Waterfowl on the Skokie Lagoon in Spring

After seeing a wood duck fly over me while biking by the Skokie Lagoon,

 I decided to go on an expedition to photograph it. I hiked along the muddy

 banks of the Winnetka half of the Lagoon for about two hours, and I did

find a family of wood ducks but they hid in the shade across the water, which

 was too far and dark for my 300mm telephoto to capture. Despite this, I also

 happened upon some other springtime waterfowl.

I noticed waterfowls slowly floating down the Lagoon, so I quickly hid 

behind the nearest tree and patiently waited for them to pass by. It was sunny 

and the water reflected the bright green leaves of the trees, which gave a nice 

background to the waterfowls. After doing some research online and consulting

 some birding forums, I discovered that the top birds are male and female

 blue-winged teals and the bottom bird is a pie-billed grebe. The teal are somewhat

 common, but this is my first time seeing or even hearing about a pie-billed grebe. 

Both look really interesting.

Winnetka

Taken in April 2012

Killdeer at the Skokie Lagoons

Yesterday, just as I was embarking on a hike through the Skokie

 Lagoons to see what sort of spring birds I hadn't discovered yet,

 I noticed a bird meandering around the shore which had a similar 

complexion and build to a sandpiper. As I continued down from the

 Tower Road canoe launch to the Willow Road dam, I encountered 

it several other times (could've even been the same bird). I'd seen 

it before while biking in Cook County so I knew it wasn't too obscure to see 

one around here but it was still pretty unique.

After doing some research online I found out that its called a 'killdeer'.

Their eyes make them look sort of comical. As opposed to other birds, 

which usually fly away if they were bothered by me, the killdeer would just

 walk a few feet away; so I was able to get more up-close/natural shots 

without having to hide behind a tree.

Winnetka

Taken in April 2012

Broad-winged Hawk Searching for Lunch

I went to the Skokie Lagoons today to do some bird photography, 

which is something that I haven't done for nearly a month (mainly

 because of weather and schoolwork). I was wandering along the 

banks of the Lagoon with a telephoto lens in a lightly wooded area 

when I noticed a large hawk perched on a broken tree about ten yards away. 

The hawk was obviously distracted by something on the ground, and after 

a few minutes it dived into the grass with a thump and began furiously pecking 

at something.

Usually I've only been able to photograph hawks at a distance, so this 

was a rare and somewhat terrifying opportunity. After the hawk noticed 

me, it flew to a few different trees to keep a wary eye on me. One trick I 

used that works with pretty much all birds to keep them from flying away

 is taking photos from behind a tree or shrub. After a while it looked as 

thought the hawk was getting irritated by me so I quickly walked away.

Winnetka

Taken in April 2012

Birds by the Skokie Lagoon Bike Trail

It seems like red-winged blackbirds and robins are the only sort of

 birds that are around during spring. Usually robins can be found

 throughout the suburbs and red-winged blackbirds can be found 

in any wooded area. I've also seen a few blackbirds but they're 

not very photogenic.  

I took these about a month ago at sunset while biking along the trail 

at the Skokie Lagoon. With the red-winged blackbird you can see

 how the sun gave the bird a slightly orange tint, and the bottom photo

 was taken more at dusk so the colors are duller. 

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Lake Forest Metra Station

Last weekend I drove to Lake Forest and took pictures of the train

 station there as a photo assignment for the school newspaper. 

As a town, Lake Forest has the quaint affluence of the rest of the 

North Shore but is located in a more densely wooded area and the 

architecture is more clean cut and olde-timey. Their train station

 is a bit nicer than the other ones.

To get a lower angle, I crouched next to the tracks and lowered my

 camera til it was lower than the pavement. A potentially dangerous

 thing to do, so I had to be very cautious. 

Lake Forest

Taken in April 2012

Prairie Field at Fort Sheridan

My first lengthy bike ride of the year (last time was in December,

 when I embarked to a forest preserve in Lake Bluff) occurred last 

weekend as I went to Fort Sheridan at sunset to photograph any 

unique spring botanical developments. Vast fields of prairie grass 

spotted with dandelions had sprouted up.

I was using my 50mm lens so the focal length was a bit narrow for

 landscapes, but the result ended up having a more intimate/isolated 

effect than the broad scope of a wider focal length. The top photo was 

taken at f/2.0 so that the only thing in focus would be the dandelions, 

which sort of gives the scene a sentimental aesthetic, and the bottom 

photo was taken near dusk, which gave the scene a warm glow.

Fort Sheridan

Taken in April 2012

Baha'i Temple

Yesterday I biked to Gilson Park in Wilmette to photograph 

the amphitheater there for an extra-credit assignment for school 

where we have to find several New Deal projects around the 

Winnetka/Wilmette area, and while I was in Wilmette on Sheridan

 Road I decided to bike over to the Baha'i Temple and take

 some abstract photos.

