Two Ducks on the Skokie Lagoons

It's the end of December and it feels like the beginning of spring: no snow and

 almost 50 degrees. I thought that ducks usually migrate during the

 winter-- we were taught in kindergarten that there were only five species 

of birds that stay around during winter (which didn't include ducks)-- but 

there're still a few meandering around the Skokie Lagoons.

I dropped by the dam on Willow road yesterday to get some 

landscape shots of the trees while there weren't

 any clouds and I happened to have my telephoto lens out when these two 

mallards were floating by, so I snapped a few picks and they took off and I 

snapped a few more, trying to use a panning technique. A higher aperture 

gave the ducks and the water a more detailed/vibrant tone. 

Winnetka

Taken in December 2011

Harms Woods Landscape

The bike trail that snakes through the Cook County Forest Preserve is

 extremely scenic, and in autumn the forest is full earthy colors. While biking past 

a field, I decided to set up my mini tripod and snap a few high aperture/slow

 shutter speed landscape shots of the trees.

Obviously the top photo was heavily photoshopped. I singled out

 each section and messed with the lighting/coloring to make everything

 stand out more. There are some some messy spots, but it makes for 

a picturesque background. I have more meticulously edited version that I ended up 

donating to a silent auction. Here's the original and the more edited one (respectively):

Glenview

Taken in October 2011

Deer on Train Tracks

Since Chicago was at the forefront of westward expansion there're
 a lot of trains that run through the North Shore, and some tracks that
 aren't in use any more go by the forest preserve next to the
 Northfield campus of New Trier. Occassionally some white tailed deer
 (Illinois' state mammal) will wander by looking for something to munch on.

Deer are very shy, and both of these photos were taken as the deer 
were slowly meandering away from me. The tracks are a bit odd 
but they fit with the industrial sites in that area, which include an electricity 
and salt plant.

Northfield

Taken in June 2011

Fallen Tree in Northfield

In winter the trees in the forest preserves around the Chicago River get a

 very dead look to them and I suppose the cold makes them brittle

 because after storms a whole bunch of them usually fall over

 onto the bike path/horse trail. 

I found this giant fallen tree while looking for things to

 practice photographing along the horse trail by Winnetka Avenue.

 It was cloudy and I took this photo at dusk so the lighting was

 pretty difficult to get, and I had to climb onto the tree to

 get an adequate angle. Looks sort of zoomorphic.

Northfield

Taken in December 2011

Community Garden in Evanston 2

 Here are more flowers from the garden in Evanston. I don't usually like to

 photograph planted flowers or zoo animals but this garden seemed 

unique enough and I was pretty bored anyway.

The f/1.8 and the sun really helped bring out the distinct tones of the flowers.

Evanston

Taken in October 2011

Community Garden in Evanston

While looking for things to photograph along the McCormick Boulevard Sculpture Park

 I discovered a small community/school garden across one of the bridges. 

Everything there had a really distinct rainbow-like color. I have a bunch of 

other photos of other plants that I'll be posting. 

Both of these pictures were taken with my f/1.8 and it was a really sunny day. 

I'm pretty surprised that the photos turned out to be so colorful without any editing. 

Evanston

Taken in October 2011

Forest and Beach by Fort Sheridan

The beach behind Fort Sheridan is a cold bleak patch of iron, rocks, and sand with 

dense forest leading it off into the horizon. The birches are part of Fort

 Sheridan's nature preserve and I think the trees in the background may

 be in Lake Forest. It was late fall, so a few trees still retained some color.

It may not look like it, but I took these photos on the side of an almost-vertical

 slope where I held onto a small dead fern so that I wouldn't plummet down to the

 beach. Still worth it. The best photographs often require some sort of risk to take.

Fort Sheridan

Taken in November 2011

Bell Tower on Winnetka's Village Hall

Winnetka tries to mimic an olde-timey European style of architecture 

with their town hall (and several churches) by having a bell tower, columns, and a building made out of bricks.

Since the clocks have been set back an hour it's been increasingly difficult to

 take photos after school because by the time I get to a place to photograph

 it'll already be past sunset. On my way home from school on Friday I 

snapped a few photos of the Winnetka Village Hall as the sun was

 receding over the horizon.

Winnetka

Taken in December 2011

Waterway by New Trier

 A continuation of the Skokie Lagoon bike trail goes by the Northfield 

campus of New Trier and stems through the woods behind it, which 

might either be Harms Woods or part of the Skokie Lagoons, I'm not entirely

 sure. The trail runs along a river- I think it's the Chicago River- which

 is closed off from the trail by a wall of trees. 

There isn't much to see by the river other than mud and 

overhanging trees, and it's also pretty dangerous to

 walk through because of loose branches and slippery mud-covered slopes.

Despite these hazards, I thought it'd be interesting to see if there'd be

 anything worth photographing. I found this picturesque waterway at sunset, 

and though the lighting was bad and I was forced to sit in the mud to get a 

low angle without slipping into the river, I was still able to get a few nice shots.

Northfield

Taken in November 2011

Lake Michigan frozen at Sunset

After that huge blizzard last winter a thick layer of snow and ice formed 

over Lake Michigan. 

There's a few beaches within walking distance of my house so 

I went over there and took pictures until sunset.

Winnetka

Taken in February 2011

Tower in Fort Sheridan

The half of Fort Sheridan that isn't a giant field is a military base containing

 a bunch of uniform houses with a towering phallic structure protruding out

 of it all. I think it's a gift shop, though I'm not entirely sure. Everything behind

 it is painfully artificial, but this architectural structure is pretty unique.

I've only brought my camera two out of the many times that I've biked

 to Fort Sheridan, and the day that I took this the sky was particularly

 blue and the sun was in a particularly good position for photographing the tower. 

Fort Sheridan

Taken in  June 2011

North Shore Channel

 This body of water is pretty mysterious and awkwardly located. The channel

 begins at Wilmette Harbor in front of the Baha'i Temple and runs along

 McCormick Boulevard through Evanston and merges into the Chicago River.

 I've biked through the statue park on McCormick Boulevard a bunch

 of times and by what I can deduce from the excess of trees and a barbed

 wire fence lining the channel is that there probably isn't any practical purpose

 to it beyond it being a way to transport sewage. 

I was biking back from getting a snickerdoodle at a bakery on

 Central Street and I was crossing over the channel and the dense dark

 trees and the sawdust sky looked worthy of being photographed.

Evanston

Taken in September 2011

Dragonfly in Winnetka

 Next to Crow Island Woods is a newly developed pseudo-swamp area 

 with a boardwalk leading through it. It has a wetland-like climate, and

 there's all sorts of bugs hiding in the reeds.

I took these pictures over the summer. There were a lot of dragonflies

 then. They're mostly in fields and swampy areas. 

Winnetka

Taken in July 2011