Two Insects by the Skokie Lagoons

During the summer there are a lot of bugs by the Lagoon; mainly because 

it's a swampy climate. Two of the bugs that I photographed were milkweed

 bugs and bees. Milkweed bugs are fun to photograph because they're

 usually on milkweed plants, which have large leaves and flowers, but it's

 frustrating to get photos of bees because they refuse to stay still and may choose

 to attack the photographer.

When I originally took these photos I had set my camera to the 'Raw' setting,

 thinking that it meant high quality. When I uploaded the photos to my 

computer I discovered that my computer couldn't view 'Raw' images, and so

 I had about fifty photos that I wasn't able to look at. I researched 'Raw' and

 found out that it's a type of image format that's preferred for photoshopping

 because it retains more data than a 'jpg' does. So, I used photoshop to edit 

these photos and then convert them into 'jpg' so I could upload them to this blog. 

Winnetka

Taken in July 2011

Algae-Covered Waterway by the Skokie Lagoons

Over the summer I went to the dam on Willow Road a few times to

 take photos of plants and insects, and after crossing the dam one 

day I happened upon this little algae-covered waterway with a small

 path made by ducks running through it. 

I think it looks kind of peculiar.

Winnetka

Taken in July 2011

White Tailed Deer at Sunset

I spotted a few white tailed deer while looking for animals to photograph 

along Forest Way Drive next to the Skokie Lagoons. They were pretty 

suspicious of me but I stood still for a few minutes and they

 stopped paying attention and went back to grazing. After a while though 

they started getting suspicious again and looked as if they were about to charge, so I left.

It was almost dusk and I tried to utilize what remaining light there 

was, but the deer were in a densely wooded area and wouldn't tolerate me 

approaching them to get a better angle with the orange sky behind them. 

I tried using a flash and the resulting photo looks like something out of a 

National Geographic from the 90s (or at least I think it does).

 

Winnetka

Taken in January 2012

Bridge in Fort Sheridan

 In the beginning of November I biked to Fort Sheridan to photograph the nature

 preserve with my f/1.8 and got a lot of great shots of the prairie foliage.

 In the midst of the quaint scenic landscape is a small rusty bridge which 

stretches over a deep, ravine. 

I was a little hesitant to walk over it but it didn't collapse so I took a photo

 from the trail right in front of it and a little ways up the trail in the 

middle of a field, where you can see the forest to the left and 

the cliff/Lake on the horizon.

Fort Sheridan

Taken in November 2011

Winter Sunset on the Skokie Lagoons

A week ago I went to the Skokie Lagoon to photograph sunset, 

and tried to get some landscape shots of the trees next to the snow. 

The sunset gave the trees a red glow that contrasts the 

snow and gives the landscape a minimalist look to it.

Winnetka

Taken in January 2012

Lincoln Park Zoo in Winter

 About one year ago I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to take photos of the animals.

 I didn't have any fancy equipment and was still only shooting in "Auto" mode.

 While walking around the zoo I didn't really have a set goal in mind for

 what I wanted to get photos, so I just got photos of whatever I happened to pass

 that looked interesting. 

The top photo is of a pond in the middle of the zoo with a bunch 

of different kinds of ducks and a few swans, and the bottom photo is of some

 sort of buffalo from Asia. The buffalo was trying to stay out of the sun and 

hid in the shade of its little shelter.

Chicago

Taken in December 2010

Stream in Harms Woods 2

When I biked over to Harms Woods a couple weeks ago looking for

 new things to photograph and not finding anything I ended up taking a

 few more shots of that small stream which flows down into the Chicago River.

 This was before it snowed and dropped 50 degrees.

I used a wider lens and utilized the pre-sunset light to be able to use a 

smaller aperture, which made the landscape much more detailed, which is nice

 for a day scene as opposed to a sunset scene which looks nicer with the 

background completely blurred out or with bokehs of the sun floating above

 the horizon. I also tried getting a good angle of the stream going through the woods:

Glenview

Taken in January 2012

Two Swans on the Skokie Lagoon 2

Same swans as I posted yesterday. I recently watched a documentary from

 the 80s on National Geographic Photographers and I noticed one of the 

photographers was using a flash when photographing animals at night so I 

tried it out on the swan(s) as the sun began to fall behind the trees and the

 swans were slowly floating closer to the shore. I was surprised that they weren't

 annoyed by the flash at all, and I have to say that though I am not a fan of 

using flash it works very well with close-up night nature photography. It makes 

the animals/plants more detailed and tangible looking.

