Moonshot

Not only did we have a beautiful sunset on Friday, but to the East was a gorgeous rising moon. It's hard to believe, but this shot was taken only 5 minutes from where the previous sunset pics were shot, just on the east side of the road.  Best of both worlds.

February Sunset

I'm still in my "I AM TIRED OF WINTER" mode.  But, it's getting closer.  At least on Friday we had a nice day of sunshine.  I had to make a trip to Southern Wisconsin Friday afternoon which allowed me to capture some winter golden hour sunsets. 

 

  

 

If there's nothing you can do about it, enjoy it

The snow is here for probably at least another month.  Nothing you can do about it. That's how this animal feels.  Not the animal typing, but the animal in the pic.  Just deal with it.

Don't Fence Me In

Rule No. One:  There are no creative "fences" in photography.  That rule is what lets me get away with this shot.  This was just an ordinary fence on a backroad.  Once I got it in my computer, I wondered why I took the shot.  I played with it for awhile, made it black and white, made it sepia, messed with the exposure....none of them really worked.  I moved on to some other shots, but went back to the fence shot.  Several times.  Here is the final shot that I ended up with.

Back to Reality

No more dreaming for now.  Back to reality with about 4" dumped on us last night.  Thankfully, the weather reporters were wrong in calling for over a foot of snow.  Here's a scene from our wonderful winter.

Dream goggles

As we are about to get  another foot of snow, I decided to put on my "dream goggles" and picture warmer times.  Here is the picture I am visualizing at the moment:

Brain Damage

Yes, this is a song title by the great band Pink Floyd. It has been suggested by more than one person that this pic would be a great cover for one their albums.  If you are not familiar with their music or their album covers, check 'em out.  I must agree, it would've made a neat album cover for them.

Totally Tubular, man

The title is in tribute to the snowboarders in the Olympics.  That is how those kids talk, isn't it?  Or maybe I'm dating myself.  Anyway, here is a shot from last year that demonstrates what "Totally Tubular" is to me.

Blue Haze

Often times when talking with people about my hobby, they will say "Well, I just have a simple point and shoot."  As if to say "I could never take as good of pictures as you with your fancy, schmancy camera."  Several years ago I was driving home from work.  I had my camera with me.  Not my present one.  Just a basic point and shoot.  I was sitting for what seemed like forever waiting for a red light to turn green.  I noticed out my drivers side window this scene. I grabbed the camera and fired off a couple of shots.  This shot has become one of my favorites.  Yeah, an expensive decked out camera will allow you to do more, but, great shots are possible by anyone with any camera.

Bonus

Gorgeous day.  You couldn't ask for more.  And here's a bonus for everyone living in the Chicagoland area.  A blue sky.  Yes, the sky is really blue.  I know you all forgot since it has been so long since we've seen it.  But I got a shot it when the clouds took a break.

Reservations for 11, please

While I was out admiring the foot of snow coming down to bury the Chicagoland area, I came across this herd enjoying whatever food they could dig up out of the field.  I was there for about 10 minutes.  They watched me.  I watched them.  Nobody wanting to make the first move.  Eventually, after an inch of snow piled up on me, I let them enjoy their family dinner.

Hideaway

Driving along in this wonderful Chicagoland snow storm tonight I came across this shot.  A little red house/workshop? tucked away off the road.  The only thing that drew my attention to it was the light come out of a window.  It just seemed like the most comfortable, warm place to be on a night like tonight.

Where did the innocence go?

Perusing some of my pics from the past.  I've never before nor will I anytime soon see myself as a portrait photographer, but they come out alright sometimes.  This is somewhat an example of high key photography in which a portrait is flooded with light.  Usually its used on models for a magazine shoot with lights in a studio.  Here, was just natural sunlight on a nice hot day.

It won't be long now

I'm thinking a little ahead here, but, really it won't be long till I can regularly be shooting shots of spring and summer.  I was out of town for a good part of the weekend, so here's one from the vault that I like.

The Big Boy

I'm lucky. I am in sales and spend my day on the road within a territory.  Some days, when things just ain't going right, I have my certain places that make me feel better.  The many forest preserves around can can do alot for you and your psyche (or just let you grab a few winks over lunchtime).  Here's a shot from the vault of who I call "The Big Boy" at a preserve in the area.  He's the biggest amongst a herd of elk.  I can only guess who it is looking over his shoulder.  From my own experience, probably his wife. (Just a little joke, Honey)

No title

Often times when I choose a pic to post, the title of the post comes right away. I looked at this one for a long time, and just decided its ok to not have a title this once.  Besides, what a wonderful world this would be without labels.:)

Go Fish

Yesterday morning was one of those rare occurrences when it snowed, but it was warm enough were you felt like being outside doing something in the snow.  Unfortunately, I was working in the snow.  But these two guys must have felt like doing something since I saw them with their sled full of gear, walking across a lake, to stake out a plot, to drill a hole, and fish.  I pulled into the parking lot they left out of as they were about 1/3 of the lake onto the lake.  They saw me, would walk a few steps, turn around and look at me, walk a few more steps, turn around, and so on.  Makes me wonder if they were up to something else while out on the lake or if they were treating this as a snow day when it wasn't officially.  But, from my viewpoint, it was just two guys enjoying the fishing weather.

Roid Rage

You all have heard all the stories about major league baseball players on steroids.  Well, that may be bad, but it ain't nothing like a photograph on the ole 'roids.  Talk about 'roid rage.

ORIGINAL

 

PHOTO ALL JACKED UP

Return to the scene of the crime

Last week I posted a shot I took that really didn't turn out as well as I saw it through the lens.  So today I returned to the scene of the "crime", and recomposed it and snapped away. I'm much happier with this composition and now the scene kind of tells a story-  Rich people in big brick houses sometimes still live in cold, snowy climates.