of " roll :" Onion crop Other photos taken on 10/2/2012: none.