Tagged: orange

   

 

 

At this particular corner at the southwest corner of Herrick Forest Preserve, there are two trees standing alone.  They’re not full, in fact that they’re kinda odd, but they make fantastic silhouettes against the pre-dawn hues of the late summer.

There’s a bit of a story behind this photo:
In late August and early September, the sun is at the exact correct spot for wonderful sunrise photos on my drive into work. A couple of days before this photo, the mixture of sunrise and fog was perfect. I took a dozen photos that I was very excited about, and once I got to my office, I turned my camera back on to see the images that I’d captured.

And that was how I discovered that my Sony doesn’t have any alert when you press the shutter that there are not SD cards in the camera…I’d missed all of those (in my imagination) wonderful photos. So, for the next week, I stopped at the same three locations and captured sunrise photos, attempting to recreate those images that in my memory were perfect.

Anyway, I simply love this photo. I’ve shown it to a few people, one of whom said that it needs more tonal range or the addition of another color (roll back all that yellow to get some blue into the image)…but I like that early morning punch of yellow.

 

 

Taking photos of a fire is an incredibly flexible, you can take very quick photos, photos with movement, or anything in between.  But if you capture very quick photos, you just might see a dragon!

 

 

This insect would be terrifying if it were larger.  The ambush bugs can attack and eat insects that are up to 10x their weight, and those forearms are meant for holding onto the prey.  Every once in a great while, I’ll spot one of these monsters who has ventured out of their hiding spot, and their angular body makes for a fantastic photograph.

 

You know that feeling after your dad bought a Ford Taurus growing up, and then it seemed like you saw Ford Tauruses everywhere?  That’s how I feel about this orange speckled insect!  Back in 2010, I took a photo of one with my iPhone, and I love the photo.  Then last year, I found another one at a local butterfly garden.  This year I’ve seen them in my yard, on a client’s landscaping, and at the same butterfly garden; maybe they’re not as rare as I thought!

 

Don’t shoot in direct sunlight; wait for an overcast day.
The direct sunlight creates harsh shadows and high contrast colors.
Unless you can use the shadows and bold colors to make a wonderful photo.

 

CH0009 250413 151304

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CH0007 250413 151050

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CH0005 250413 150852

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

CJ7485 250517 100448

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CJ7466 250517 090132

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

CG2142 241007 181814

 

CF7632 240824 112559

This was the busiest of the busy busy bees. This little worker buzzed all over gathering pollen and in the meantime, got themselves absolutely covered in pollen. Just take a look at this zoomed in version of the same photo!

CF7632 240824 112559-2

CF7531 240818 133348

When you’re growing up, you learn “facts” that stick with you and you later learn are more “general rules”. Two that come to mind are “humans have five senses” and “moths have antenna that are fuzzy or comb-like”. Well, this is a Ailanthus Webworm Moth, and not only does it not have fuzzy antenna, but Wikipedia says that until it’s in flight, it resembles a beetle. Second grade science class was just full of lies!
(The senses of motion and balance are great examples of “other” senses.)

CF7395 240818 132426

CF7159 240818 130509

CF7134 240818 130329

 

CF7451 240818 132550

Back in 2010, I photographed this type of insect with my iPhone. We were on a trip to see a friend on the south side of Chicago, and I remember the photograph because it was one of the first “good enough quality” photos with an iPhone that I’d taken.

Two weeks ago, when I took the above photograph of the same type of insect, I thought to myself “that’s odd that I haven’t see an insect like that in a very long time.” I photograph insects every year, and I wondered why I hadn’t seen such a unique insect in over ten years. According to Wikipedia, they only travel this far north some summers and are more of a southern insect.

 

CF5195 240629 132507

 

CF5981 240714 111645

CF5974 240714 111531

I looked inside of this car and thought, “Did he have to pay someone to paint the engine parts to match the car? Or maybe he painted it all himself?”

 

CF6628 240721 084835

 

CF6643 240721 085054

CF6687 240721 085306

 

“Goodnight Moon”

July 20th, 2024

This was the perfect sunset sky interrupted by the perfect little sliver of the moon, so of course, I pulled over and took a few photos.

BZ8917 231115 180012

This was the perfect sunset sky interrupted by the perfect little sliver of the moon, so of course, I pulled over and took a few photos.

 

CD4319 240421 092112

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CD4154 240421 082442

Whenever I attend car shows, I try to take some time to walk through the spectator’s parking lot. This Mustang was just sitting there, looking angry, waiting for someone to take a photo.
While I was taking the photo, another Mustang owner parked right next to this car and asked me if it was my car – sadly no.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CD4429 240421 095702

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

CF2713 240519 212616

This was an interesting concept, but poor execution. The idea was that the sparks from the steel wool would look like they were coming out of the tailpipe, but – well, you gotta have your angles right. And since that’s me spinning the steel wool, well, my camera angle was all wrong. Oh well, I still think it’s a cool shot of Keith on his bike.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2707 240519 210040

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2704 240519 205335

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2701 240519 204248

Over the past 10 years, the Elgin Area Camera Club has hosted a steel wool photography opportunity three times. This image is from our most recent outing, and I’m actually the one who is spinning the wool in this image – I set up my camera and someone else pushed the shutter, so this is more of a collaborative image, you might say.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2699 240519 203855

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2698 240519 203521

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

CF2690 240519 202309

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

CD4439 240421 100110

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BY3051 230718 191019

What’s cooler than a fully tricked out hot rod?
Wauconda Cruise In always puts on a good show, and this year, I was able to attend in both July and August.

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

BZ8831 231104 192559

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Still at Work”

November 28th, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BZ8723 231104 173435

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BZ8833 231104 200612

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

BZ4151 231002 120458

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

 

BY0288 230619 135139

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4918 230411 210235

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4913 230411 205356

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4907 230411 203354

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4923 230411 210944

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4901 230411 203300

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4877 230411 200817

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BX4874 230411 200219

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BT5743 230327 065744

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Scraping the Grass”

March 5th, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BW0100 221009 171650

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Glistening Gold”

February 25th, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BW9498 221217 175225

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Sunset View”

February 22nd, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BV3785 221217 163922

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Shining Through”

February 21st, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BV3779 221217 163758

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BV3737 221216 171821

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

“Sunrise Over Waves”

January 15th, 2023

…view older images with the thumbnails below…  

BV3656 221216 070153

…view older images with the thumbnails below…

 

BW3557 221106 132043

BW3307 221106 125623

BT1174 221004 071020