09/25/11 Against the Wind...

A wind farm showing off a fall landscape
outside Camp Grove, IL

In the last few weeks I've done some fall photography at a local wind farm in rural-Stark County, IL near Camp Grove, IL. This wind farm was established in 2007 and is a frequent destination for myself as of late for photography purposes. It's nice to check this location out in the fall and winter as it usually provides some beautiful landscape photography here in west-central Illinois. One of these days I need to get a good shelf cloud passing over this wind farm. Guess, I'll have to wait till next spring for that opportunity though. Anyway, I've added a large collection of photos I've taken in recent weeks at this local wind farm below:

Highway to wind?!

This cloud-deck really provided some
interesting photography on 09/23/11...

A circular polarizer filter is very
important on a bright sunny day!

A great location for some fall landscapes...

One of my favorites in this bunch...

A departing storm system on this day 09/14/11...

Their are some ice crystals up there!

Beautiful portrait-shot here!

The sun peaks in behind some clouds here...

Harvested farm field with the wind
farm in the background...

Gravel road and one of the wind turbines...

A barn in the the middle of the yellow landscape
as the beans begin to dry out...

Now looking north...(wide-angle)

My 2011 Ford Escape looks so small now eh?

This was a fun morning for photography!

Another favorite...this area will be quite photogenic
in the winter after a snowfall...

Harvested Illinois farm field!

Looking west!

High-level cirrus clouds moving east after a rainy day...

Another shot of the wind farm...

Another pretty cool shot!

The wind turbines are moving bringing
in the winds of change...

Abrupt contrast from beautiful pale blue
skies to a sharp cloud deck...

I shot this on a different day here as you can
tell by the deep blue skies...

Most of these photos were shot between
7:00am-8:00am on this morning...

An evening shot at the "bridge" adjacent to the wind farm

Looking west...pretty cool to see how each day these things
change direction based on the wind direction...

Yellow landscape and another wind
turbine in the background...

Perspective shot in the evening of the bridge...

I'll go where the wind blows...

Cloudy skies on this day...grr!

Another favorite here...

One last photo to end on as a cold front
pushes east of the wind farm...

Stay tuned for a fall post in the coming weeks as the leaves are starting to change color in Peoria, IL. Lets chase some fall foliage eh?

09/24/11 Change in Seasons

Driving off into a fall sunset outside Wyoming, IL

Over the past few weeks I've done some late-summer/early fall photography in west-central Illinois. I've had to drive home to Kewanee, IL a few times in the past few weeks which meant I found some time to do some photography during my travels. I live only a short 30 minutes from my hometown of Kewanee, IL and along the short drive home Mother Nature usually provides some decent photography in rural-Stark County, IL. Most of the photos in this post were in rural-Stark County, IL and at my parent's house as well. Summer has ended as we have now changed seasons' as the autumnal equinox passed last Friday (September 23). It's all downhill from here so enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. I'm sure we will have plenty of snowstorms to dig out of in the coming months. Many of my photos I shot during my travels I've added below:

Harvest time! Farmers, are actually behind on the
harvest this year for those interested...

My parent's above-ground pool about to get
shutdown for the year...

The sun setting on a fall evening in Peoria, IL

We haven't had our first frost in the local area
yet so scenes like this can still be
found in west-central Illinois...

Some alto-cumulus on this day and this lighthouse
kind of makes you think of Boston Harbor...

A Morning Glory in this Illinois farm field...

They're back!!...those pesky ladybugs that like
to take refuge in your house (macro-lens)

Winds of change...

A caterpillar in the yard (macro-lens)...

A fall landscape shot!

Butterfly enjoying some nectar...(macro-lens)

Fox, one of our pet goats...

Another fall sunset shot!

One last dip in the pool?!

Fall rains creating some spectacular
color here...(macro-lens)

Our three goats...sun-bathing I guess...

As one season changes...another begins...

It has been quite rainy as of late...

Spectacular colors here...

One last photo of the caterpillar
I found in the backyard...

More amazing colors...

The stars & stripes under an alto-cumulus deck...

The recent wet weather hasn't helped farmers
get their work done at all

Another shot of the ladybug

Indy, our yellow-lab enjoying the shade...

Yes, we have an aviation windsock at my parents house!

Our fountains still in-use for now

Wide-angle shot of our pool!

Another Morning Glory in this field...

The start of fall colors...

Hummingbird!

It will be pumkin' time soon enough!

Another wide-angle shot of the pool enclosure...
it's pretty cool for photography I must say!

The butterfly yet again...

Picturesque fall sunset in the western horizon!

This corn field not even close to be harvested...

The sun setting on a busy fall evening for farmers...

The sun setting along the Spoon River...

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be shooting some fall photos in the local-area on my down time. I'm also still planning on traveling to some fall destinations in the state if all goes to plan and of course the weather cooperates. Stay tuned for future updates...