So we headed back to the hotel and just chilled. It wasn’t worth it outside.
Detroit Institute of arts
This was my jam.
The DIA is a world-class art museum, and the light was just perfect inside to get some dramatic shots inside the main hall and near the Diego Rivera mural.
After the museum, we ate at Hop Cat and watched the Detroit Qline come and go.
Heading home
A few more photos as we finish up at the hotel, have some diner-style breakfast, and head back to Jackson.
All images captured on a busted-ass Canon M6 and a variety of EF-M lenses.
Dione Tripp doesn’t just make art—she builds it, reconstructs it, salvages it, and reimagines it.
Growing up in a family of carpenters, inventors, and tinkerers, she was surrounded by the idea that anything could be created with the right tools and vision. Her father was into music, her mother into art, and somewhere in between, Dione found her own voice—one that blends mediums, textures, and emotions into something distinctly her own.
Her artistic journey began with singing, painting, and the idea that she might one day become an art teacher. But she quickly realized her passion wasn’t in teaching—it was in making. Hanging art at the old Thunderbird Café, creating gifts, and submitting pieces for Jackson’s Cool City initiative, she steadily built her presence in the local scene.
Over time, her work evolved beyond traditional canvases into something more layered and more experimental. Even a routine car repair becomes an opportunity. When she gets her brakes changed, she keeps the parts, seeing in them a potential for reinvention.
“How far can you push an object to be a sculpture and not be too crafty?” she asks—a question that continues to shape her process.
Dione pulls from her environment—barn scraps, salvaged materials, even discarded brake parts—to create works that challenge viewers’ perspectives.
“If you’re in a plane, you can see the world differently. I want to express that: the dangers, the fears, the freedom,” she says.
Jackson, Michigan, remains central to her creative world. She studied there, works there, and thrives in its grassroots art community.
“It’s like a blank slate, and we can create our own answers,” she says.
With two to three projects per year, she’s constantly exploring—be it through book illustrations, her new clothing store, or sculptural ideas. While she’s open to branching out, she doesn’t feel limited.
“The only thing limiting me is myself—both in terms of my art and my success,” she says.
Looking ahead, Dione is driven by a desire to amaze herself and find collaborators and appreciators along the way.
“I want to be able to toss ideas around, learn new skills, and try things out,” she says.
Whether it’s trading art, experimenting with new media, or diving deeper into sculpture, she’s on a path of constant evolution—one where every scrap, stroke, and salvaged element has the potential to become something memorable.
I’m aiming to try out the popular film simulations for Canon cameras – like the popular Fujifilm emulations on the X series cameras. While Canon cameras do not come with film emulations baked in, they are available via Canon’s Picture Style editor and camera profiles.
This Kodachrome-style film simulation comes from Cinescopophila: a giant pack of 150+ picture styles featuring a ton of favorites – almost too many to practically try out. But seeing Kodachrome in the list, I had to give it a spin on a recent trip with the family to Detroit.
Unlike the Fujifilm simulation from Thomas Fransson, these Kodak colors are more my vibe: warmer, much better skin tones, and a healthy amount of contrast.
And those reds? They POP. The greens are nice too. There’s none of that washed-out blandness from the Pro Neigh High series.
Overall, this is a reliable film simulation if you’re a JPG shooter or don’t want to worry about editing. Most of these came out correct as-is, with a little tinkering on a few images for exposure and contrast.
Do these photos mimic Kodachrome? Not really. But for my style of shooting, and even some video, these are a good film-like preset to get you started. With a bit of adjusting, you can get this slide film emulation looking just the way you want.
There are plenty of other Kodachrome versions to try, although many come at a cost. This picture style from Vision Wrangler comes with 150 more to try, with everything from wacky out-there stuff to tried-and-true black and white film emulations.
Ten years ago, I introduced my first big creative portrait project called Artists In Jackson. Through that project, I got to know our local artists. Together, we told their stories and let our community know we have a talented bunch of people right here in our hometown.
And – bonus! – I met and made some good friends along the way.
