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Illinois 191 images Created 16 Dec 2013

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  • A misty fog covers a field as the milky way shines above. The patches of green in the sky are known as airglow, which is a very weak emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. I couldn't see the green light with my eyes but I could tell from the pictures it was quite active on this night. This self portrait was taken while camping at Sand Ridge State Forest, IL.
    Mist-ified
  • Fireflies buzz around under the milky way. This picture was taken in Weinberg King State Park in Illinois. This location has the darkest skies in the state.
    Lights of a Summer Night
  • Green River Startrails
  • A shelf cloud quickly approaches over a corn field near Lincoln, Illinois. It was fascinating watching the rapid motion of the leading edge as it got closer.<br />
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Date Taken: June 25, 2013
    Rapid Motion
  • A severe thunderstorm approaches over a corn field near Morton, Illinois. A shelf cloud can be seen on the lower left and the anvil extends to the top right.<br />
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Date Taken: June 23, 2013
    Morton Thunderhead
  • After chasing this storm past Morton, Illinois, I took this picture north of town. The mammatus clouds were boiling overhead as the shelf cloud quickly approached. I saw a couple cloud to ground lightning bolts come out of the shelf cloud. But despite how threatening it looked, the storm died out shortly after I took this picture. It was nice while it lasted.<br />
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Date Taken: June 23, 2013
    Dark Shelf
  • An updraft is a rising current of air that often leads to thunderstorms. The updraft of a developed storm is also the most active part with large raindrops and hailstones constantly rising and falling. As the rain and hail collide, this creates an electric field and eventually lightning. As the sun set, it gave this storm a beautiful orange color and highlighted the details and the structure.<br />
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Date Taken: May 3, 2012
    Heart of an Updraft
  • Distant thunderstorms that resemble cauliflowers begin to build under a rising moon. This was taken from Gander Mountain, which is the highest point in Lake County, Illinois. At the time this was taken, the storms were 30+ miles to the east over Lake Michigan.<br />
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Date Taken: May 3, 2012
    Cauliflower Moon
  • A bolt of lightning strikes a couple miles away. Normally this farm field is dry, but after a very rainy week it was covered by floodwater. This storm rolled through near Spring Lake, IL.<br />
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Date Taken: May 30, 2013
    Flood and Strike
  • On the longest day of the year, a thunderstorm came rolling through Antioch, Illinois. Lightning is a lot more challenging to capture during the day. At night you can use a long exposure of 30 seconds and try to catch a bolt of lightning in that time frame. But during the day, you have to use shorter exposure times. This storm was dark enough that I could use a 2 second exposure and eventually caught these twin strikes.<br />
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Date Taken: June 21, 2011
    Day Lightning
  • A powerful bolt of lightning appears to hover over a row of houses. This midsummer thunderstorm lasted 6+ hours and produced lots of similar lightning bolts.<br />
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Date Taken: June 8, 2011
    Lightning Hovering
  • After the heavy rain of a thunderstorm passed, this lightning slowly crawled across the sky. This type of lightning is amazing to watch since it lasts up to 5 seconds. The power lines above my head were buzzing at the time of this shot.<br />
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Date Taken: July 18, 2012
    Electric Night
  • This was the best lightning storm I saw all year. A couple thunderstorms passed very close, but the rain stayed out of the way. Sometimes I stack lightning shots, but this is just one exposure. The two lightning crawlers occurred about 15 seconds apart within the 30 second exposure. After chasing some storms to the south and coming back home I think I saw about 10 thunderstorms on this day. There are often deer in this field at night, you can see a couple under the bright streetlight.<br />
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Date Taken: June 25, 2013
    Night Crawler
  • At 90 feet high, Wildcat Falls is the tallest waterfall in Starved Rock State Park. Starved Rock is located in North Central Illinois and contains 17 canyons, many of which have waterfalls. Each canyon flows into the Illinois River to the north.
    Wildcat Falls
  • The sky turns a bright red as the sun rises at Glacial Park, Illinois. The colorful sky is reflected in Nippersink Creek.
    Nippersink Dawn
  • Matthiessen State Park is located in North Central Illinois. There are at least 6 waterfalls located throughout the park with several creeks cutting through the gorges. The creek in this shot flows from Matthiessen Lake down to the Vermillion River. The trails alongside the creek are only accessible when the water level isn't too high. Giant's Bathtub is the name of this waterfall and it's located in the upper dells area, not far from Lake Falls.
