Happy Endings

     The reflecting sunset and pastel colored water and sky help make this picture one of my favorites.  It gives off a calm feel.  There is something about sunsets that makes everybody stop what they are doing and take a look.  No matter where you are the soft glowing sky is beautiful.  In this case, the sunset and lake were in my backyard.  

     Our yards are a perfect example of natural beauty in Southern Illinois.  When we plan to go somewhere, we step out of our houses and in to our yards.  This can be a great opportunity to take pictures and appreciate what we have.  Yards of any size all have something special that makes them unique.  It may be beautiful trees, abudant wildlife, or a lake.  Within just one of these attributes there are hundreds of possibilities. 

     I could take hundreds of pictures of the lake pictured above.  To make it a memorable picture I have to create something working with nature.  The sunset and reflection off the lake made this happen.  By keeping my distance from the lake I could fit the trees' whole relfections in the picture.  You can see each individual branch highlighted in pink, orange, and blue in the sky and water.  

     At the end of everyday we find the sun setting and ourselves coming home.  All good days come to an end along with everything else in it.  Hopefully they end happily.  My happy ending is finishing this semester's blogging.  It has taken me to places I have never even heard of before.  Through my camera lens I have seen and taken beautiful pictures.  It is only fitting that my last picture be of my ending place for the day.  It is what I saw before and after every excursion around Southern Illinois. 

Taking Pictures in the Snow

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OY1lljNhrYU

     This past week Southern Illinois was covered in a blanket of snow.  Some people grumbled, but others like myself, enjoyed it thoroughly.  I took my camera with me and went outside in my yard.  The snow and ice on the roads made traveling out of the question.  Sometimes we don't have to look very far for a great picture.  It can be right in our yard.

    Photographer Gavin Hoey made a very useful video about taking snowy landscape pictures.  I watched the video and picked up a couple big tips.  The link to the YouTube video is above. The first interesting lesson was properly using exposure.  If you don't adjust your exposure to the bright snow and sun, then the snow in your picture might look blue or too bright.  You have to adjust it until you can find a happy medium.  Another important thing that I didn't know was that the cold temperatures drain your camera's battery.  Try to bring along a spare or keep your camera warm!

     This is my favorite snow picture!

Artistic Rendition of the Bluffs

     Have you ever wanted to bring your pictures to life?  Drawing or painting special or favorite photographs is a fun and interesting experience.  You find yourself looking closely at the photograph, catching all of the small details in shades of color and texture.  I took one of my previous pictures of the bluffline by Valmeyer and did a pastel rendition.  

    It took multiple layers of color to get the sky how I wanted it to look.  There is no one magic color to create the sky.  Instead, I took different hues of blue, grays, and purples to transition from dark blue to light.  The trees also proved to be difficult.  Trees are not just green.  They each have their own shade and color.

    Give it a try!  I never realized how much fun it was to re-create a photograph until I tried.  Sitting down with a palette of colors and an imagination is a great way to relive and remember your photograph from the comfort of home.   

Interesting Nature and Wildlife Photography Tips

     Have you ever wondered how professional photographers seem to have an eye for the perfect picture?  I have always been impressed by beautiful landscape shots or animals caught in action.  It takes a lot of time and practice.  Florian Schulz, a professional German photographer, sat down for an interview and shared some of his tips.  I found it especially useful when he explained using all of the different lenses he has with him.  That means instead of taking a picture of his subject with just one lense at one angle, he takes multiple pictures with different lenses to get a variety of scenarios.  This video has a lot of useful tips that I hope pertain to you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oGt9b2tOs0

The Adventure to Find the Stone Bridges

    On a recent blustery afternoon, I decided to take the Stone Bridge Drive.  I had a set of directions that would lead me to all of the destinations and my camera ready to go.  My sister came along to keep me company and help me with directions.  Before long we were cruising out to the countyside to find these bridges.

     My first stop on my drive was right inside of Columbia.  I took a left onto Gall Road and immediately saw this pleasant sight.  The red brick building on the right was the old Shoemaker School.  The school and bridge are both dressed up festively for the holiday season.  After a while we decided it was time to move on to our next stop.  Unfortunetly, this is where our good-luck started to end.

      We continued down Gall Road winding through the countryside.  This part of the drive was scenic. Trees grew alongside of the road and at times almost formed a canopy over us.  Farms spread out before us with cows roaming the fields.  We slowed down to look at a herd of deer grazing right beside us on a hill.  They were not shy at all.  All in all this was a very pretty and scenic drive as we looked for our next turn to go into Waterloo.

     Once we were on our way to Waterloo and our next stop, the sun started to disappear before a huge bank of clouds.  I was a little worried about how the lighting would be for the next stop.  I just hoped we would have enough daylight to finish the rest of the drive.  I entered Waterloo on Il-3 and turned right onto Il-156 and a quick left onto Lakeview Drive. 

     Lakeview Drive goes past a couple of neighborhoods but soon turns into fields and trees.  The name of the road also changed into Maeystown Road.  This road leads right into Maeystown.  We had to stay on this road for a couple of miles before stopping.  This was when I realized the weather was not going to cooperate.  Huge gray clouds began to blot out the rest of our daylight.  I realized we were probably not going to finish the tour but at least make it to the next one because we were so close!

     My directions said to find Holy Cross Lutheran Church and continue a half a mile.  The next bridge would be on the left.  I did exactly that but we didn't see the bridge.  I thought maybe I had gone too far so I turned around.  We drove by in the other direction looking but still didn't see it!  It was getting so dark, though, that I had to turn on the car's lights to see.  I realized I was going to have to stop for the day.

     I was disappointed that I didn't even get to see half of the bridges.  Next time I will plan and give myself more time and check out the weather!

Monroe County Stone Bridge Drive

     I was really excited when I read about a stone bridge tour through Columbia, Waterloo, and the surrounding area.  It sounded really neat and different.  Scattered throughout the countryside, the bridges are remote and a piece of local history.  I did a little bit of research about the bridges before I went, and it helped me get a little bit of their background story.

    All of the bridges are European-styled limestone arch bridges.  The German immigrants that settled in Monroe County brought with them this design.  Midway through the Eighteenth Century they started builiding these sturdy bridges that could stand up to the weather.  The bridges were built with local limestone and placed above creeks and streams.  Time has proven how sturdy they are because they still stand perfectly today.  I knew that I had to do this stone bridge drive!

    

Nature's Precarious Creations

     Only Mother Nature can create these beautiful rock creations found all over Giant City State Park.  Scattered near bluffs and cliffs, they stand in reminder of the harsh affects of erosion over time.  Almost all of the rock pictured here is standstone.  It was formed 12,000 years ago.  It took thousands of years of folding and faulting in the geological world to create the rock formations and its scenery.

     It is very neat to walk along the trails and take in the beauty of the park.  I love how the boulder in the picture above is precisely balanced over the wide gap.  Held in place as if almost by magic, it bides its time.  That is how everything acts in nature.  It is isn't on a time schedule or in a hurry.  It slowly creates beauty like the scene above.  Trees grow slowly, leaves litter the ground, grasses start to take root over the rocks.  The picture above didn't all happen in one night.  I left with the idea that change doesn't happen overnight, but takes our time and effort to create something beautiful if we make up our minds to start the change.