Since then, a lot has changed. I worked on a spiritual sequel, Musicians In Jackson, and then the pandemic hit. Here we are five years later, and I’m happy to announce I’m working on my next big portrait project, Artists In Jackson 2.
This one will be a little different. Instead of disappearing for six months and re-emerging with a fancy book and a bunch of pictures, I want to treat this project more like a platform.
Here’s how it works:
Over time, I’ll work on photo subjects and help tell their stories.
You will see these profiles periodically as I work on them and get them done. You don’t have to wait for a book – you’ll see my progress as it’s happening, either on social media or my website.
And it will just keep going. There’s no end, there’s no finish line. Artists In Jackson becomes a platform to tell stories, not a website or a book.
At a point in time, when I have enough profiles done, I can collect them all and make a book or a ‘zine of some kind.
But that’s not the goal. The goal is to tell stories about creative people in our community.
And I have some profiles already set up to publish – one, reaching back several years, on Dione Tripp (above). Others I have a head-start on and you’ll see those soon. As always, I’m open to your ideas and tips on creative people in and from Jackson.
I hope you’ll join me in this new experiment. I’m excited to once again share these homegrown artists, their work, and their stories.
I’ve successfully launched four email newsletters this year. Not bad for starting totally fresh.
Content-wise, I’ve covered everything from sunshine to digicams and shared proud parent moments and books I’m into. Along the way, I’ve also added some new subscribers (thanks!).
Catch some of the action by subscribing here. I hope to see you in your inbox.
I often drive by perfect scenes or interesting settings and add them to my mental “I have to photograph that” list.
My list is pretty long, and the geography of it stretches across counties and even states.
When I’m on the highway, I must drive by this little one-room schoolhouse a thousand times on my way to work. When I do, I think, “I have to grab that little building out in that field.”
Sometimes, the light isn’t right, or I don’t have time on my commute. But on this day I did, so I grabbed an old Nikon D700 we have at work and tromped out into the snowy field to photograph the little schoolhouse around sunset.
One by one, I check these little scenes off my list.
Do you want to know the benefits of being a hobbyist photographer?
No pressure.
No client to please. No money to make. No expectations. No deadlines.
If I’m working on a big portrait project, the only deadlines or expectations are the ones I put on myself. And I do, but no one else knows that. It’s just me.
I can go out on a foggy winter morning, after dropping off the kids at school but before heading to work, and explore. Just me and my own desire to make something, see something, photograph something.
My recent trip to Arizona included a stay in a sprawling resort just outside of Phoenix. Throughout the work conference, we never had to leave the place: golf, dinner, swimming, hiking. It was all there.
The sun was also always there, with light bouncing off the faux adobe façades. That, combined with the bright colors, made for a photography feast.
Winter makes the sun a little lower in the sky, meaning there wasn’t a bad time to walk around and make pictures.
And that’s fitting for my way of doing things: I use photography as a way to explore a new place. Walk around, look for good light, capture what I see – that’s 90% of photography for me.
Luckily, I had lots to see and photograph here in Arizona.
I’m still feeling the effects of that winter trip filled with gorgeous West Coast sunshine. A week full of vitamin D does a body, and a spirit, good.
That’s why I looked so forward to a recent work trip to Phoenix, Arizona. The forecast? Sunny and mid 70s. Perfect for this winter-worn Michigander.
We had a few chances to stroll through the Sonoran Desert surrounding our conference resort, through the Phoenix Mountains Preserve near North Moutain Park. One morning we traveled with a hiking company, through a tunnel under the road, and wandered around a valley to watch the sun come up.
On the other side, we watched the sun set over a nice BBQ dinner. In both cases, the desert light never left.
Parts of the U.S. are facing an arctic blast – one of those goofy named weather phenomena. In the past few winters, we haven’t had much winter action in Michigan. So on this occasion, I laced up my snow boots and walked around the neighborhood to see what five degrees felt like.
The bright sun and crisp air were nice for a brief minute. But then the wind would pick up and I felt like my face was stinging.
