04/02/17 Spring Wildlife

A bobcat enjoying the spring morning at Wildlife Prairie Park outside Edwards, IL 

On April 2nd, I headed outside into the great outdoors with my Canon 5D Mark III and Tamron 150-600mm G2 telephoto-zoom lens for a morning hike at Wildlife Prairie Park near Edwards, IL. I ended up photographing quite a bit of spring wildlife and animals at the zoo on this day. I occasionally try to visit this park every year since it is so close to home. The animals seemed to be very pleased to be outside in the cool spring temperatures it appeared on this day as I was able to capture some engaging shots during the morning. I've added several photos from the morning photographing wildlife at the park below:

A Eastern bluebird was a great find!

One of my favorite shots of a wolf on this morning!

"Ready for take-off"

 A vibrant red cardinal

 "Inquisitive wolf"

 A bluejay found a snack!

 "Here, kitty kitty!"

 I was very lucky to spot this eastern bluebird on this morning!

 I love this one in black n' white as well!

 A coyote

The Tamron 150-600mm G2 is a great lens for wildlife photography!

 Quite a photogenic bluejay!

 Another great shot of one of the wolves!

 "The curious cat"

 Pigeon

 Well hello there!

Another shot of an eastern bluebird hanging out!

 This bobcat really was curious about my photo-taking...

 "Lounging around"

A badger

Another cardinal!

A female lion

 "On the hunt"

 An American robin dropping-in for a photo!

 "Camouflage bobcat"

Another great bluejay capture!

Wile E. Coyote?

"Face-off"

 The cloudy damp morning was great for hiking and photography!

 Another shot of one of the bald eagles

 A cardinal looking a tad puzzled probably because the Cub's won the World Series last year...

The badger very interested in my photography skills...

Beautiful wolves at this park!

One more bluejay...

Cardinal on a walkabout...

"One the prowl"

One more of the bobcat before I head back home...

That will wrap up this photography post. I'll be posting some spring photos I shot last month in the coming days in another post from my spring: 2017 collection. Stay tuned.

03/13/17 March Snowstorm

A March winter storm takes aim on Peoria, IL

Last March, a snowstorm ended up dropping accumulating snow in central Illinois including Peoria, IL. After a mild February and winter this surprise snowstorm caught some of the migrating wildlife in the area off guard. On this day, I ended up taking a few shots with my Canon 5D Mark III and Tamron 150-600mm G2 telephoto-zoom lens at Charter Oak Park of some wildlife amidst the snowfall. I've added a few photos from the day below:

Charter Oak Park a few miles down the road...

 "Rockin' Robin"

 "Snowflakes keep fallin' on my head"

 "Hanging on to spring barely"

 "Say it ain't snow"?

 The robins were a tad confused...

 A squirrel having a snack!

"Snow really?" My thoughts exactly!

A snowy day!

Robin trying to stay warm...

Amazing how sharp the results are using the Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens!

"Peak-a-boo"

Winter barely hanging on...

"Should I stay or should I go"?

That wraps up this post. I ended up heading to Wildlife Prairie Park on April 2nd and photographed some of the wildlife and animals at the park. I'll be posting those pictures in another post in the coming days.

11/13/16 Supermoon

"The Super Supermoon" I photographed last month in Peoria, IL

On November 13-14th, I photographed the supermoon using my Canon 5D Mark III and a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC G2 lens in Peoria, IL. On this night, the moon was the closest to our planet since 1948. Of course, photographing the moon required a tripod and shooting in manual mode. This was a fun night to once again look up to night sky and partake in some photography. It's quite interesting that the moon will not be as close to earth as it was on this particular night until November 25th, 2034 which is 18 years from now. Anyhow, I've added a few close-up shots of the moon below when it was near the horizon and when it was breaking through some passing clouds below:

The supermoon moon-rise!

Without the moon their would be no weather...

"No way?!...that's great!...we've landed on the moon!!" --Dumb & Dumber

Shooting manual is a must when photographing the moon!

I added a photo filter to this shot...

The moon, passing clouds, and some Photoshop work!

"In a black out"

Incredible detail!

It was a fun night photographing the supermoon. It was also a privilege that like many I was able to witness this event as the weather for the most part cooperated with the viewing conditions on both nights. Stay tuned for more posts over the winter as I find some more time for photography during the cold winter months that are ahead.