Wednesday, September 23, 2015

09/15/15 The Milky Way

The Milky Way made for some great night photography last week near Camp Grove, IL 

Last week, I spent a few nights north of Peoria, IL near Camp Grove, IL photographing the night sky. The moon phase and weather cooperated on these nights to photograph the Milky Way. I decided to take this opportunity to attempt to shoot some photos under the stars for a change. I shot all of these photos with my Canon 5D Mark III along with my Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 II L lens and tripod. I ended up traveling about a hour north of Peoria, IL to try to escape the light pollution from the city. Most of these shots were 20sec. exposures while using high-ISO's to capture the Milky Way. I've added a good handful of photos from a couple nights of photography below:

The sun begins to set...
"Between the interface of light and darkness"
A waxing crescent moon in the distance just before the stars make their appearance...
I love twilight photos!
Twilight providing a great mix of colors!
My favorite on this particular night!
Pesky cirrus clouds on this night were annoying in the southern horizon...
A wide-angle shot (looking south)!
Night #2 I had much better luck since there were a lack of clouds and not as windy...
Love the colors here at twilight as the Milky Way begins to make its appearance!
"A night under starry skies"
Simply amazing!
"We will be counting stars"
Another one of my favorite shots of the Milky Way over this bridge!
I saw many shooting stars on this night!
Light painting this tree with my flashlight helped to create this interesting photo...
One last shot of the Milky Way on this night...

It was a productive couple nights of photography and it was fun to photograph the night sky for a change.

Monday, September 21, 2015

08/30/15 Summer: 2015

Summer colors were out in full force over the last couple of months in Peoria, IL 

Over the last few months, I photographed the summer season around the local area as has been the case in years past as well. I usually always visit Hoerr Nursery in Peoria, IL during the spring and summer months to capture most of my spring and summer photos as they usually have a wide selection of flowers and plants to photograph. All of these photos I shot with my Canon 7D and Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro-lens for the most part. I've added my summer: 2015 collection below:

 Mother Nature showing off!
 Beautiful summer colors!
A summer landscape shot along the Illinois River last month...
 Roses are red...
Quite photogenic!
I thought the colors were great in this photo!
 I love this one!
 Lily pads!
 The leaves on this plant were quite sharp...
I really like this one as well...
 I photograph these flowers every year and they seem to always give me some good images!
 Colorful indeed!
 I love the blurred background on this one!
 A close-up of this flower while a bee stops by for a photo-op!
More good colors...
Such a cool shot!
The purples really "popped" on a cloudy morning...
Another neat shot!
Loving the colors here...
"Statue among the flowers"
And that's a wrap for summer...

That wraps up my summer: 2015 collection. I'll be focusing on some more photography over the coming weeks as I find some down time to head outdoors and shoot some photos this fall and focus on some night photography as well. I shot the Milky Way last week and I'll be posting some of those photos from a few nights of photography under the stars in the near future.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

08/02/15 Summer: Nature & Wildlife

A peacock enjoying a summer morning last month in Edwards, IL

Last month, I ventured out and about on a couple of occasions around the local-area to enjoy nature and capture some wildlife photos. I was quite happy as I ended up with a good assortment of photos as I explored a few parks nearby my apartment in Peoria, IL. I shot all of these photos with my Canon 5D Mark III and Canon 7D using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 II L IS telephoto-zoom lens and Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro lens. I've added quite a few nature and wildlife photos below:

Some goats enjoying a summer day...
A neat shot of another monarch butterfly!
This peacock at Wildlife Prairie Park in Edwards, IL gave me a great photo-op here!
A dragonfly "hanging out"
The peacock yet again...
A personal favorite!
The goats again...
Quite colorful!
Yet another monarch butterfly I photographed close-up...
Another dragonfly!
Quite a close-up!
Beautiful!
A great shot of another dragonfly!
You can't get much closer than this to wildlife...
"A landing"
"Stop & stare"
Stunning colors visible on this peacock!
One more shot of another dragonfly...

That wraps up this post. I was quite pleased to capture some neat shots of more wildlife around the local-area this summer. I'll be adding a summer: 2015 post in the coming days as summer has just about concluded and we now begin to head into the fall season.