Like most buildings the Baha'i Temple is too detailed to include

 all in one frame, so I tried to get a few abstracts of the 

meticulous design and the Temple's reflection in a 

small colorfully tiled pond. 

Wilmette

Taken in April 2012

Dandelion

Among the recently blooming spring flowers are dandelions. I think

 they're actually more of a weed than a flower, which might explain why

 they don't grow in collected patches. 

Composition-wise I was trying to get the brightness of the yellow

 dandelion reflecting the sun to contrast the shadowed ground, and

 to utilize the macro lens' warped perception of the flower's shape

 to create more of an abstract design than a simple picture of a flower.

 The top one sort of reminds me of a flag, and the bottom one has great colors.

Winnetka

Taken in April 2012

Cherry Blossoms by the Skokie Lagoon

I just got back from a trip to Boston and since I had time after school

 today I biked around the Skokie Lagoon to see if there was anything

 blooming that hadn't been there before. Since it's been spring for a few 

weeks now there's green everywhere and-- instead of just blue bells-- 
wildflowers of all sorts have popped up along the bike trail. I spotted
 this cherry blossom (?) tree and thought that the red color looked unique.

I've started keeping a UV filter attached to my 18-55mm lens, and although 

the filter doesn't produce a distinct effect, it seems like the sky is usually 

somewhat bluer and other colors are usually more contrasted and saturated. 

Winnetka

Taken in April 2012

Yellow Flower at the Botanic Gardens

It was a sunny day and flowers had started blooming so two weeks
 ago I biked to the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe to see if there were 
any unique or colorful plants that I could take macro photos of. Other people
 got the same idea and it seemed as if half the people there
 were looking to get prime first-of-the-season spring botany photos 
as well. The crowd of half loner nature photographs and half families was 
sort of awkward, but it was a beautiful day and I didn't hear anybody complain.

These photos were taken with a super macro lens-- which is more of a

 lens extension than a lens-- and a few macro filters, which allow my camera 

to focus much closer to a subject than it originally could. I have other 

photos that work better as pieces of macro photography, but I really like 

the colors, the detail, and the shadows in these two (and the beetle, which

 I didn't even notice was there).

Glencoe

Taken in March 2012

Watersmeet Woods

This morning I felt like photographing a forest I hadn't been to before, 

and so I tried biking far away westward but I was sick so while biking

 down Winnetka Avenue I decided to stop at an alternative trail into

 Watersmeet Woods, which I think is essentially the Northfield 

extension of Erickson Woods. It rained earlier so there was a mild fog 

and and the dirt path turned into mud and there were spiders 

everywhere and the small streams branching throughout the 

woods had flooded a bit (which is probably why I found some crayfish

 in the middle of the forest).

The hike was very uncomfortable because of the mud path and 

wooden bridges that were made out of logs which sunk into the 

mud when I stepped onto them. The light was pretty awful for

 taking pictures, but I managed to get some interesting shots. I'm sure

 the woods are fine when it hasn't rained; there was a nice 

isolated camp site near the end of the trail. 

Northfield

Taken in March 2012

White Tailed Deer eating

I've started biking again to take advantage of the nice weather,

 and I've fallen into the habit of usually taking some sort of fancy camera

 gear to play with. A few days ago I went around the Lagoon with a

 telephoto lens and happened upon a deer which at first ignored me

 and continued on with it's daily routine.  

It was sunset, and the deer was in front of grass which compliments

 its color, and I was able to keep the lens steady enough so that in the

 photo you can see the detail of the fur. And the deer was doing 

something unusual. Awesome shot.

Glencoe

Taken in March 2012

Water over Pebbles on Lake Michigan 2

I woke up extra early on Sunday so that I could try out my new camera

 equipment on Lake Michigan at sunrise. It was cloudy so I wasn't able

 to capture any magnificent landscapes, and so I decided to twist off the wide

 angle lens and put on a macro filter to see how macro photography looked

 with the colorful pebbles along the shore of Tower Beach.

The short depth of field and the closer perspective certainly work well

 with the minuscule size of the pebbles, and having slower (top) and 

faster (bottom) shutter speeds produce some interesting effects with the water.

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Blue Bells

I recently read something on color theory about a contrasting

 subject and background and when to use bright colors, and 

although I meant to apply that to glass art I decided to try it

 out with the blue bells yesterday (which were in my 

backyard and along Willow Road). 

I really like the sense of isolation and a sort of warping of perspective

 that macro photography can give, specifically I really like how 

these two photos turned out because of how the leaves direct the 

viewer's attention around the flowers and the light source makes 

the photos seem as though they're their own little world. 

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Blue Bells in Bell Woods

Blue bells are small brightly colored flowers which are pretty

 much synonymous with spring, and they've started blooming ever

 since a week ago when the weather began warming up. I biked

 around Winnetka looking for wild flowers to try out macro

 photography and passed by Bell Woods; a small plot of forest on 

Tower Road that's full of blue bells. 