    Giants Bathtub
  • Snow covers the sand dunes at Illinois Beach State Park shortly after sunset. The soft colors of the sky in the east was reflecting on the calm Lake Michigan.
    Snow on the Dunes
  • Mammatus clouds move overhead as a wildflower shakes in the breeze. This type of cloud usually forms after a strong thunderstorm moves through. But these clouds were unusual because they only brought light rain with no thunderstorms around.<br />
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Date Taken: June 3, 2012
    Wildflower and Mammatus
  • The sun rises over Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge on a frigid winter morning. Since the water froze rapidly the day before, it created interesting patterns in the ice. Despite the subzero windchill, numerous wildlife were out on this morning. On the other side of the lake coyotes, bald eagles, geese, and other birds could be seen.<br />
Date Taken: 12/7/13
    Frigid Emiquon
  • The temperature hovered at 4 below zero as the sun rose over the Illinois River. Amazing things can happen in such frigid conditions. Because of the nearly 40 degree temperature difference between the air and the water, steam formed and swirled around the river. The steam turned into ice crystals and drifted up into the air. The ice crystals then acted as prisms, refracting the light rays from the sun on the right. That is how this bright and colorful sundog was formed. This view is from Eagle Cliff at Starved Rock State Park.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/24/13
    Subzero Sundog
  • Steam rises from the Illinois River as a new day dawns at Starved Rock State Park. The steam is formed due to the near 40 degree difference between the air temperature and the water. The subzero air caused the steam to turn to frost on the small grassy island.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/24/13
    Icy Steam
  • This was taken in Rock Cut State Park near Rockford. It was a couple days after an ice storm and a 6" snowfall. Since the temperature was in the single digits, ice remained on all the trees. To the left of the sun is a faint sundog. It was constantly changing as ice crystals moved through the air.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/23/13
    Rock Cut Winter
  • La Salle Canyon is a 2 mile hike one way in Starved Rock State Park. There was hardly any water flowing on this frigid morning. The early morning light was shining on the canyon walls.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/24/13
    Frozen La Salle Canyon
  • On a subzero morning at Starved Rock State Park, very intricate and delicate frost formed on this icy creek. I felt like I was destroying a work of art every time I took a step. The golden sunlit canyon walls are reflected in one of the only unfrozen portions of La Salle Creek.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/24/13
    Cold as Gold
  • Starved Rock State Park is a beautiful place to visit any time of year. During the winter when the conditions are right, you can see frozen waterfalls. La Salle falls, where this was taken, is unique because you can walk behind it in a miniature cave. It was hard to find any liquid water on this day as the temperatures slowly rose above zero.<br />
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Date Taken: 12/24/13
    Frozen Drip
  • Even though this looks like a tropical beach, it is actually Lake Michigan in Illinois. Most of the shoreline in Illinois has been developed and does not look natural. But at Fort Sheridan, there is a small stretch of beach that is protected as a forest preserve. The light made it even more beautiful shortly after sunrise on this August morning.
    Tropical Illinois
  • On winter solstice, the first snow of the season fell in northern Illinois. It was only a couple inches, but it was beautiful at Glacial Park on the edge of Nippersink Creek. After the sun went down on the shortest day of the year, the soft pink and blue colors of twilight set in as the temperature dropped.
