Snow - The Natural Alarm System

This evening I went down the the Cleveland Metroparks to see if I could capture the amazing fog we are having. There was hardly anyone in the park which made the fog and increasing darkness a little eerie. I tried to keep my imagination in check while I was walking along the trails with my camera and tripod. Maybe watching scary movies with Derrick the past two nights in a row wasn't such a good idea. After a few brief encounters with some runners, I felt more at ease and started to enjoy the quiet stillness.

There were some cool tracks in the snow. I think maybe these are from a raccoon?

On the way back to the car I decided to set my tripod up with my back towards a snow covered trail so I could get a different angle of the Lorain Bridge. As I was bending over with my face in my camera, I suddenly heard a, "CRUNCH" in the snow directly behind me. I whipped around prepared to defend myself while letting out a quick gasp. Behind me was a man who happened to be taking an evening stroll on the trail I set my back towards. I think my reaction scared him as much as he scared me because his eyes opened really wide he and muttered, "Sorry," right before he put his head down and walked away.

Snow Angel

Ever since I moved to Ohio I have been dying to photograph someone in the snow. I would plan the photo shoot in my head; beautiful young woman, cute winter clothes, bright colors and fresh snow in the Cleveland Metroparks. Well, today my dream came true. Katie met up with me in the Rocky River portion of the Metroparks and modeled in the snow in below 0 temperature! She was totally awesome and even laid down in the snow for some pictures. It's so exciting to see something you've dreamed about come to life. Thank you Katie for being awesome and smiling like it was summer. You're way tougher than I am!

Last Visions of Fall

Except for a few trees here and there, the fall leaves are officially gone for the year. Well, the leaves aren't, they're piled along the street in front of people's yards, but the color is. I had this idea in my head for a photograph to spell out words with the fall leaves. The day I went to the park to accomplish my idea it was super windy. Every time I spelled out a word, the wind would blow and I would run all over the place chasing the leaves. The fishermen must of thought I was crazy. With Derrick's help, I was able to photograph one word before the wind blew the whole thing away. I guess I'll be spelling out words in the snow instead.

Bigfoot in Ohio!

Noreen, who is basically Derrick's Aunt, is our fellow Ohio Adventurer. She always finds out about awesome events going on around Cleveland and then invites us to go. Her latest find was a presentation sponsored by the Lorain County Metroparks:

"Join us for an interesting night with Big Foot investigator and enthusiast, Marc DeWerth. Participants hear stories and investigate evidence that might suggest that the legend is real and then take a short easy hike!"

Well, how can you say no to that? I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard! I felt like the, "I'm too cool for school" kids who used to sit in the back row of class. The speaker was awesome! He was so entertaining to listen to and his passion for Bigfoot really came through in his energy. The highlight of the evening was the night hike after the presentation. We walked into the woods and he made us turn our flashlights off. So there we were, a group of about 20 adults and children, standing in the woods, in the darkness. If we weren't already freaked out enough, the guy said he was going to show us how he calls for Bigfoot. Then he screamed! LOL! I almost peed my pants. The kids started crying, the adults were freaked out and Noreen, Derrick and I were in the back dying of laughter.

When we made it back to the parking lot the fog looked really cool so Noreen posed against the fence for me. One of those times I wished I had remembered my tripod. I had to use the fence instead. Still pretty cool though.

For more information on Bigfoot, contact the Ohio Bigfoot Organization at 1-877-BFT-Ohio. Yes, that's a real phone number.

Fall Preview!

Today my friend Ariana gave me a tour of where she grew up out in the country. We stopped at Mill Hollow Metropark to skip rocks and while we were walking down to the river, there were tons of colorful leaves on the ground. On the way back to the car we collected a few and I arranged them on the hood of her car. I actually remembered to bring my camera with me so I was able to take a picture of my moment of foliage arrangement excellence. I love how the light reflected off of her car.

I'm Back!

I celebrated my 27th birthday this weekend and one of the things I have decided to do this new year in my life is to not let myself be held back by fear. One thing that I have been wanting to do but was too chicken was go down the Toboggan Shoots in the the Cleveland Metroparks. Well, in celebration of my new goal in life, Derrick and I went Tobogganing in the Metroparks today. It was a total blast! My knuckles rubbed against the concrete walls and were skinned open but other than needing to buy a new pair of gloves, I'm ok. Hope you enjoy the video!