I got a bunch of camera equipment for my birthday on Tuesday, 

which included several different macro lens extensions. 

 I used two extensions that were screwed onto my standard 

18-55mm lens which allowed me to take closer than usual pictures

 of the flowers: a "super macro lens" and a 4x macro magnifier. After trying 

out macro photography, I have to say that it's pretty fun and the

 results look great (although a bit blurry at times and if used 

with a wide angle can create a black barrel around the photo).

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Red-Winged Blackbird

Since it was the first day of spring I decided to take a tour of the 

new fauna and wildlife. Red-winged blackbirds are everywhere

 and goldeneyes-- the winter ducks-- are nowhere to be seen, 

which is pretty surprising seeing as a week ago there would 

be a few goldeneyes floating around at every part of the Lagoon

 and no trace of any blackbirds. Spring came pretty abruptly.

I've had past experiences of fleeing from attacking red-winged

 blackbirds, but they're not too aggressive as long as you keep a distance.

Glencoe

Taken in March 2012

A Singing Cardinal

The weather is warming up, and thus birds are out and about.

 I took my telephoto lens onto the roof of our house to see if I could 

get any shots of birds hanging out in the canopy.

I'm really satisfied with the colors of these photos. It was almost

 sunset so the cardinal's feathers were brightened a bit.

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Lake Michigan at Sunset

When I went to Tower Beach at sunset yesterday, I took a lot of 
photos of the water-- which had almost begun to glow.

Sunset can make a landscape look almost like a painting.

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Water over Pebbles on Lake Michigan

I usually embark on my weekend nature photography 

expeditions at the hour in between sunset and dusk (4-5pm):

 known to photographers as "the golden hour" because the 

orange light of the sunset shines a golden hue onto everything. 

Instead of biking to the Skokie Lagoons, which is where I

 usually go, I decided to go to Tower Beach and see what the Lake

 would look like.

The sunset made the water glow, and with the elements permitting

 I was able to get close to the water and take some close-ups of the

 water rolling over the pebbles. I've always found these nature

 action shots to be a challenge to get, although the results are 

almost always interesting. It's difficult to find a subject and compose

 the frame when what you're photographing is so unpredictable. Still,

 the low perspective and stagnate water of the photos were worth 

getting my jeans wet from sitting in the sand.

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

The Moon during a Solar Storm

According to somebody on facebook, there was supposed to be an 

aurora borealis last night. I researched it, and supposedly because of

 solar flare caused by solar storms there should've be some minor light 

show. Too impatient for then, I went to a local field and tried 

to see if I could get a shot of any kind of astronomical activity. Since 

I live near Chicago, the city lights blot out anything beyond planes 

and stars and the moon, and so I gave up and began photographing

 the moon, which was unusually large and bright.

This was my first time photographing anything astronomical. At first 

I used a 30 second shutter speed with f/45 on my telephoto lens. The

 bottom photo is the result. I then figured out that when photographing

 the moon, you're photographing a light source, and so I switched

 to f/5.6 and 1/500 shutter speed and I was able to get a detailed picture

 of the moon. You can even see a face on it.

Winnetka

Taken in March 2012

Pine Trees in Crow Island Woods 3

The only trees not to lose their leaves during the winter are pine trees. 

In Winnetka they're pretty much everywhere. 

I tried having a low/wide angled perspective of the tree to give the

 photo some sort of a unique viewpoint; to make the trees look separate

 and isolated from anything else and yet still have the feel of 

walking in a forest and looking up.

Winnetka

Taken in February 2012

Prairie in the Botanic Gardens

I recently biked to the Botanic Gardens and visited a small 

peninsula where a prairie restoration site is located. There weren't 

any plants, but during autumn the prairie is full of life and robust 

color with blooming flowers, berries, honeybees, and a variety of small

 birds. It's a very peaceful scene that looks almost exotic during 

sunset as the orange light brings out all the colors in the botany.

I took these photos around the time when I got my 50mm lens.

 I wanted to see what sort of results shooting at f/1.8 could give and 

so I biked to the Botanic Gardens to practice photographing 

flowers and the prairie. 

Glencoe

Taken in October 2011

Pine Trees in Crow Island Woods 2

Another shot of a branch from a pine tree in Crow Island Park.

I think the monochrome color makes it look a bit like tinsel. The wide

 aperture and he shadows the needles create make it look almost metallic.

Winnetka

Taken in February 2012

Pine Trees in Crow Island Woods

I went to the Crow Island Woods a week 

ago to photograph tree branches with snow on them,

 and ended up taking a bunch of shots of pine needles.

Pine needles are great for b&w photography

 because of of the shadows they produce.

Winnetka

Taken in February 2012