    Solstice Snow
  • Hidden Path
  • Fallen and Buried
  • Frosted Web
  • This was taken shortly after sunset at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Illinois. This sunset marked the end of the longest day of the year, since summer solstice started less than 3 hours later. The bright planet Venus is on the left above the red clouds.<br />
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Date Taken: June 20, 2013
    Chautauqua Sunset
  • Fallen Leaf
  • River of Fog
  • Foggy Lake Sunrise
  • Pointing Log
  • A double rainbow appeared in the sky after a storm moved through Antioch, Illinois. This was one of the brightest rainbows I've ever seen.<br />
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Date Taken: May 15, 2012
    Double Rainbow
  • Lake Falls is a 45 foot high waterfall that flows from Matthiessen Lake in a state park with the same name. There was mist in the air the closer you get to the falls, making it challenging to photograph without getting my camera wet.<br />
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Date Taken: May 10, 2013
    Lake Falls Mist
  • This 20 foot high waterfall in Matthiessen State Park doesn't even have a name. You have to hop across a creek and hike up a canyon to find it. The pollen on the surface of the water was continually swirling around the small pool.<br />
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Date Taken: May 10, 2013
    Swirling Falls
  • Cumulus clouds form above a grassy field in McNaughton Park. It was a beautiful spring day in Pekin, Illinois.<br />
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Date Taken: May 16, 2013
    Pekin Green
  • Cattle graze on the rolling hills outside of Elizabeth, Illinois. Towards the end of September, corn fields were turning to gold as it got closer to harvest time.<br />
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Date Taken: September 16, 2012
    Rolling Hills
  • The brightest parts of the milky way are reflected in the calm waters of Spring Lake. It was a bit chilly on this night in mid-May, but the sky was perfectly clear which was great for seeing the milky way.<br />
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Date Taken: May 13, 2013
    Portrait of a Galaxy
  • After a severe thunderstorm passed through Snakeden Hollow, it looked like mammatus clouds were trying to form.<br />
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Date Taken: April 28, 2014
    Ominous Clouds
  • At the end of April, I went out to photograph severe storms to the northwest of my town. I found myself in the area of Snakeden Hollow State Park, a place that I've always wanted to check out. So I went into the park and waited as the severe squall line approached. Seconds after this was taken, heavy rain and hail started falling along with strong winds and lightning.<br />
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Date Taken: April 28, 2014
    Snakeden Gale
  • - <a href="http://www.kevin-palmer.com" rel="nofollow">www.kevin-palmer.com</a> - From a distance this swan looked a little fat. When I got closer I noticed the extra pair of legs and realized she was holding a swan chick on her back. They were nearly oblivious to me taking pictures. I walked around to capture the golden early morning light on her face.<br />
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Date Taken: April 15, 2014
    Mother Swan Boat
  • On the morning of April 15 the moon was eclipsed by the earth for over an hour. It snowed here most of the evening but the clouds cleared shortly before it started. From midnight to 5am I took a picture every 20 minutes and assembled them into this sequence. At first the moon entered the earth's penumbra, and a subtle diffuse shadow began to appear. When the moon entered the umbra, It became much darker and slowly started turning a reddish orange. Sunlight being refracted through the earth's atmosphere is being cast upon the moon. It is essentially the light from all of earth's sunrises and sunsets that is lighting up the lunar surface. After being fully eclipsed for 1 hour and 18 minutes, the steps repeated in reverse. By the time the moon came out of eclipse, it was a lot lower in the sky which is why it looks darker and more yellow on the bottom right.<br />
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Date Taken: April 15, 2014
    Lunar Eclipse Sequence
  • The average temperature in space is -454° F. It wasn't quite that cold at Spring Lake, but it nearly felt like it. I've been looking forward to the milky way's return to the morning sky for months. I would have preferred warmer temperatures for my first shot of the year. But the best thing about arctic air is it often brings perfectly clear and transparent skies. Venus was just 2 weeks past it's peak in brightness, casting a nice reflection on the ice.<br />
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Date Taken: February 26, 2014
    Ice and Space
  • This was a wild day of weather in Illinois. It was the first warm day after a cold and snowy winter.  A cold front moving across the midwest caused severe thunderstorms to form. This storm produced a tornado earlier, but at this point it had weakened. The snow that remained on the fields caused a thick ground fog to form, which reduced visibility to near zero at times. It was an interesting scene.<br />
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Date Taken: Febrary 20, 2014
    Destination Unknown
  • Early on the morning of February 19th, the northern lights made an appearance in Central Illinois. It happened to be one of the few winter nights that was clear and not bitterly cold. There was still plenty of snow on the ground, and the barn was illuminated by a quarter moon. I waited around for many hours, but the aurora was only bright for about 10 minutes. That is how it often happens with mid-latitude auroras.<br />
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Date Taken: February 19, 2014
    Barn and Pillars
