I am still mainly using the Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera with the Olympus PRO 12-40/2.8 zoom lens. I also use a Rokinon 7.5mm/ F3.5 Fish eye lens and several Olympus lenses, such as 9-18, 14-150 and 75-300. Spurred on by my Fitbit Charge 2 wrist device my wife Anne and I take many walks, trying to get it a minimum of 250 steps each hour during the day plus a goal of total steps each day: 6,000 - 8,000 - 10,000 - 12,000 - 15,000 - goals changing during the year depending of various factors.

2017 Photo Walks

Photo Walks Home Page

Winter in Mason

Mason was covered in Winter snow and lots of ice sickles. I went for a walk in the neighborhood around my house and documented a few things using my Ol;ympus EM-1 with Olympus 12-40/2.8 lens..

Go to: 14 December 2017

17th Annual Lighted Parade and Tree Lighting

Our annual parade of lights is always fun. It's not an extensive parade but it takes place in the evening after dark sets in. Many floats are simply trucks or buses covered in colored lights. It's always fun, though, even if the weather is rather cold. All photos were taken with my iPhone 6 plus.

Go to: 24 November 2017

Mason Down Home Days Festival

There are two similar festivals in Mason each calendar year, the Spring Fling in May and the Down Home Days in September. There are many booths selling all manner of things, many of them handmade by the sellers. You can also find food, commercial booths, service organizations, entertainment, and various other things. It's always fun, and I love picking up some baked goods from the church booths. Below are a selection of misc. photos taken of the festivities. A few photos show the Mason Farmers Market which meets at the same location (on the streets surrounding the Ingham County Courthouse in the city center).

Go to: 16 September 2017

8th Annual Mason Sundried Music Festival

For the 8th consecutive year Mason organized the spectacular Sundried Music Fest. Thirteen excellent bands, a mix of veteran performers and fresh young talent, presented a good program of music. With the childrens' entertainments, a variety of fair food, the Farmers Market, a beer tent, and two stages with continuous performances and room for dancing everyone had a grand time. It was also nice to have really nice weather for this year's event.

Go to: 25-26 August 2017

Solar Eclipse

The celebrated solar eclipse in America came to Mason in a partial form. I didn't feel up to traveling to a zome of totality, the the 80-90% partial version we got here was pretty cool. I dought my equipment at the beginning so I got no photos of the start of the eclipse. The day was also cloudy, so all my photos show clouds drifting across the face of the sun. But it was a good day and quite enjoyable.

Go to: 21 August 2017

Aviation Day in Mason

Once a year Jewett Airport in Mason hosts Aviation Day when we are able to look at aircraft up close (both commercially built and locally built by members of the local Experimental Aircraft Association members). There are also interesting displays, food and aircraft rides.

Go to: 19 August 2017

Lunch and walks in Stockbridge, Michigan

My wife and I enjoy walking in Stockbridge and having lunch in the fabulous Stockbridge Diner. It's not large are impressive looking, but the food is excellent. I particularly like the chicken fried steak.

Go to: 3 August 2017

Ingham County Fair

It's great having the county fair within walking distance. It's a week-long event with a lot of interesting displays and competitions. A few times in past years I rode my trike around the fairgrounds late at night getting a feel for the event. Families participating camp out on the fairgrounds and you can hear the talking, laughing and smell the food cooking on grills. During the day you can observer the displays by the 4H members and see animals judged in various categories, sample traditional fair food, enjoy the rides, etc. It's a good reflection of the local farming community.

Go to: 31 July 2017

Summer Wine & Wool Festival, Sandhill Crane Vineyards, Leoni, Michigan

My daughter takes her business Twisted Fiber Arts to Sandhill Crane Vineyards twice a year for the Wine & Wool Festival. This year the weather was perfect so the event could be held out of doors. There was a great turnout. Here are a number of photos of this event, though I did concentrate on my daughter's booth.

Go to: 29 July 2017

Michigan Steam Engine and Threshers Club Show

This was the 59th Annual Reunion of the club. They have a 3-day show starting the last Friday in July each year. They had over 30 steam engines, a steam crane, stationary engines, a shingle mill and demonstrated a number of engines in action. There was also a flea market, the Mason Farmers market and some food vendors. This was my first year at this event and I found it most interesting. It was held on their grounds at the intersection of Barnes Road and Hull Road.

Go to: 28July 2017

4 July 2017

Independence Day in Mason

I always look forward to the 4th of July celebrations in Mason. The vintage car show in the city square offers opportunities for some very interesting photography of the details of the cars, the parade is a lot of fun (especially if you like fire engines and tractors), and there's a big fireworks show at the Ingham County Fairgrounds stadium. I skipped the fireworks this year but documented the other two events.

Go to: 4th of July

6 May 2017

Spring Fling

As usual, this was a fun event with lots of interesting booths, crafts, public information, food, church ladies with excellent baked goods, and an entertainment area. Following are a selection of photos to give a taste of the event. I was very pleased to purchase a nice collection of colorful pot holders this year.

Go to: Spring Fling

5 May 2017

Annual Commercial Bank Mason 5K Run/Walk

This year marked my 8th straight year participating in the Mason State Bank 5K race, now called the Commercial Bank Mason 5K. Commercial Bank merged the Mason State Bank into its organization in the last few months.

My regular walking regimen isn't as demanding as last year's as I walk about 10,000 steps a day, as opposed to about 15,000 steps last year. Perhaps it's age catching up with me causing a decrease in stamina.

When the race started I tried to get as good a start as possible by jogging a large percentage of the time on Maple Street before reaching the first turn onto Temple Street. This year I noticed getting tired earlier in the race. My phone app showed me that my average time was dropping steadily as the race continued and the numbers told me I would probably have a bad finishing time, but I persevered and kept close to previous race times. Maybe next year ...

Go to: 5 May 2017

26 April 2017

REO Town (Lansing, Michigan)

This was my first photo walk of the year ... part of my birthday celebration as I reached the age of 75. I had a very nice morning at home, visited the William-Sonoma store in Lansing to use the birthday certificate they sent me, had lunch at the Schulers book store, and then chose to visit REO Town in Lansing for a nice photo walk. It was a pleasant Spring day with lots of flowers, flowering trees and other interesting things to see.

Go to: 26 April 2017