First Light

I set out this morning to photograph one of the water towers in my home town. It is located on the edge of town and can be seen peering out from a small wooded area that seems to have framed it perfectly. The sky was mostly blank, but I decided to go out anyway just in case all the leaves fall off before the conditions are better.

 

I did get the image I went out for and maybe I’ll post it tomorrow. I did see this beautiful young tree with bright yellow leaves lit slightly by the first light of the morning. The bonus was that few clouds in the sky just happened to be right behind this tree. There is a slight bit of frost on the undergrowth.

Sun Touched

The weather has turned here in Northern Illinois, and fall is upon us. Yesterday we had our first frost of the season. It will definitely help speed up the process of the leaves making their yearly change. The was not much to look at as far as sunrises go, so I decided to walk through a small local park along the Kishwaukee River.

I’m glad I stuck it out even know I was not quite ready for the chilly temperature. The sunlight lit up this maple tree as the sun peeked over the tree line on the other side of the river. It almost acted as a street light for the trail I was walking down.

Still Growing

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve had some pretty foggy mornings. I’ve been trying to get a photo of one of my favorite trees in the heavy fog. The tree is in a bit of a valley so I’m not entirely sure I will ever get this shot. I do feel that I got a good shot of the tree though.

I first photographed this tree in April of 2014. It became my first entry into the old “Monochrome Madness” that Leanne Cole used to host. As you can see it’s still growing! If you would like to see the first image you can check it out on the post,  You Can Break Me But I Will Still Grow.

 

 

Sunrise from the Oak

It’s rainy again today. The fall colors are just starting to show. I thought I would share one of the sunrise shots I took before taking the Mini Rainbow from yesterday’s post. Have a wonderful weekend!

Mini Rainbow

I hung around a local forest preserve after sunrise the other day to do some exploring. On my way back to my vehicle, with very wet feet I might add, I was treated to this mini rainbow.

The weather has not been very cooperative as of late, but I’m working on a few more posts for the very near future. As always, Enjoy!

Reaching for Light

I enjoy my time wandering in the woodlands. Even on days when the lighting doesn’t cooperate with my desire to find wonderful compositions.  The fog had already started to burn off when I came across this tree soaking up the light. Enjoy your weekend!

Orange Fungi

The weather has been a little crummy lately, keeping me from capturing magical light in the pre-dawn hour. I decided to head out to a forest preserve that I haven’t been to in quite some time. It was damp and drizzled on and off all morning but I enjoyed myself a great deal.

 

I even came across this orange fungus that I’ve never seen before. Apparently, it’s edible when it’s still soft. Laetiporus sulphureus or Chicken-of-the-Woods can be found around the world. Can you guess what it tastes like?

Wandering New Places

The clouds rolled in quicker than I had hoped they would yesterday, and I wasn’t able to get the photo that I was trying for. Instead, I went deep into the woods at a forest preserve that I had never been to before. It was a fun adventure and I will definitely be going back here to get photos with better light. Enjoy this one for now!

 

Can’t Please Them All

Have any of you wondered why a particular photo doesn’t seem to do as well as others when it comes to “likes” or things of that nature?

A couple of years ago I went on a photo walk with my mother-in-law. We had a good time even know the weather wasn’t all that great. As part of the photo walk, there was an opportunity to enter one photo in a contest. One photo from each photo walk location would be chosen to be entered into the contest. When I got back home to my computer to upload my photo I was prompted to join Viewbug.

I didn’t use Viewbug for anything other than looking at other people’s photos for quite some time, more than three years to be exact. Recently I have been uploading photos here and there. I’ve even tried to enter some of the free contests that are available. I strictly like to use it to gauge where my current skills are and share things the way I see them.

I’ve been really into sunrise images as of late but I still like to take some extreme close-ups of flowers and other things when I come across them. The other day I shared one such photo edited in a slightly different way than my normal shots, but I really liked it (photo above). So far the Viewbug community does not agree with me, so I thought I would post it here also. Please feel free to critique the image all feedback is welcome.

Let me know what you think of the image. Also, let me know what you think of Viewbug if you have used it. Have a great day!

Remnant

This barn and silo are located about 4 blocks from my house. I drive by them on a regular basis. Something about these old barns speaks to me. Have a good weekend!