fourpointedstar

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This DJI Mini 3 was my Christmas gift, but I’ve only started learning to fly it. With three teenage daughters, the school year is simply too busy!

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Sometimes it’s just the simplicity of the photo.

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I’m not really a “street photographer”, but over the past two years I have been trying to expand my photography. As my friend Arnoldo and I walked through Elgin on that rainy November day, I found several scenes that were not my usual fare, but still felt photogenic to my eye.

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This wasn’t my favorite photo to capture. The railings on the staircase are glass and that just gives me the heebie-jeebies (is that how you spell that phrase?); moving my feet out of the way while trying to hold my camera over the edge.

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As I moved around the lobby in the Hemmens, these lights moved with me creating patterns and shapes. A centimeter this way or that and the entire frame would change; it’s one of the reasons that I love architecture photography, it really does embody that statement of “right place, right time”. The colors, angles, lighting are all impacted by exactly when and where you are standing.

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I’ve heard many people say the right place and the right time are essential for a photograph, but I would argue that the right mindset is also essential. As Sarah and I were standing in the lobby of The Hemmens in Elgin, I was watching the reflections and refractions on the windows and walls. And while my mind wandered, this distant aircraft caught my eye as it traced its way through each window pane.

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Each week has a theme, and so each week there are 1 or 2 photos that are left over. Or in the case of this week’s windows theme, I needed an extra photo, so I reached into those extras and found this fun photo from 2018.

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As the sun crests the hills, a photographer has a few minutes when the tips of trees and plants are radiating the sun’s fresh light, and the rest of the plant rests in the shadows … a solar spotlight of sorts.

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Someday I’ll learn my lesson, only go waterfall chasing after a nice healthy rain!  Rocky Glen in Peoria has a nice vertical hike over a hill and into the valley to reach the waterfall; in the second photo you can see the massive boulder that the water flows underneath after dropping down the cliff face – yes, the same boulder with the carvings & graffiti.

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Normally graffiti distracts from my nature photos; but in this case, the carvings were so pervasive on this rock that it became an artistic subject in itself. In order to capture “Winding Valley”, I had to stand on this rock, and interestingly there were no carvings on the other side of the boulder.

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One of the best parts of early spring is that there is enough greenery to add a nice pop of color, but there is not enough greenery to block a longer scenic photo. And I particularly love the fact that the stream reflects the light blue sky in this photo.

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Any time that I go on a photo walk, I start capturing photos before I find inspiration; generally, I’m visiting a specific event or location, so that means that I have a subject in mind.  On the photo walk to the Black Partridge Woods, I knew that I would be capturing early spring flowers, but there is always that first photo that kicks off the inspiration at a photo shoot (at least for me).  

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As I climbed up the hill, I found this fallen tree. I love that the branches appear to reach out into the forest. But as I stared at the downed tree, I realized that it may be a wonderful black & white image. I’ll let you decide.

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I’m always amazed at the people who can go on a nature hike and name most of the flowers, leaves, trees, or moss. My brain just doesn’t work that smoothly; do you want to know what generation of Mac laptop first had the G3 chip? I know that, but common names for flowers … well that’s never going to stick in my brain.

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The soft purple hue mixed with the greens in this image bring my mind to a peaceful familiar space.

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Don’t center the subject in your photo.
Well, what it I center it in the bottom third?
And what if there is a well lit leaf providing contrast and balance?
Sometimes, it’s ok to break the rules.

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There’s something magical about the beaded drops of fresh dew in the morning.  I was searching for a tiny scene where I could capture the dew on one of the early spring flowers, and this vignette seems so perfect.  

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Several years ago, I came across a map showing “all” of the waterfalls in Wisconsin – a simple PNG file with an accompanying table listing 90 or so dots in Wisconsin. I attended college in Marinette County and knew that there were several close by, but after seeing that map, I decided to visit all of the listed falls. While you can still find the map online, the accompanying table has been lost to the depths of the internet, and it was years before I was able to find a similarly detailed list online of Wisconsin’s waterfalls.

As for visiting all 90, children and moving to Illinois in 2008 derailed those plans; however, each time that we plan a trip we ask the question “are there waterfalls nearby? And as I visit and photograph each waterfall, it gets added to the map above.  (Each segment of thumbnail photos below represents a different state.)

Which of course, brings up the question “What would you consider a ‘waterfall’?” I have included everything from rapids where the water falls to completely artificial waterfalls over manmade damns. I’ve also included a guide to identify the “nature” of the waterfall: (A) – Artificial, not only was the waterfall manmade, but it uses artificial means to move the water up in order to come down. (M) – Manmade, while the water flowing over is from a naturally occurring stream or pond, the fall itself is over a manmade barrier or the stream was redirected to create the waterfall. (N) – Natural, as near as I can tell from research or observation, the waterfall is largely created by a stream’s path and natural erosion.

Lastly, Bob Schneider of Waterfalls Wisconsin lists more than 600 locations on his website and most of them are listed in his guide. From my searching, he has by far the most extensive list around for Wisconsin.

Nearly every year, I take at least one trip down to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to photograph the butterflies. The Nature Museum has a wonderful year-round habitat for the butterflies, and in the middle of winter with all of the dull colors of nature, it’s relaxing to photograph something with rich colors.

But a friend challenged me to photograph something unusual in black & white; so I chose the butterflies in my second trip to Peggy Notebaert. Can I create interesting images without depending on the vibrant colors of the plants and insects? I am very pleased with the results of my experiment.

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