Sunday, February 21, 2016

01/11/16 Winter Wildlife

A blue jay enjoying a January afternoon in Edwards, IL 

On January 11th, I headed out into the great outdoors with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 II L IS telephoto-zoom lens to capture some wildlife photos in Edwards, IL. I had not photographed some wildlife in a good while so I figured I'd take a boring January afternoon to do so on this day. I was quite happy with several shots as I was able to capture some cardinals, blue jays, a red-bellied woodpecker, and a house finch. I shot several photos on this afternoon and I've included several of them below:

A cardinal perched in a tree!
 Quite a photogenic shot here!
 A red-bellied woodpecker!
From branch...
To branch...
A cardinal on a fence...
A blue jay's turn!
 Another neat shot as the blue jay's really cooperated on this day!
 Quite a vivid cardinal here!
 Shooting photos of wildlife sure does gives one something to do during the winter months!
 A house finch!
 Someone had a few too many peanuts...
 A mid-day snack!
 The cardinal once again...
 "Should I stay or should I go now"?!
 "Ready for take-off"
A female cardinal!
"Hanging out"
Another photogenic shot!
One last photo of another cardinal on this afternoon...
It was a good day for some wildlife photography!
"Hello, from the other-side!"
"Lunch-time"
One last shot to end the day on...

This was a good day of photography as I was able to capture some good shots of some of the winter wildlife in the area. I'll be sure to add more posts as needed in the upcoming months as spring approaches.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

01/10/16 Winter Snowfall

A winter landscape after a snowfall on this morning in Peoria, IL

On January 9th, we received a few inches of snow across the local-area the previous night so I ventured out with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 7D the very next morning to snap a few photos of the freshly fallen snowfall. I ended up visiting and hiking at a few local parks near my house including Charter Oak Park, Sommer Park, and Jubilee College State Park.  I've added a few photos from the day of photography below:

"Winter clinging to the trees"
"Winter wonderland"
 A Christmas outdoor ornament covered in the new snowfall!
"Winter travels"
Old Man Winter showing off with some winter scenes!
"Are we out of the woods?"
A photogenic tree at this park...
"A winter coating"
Despite the below average snowfall thus far we still have had some photogenic winter snowfalls...
"Winter around every turn"
 This was a minor snowfall, but it snowed just enough for some winter photography for myself!
"A winter perspective"
It was cold on this morning, but nothing like previous winters as El Nino has really spoiled us this year!
More snow...
One way...
Or another...
A hiking trail at Charter Oak Park
"January morning"

That wraps up this post. I also shot some wildlife shots as well on January 11th and I'll add those photos to an upcoming post.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

12/28/15 Ice Storm

An ice storm hits central Illinois last December in Peoria, IL

On December 28th, an ice storm took aim on central Illinois throughout the day. We received between (0.10-0.25) of an inch of ice accumulation in Peoria, IL and in the surrounding area during this storm. The ice accumulation on trees and power lines caused many power outages and damage across the area combined with winds gusts around 50mph. I ventured out during the event with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 7D to snap a few photos, but it was rather difficult with the harsh weather conditions. Air temperatures began to warm later in the day as the freezing rain changed over to a cold rain which were not great conditions for photography at all. With that being said, I tried my best to capture a few images around my house of the icing that had taken place on this day before the melting process quickly began. I've added a few photos I managed to shoot on a tough day of photography below:

Ice accumulation caused lots of problems on this day...
"Digits frozen in ice"
"An ice coating"
Too bad it all melted so quick and we never got any sunshine after this event...
More ice...
No snowflakes on this day, but still a winter mess across central Illinois!

That's all to report on this day. I wish this ice didn't melt as quick as it did and allowed for another day of photography after the event, but Mother Nature had other ideas on this particular go around.