Historic Fishtown - Leland MI

On an early March trip back from Sutton's Bay we stopped in the 150 year old Historic Fishtown in Leland Michigan on Lake Michigan. Some of the orginal wood plank building are still being used. Some as small fish markets and others as specialty and gift shops.


Also located in Leland is the ferry to the South and North Manitou Islands. Both islands are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shorelines and are managed as wilderness areas for backpacking and camping.

Fishtown was a wonderfully trip to what the part of the world may have looked like at the turn of the 1900s.

Detroit's Belle Isle

A recent trip to downtown Detroit led me to a place I always enjoy since childhood, Belle Isle. While there I recently took some photos of the Detroit Conservatory. I have been there since childhood. As a child I always like walking through the plants because I always imagined that I was in an exotic jungle. As an adult I was surprised how small the place now appears. But I still enjoyed being their and bringing back my childhood memories.

102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops

This is a follow-up of a post I made in November 2009 about the Veterans Day ceremony to honor fallen soldiers at the Detroit Elmwood Cemetery. Because this was my first time at this ceremony I was unaware of the history behind the soldiers that were buried at this cemetery. I have since discovered a part of history that is rarely written or even mentioned in the history books. I have become truly intrigued by this piece of history. Why had I not heard about this before? This post is primarily about Michigan's 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops but this same scenario was repeated among many of the northern states where both free African Americans and run away slaves joined the Union Army and Navy in a fight for freedom. The US Cavalry, artillery and infantry units combined total approximately 180,000 African Americans. They were not allowed to fight with white soldiers but were given their own regiments that were comprised of African American soldiers under the command of white officers. The US Navy by contrast had a larger number of African Americans serving on ship with whites. The conventional wisdom in the 1860s was that African Americans would not have the courage to fight but many battles recorded by journalist and written accounts by the commanding officers proved otherwise. They fought and fought gallantly often to the praise of their white counterparts. This is something worth noting because this issue of African Americans not having the will or courage to fight came up in every major US war. The same thing was said during World Wars I and II, the Korean War and the Vietnam war. Almost as if every few years America suffers from amnesia. But again and again African American has shown that they have the courage and willingness to served this country.
The Michigan 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops officially entered the Civil War on February l7th, 1864. However, prior to the war Detroit was known as the escape route into the promise land, and was an important part of the Underground Railroad. Many run away slaves made their way through Detroit on their way to Canada. So Michigan and Detroit in particular had a well established abolitionist movement. Many of Detroit's prominent African-American citizens that were actively involved in the Underground Railroad helped to organize the First Michigan Colored Regiment, later renamed the 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops. Some of the well known Detroit abolitionist of the time were William Lambert, George DeBaptise, Dr. Joseph Ferguson, Reverend William Moore, Willis Nelson, John Jackson and William Webb.


For 25th years, a growing group of veterans, historians, students and other citizens have gathered, in Historic Elmwood Cemetery to honor the memory of Michigan's 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops. The Veterans Day Ceremonies were inspired by Beulah Hamilton. It was during her visits to Elmwood that Mrs. Hamilton noted that there was never an American flag flying over these gallant men’s gravesite, the gravesite of the 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops.
“To honor their legacy and the legacy of my husband, I decided to hold a Veteran’s Day ceremony there every year,” Mrs. Hamilton said.
The 102d Regiment United States Colored Troops fought throughout the South Carolina, eastern Georgia and Florida. They were engaged in the following battles:
-Baldwin, Fla., August 8, 1864
-Honey Hill, S.C., November 30 1864
-Tullifinny, S.C., December 7, 1864
- Devaux Neck, S.C., December 9 1864
- Cuckwold's Creek Bridge, February 8, 1865
- Sumterville, S.C., April 8, 1865
- Spring Hill, S.C., April 15, 1865
- Swift Creek, S.C., April 17, 1865
- Boykin's, S.C., April 18, 1865
- Singleton's Plantation, S.C., April 19, 1865.

This regiment had an enlistment that totaled 1,446 officers and men. They lost 140 men of which 2 were officers, 4 men were killed in action, 5 men died of wounds, 1 officer and 128 men died of disease. In October 17, 1865 after distinguishing themselves in battle the 102nd returned to Michigan and was disbanded.





There are more pictures of this event on my website: www.chopper52.smugmug.com

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By Arthur David Samu...

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Nikon SB-900 Flash - A great flash but...

