11/21/09 Valley Fog & Frost

Valley fog along the horizon near a creek

Today, a Dense Fog Advisory was issued in surrounding-areas...I added a few photos of the foggy and frosty start to the day from earlier this morning across portions of west-central Illinois. The fog wasn't as dense as I would have hoped for, but oh well. It was nice to dust off the DSLR once again! Most of the photos were shot with a Canon 60mm macro-lens and a Canon 70-300mm telephoto lens:

Love these "two-seasons-in-one" shots

More fog along the rural-landscape...

Pretty dense in some areas I'd say...

More fall foliage laying around the yard

Wide-angle shot of the foggy and frosty horizon 

Frost crystals (macro-lens)

A great example of valley fog...a creek is located in the
background where fog has developed yet everywhere else fog
is almost non-existent...

Sun giving the landscape and valley fog an orange hue

Cool stuff indeed...

More valley fog along a creek to my immediate south

As far as when are we going to see our first-inch of snow...Well, I think this next system should wrap-in enough cold-air to see the first "flakes" of the year come early-to-mid next week in this area...but to early to claim this one will drop at least an inch of snow...Little confidence in this right now with model issues on timing and handling the overall solution. We'll see what happens...

11/18/09 A Frosty Morning

Frost creating a dramatic effect here

Here are a few frost photos from about a week ago. This was a very frosty morning in this area thanks to clear skies and light winds temps plummeted as a cold front swept east. The temperature dropped from a high of 55-degrees F to a low of 27-degrees F by 6:00AM the next morning...click here. Most of the photos were shot with a macro-lens below...

Two seasons in one shot...how bout that?

Blades of tall-grass prairie looking as if
someone blasted them with ice crystals overnight

Really good stuff...A macro lens is pretty sweet to have on these occasions

I'm working on some more posts that I'll be getting on here as soon as the holidays roll around. This year I'll be adding a holiday post composed of Christmas lights, maybe attend a Christmas festival if I can find the time, and I'll even add a video too which I'm sure some will like...I'll just say Clark Griswold would be proud of my creation...

11/18/09 Autumn Sunsets & Harvest/Hunter's Moon

Sun setting along the horizon on a rare 70-degree November day

Here are a few pics of some autumn sunsets and some moon pics...I might update this later with another post. The recent rains and clouds have put the kibosh on this type of photography as of late. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to post some more pics around here with some cooperation from Mother Nature since the corn still hasn't been harvested in this area.

Nearly a full moon with the sound of
tractors in the Illinois farm fields on this night

Cirrus clouds at sunset providing a picturesque backdrop

A Waxing Crescent-moon shot

Corn fields ready to be harvested as the sun begins to dip below the horizon

Yet another brilliant sunset along the western horizon

Atmospheric dust particles providing a more
"yellow-ish" color to the moon near the horizon

Daylight decreasing each day as we get close to the
winter solstice which is only a month away...

A pesky upper-level low has really pushed back harvest in this area of the remaining corn fields as it has been quite wet...it sure would be a sight to see farmers harvesting corn with snow falling...hmm