  • I'm not sure what animal made these tracks in the snow, but I think it was a coyote. The bright moonlight was illuminating the snow covered landscape on this clear night. Despite the subzero temperatures, this creek was not frozen.<br />
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Date Taken: February 11, 2014
    Coyote Steps
  • The moon wasn't even full on this night. But the clear arctic air along with the powdery snow made the moonlight extra bright.<br />
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Date Taken: February 11, 2014
    White Shadows
  • After the microburst occurred the rain continued to increase. The lowering on the right resembled a wall cloud, but I'm not certain what it was. <br />
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Click 'Videos' above to watch a time lapse of this scene.<br />
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Date Taken: May 28, 2014
    Torrents of Rain
  • This thunderstorm formed ahead of an outflow boundary near Goodfield, Illinois. The updraft at the beginning was strong enough to keep the rain aloft. Then suddenly, a column of sinking air within the thunderstorm rushed to the ground, bringing strong winds and torrential rain. This is known as a microburst. It is a very localized event that can be difficult to predict. For a pilot, a microburst is the most dangerous part of a thunderstorm. Microbursts have caused numerous plane crashes, they are especially dangerous when an aircraft is trying to land.<br />
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Click 'Videos' above to watch a time lapse of this scene.<br />
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Date Taken: May 28, 2014
    Wet Microburst
  • An old barn sits in the middle of a corn field outside of Eureka, Illinois, while stormy skies approach.<br />
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Date Taken: May 28, 2014
    Tunnel Barn
  • On June 3rd, a derecho formed in Nebraska and moved across Iowa causing plenty of wind and hail damage. By the time it reached Central Illinois after midnight it had weakened. Spring Lake was hit by the northern part which wasn't as severe. But it still displayed some nice structure and put on a good lightning show.<br />
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Date Taken: June 4, 2014
    Illuminated Shelf
  • A series of lightning bolts strike in the distance beyond Spring Lake. This storm was part of a derecho that formed over Nebraska and caused extensive damage as it headed towards Illinois. Even though this part of the storm was weaker it still displayed a nice shelf cloud and put on a great lightning show.<br />
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Date Taken: June 4, 2014
    Spring Lake Shelf Cloud
  • On this morning there was a spectacular sunrise at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge. I can't remember the last time I saw a sky this colorful. Both ends of the sky were lighting up, in the east and in the west. It's funny that a couple hours earlier I considered these same clouds an annoyance while I was trying to photograph the milky way. <br />
Emiquon is located in the Illinois River floodplain north of Havana. It was formerly used as farmland, and pumps were used to keep it dry. But recently the pumps were turned off and the land was restored to its natural state. Thompson Lake is now 2,000 acres and supports a large population of fish and waterfowl.<br />
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Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    Emiquon Dawn
  • Ever since I found this area of dead trees in the water at Banner Marsh, I wanted to get some pictures of it under the milky way. After driving out here, clouds began covering the sky. I thought I wouldn't get any pictures of the stars, but then it cleared shortly before 2am.<br />
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Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    The Dead of Night
  • I never expected to find this lighthouse in Banner Marsh State Wildlife Area. It is about 60 feet tall. I took a peek inside, and I heard a fluttering sound. I was expecting to see bats, but instead saw dozens of barn swallow nests, with each of the birds staring at me. I'm sure they were wondering who this strange visitor was at 3am. The inside was split into several sections, and there were ladders going up and down. In this shot, I was standing off to the left and illuminated the structure at an angle with my headlamp.<br />
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Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    Banner Lighthouse
  • Reeds shake in the wind as the colors of sunrise fill the sky above. This view is from the boardwalk at Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge.<br />
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Date Taken: June 6, 2014
    Shaking Reeds
  • A rain squall approaches Peoria, Illinois. The heavy rain was close, but it never actually fell where I was shooting from. The top of a bluff in East Peoria provided a perfect view to the west of this storm.<br />
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Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Peoria Rain Squall
  • A shelf cloud approaches a field of soybeans near Delavan, IL. The late evening light made the clouds a cool blue while the lightning caused a warm glow.<br />
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Date Taken: June 19, 2014
    Dark Blue
  • A rain squall approaches Peoria, Illinois. The heavy rain was close, but it never actually fell where I was shooting from. The top of a bluff in East Peoria provided a perfect view to the west of this storm.<br />
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Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Distant Rain
  • As the storm clouds approached, the outflow winds provided a cool breeze that felt nice on a hot day. This view is from the top of a bluff in East Peoria.<br />
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Date Taken: June 18, 2014
    Cool Breeze