There are a lot of good review on the Nikon SB-900 flash so I won't give you all the technical info. I am just telling you my experiences with the flash. If you want there is a very good review on DPRReview.com. Here is the link: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08070101nikonsb900.asp I've used the SB-900 about 4 months now and this is indeed an excellent flash. Before I purchased it I read all the comments and there are some very good and detailed comments regarding this flash. But over and over the issue of the thermal protection came up and that caused some concern. I was conflicted over whether to buy this flash. So I took a gamble. Closed my eyes and clicked the purchase button. In the end, all say and done, I believe I have a very good flash. No regrets. But back to the thermal protection that cause all the anguish. I did my research. I read comments at Amazon, read many reviews and comments from professional photographers but they all said the same thing. Great flash but... I read comments about using only certain type of batteries or batteries from certain manufacturers and even some that didn't understand all the fuss because they never experience the problem. When I first received the flash I did my own test. I hit the flash manual button over and over again trying different batteries to the point where I was satisfied I would not have the problem. Then a few months later it happened. I was in Chicago shooting a birthday party and I was continuously shooting couples as they came down a dance line and then it happened. The flash stopped working. Sure enough the thermal protection circuit kicked in. Now the only difference between my test and the actual shoot is that I was using the SD-8A battery pack, however, I don't feel the SD-8A was the cause of the problem. The batteries in the flash were so hot I could not hold them but this was not unusual I had this same situation with hot batteries with my SB-800 flash after a long shoot. That experience as well as some of the comments I read makes me think that the best option is to just turn the thermal protection off. Yes it will get hot but I would rather do that then to worry about when the flash is going to cut off. So I've turned it off and have for about a month been shooting without it. So for now that is where I will leave it.

Once again if you want to see a review of this flash click here. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08070101nikonsb900.asp

Falling water

In September of 2006 we took a two-week long motorcycle trip from Michigan to Pennsylvania. The route included crossing the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron MI a couple of days stay over in Niagara Falls, Canada

then down though New York state and finally a 6 day stay in an Inn in Hawley PA. The weather was perfect with the exception of the last three days of our journey when it just rained nonstop. Hawley, although a popular recreational spot for New Yorkers, is about as secluded as you can get. It is located in the scenic Poconos Mountains and has a population of about 1200 people. The roads leading to the town are steep, winding twisting and the entire area is surrounded by forest. While in Hawley we stayed at the Country Inn next to the Old Mill Stream. The Inn is located just downstream from a dam that creates Lake Wallenpaupack, which is used for recreation activities.

The Inn is a stone structure built as a glass mill back in the 1800s complete with a water wheel.

Up on the cliffs behind the Inn is another huge stone structure that is a store filled with antiques. The biggest and most diverse collection of antiques I’ve ever seen at one spot. But while in PA we spent most of our time sightseeing and one of the most scenic areas was the nearby Delaware Water Gap. It’s a 40 mile stretch where the Delaware River cuts through the mountains. This are also 6 or seven waterfalls along this 40 mile stretch of river. This is where I took these pictures.

The Delaware River

My thoughts on the Nikon D90

I recently purchased the Nikon D90 in November of 2009. I have several Nikon cameras and this is by far one of the best cameras I have purchased. This camera is loaded with features. I am not going to list them here but if you are interested here is a link to a site that provides that information along with all the technical data you need.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikonD90/

The features I like best are the 3 inch high resolution screen where you can use “Live View” in lieu of sighting the shot through the view finder and the use of the “Info Button” to view the camera setting on the larger 3 inch screen. I also love the 11 point autofocus system that can follow the subject as it moves around keeping the subject in focus at all times. As a bonus it also has face recognition for which I find occasional use. But first, the 3 inch LCD screen has great resolution and is well suited to view the shot before or after it has been taken. You can also call up histograms and other information about the photo you just took. The screen is also great for viewing the camera setting especially in situations where it is difficult to see on the traditional small monochrome LCD located on the top right hand corner of the camera. The camera information is transferred to the larger screen with the push of a single button “Info Button” making it much easy for these old eyes to view. The 11 point AF system in Dynamic mode is great for action pictures or in situations where you want the subject to be in focus at all times. Once locked on the subject it will follow until you recompose the shot.

Finally the feature I find most exciting is the built flash commander. It is with this feature that you can wirelessly control flash units such as the sb-900, sb-800 and any other combination of Nikon flash units off camera. You can control the flash units in groups of three and turn any group of flash units on or off; make them manual or TTL flash; control the compensation or the intensity of the flash all through the camera. It will save a lot leg work especially while using multiple flashes during that experimental shot when you are attempting to get the lighting just right.

A. David Samuels (Chop)

Don't forget to check out my photo website.
Website: www.chopper52.smugmug.com

Dequindre Cut - Detroit's newest walking park

Detroit has a new walking/biking path that runs about one mile from the Eastern Market to the Detroit River. It was where the old railway ran below the street level along Dequindre and St. Aubin streets. The tracks have been removed and the area landscaped and lighting has been added. Future plans call for a light rail along the path to connect the Eastern Market with the riverfront, People Mover and the new Detroit Bus Terminal. This is also a place where "taggers","writers" or "graf artists" show their artwork or Graffiti depending on your point of view. Here are some pictures I took. Hope you enjoy.