Cooling Off ...

June was so unbelievably warm! Thus, Jake dragged me down to the lake to "bite at" the water; don't worry, it doesn't hurt the water.

Bowing out ...

Today's focus: birds. A singer, a drinker, and a poser ... in no special order of course :).

Stopping by Woods ...

This tree nests itself on the far side of the family lake, all by itself. Even though the season is contrary to the stated imagery, the humidity, the lone reflection, and the time of day remind me of Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".

Fireflies ...

June 11, 2007 is a beautiful day. Once the heat dissipated from the afternoon bake, the weather outside was absolutely enjoyable: slight breeze and about seventy-two degrees. As I took a moment to sit on the north porch, the lightning bugs / fireflies decided to come to life. The above image attempts to show you the view, but the fireflies are difficult to capture with a camera (they're what looks like little fires all around the image). Aaah ... I love summer.

Tonight I attempted to experiment with what is commonly known as HDR. Now, although it is a three-letter word, it is nothing like what is commonly referred to as PCP. in the photography arena, HDR stands for High-Dynamic Range. You see, film / digital cameras can only capture so many tones. This is the reason that many times when you photograph someone or something and the sky is in the background, it turns white with no detail; it simply cannot capture beyond a certain tonal range. HDR takes multiple exposures, at both ends of the tonal range, and merges them together for one image that looks somewhat surreal. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful with my HDR, however, I did capture this image of the lake on our family property. It seems that I have been consumed by sunsets ... hmm.

It's good to be home ...

It definitely is great to spend the night in your own bed. After almost a week and two different hotels, I made it home. The conferences were informational and I was glad that I attended them. Now, to spend some quality time with the family ...

Chicago, Chicago ...

I was in town today for the ICCTA (Illinois Community College Trustees Association) helping to represent SVCC. It was a wonderful surprise when the conference ended early and I
was able to walk around and photograph some of the city highlights ...

Summertime Storms ...

The beginning of June is always a wonderful month for fantastic storms. The heat and the humidity bashed into a cold front today and caused the clouds to topple over one another just over my house. Luckily, no tornado and some much needed rain.