  • An old house sits on the prairie as a storm moves overhead.<br />
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Date Taken: June 21, 2014
    Storm Structure
  • An ominous looking shelf cloud approaches an old abandoned house near McLean, Illinois.<br />
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Date Taken: June 21, 2014
    Approaching Shelf Panorama
  • On the last day of June, 2 severe storms known as derechoes formed and moved across Illinois. After the 2nd storm passed through, it provided an amazing show of lightning. As the rain and wind ended, bolts of lightning slowly crawled across the sky, lasting up to 5 seconds. Even though it was 11pm, the field of soybeans was lit up like day.<br />
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Date Taken: June 30, 2014
    Static Charge
  • At 5am fog was slowly rising from the Rock River after an unseasonably cool night. Once the sun rose, it cast a warm glow across the river valley. This was taken at Castle Rock State Park, which sits on a 100 foot high bluff near Oregon, IL.<br />
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Date Taken: July 11, 2014
    Rock River Dawn
  • I wasn't expecting to see such a scene on this day, since the storm chances were low. But once I heard the thunder rumbling at 11am, I quickly left the house. After driving southeast I let the storm overtake me near the town of Kenney, and shot this panorama shortly before it started raining.  This time of year the corn is often 8 feet tall which restricts the view of approaching storms. I have to look for somewhere else to shoot such as this field of soybeans.<br />
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Date Taken: July 14, 2014
    Kenney Thunderstorm
  • Purple coneflowers bloom in the prairie as a nearly full moon rises in the east.The Nachusa Grasslands give you an idea of what Illinois looked like hundreds of years ago, before settlers arrived and converted it to farmland. 3,000 acres of this rolling grassland have been restored to their original state in this preserve. Less than 1% of the original tallgrass prairie remains, which makes this a rare sight in Illinois. Sandstone outcrops, many varieties of colorful wildflowers, and numerous wildlife make this a beautiful place. A herd of bison will soon be brought in from South Dakota as well. There are few paths in this preserve, so you have to go off-trail to explore the landscape.<br />
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Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Nachusa Coneflowers
  • At 5am fog was slowly rising from the Rock River after an unseasonably cool night. Once the sun rose, it cast a warm glow across the river valley. This was taken at Castle Rock State Park, which sits on a 100 foot high bluff near Oregon, IL.<br />
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Date Taken: July 11, 2014
    Castle Rock Sunrise
  • Once you are in the middle of the Nachusa Grasslands, the views are expansive making the place feel much bigger than it is. On the top of the rolling hills are outcrops made of St. Peter Sandstone.<br />
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Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Sandstone Prairie
  • A bluff on the rock river turned to gold as the sun rose.A seasonably cool night caused fog to form on the surface of the river, which lingered for a couple hours.<br />
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Date Taken: July 11, 2014
    Golden Rock
  • Among the purple prairie clover, milkweed plants shoot up as well as a few coneflowers. Darkness had fallen on the Nachusa Grasslands as the nearly full moon rose higher in the east.<br />
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Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Moonlight Breeze
  • The sun sets behind some trees on the Nachusa Grasslands. The wildflowers in the foreground are known as "purple prairie clover".<br />
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Date Taken: July 10, 2014
    Nachusa Sunset
  • The views are spectacular from Inspiration Point. You can see the cliffs of the LaRue Pine Hills and the marshy area beneath. The sunset colors were reflecting on the still waters of the ponds below.<br />
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Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    LaRue Pine Hills
  • Inspiration Point is located in the Larue-Pine Hills in the far southern part of the state. Below the cliffs lies a marshy area that is part of the Mississippi River floodplain. In the distance the river itself can be seen, along with the hills of Missouri. The view can look different depending on the time of year and the water level. Even though the weather had been quite dry, a thunderstorm had just passed through a few hours earlier. The storm cleared the hazy air and seemed to make the colors even more vivid. Evening is the best time to visit this viewpoint as you can watch the sun set to the west and light up the cliffs and the wetlands below with a golden glow. At the bottom center of the photo you can see Snake Road. Twice a year this road is closed to vehicle traffic to allow the large population of snakes to migrate back and forth from the cliffs to the swamp.<br />
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Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Inspiration Point
  • Inspiration Point is located in the Larue-Pine Hills in the far southern part of the state. Below the cliffs lies a marshy area that is part of the Mississippi River floodplain. In the distance the river itself can be seen, along with the hills of Missouri. The view can look different depending on the time of year and the water level. Even though the weather had been quite dry, a thunderstorm had just passed through a few hours earlier. The storm cleared the hazy air and seemed to make the colors even more vivid. Evening is the best time to visit this viewpoint as you can watch the sun set to the west and light up the cliffs and the wetlands below with a golden glow.<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Inspiration Point Panorama
