05/02/12 Spring: 2012

Spring blooms at a local nursery outside Kewanee, IL

as spring arrives early this year in the Midwest!

Over the last few weeks, I've kept quite busy during my down-time by snapping many photos of the spring season in the local-area including my hometown of Kewanee, IL. I still have yet to chase any severe storms this year as the "good" setups have come on days when I had to work or when they have fell on my days-off the setup takes a big crap right at the end. The good news is that I'll be out for 2 weeks starting May 28th through June 10th. Hopefully, that period is active in the central Great Plains. It's kind of crazy though that I have yet to get out to chase some convection. This might be the longest I've gone without seeing a decent storm this late into the spring season. Last year, I believe I chased at least twice by now. I'm ready to see some "nice" convection! I have lots of new equipment to test out in a real-time chase including a mesodome setup (streaming live video), a new HD camcorder (time-lapses), and this season I even have a new DSLR camera (Canon EOS 7D). The storms will come soon enough. Anyhow, I posted a large collection of spring photos and most of these were shot at a local nursery and can be found below:

Tulips in full-bloom as the spring season is in

full-force in the Midwest...

Apple trees in bloom in Peoria, IL

a few weeks ago...

Beautiful assortment of spring colors!

A blooming hibiscus here and a sure sign of spring...

It's always a great sight to see the first

cumulus clouds of the season...

An apple tree showing off its blooms on a spring

morning in Peoria, IL

A beautiful row of marigolds here!

A low sun-angle making these flowers "pop"!

One of my favorites!

A spring sunset on our outdoor enclosure...

A typical lilac bush!

I shot the moon a few weeks ago as it

had a beautiful orange-tint near the horizon!

Here's another wide-angle shot of our pool

enclosure as the sun begins to set...

Amazing colors here!

A bluebell!

A blooming apple tree reaching toward the heavens...

Colorful pansies along this wooden-fence...

More spring blooms...

One of those tranquil "puffy" clouds...

A spring landscape shot!

A blooming apple tree (macro-lens)

More brilliant colors...

Building cumulus clouds at sunrise in Peoria, IL

Another hibiscus plant...

Portrait-shot of an apple tree!

Another spring landscape shot...

Another portrait-shot of a blooming lilac!

Yep, that's my flag blowing in the spring breeze!

A beautiful assortment of tulips!

Quite a beautiful shot here (macro-lens)!

Another nice sunset outside Kewanee, IL

Building clouds casting shadows on

these apple trees...

Spectacular colors here (macro-lens)!

Another shot of the moon above a local wind farm...

More great colors! (macro-lens)

Another shot of the blooming apple trees

in the local-area...

Another close-up shot! (macro-lens)

A spring wind farm shot...

Talk about a colorful photo!

The sun setting on this landscape...

A great shot! (macro-lens)

A stunning close-up here! (macro-lens)

Farmers in the fields preparing for the

growing season...

Another great shot! (macro-lens)

A colorful blooming flower here...

Another apple tree shot! (macro-lens)

Mother Nature at her best!

Beautiful skies over the spring blooms!

Talk about a dusty dry day...

Pretty cool perspective here as the sun
sets on this evening...

That's about all for now. Stay tuned for some storm chasing posts and more photography posts in the coming weeks...

04/09/12 Illinois Dust Devils

Dust devils in rural-Stark County, IL outside
Kewanee, IL on Monday afternoon...

Monday, I was in my hometown of Kewanee, IL after enjoying the Easter holiday the previous day with my family. While I was home I was able to find some time for some photography as usual. During this time I was able to photograph and compile quite a large collection of spring 2012 photos that I'll be posting in the coming weeks thanks to some down time before the chase season kicks-in full-force over the coming weeks. This coming weekend (Fri-Mon) looks great if you're a storm chaser in the Great Plains. I'll be passing this time around on more than likely some great setups as I'll be working most of the weekend. Somebody has got to pay the bills right? I'll have a few weeks of non-stop chasing in May-June however. Anyhow, good luck to any chasers that make the long trip as their appears to be several "plays" during the weekend i.e. (dry line and/or warm front). Anyhow, this past Monday I was able to photograph some dust devils in a recently tilled farm field outside Kewanee, IL. If you thought Monday was windy well it sure was! Take a look at my Davis Weather Station obs. here. We actually were under a Red Flag warning which is typically issued when humidity is quite low, wind speeds average at least 15mph, and the outdoor temperature is greater than 75°F. Fire danger (brush fires) are the main concern on these type of days. With that being said because many of the above-mentioned ingredients were met I was able to catch some dust devils on this day. It was quite windy and these dust devils would form very quickly during the mid-afternoon. It was quite a sight! Something you really don't get to see everyday either! It helped me get geared-up for some tornado magic in the coming months. I posted a few photos below and I'll be posting a spring 2012 post at some point in the future as I've many photos to go through over the past few weeks that I have shot. A few photos of the dust devils however, can be found below:

A nice looking dust devil in this Illinois farm field!

This sucker formed right in front of me...
Good stuff!

The beginning of a wedgefest?!

That's all for now. Stay tuned for that spring post I mentioned (above) in a few weeks. You never know maybe I'll end up photographing some severe weather later this weekend locally?! Until then...