10/15/12 Fall Foliage: 2012

Fall foliage begins in the Midwest as I take in the

beautiful colors near Peoria, IL

Over the last month or so I've kept quite busy taking in the beautiful scenes Mother Nature has had to offer in central Illinois to add to my fall 2012 collection. I have always enjoyed taking an epic amount of fall photos every year and at the same time enjoying the last few warm days before Old Man Winter begins to have a stranglehold over the Midwest. In past years, (2011, 2011 Part II, 2010, 2009) I've made a huge effort to capture as many great landscapes and photos of the fall foliage peaking in central Illinois. This year was no different as I've logged many hours during my busy schedule to capture some beautiful fall colors in the local-area surrounding Peoria, IL. As much as I love storms and chasing severe weather it's nice to take a step back every now and then around this time of year to focus on other aspects of photography. Why? It just helps to raise your skill-level every year so when it's time to photograph that epic supercell or severe thunderstorm you can achieve some beautiful shots in the spring and summer year after year. Anyhow, this year I stayed more close to home visiting a few parks around Peoria, IL and Kewanee, IL. I visited Charter Oak Park in Peoria, IL and Johnson Sauk Trail Park in Kewanee, IL as well to name a few. I also made a special trip to photograph the campus of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN a couple weeks ago to take in the peaking fall foliage in that area as well. I'll post those photos in a separate post at some point. Anyhow, enjoy my 2012 fall photo collection that I've posted below:

"Everyday is a winding road!"

 "Like the colors in autumn...
So bright just before they lose it all"...

 I used many cloudy days to my advantage this year

to photograph the vibrant colors!

 I shot this same tree last year...but this photo

turned out much better this go around!

 One of my favorite shots this fall...

 Beautiful golden-yellow colors here!

 This might be my favorite fall reflection this year...

The beginning of fall foliage! (macro-lens)

 A cool fall perspective...

 Beautiful array of colors in this shot!

 This may be a frequent spot for me

next fall and maybe this winter?

It definitely has some "potential"...

 I took this shot after a rainy October day

and knew instantly it would be a favorite!

 Stunning yellow on this Maple Tree...

 Fall begins here as the leaves begin to change colors...

 An early fall morning providing

some vibrant fall colors!

 Fall scenes along winding roads

are quite photogenic...

 Here comes the colors! (macro-lens)

 A fall reflection on an early fall morning at Johnson Lake!

  A fall panoramic shot! (iPhone 5)
Click to enlarge...

 And another stunning fall panoramic...(iPhone 5)
Click to enlarge...

 Fall colors on a cloudy day "popping" in this local park!

 Falling leaves are a sure sign of autumn!

 A beautiful golden-maple near sunset...

 Back-lit fall foliage as the rain moves out!

 A breath-taking fall sunset outside Kewanee, IL!

 Another brilliant display by Mother Nature!

 Everybody dreams of that white "picket-fence"...

A drought-stricken lake providing

a nice fall reflection!

 More spectacular displays!

 An early morning foggy landscape...

 My favorite portrait-shot of the bunch!

An appropriate "spooky" building just in

time for Halloween!

 These trees goin' red...

 Another fall reflection!

 A fall sunset!

 More fall reflections...

 Yellow's beginning to show themselves here!

 Early morning showers and virga providing a weird

cloud display in the western sky...

 A fall scene along this trail...

 Fall colors peaking at this local cemetery...

 A fall and wildlife reflection!

 Lily pads at a local lake...

 "The truth is out there" I couldn't resist...

A nice array of fall colors on a perfect fall afternoon!

A little hike through the woods...

Another favorite photo!

Spectacular sunset after the FROPA (frontal passage)

Long shadows a sign of fall!

Our outdoor enclosure "lit-up" with the setting sun...

 A fall shot near sunset! (wide-angle)

 A beautiful area to take photos seen here...

I love this park!

 I thought this was a cool shot!

 (kind of like fall colors jumping out of the shadows)...

 Nearly all the fall colors present along the horizon!

 Another stroll through the woods...

 A colorful shot here!

 A nice fall scene here...

 Gotta love fall reflections!

 A ghostly fog along the fall landscape...

 Red's beginning to show up in early October...

 A cool perspective!

 Cirrus clouds overhead providing a good landscape shot...

 Cirrus moving in the western horizon near sunset!

 Fall colors beneath alto-cumulus!

 Nearly symmetrical lily pads...

 A beautiful fall evening shot!

 Fall foliage and a farm field being harvested...

 Patchy fall foliage in the local-area...

 A cloudy morning with fall colors

everywhere you turn...

 A mixture of colors here on a sunny early morning!

