Thursday, February 13, 2014

10/16/13 Starved Rock Fall Foliage: 2013

Fall foliage at Starved Rock State Park near Oglesby, IL

On this day, I visited Starved Rock State Park and Matthiessen State Park to add to my 2013 fall collection. I would later make a couple trips back over the next week or so as fall colors began to peak in this area. I've always wanted to visit this park during autumn and also have a few days to photograph the park. It finally worked out this past year with my schedule which was long overdue. I was able to walk nearly the entire park over the few days I spent visiting this park. It's an adventure for sure if you have never been here especially if you hike along the trails all day. My feet were killing me by the end of day(s)!  Plus, add the ever growing camera gear in my backpack I was quite pleased to rest after I made the short trip back home to Peoria, IL. It was quite a successful few days of photography at this park however, and I'm sure I'll be back...soon. I've added quite a number of photos from these few visits to the park below:

Fall colors and canyons!
"Driving into fall"
"Ah, first one's here"
A photogenic bridge along a trail along the Illinois River!
"The colors of fall"
"Red, burning red"...
"On the road to autumn"
Beautiful colors here along this trail...
A cool scene illustrating the upcoming change
in season to autumn on this day...
One of the 18 canyons in the park...
Great contrast here!
A cool perspective...
Another colorful fall scene!
Another canyon!
 Quite a scenic walk!
A very colorful trail here...
A rather photogenic statue with
the autumn colors as a backdrop!
Canyon walls and more rock formations...
Amazing red(s) here!
A personal favorite!
Another interesting perspective!
"Staircase to autumn"
Some color change along this wooden fence...
Fall colors peaking along this trail!
A lonesome orange tree along one of the trails!
"Fall along the Illinois River"
More vibrant red color here...
Another cool path...
A colorful fall portrait!
Fall colors along the riverbank of the Illinois River...
A cool fall trail!
One of the many staircases you'll find at this park!
A different perspective here...
Another awesome fall scene!
Leaves falling everywhere at LaSalle Canyon...
A shot of some boulders and canyon walls... (wide-angle)
"A fall walkway"
One of my favorites!
A yellow Maple tree...
"Autumn at your feet"
A fall reflection!
Another nice morning fall scene...
Another neat wide-angle shot!
Another favorite!
The sun trying to pop out on an otherwise gloomy fall morning...
A fall afternoon spent at Matthiessen State Park
A great shot!
Another one of the many favorites at LaSalle Canyon...
Another cool trail!
One of my favorite trails in the park...
A "hint" of fall in this shot!
River Trail along the Illinois River...
"Fall around every corner"
One of the best trails in the park!
I thought this was an interesting shot! (wide-angle)
Another nice walk though the woods and trails...
One of my favorite portraits from the day!
Another awesome perspective!
LaSalle Canyon once again...
Rather interesting boulders and rock formations in this canyon!
Color change near LaSalle Canyon...
The beginning of autumn!
Yellow(s) beginning to show themselves...
A neat portrait-shot showing the changing colors...
More canyon walls...
Fall along LaSalle Canyon!
Fall colors going wild here...
Last shot of the day as the loss of "good light" forces
me to wrap up a successful day of photography at the park...

This was a rather long post, but long overdue. I'll revisit this park I'm sure in the upcoming years. It was a successful few days of photography at this park and I was quite pleased with the results. I also continued to photograph locally over the next few weeks as the fall colors peaked. I'm working on another post that will wrap up my 2013 fall collection and I will post that at a later date. Stay tuned.