Mark Cassino Photography - Mark's Blog

I do a lot of my outdoor photography in the Allegan State Game Area. This is a 50,000 acre (200 SQ. KM) area set aside for hunting, fishing, tapping, logging, horseback riding, camping and other purposes. It is not exactly a wild area since most areas are consistently visited by people (the designated wildlife refuges being the main exception to this) but given the large area of undeveloped land with minimal resident humans, it is more wild than not. So maybe it should described as a feral place that shows off the undomesticated side of both the resident wildlife and also the transient human visitors.

Whatever it is, the powers that be that attempt to manage the Allegan Forest try to set some boundaries and borders, mostly to keep motor vehicles out of the savannas, fields and woods. There are a lot of two tracks that pieces into the more wild areas of the forest and from time to time those who manage the forest put up gates or drop trees across the paths to keep people out. But gates, even those well anchored with concrete footings, can be pulled out of the sandy soil. And fallen trees can also be easily pulled aside. And so the ultimate barrier consists of multiple rows of large tree stumps, ripped out of the ground. And so - the subject of these photos.

With a few days of sunshine last week I finally got around to shooting out the last frames on a roll of Kodak High Speed Infrared, which had been languishing in the camera for a few months.

The sun may have been shining but the ground was still snow covered - and guess what? Bare trees and snow covered ground don’t lend themselves to that infrared look. Oh well - some of the shots from October were interesting.

I like this patch of trees - it is along a dirt road by a pull off where I frequently stop to chase dragonflies. Many a time when I’ve walked back to the car I’ve felt a yearning to just wander off into these little twisted trees, which seem to go on forever.