 The sun comes up setting the state for
some fall photography...

 The sun beginning to set along the Illinois landscape!

 Fall foliage overlooking this lake...

That wraps up my 2012 fall collection. I didn't make it to some destinations that I wanted to this fall, but their is always next year. I'll post more fall photos in a separate post as I traveled to South Bend, IN this month as well. Stay tuned for that.

09/21/12 Central Illinois Fall Supercells

A dissipating thunderstorm at sunset marks the end

of a busy fall chase day outside Elkhart, IL

On September 21st, I ended up chasing in central Illinois after eyeballing a potential chase a couple days before this particular day. The setup appeared more that adequate for supercells and tornadoes early that morning along an advancing warm front as a shortwave trough and low-pressure system would provide enough lift to create supercells by mid-afternoon. By noon, I was already heading south with an initial target of Broadwell, IL. This target featured backed surface winds along the front and was also along a differential heating boundary that set up with cool stable air to the north near Peoria, IL. Storms fired along the front during the early afternoon, but remained relatively outflow dominate, but I did chase one of these severe-warned thunderstorms northwest of Clinton, IL. This storm was largely outflow dominate, but I was able to grab a few good pics and time-lapse video. I quickly headed back west though as my attention turned to a weakening cap along the Illinois River. This area was characterized by around 1,000J/kg of CAPE, 0-6km shear at 70kts, 0-3km SRH at 300m2/s2, and a moistening boundary-layer with dew points near 60°F ahead of the low-pressure center. With backing winds also in that area I knew I had to head west out of Lincoln, IL toward the town of Middletown, IL. By this time, new convection was beginning to develop to my west that began to get more and more organized. I stopped a few times to snap a few photos, but spent most of the time watching a developing supercell continue to organize as I took in the view east of Athens, IL along U.S. 29. I watched a wall cloud quickly lower and gain more and more low-level rotation so I quickly headed east along U.S. 29 knowing I was a little too close for comfort. I pulled into the town of Cantrall, IL seeing some pretty rapid motion in my rear-view mirror so I pulled over to nearly witness a tornado form over this small town. It got close a few times. I ended up getting blasted by a RFD on the back-side which told me this was pretty close to producing. It was a strong enough RFD that corn-husks went in a nice circular motion along with dust in the field to my east and my reading glasses flew off my head. Kind of was a crazy moment! After finding my glasses in the field I quickly followed this strong supercell just north of Springfield, IL. It tried to drop a tornado a couple times, but it just wasn't enough. After seeing this storm progressively become outflow dominate I preceded to stay on the back-side of the convection to take some shots of the departing convection. This was rather rewarding with back-lit storms providing picturesque landscapes and rainbows for most of the evening. I headed back north meeting up with a fellow chaser/photographer Chris Kincaid along I-55. We both headed west and shot a few more photos at sunset as more convection was moving-in. I then called it an evening and headed back pretty happy with all things considered as I was definitely on the right storm on this particular evening. Photos and some time-lapse video I have posted below:

A supercell nearly spins up a tornado over

the town of Cantrall, IL...

 Beautiful early-fall convection!

 Spooky looking sky off the first storm of the day

outside Waynesville, IL...

 Shear funnel (left)!

 Closer-view...

Pretty cool shot with this severe-warned

storm gusting out...

And another...

Departing convection with a tractor

ready for harvest (right)!

This tractor provides a good photo-op
with the departing convection...

Developing supercell!

 Storm #2 now becoming a supercell northwest of Athens, IL...

Organizing wall cloud getting close to moving overhead!

Trying to quickly wrap-up now!

Oh, she's so close...

Circulation becoming rain-wrapped as the

RFD blows off my glasses here...

A few minutes later I keep up and it nearly

 produces again along this highway!

Becoming outflow dominate now...

A cool perspective here!

One of my best wide-angle shots of the year!

Weird looking blue tint in these agitated cumulus...

Closer-view!

Looking back at the supercell that nearly

dropped a tornado earlier...

More picturesque convection near sunset!

Shelf cloud moving overhead just west of I-55...

A beautiful sunset in the western horizon as

convection begins to move overhead!

Driving off into a fall stormy sunset...

A cool perspective as I setup along a highway

to take some photos at sunset of the convection!

Beautiful sunset on this evening...Love this shot!

One last photo in the eastern horizon as the

sun sets on this chase day...

 I've added a YouTube time-lapse (above)

This was quite a rewarding chase. One of my favorites of the year and it comes in September of all months. Oh well, you never know what Mother Nature will have up her sleeve. I'll be out shooting fall photos over the next few weeks for my 2012 fall collection. I'll post those photos over the next month or so. Until then...