On the Side of the Trail

 

      Sometimes you have to get down on your hands and knees and lean right up to your subject.  I had my face right up to this fallen tree to get this picture.  I love how detailed the front part of the wood is.  You can see every line and weathered surface.  I chose to have my background slightly out of focus so I could make the front of the branch sharply in focus. 

 



 

     Here is another exmaple of nature macro photography.  It has been a new hobby to take close up pictures.  I really like looking closely at small detail.  I took these pictures on a hike through the bluffs.  The trail was part of the Salt Lick Land and Water Reserve.  The lighting was not really an issue in either of these photographs because I was under a canopy of trees that blocked the direct sunlight. 
    Getting down on the floor of the woods is worth the pictures.  I had to be careful of poison ivy, though!  It always seems to surround me, and nobody wants to kneel in a patch of poison ivy.

My View from the Guard Post

     I loved being up above everybody in the guard tower at Fort de Chartres.  I could see the entire fort's yard and buildings from my post.  The buildings straight across used be living quarters.  I walked through them, and I saw how the soldiers used to sleep and live.  It gave me a real appreciation of my own house and bedroom!  On the left you can see one of the "ghost buildings."  They are the wooden structures of buildings.  They give you an idea of what the buildings used to looked like in their original position. 
    I turned around to look out the other side of the tower and had a beautiful view of the bluffs in the distant.

     Across harvested fields, the bluffs rose out of the ground.  They stretched continuously to my left and right.  What looks like bare patches are actually limestone cliffs embedded into the bluff.  I carefully turned and climbed down the ladder out of the tower.  I did not want to take a misstep!  Once I had both feet planted firmly on the ground, I went off towards the next building to take a look around!

A Stroll Through Time at Fort de Chartres

     The stone walls and wooden doors decorated with brass beckoned to me as I strolled up the path to the fort.  This stronghold used to be a very important French military, economical, and government center.  Fort de Chartres looks authentic and old to the unknowing, but there is more than meets the eye.  The original fort was abandoned and then destroyed in 1772. 
     Fort de Chartres started out as a wooden fort, but then it was rebuilt with stone between 1753 and 1756.  The building that stands today is a partially reconstructed fort based off of remains of the original foundation and what it used to look like.  The park is open everyday from dawn to dusk, except on major holidays.  If you go Wednesday through Sunday, you have the chance to go into the buildings and museum. 
     My favorite site that was opened was the guard tower above the front doors.  From up top you have a great view of the bluffs and the courtyard.  Down below are the "ghost buildings" and outlines of where the original buildings stood.  Lush fields of green encompass the fort with towering trees growing around the perimeter. 
     I had a great time walking through the replica buildings learning how the early French soldiers lived.  They had a totally different lifestyle than the one we live now.  If you are interested in visiting, here is the address:1350 Illinois 155, Prairie du Rocher, IL 62277.  

  

Hill Prairies

                                                                               

     The hill prairies cling to the side of the bluff.  These native grasses sway in the wind on their oblique slope.  I walked through one on a skinny trail, careful not to step off and tread on their delicate stalks.  I had never heard of hill prairies until I visited the Salt Lick Land and Water Reserve.

     The midwest used to be covered entirely with these native tallgrasses.  Now they are few and far between.  Numerous hours of hard work has paid off for the people that have worked to restore prairies like the one above.  They must pull out invasive plants that threaten to overtake the native grasses.  

     Hidden on top of bluffs, where they like to grow, they are like a little haven.  Illinois only has about five hundred healthy and high quality acres of hill prairie.  Approximately forty percent of those prairies grow in between Dupo and Prairie du Rocher.  It is very interesting to imagine that our backyards used to be covered in grasses up to our waists.  

My Hike Up Salt Lick Bluff

     Hiking an 810 foot high bluff can look and sound daunting, but if you succeed the reward is priceless.  This is what I felt at the bottom of Salt Lick Bluff.  It is part of the Salt Lick Point Land and Water Reserve in Valmeyer off of Bluff Road.  Salt Lick Bluff is one of the highest points in Monroe County.  My view from the foot of the bluff was scenic, but I wanted to know what the Mississippi River Valley looked like from above.
    I decided to hike the Salt Lick Trail.  There are three cleared and marked trails on the reserve.  This one would take me up the side of the bluff and give me a great view.  Almost immediately the trail started off steep.  I had my camera around my neck, my phone in one hand, and my map in the other as I puffed up the trail.  Little saplings grew on both sides of me and tangles of small brush grew close to the ground.  A little farther up and I could start to see formations of limestone jutting out of the ground.
     I was standing on a limestone bedrock that is part of the Mississipian System bedrock.  It used to be part of an ancient seabed.  This narrow band of bluffs in Monroe County was never underneath glaciers.  Instead, during the Wisconsonian stage of Illinois' glaciation, massive amounts of windblown silt were dropped here.  These bluffs are covered in about thirty feet of glacial silt.
     My calves got a little rest as the trail evened out for a while.  I could catch little glimpses of the flat farmland down below every once in  awhile.  I was mostly enveloped in trees.  On my right, facing away from the edge of the bluff, the ground gave away quickly making a steep hill.  Tall skinny trees grew up from this ravine searching for sunight.  It was very dark underneath their canopy.
    I knew I was getting close to the summit when the trail turned steep again.  My heartbeat pulsed quickly and breathing grew ragged as I climbed even higher.  The ground became even and I could see out from a break in the trees.  Far below was the valley.  My eyes lingered on the beauty, soaking it in.