  • This swamp is among the northernmost cypress swamps in the country. It is one of the most unique sites in Illinois and it makes you feel like you're in the deep south. The Heron Pond trail takes you to a boardwalk where you can see the swamp up close. <br />
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Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Illinois Cypress
  • Cave-in-Rock is a cavern carved out of a limestone bluff along the Ohio River. The 500 foot long cave has a skylight at the end so it's not completely dark, and a side room where bats were sleeping on the ceiling. Discovered in 1739 by a French explorer, this place has a colorful history. It was first used as a hideout for pirates and outlaws. They would rob riverboats carrying their goods down the river to sell. In the centuries since, this unique cave has been used as a tavern, a church, a shelter, and is now preserved as a state park. It was a challenge to stay out of the rain on this day, but I liked the way the stormy clouds matched the darkness of the cave.<br />
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Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Pirate's Lair
  • Cave-in-Rock is a cavern carved out of a limestone bluff along the Ohio River. The 500 foot long cave has a skylight at the end so it's not completely dark, and a side room where bats were sleeping on the ceiling. Discovered in 1739 by a French explorer, this place has a colorful history. It was first used as a hideout for pirates and outlaws. They would rob riverboats carrying their goods down the river to sell. In the centuries since, this unique cave has been used as a tavern, a church, a shelter, and is now preserved as a state park.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Ohio River Cave
  • While camping at Garden of the Gods, I watched a storm roll through at 8am. I would have liked to make a time lapse but the storm was just approaching too slowly. A proper shelf cloud never formed, it was mostly dark scud clouds that drifted across the sky. Once the rain started falling, and the lightning started striking nearby, I quickly made it back to my car where I waited out the storm.<br />
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Date Taken: July 23, 2014
    Garden of Gods Storm
  • The milky way shines in the dark skies behind a cliff at Garden of the Gods, Illinois. I used a flashlight to light paint the cliffs from an angle, which created shadows and texture. The sky was a bit hazy which made the stars a little less clear.<br />
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Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Behind the Cliff
  • The sun sets behind two pillars at Garden of the Gods, Illinois. This part of the Shawnee Hills is filled with strange rock formations and extensive views of the surrounding forest.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Two Pillars
  • Date Taken: July 22, 2014
    Garden of Gods Panorama
  • Stars rise over Salt Creek in Weldon Springs State Park. This startrail sequence covers shows the stars movement in 73 minutes. <br />
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Date Taken: August 13, 2014
    Weldon Springs Startrails
  • Puffy cumulus clouds float across the sky as they build into small thunderstorms. These storms passed over the farm fields of rural Mason County.<br />
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Date Taken: August 11, 2014
    Fluffy Clouds
  • I spotted this rainbow a in rural Mason County. The small pop up thunderstorms made it a great day for rainbows, and this was one of the lowest ones I've seen. The height of a rainbow can be determined by the height of the sun. The radius of a rainbow is always 42°, centered at a point opposite the sun called the "anti-solar point." If you subtract the height of the sun (in this case 33°) from the 42°, then you get the approximate height of the rainbow above the horizon (9°). That is why the biggest rainbows are found near sunrise or sunset. They cannot occur in the middle of the day when the sun is higher than 42°.<br />
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Date Taken: August 11, 2014
    Partial Rainbow
  • The line in the sky is the International Space Station, 262 miles above the earth. The ISS orbits the earth every 93 minutes at speeds of over 17,000 mph. When it passes overhead, the ISS becomes brighter than any star and can take as long as 6 minutes to cross the sky. There are many apps and websites (such as http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/) that tell you when to look for it. <br />
In the foreground is a mysterious abandoned structure that resembles a lighthouse. I don't know how old it is or what it was built for. I first found it a few months ago at Banner Marsh near the Illinois River.<br />
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Date Taken: August 3, 2014
    Space Navigation
  • Early in the morning a very active lightning storm passed by north of Peoria. An overlook on Grandview Drive was the perfect place to watch it approach. The overlook sits on a bluff 300 feet above the Illinois River. This is the part of the river where it widens and forms Peoria Lake. It was raining heavily with plenty of lightning bolts striking on the opposite side of the river. But from where I was it stayed dry enough to take over 400 pictures.<br />
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Date Taken: 9/3/2014
    Strike Three
  • An impressive looking shelf cloud approaches north of Peoria. I was in the perfect location to watch this storm. Heavy rain fell on the other side of the Illinois River but it stayed dry where I was.<br />
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Date Taken: 9/9/2014
    Grandview Drive
  • A turbulent sky moves above a soybean field near Tremont, Illinois. The gust front brought very strong winds that made it hard to take a steady picture. Seconds after this shot, it started raining heavily.