The top photo was one of the last photos I took of the swans, and the 

bottom photo is one of the first. The swans were paddling in an area of 

the Lagoon that wasn't exposed to the sunset yet, but I really like the 

bleak colors and the blur effect my telephoto gave the landscape. The juxtaposition 

between the looming crooked trees and the upright dignified swan is interesting.

Winnetka

Taken in January 2011

Two Swans on the Skokie Lagoon at Sunset

It was very bizarre to see swans on the Skokie Lagoon. While I was 

photographing the sunset yesterday these two swans were slowly paddling 

towards the other end of the Lagoon, and they reached the sheet of ice at 

about the same time as sunset. I walked towards them slowly so they eventually 

grew used to me and didn't  fly away, and even floated right up to me on the shore later on.

To get the orange to be as vibrant as it is in the photo, I used a low 

aperture to get the colors to be more saturated and a slow shutter speed to

 make the reflection of the sun brighter. I used my telephoto lens, so there

 isn't much detail in the ice behind the swans which makes it look like a sky/horizon. 

Here's a wider photo that better illustrates the setting of the previous photo:

Winnetka

Taken in January 2012

Flock of Waterfowl over the Skokie Lagoon

I've noticed that ducks are genuinely intolerant of humans. Usually they float away

 anytime I walk up to them- as opposed to geese, which stand their ground and

 hiss menacingly, or herons, which just find a higher place perch. Half of the ducks 

on the Lagoon today weren't your typical mallards and I can't seem to find out what they are.

I drove to the Skokie Lagoon earlier today at sunset and 

as I approached the Lagoon the ducks saw me and immediately flew away.

 I pointed my telephoto lens up into the flock and got a photo of them 

all flying together by using a panning technique and a low aperture/high shutter speed. 

 I also got a landscape shot of the Lagoon as they were circling it a few times:

Winnetka

Taken in January 2012

Crow Island Woods Autumn Colors

Crow Island Woods is really scenic. It's small, but it's fun for 

nature hikes and the plants are very picturesque.

I had just gotten my 50mm f/1.8 and I was looking for something to

 try it out on, and I guess the low aperture saturated the leaves and left 

enough shadow to give these photos a distinct artistic look.

Winnetka

Taken in October 2011

Fallen Trees in Harms Woods

 Forests around the Chicago River contain a lot of things that would normally be 

blocked out by dense lower canopy and are noticeable only in fall and winter. 

Among these are trees that have fallen over.  

I biked to Harms Woods and hiked through the mud to an area with a

 bunch of fallen trees. That's pretty much all there was. Some moss, fungi, a

 squirrel, and fallen trees. I hoped to find something interesting but overall everything
 was mundane. The tree in the bottom photo was pretty grotesque.

Glenview

Taken in January 2012

Over the summer I tried taking an alternative route home after biking to

 Mundelein and ended up in Hawthorn Woods, which is fields, a few farms, 

and several planned communities. 

This one field I passed by looked so expansive that I 

decided to photograph it.

Hawthorn Woods

Taken in July 2011

Artwork in Long Grove 2

After looking through my old photographs of the artwork in Long Grove

 I decided to spend a Saturday driving up there and seeing if there

 was anything new. It was all pretty much the same but I was able 

to get a few good pics of some abstract lawn ornaments and

 paintings, as well as some windmills/chimes. 

I used my f/1.8 with each of these.

Long Grove

Taken in November 2011 

Cardinals

 On New Years Eve I went on a trek through the forest by the Skokie Lagoons 

in search of birds that haven't migrated yet and happened upon some seagulls,

 mallards, and cardinals. Cardinals are the only ones that stay around all winter,

 and I was surprised to see the other birds but I guess the weather still isn't cold 

enough for them to leave.

The forest was very dense and it was nearly impossible to find an angle

 where branches weren't in the way, but my telephoto lens and a wide

 aperture were a big help and I was able to walk away with several quality

 shots. On the top is a male cardinal which I spent a half hour chasing

 through the woods by following its chirping, and the bottom photo is of a

 female cardinal who was kind enough to stop and pose while I found a good angle.

Glencoe

Taken in December 2011

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