Tag: Cornell University

Nature and Big Names

barns by other names

MichaelStephenWills

View of Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity from an unnamed boardwalk on an unnamed path from the parking lot. Sapsucker Woods, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York

From an unnamed boardwalk on an unnamed path from the parking lot. Sapsucker Woods, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York

An iced over, thawing in the March sunshine, leads to a view of Kip’s Barn that, I believe, is named for Austin Kiplinger (Cornell Graduate of 1939) the longest serving trustee in Cornell history.

Click me for more information https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2015/11/legendary-cornellian-austin-kiplinger-39-dies-age-97

Click Me for “Finger Lakes Memories” my online gallery.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Tower of McGraw Hall from Libe Slope

The First Cornell Tower

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Named for founding trustee John McGraw, who gave $120,000 for construction of the building, McGraw Hall, designed by architect Archimedes N. Russell, opened in 1872.

Built of an Ithaca stone known as Lenrock, the four-story building was the first on campus to include a tower and today is home to the American Studies Program, Department of History, Department of Anthropology, and Archaeology Intercollege Program.

Jennie McGraw, daughter of John McGraw, donated the chimes to be placed in the tower, where they stayed until McGraw Tower was built in 1891.

This year the College of Arts and Sciences inaugurated a comprehensive renovation of McGraw Hall.

Copyright 2023 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Revealed Form IV

Hoary Elm in HDR

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Late Winter, on the cusp of Spring, I arrived at the Cornell Experimental farm before sunrise.  

There I set up a Kodak DSC Pro SLR/c with a Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM lens all mounted on a very stable Manfrotto Studio Aluminum Tripod Model 475 and Hydrostatic Ball Head. From this 15 exposures were obtained. Photoshop CS6 HDR combined the 15 into this perfected image. Cornell Thompson Experimental Farm, Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York

Revealed Form III

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On a late winter morning on the cusp of Spring 2007 I ventured from my home on Fall Creek on a photo expedition.  

Form here is revealed through the fine snowfall dusting the evergreen boughs of this stand of pines, not enough to stop the wind for which is tract of the Cornell Thompson Research Farm is known.

Revealed Form II

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On the first day of 2006 I ventured from my home on Fall Creek on a photo expedition.  

A finely shaped maple tree growing alone on a Cornell Experimental Farm field at the intersection of Fall Creek Road and Cady Lane, between Fall and Mud Creeks. Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York

Revealed Form I

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On the first day of 2006 I ventured from my home on Fall Creek on a photo expedition.  

Each November, the eerie form of these limbs are revealed. I call the tree an “elm” though I am not certain. There are other lone survivor elms nearby, the leaves are right for an elm. Some elm species/specimens have the same shape.

Autumn Ithaca

Cass Park

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Pam and I arrived early to Cass Park for our grandson’s October afternoon soccer match, in time for a 2 mile walk on the generous footpaths. This is my impression of that time, from the IPhone 7’s camera.

Around the marina on Cayuga Lake

Red Accents

Watery Impressions from Linderman Creek flowing into Cayuga Inlet

Trees and Our Sky

Gracious Willows Line the Cayuga Lake Inlet

Cornell University on East Hill
Lake Excursioin Heading Out from Farmer’s Market
Carl Sagan’s former study perched above Ithaca Falls
View Across Cayuga Lake Inlet

A Packed Excursion Boat Under A Stunning Sky

A Few Animals and a wildflower

This completes our Sunday afternoon walk around Cass Park, Ithaca, New York.

Copyright 2022 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Rambling Images

Three Summer Hikes

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“Out in the meadow, I picked a wild sunflower, and as I looked into its golden heart, such a wave of homesickness came over me that I almost wept.  I wanted Mother, with her gentle voice and quiet firmness; I longed to hear Father’s jolly songs and to see his twinkling blue eyes; I was lonesome for the sister with whom I used to play in the meadow picking daisies and wild sunflowers.”

from “Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist, Writings from the Ozarks” edited by Stephen W. Hines”

Click me for “Summer Dream, Buttermilk Falls” in my Fine Art Gallery

Cornell Plantations

Click photograph for a larger view.
Trail sign at starting point
Beebee Lake
Lily Pads flowering on the north side of Beebee Lake
Fall Creek Gorge flooded by Beebee Lake dam

Taughannock Falls

Stairs to North Rim from Cayuga Lake shore
uphill all the way
first view point
second view point
Hepatica leaves
trail erosion
third view point
fourth view point, north
fourth view point, south with Cayuga Lake in distance
fifth view point, east with only the south gorge rim visible
fifth view point, south wiht distant view of Cayuga Lake
looking into the gorge just below the falls
south rim trail, looking into the upper gorge with native plants
moss
looking into the gorge
Vultures perched on gorge walls above and around Taughannock Falls

Buttermilk Falls, upper

Jack in the Pulpit with spent flower
Treman Lake

A quiet moment……

Copyright 2022, Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved

Autumn Clouds

catching late light

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This evening cirrus clouds filled the sky at sunset. View the following photographs to understand how these forms are named from the Latin word for a ringlet, or curl, of hair. Formed above 16,500 feet, on this day the cirrus glow with the light of a sun low in the sky.

Here is a wide view from our driveway that includes a deteriorating con trail and possibly a mixture of other cloud types, I am no expert. I used a Canon “zoom” lens for flexibility in framing. To minimize exposure time for a crisp capture of the moving object, ISO was set to to 1,000 and the f-stop minimized.

Click any image for a larger views. Then, click again to return to post.

Post production I needed to spend time removing dust spots (neglected to clean the image sensor), some of the images still have those annoying spots.

We enjoy looking west across the valley when the hills are glowing.

Click this link for another Autumn posting, “Thin Crescent Bowl Filled with Earthglow.”

References: search for Cirrus Cloud on Wikipedia.

Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

Cresent, McGraw Tower, Regulus

Thin Crescent with McGraw Tower, Venus and Star

pre-dawn sky event

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Here are two photographs taken about the same time, 6:30 am, October 18, 2017, companions to the photograph shared earlier this week.

The moon rises later each day, so these shots include a larger disk closer to Cornell University.  Both components, the crescent and earth-glow, were dimmer this morning.    In each photograph Jenny McGraw Tower is visible.

Crescent, McjGraw Tower, Regulus, Venus
The star is Regulus, the brightest in the constellation Leo, close below the moon.  I don’t know the star close to Venus.

Here the tower is slightly to the right of the crescent, the arch of Schoellkopf stadium further right.  Among the trees on left, is the baleful red glow of Bradford Hall.

Cresent, McGraw Tower, Regulus
Click for another view of McGraw Tower from my Online gallery.

The tower is outlined by the lights of Uris library, presumably filled with early rising students.

The light of Regulus (“small king”),  below and to the right, is a composite of four stars moving together through space.  The position of Regulus on the path in the sky of the moon, planets and asteroids (called the ecliptic) leads to the occultation of the star by the disks of the moon and, less regularly, the planets and asteroids.

Copyright 2021 Michael Stephen Wills All Rights Reserved