Tagged: 70-300mm f3.5-5.6

AY9228 190525 105359

AY9203 190525 105359

AY8325 190511 121709

AY8297 190511 120250

AY8288 190511 104105

AY8510 190512 103102

AY8495 190512 100716

AY8272 190511 101242

AY8261 190511 101217

AY8226 190511 101116

AY7827 190421 150821

AY7799 190421 150428

AY9365 19602 180135

AY4584 190127 131945

AY4520 190127 131240

AY4489 190127 131033

AY4435 190127 130654

AY4417 190127 130535

AY6805 190324 144321

AY7680 190419 145537

AY7410 190407 173424

AY7423 190407 175021

AY7334 190407 165947

AX5190 180814 185208

AY1028 181103 162505

AY1830 181118 140842

AX4465 180728 101523

 

For the second full week of Black & White February, I decided to follow up on an idea that I’d had for a few months – to shoot light trails in Elgin.   I enjoy capturing long exposures, but the added challenge of capturing light trails in downtown Elgin instead of Chicago (where there’s more traffic) seemed challenging.  

While we were out in the bitter cold for the January Lunar Eclipse, I realized that Elgin’s parking garages would make a great vantage point for some light trail images.   I’d taken images from the top of the Spring Street garage, in fact, I’ve led photo walks in downtown Elgin and used the Spring Street garage as a vantage point.  

However, I decided to add one more aspect to the week’s photos: I would attempt to shoot 7 images and capture 7 photos that I was proud of…I didn’t quite make it.   Capturing light trails of traffic when there’s very little traffic turned out to be a bit more challenging than I expected.   But I took 14 images, from 6 vantage points, and captured 7 images that I’m proud of.

AY4141 190121 210136

AY4138 190121 205950

AY4132 190121 205015

2019 Eclipse

 

Goodness, it was cold.  We stood on a parking garage roof in Elgin for 2 hours, stepping back into our cars in between photos to allow the soles of our feet to warm back up.  Luckily, the lunar eclipse didn’t happen during the “Polar Vortex” (that was the next week), but it was only 4° F (-15.5° C), and being 5 levels up meant there was nothing blocking the wind.

However, unlike the 2015 Lunar Eclipse and the 2017 Solar Eclipse, there wasn’t cloud cover.  I didn’t stay for the entire eclipse, but I’m pretty happy with the images that I did capture.

 

One of our favorite father-daughter adventures is traveling to gardens and conservatories.  Visiting the indoor gardens (like Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford and Garfield and Lincoln Park Conservatories) and seeing the colorful plants when it’s monochrome outside has become a highlight in the colder months.  The girls bring paper, pens, and colored pencils and draw the flowers, ferns and greenery (and I sometimes draw a bit too) while I wander around and take photos.

AY1986 181121 103751

AY1948 181121 103148

AY2318 181126 122354

AY1208 181108 080700

AY1190 181109 080542

AY0958 181103 134017

AY0955 181103 133923

AY0951 181103 133735

AY0939 181103 133555

AY0397 181025 133935

AY0331 181025 133515

AY0226 181025 132459

AY0265 181025 133255

AY0220 181025 132422

AY0244 181025 133036

AX4290 180727 163919

AX4299 180727 163946

AX4302 180727 163950

AX4344 180728 215806

AX3942 180717 201926

AX0243 180506 173227

AT8747 180407 140052

AT8708 180407 135635

AT7048 180204 101753

AT4641 171028 093804

AS1105 171203 191747

AS1097 171203 191233

AS1077 171203 185315

AS1062 171203 185013 copy

AS0996 171125 165145

AS0973 171125 162057

AS0886 171125 155722

AS0868 171125 155108

AS0838 171125 154346

AS0834 171125 135725

AS0981 171125 163610

AT3533 171009 115138

AT2732 171006 132558

AT2675 171006 131920

AT2567 171006 122744

AL8416 170612 192249

AR0158 170823 201832

AR0046 AR0009