    Tremont Turbulence
  • A shelf cloud approaches a grassy field near Mackinaw, Illinois. This storm hit a half an hour before sunset. It actually became so dark that fireflies started to come out.<br />
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Date Taken: 8/28/2014
    Mackinaw Storm
  • Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to catch the sunrise. The sunrise did not disappoint on this morning as wispy fog drifted across a golden sky. A viewing platform on the west side of the 2,000 acre Thompson Lake provides great views out over the water. Many varieties of birds and waterfowl live here, including bald eagles, geese, pelicans, egrets, herons, and much more. I especially saw a lot of pelicans out.<br />
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Date Taken: 9/3/2014
    Silence is Golden
  • Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge is one of my favorite places to catch the sunrise. The sunrise did not disappoint on this morning as wispy fog drifted across a golden sky. A viewing platform on the west side of the 2,000 acre Thompson Lake provides great views out over the water. Many varieties of birds and waterfowl live here, including bald eagles, geese, pelicans, egrets, herons, and much more. I especially saw a lot of pelicans out.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/3/2014
    Stillness
  • On a dark night in Sand Ridge State Forest I found these Black Eyed Susans blooming in a small prairie. The air was so calm that the flowers didn't even move.<br />
<br />
Date Taken: 9/16/2014
    Prairie Night
  • Early Morning Visitor
  • Stars appear to rotate above this abandoned barn in 3 hours time. In reality it is the stars that are stationary and the earth that is rotating. In 23 hours and 56 minutes, the stars make one counterclockwise rotation of 360 degrees. This 4 minute difference is what causes the stars to change position from night to night, and the constellations to change from season to season. Earth's northern axis happens to be pointed at Polaris, or the North Star. It hardly moves at all in the course of a night. For thousands of years people have been using Polaris to navigate. It not only tells you which way is north, but it also tells you your latitude. In this case the North Star was 40 degrees above the horizon. Those in the southern hemisphere do not have such a star to guide them.<br />
I found this old barn in Jim Edgar State Park a couple nights ago.
    Dark Barn Startrail
  • The milky way sets in the west shortly after sunset. This was taken from the top of a hill prairie in Jim Edgar State Park. It was a great place to watch a meteor shower.
    Hill Prairie Milky Way
  • After hiking to the top of a bluff I noticed a couple horses in a nearby pasture. They walked up to see what I was doing when they noticed me.
    Curious Horses
  • A partially eclipsed sun sets over the skyline of Saint Louis, Missouri. About 40 minutes before the sun set, it moved behind some thick clouds to the west. There was a small gap in between clouds, but it kept getting smaller. As the sun sank lower, the gap wasn't big enough to fit the entire disk of the sun. So I just shot the upper portion of the sun where the moon was. I had to time it just right, because this lasted only a few seconds. The sun looked like it would appear one more time, but it never did. <br />
To see the sun setting over the city skyline, I had to find a location a few miles northeast of the city, with enough height to see over the trees. The 100 foot high mound at Cahokia Mounds turned out to be the perfect place. 100 feet may not seem very high, but this mound was built entirely by hand over 1,000 years ago by an ancient Indian civilization. The base is as wide as the Great Pyramid of Giza and it took hundreds of years to build by hauling baskets of soil and clay. Dozens of mounds in the area are preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
    St. Louis Eclipse
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