                                                                               

     I had a bird's eye view.  It was late afternoon and the sun was just beginning to head west.  It was sinking towards the Mississippi River.  The river wasn't visible from here, but the distant bluffs in this picture are in Missouri.  I rested here until I got my breath back and plenty of photographs.

     The trail began to loop back to where I started.  My trip back down was a lot easier than up, but I had to stop once again to look at the view.  This next picture made me kneel down to view out.  The ground literally fell straight down to the field.  

     

     I didn't want to take a tumble right here.  The tree to the left marked where the ground stopped.  Underneath it was a row of limestone embedded into the bluff.  Row after row of golden corn stalk remains lined the ground.  Train tracks ran through the field heading north and south.  Occasionally I heard the whistle of an engine and the train would pass full of oil tankers. 

     I brushed the dirt off of my knees and continued on.  It was a physically challenging hike, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I felt alone on the bluff.  It is a silent place filled with trees and overlooks.  The only thing before and behind me was the trail.  I made it to the bottom with a smile of accomplishment.  

  

    

The Autumn Bluffline

     I had my first view of the autumn leaves today!  The trees are gorgesous in the Mississippi River Valley.  I took a scenic drive around down through the valley.  On my left was the flat farmland, barren from the harvest, and on my right rose the bluffs.   They seemed to grow straight up from the ground.  I wanted to pull over and hike right up this bluff.  As it turns out that is exactly what I did!

A Nature Macro Photography Lesson with Alessandro Zocchi

http://youtu.be/J_hj8XPCan0

  The link above is a very useful little clip on how to take close up pictures, or macro pictures, in nature. It is fun to take pictures of large things like trees, boulders, lakes, etc.  The list goes on!  I think it is easy to forget about the very small details that make up our world.  

  Alessandro calls his method the professional style because it does take special equipment.  I don't have everything he has, but I still learned some new ideas and methods.  First, never travel anywhere without your tripod.  The tripod is very important because it ensures your camera will not move.  Shaky hands can easily ruin a picture.  Also, be carful of your lighting.  He shows in this clip how his focal point is in a dark corner and the light is low.  Watch out for shadows and dark corners that will mess with your lighting.

    I like this clip because I have been trying to take some macro nature pictures of my own.  I like zeroing in on an object and getting very close to it.  It brings attention to small details that would normally be overlooked or not even seen.  

    This is one of my nature macro photographs!  I love the delicate curls and creamy yellows and whites on this flower.  In the top left hand corner is a little spider peeking out from behind a petal.  I did not even notice him until later when I was going through my photos.  The foliage in the back is slightly out of focus because my camera is very close to my focal point.  That is okay because I don't want anything to distract from the flower.  

    Macro photography is fun and not very hard to accomplish.  A little time and commitment and suddenly you will start to develop an eye for the small things in life. 

The Lone Walker

    From up above I watched this lone walker on his way around the Amphitheatre.  This one special place had drawn two very different people with different purposes to the Shrine.  I was here with my camera to take pictures and take a walk.  I am glad I went when it was still sunny and green!  Now the cold blustery autumn has arrived.

    The Amphitheatre is located at the bottom of a gentle rolling slope.  You can see the woods behind the Amphitheatre stretch out for acres.  Up above the treeline the powder blue sky resembled summer.  Those wispy clouds turned into massive gray clouds the next day.  

  I continued on my way and then went to Father's Memorial Walk.  It is a secluded wooded walkway down a hillside.  At the bottom of the trail is the Memorial wall.  The wall is covered with bronze plaques in honor of Joseph the Carpenter and all fathers.  Dry leaves blew across the path around me as I made my way to the bottom.  The leaves are still very green, they have yet to change!  

    

    Before I left the woods I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  This had been a great mini retreat from the world and a fun place to take pictures.  I hope the lone walker had as good of a time as I did.

    Here is the addres to the National Shrine to Our Lady of the Snows is you would like to visit.

                              442 S. DeMazenod Dr, Belleville, IL 62223

                                (Located on IL State Highway 15 east)

 

The Angelus Bells

    Every hour is marked by the deep gong of the copper bells.  The toll of the bells reverberated around me.  I sat on a bench mesmerized by the fountains surrounding the Angelus bells.  It is an easy place to sit down and become lost in thought at the National Shrine to Our Lady of the Snows.  

    My visit to the Shrine was both beautiful and rewarding!  Partialy enclosed in woods, the Annuciation Garden felt secluded.  This devotional stop is located on the top of a hill overlooking the Main Shrine.  It has a gorgeous view over the Shrine's grounds.

    I loved how alone I felt there.  This is a great place to come if you are in need of peace and solitude.  The sound of the breeze mingled wilth the splashes of the fountains adding to the peaceful enviroment.    Every once in a while a turkey vulture circled overhead riding on the warm air currents.  

    It was time for me to go all too soon.  I looked one last time at the Byzantine styled bells and went for a walk down a walking trail.  If I didn't know that I was near a town, then I would honestly think I was wandering around a beautiful national park.  The grounds are very well cared for.  There is a touch of human works and nature that makes the Shrine so alluring.