10/14/10 Fall Foliage: 2010

Fall foliage kicks off in Kewanee, IL
and all across the Midwest

Over the last few weeks, I've been scoping out locations across the local-area for some fall photography. I ended up finding several locations that caught my eye on the hour drive to and from work in the past couple of weeks. This year, I ended up snapping about 1,300 photos. Crazy, I know! With that being said however, I actually use fall and winter to polish up my photography skills for the next chase season. It actually proves to make you a better photographer over time. It's quite intriguing looking back over the years to see as a photographer how you have progressed from one year to the next. In case you were wondering I ended up with some stellar fall photos last year. So this year the bar was set pretty high. This fall my travels in search for fall foliage included: Johnson's Sauk Trail State Park on Rt. 78, Baker's Park and Windmont Park in Kewanee, IL, Toulon, IL, Lacon, IL, and Brimfield, IL. Anyhow, as far as the weather goes it has been one of the driest October's on record here for most of west-central Illinois. The mild and dry conditions really allowed farmers to take advantage of the weather and get caught up with the harvest which provided some spectacular photography as well for myself. So here's my 2010 fall photo collection including harvest shots, sunsets, and of course the spectacular fall foliage that can be found across the Midwest currently:

Dust from the autumn harvest
creating a dramatic fall sunset

A perfect close-up display of fall foliage (macro-lens)

Mother Nature showing off fall colors near sunset
at this church in Kewanee, IL

Some of the fall scenes you'll find along the
Illinois River outside Lacon, IL

Seagull in-flight along the Illinois River (Canon telephoto-zoom lens)

Fall scene in this cemetery in Toulon, IL

Picturesque fall route along Rt. 17 west of Lacon, IL

Seein' red? (macro-lens)

Fall colors in earnest along IL-Rt. 26
east of the Illinois River

One of many fall reflections I shot this year...

This highway along the Illinois River
is quite a scenic route in fall

Seagull in-flight yet again...
(an example of what a telephoto-zoom lens
can do in your DSLR lens arsenal)

Some orange here I'd say...

Windmont Park in Kewanee, IL

Stellar portrait shot!

Fall colors beneath a cirrus deck

Harvest time...

They are still here folks...don't worry quite yet...

Some of those golden browns that show up
as fall colors have peaked

Should I stay or should I go now?

A "trail" of fall colors

One of those spectacular October sunsets

Kind of looks like a web of fall colors here...

Yellow(s) turning to Brown(s)...(macro-lens)

A beautiful Sugar Maple seen here

Another fall reflection here in Brimfield ,IL

Johnson Sauk Trail's Park barn and fall foliage

Another "dusty" fall sunset...

Pampus grass

Not the flying-V, but I guess a standing-V here?

You're probably saying glad they're not in my yard
right now...oh...wait a sec...

Just in time for Halloween...
kind of makes you think...Camp Crystal Lake huh?

A seagull walking around...

Bails of hay in a harvested farm field

 A seagull in-flight!

Shot this in a residential area in Kewanee, IL

Got to love those colors beneath deep-blue skies

More fall foliage...

Yet another fall reflection, but this time off this pond

Nuttin' runs like a Deere right?

Early morning shot here showing off
some more nice colors

A Red Maple tree...obviously ;)

A lonesome Sugar Maple tree

An eerie dusty fog develops as the harvest begins

Another fall sunset
(Canon telephoto-zoom lens)

A Sugar Maple close-up!

Hopefully, these don't end up in a hundred pieces
on your front porch in a few weeks...

Another fall scene in Brimfield, IL

A fall alto-cumulus deck

 "Reach for the sky"

Fall colors turning to brown as fall foliage
has peaked in this area

Mild and dry conditions really helped this year
for photography unlike last October

Fall sunsets are quite photogenic

Another neat fall perspective!

One last shot illustrating the upcoming Halloween holiday

Well that's about all for this post. I went a little crazy with fall foliage yet again this year. Hopefully, you got out to enjoy some of the fall scenes all across the Midwest and the beautiful weather. I'm sure we'll get a nice slap in the face here in a few weeks. Mother Nature sure has spoiled thus far this fall.