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Golden Fields

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I took an opportunity to go for a quick photo trip to try to get a decent submission for a little photo challenge. I went near Jubilee College State Park, and found a golden field of soybeans that were just begging to be harvested.

This picture is my absolute favorite from the group, though there is another one that takes a fairly close second.

Well, it’s an actual rant… you can decided if it qualifies as a blog post.

If you don’t know me very well, you may not know that I honestly try to be a nice guy all the time. I want people to think I’m nice, and I want to BE nice. That’s just who I am by nature.

Other people, well, …. how can I phrase this nicely? Some people just don’t care. They think that their problems are much more important than any one else’s and nothing is their own fault – it’s always something that someone else did.

Do you know anyone like that?
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Setting Sun over the Warehouse District

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I was in the downtown area in the middle of last week, and there was a REALLY neat sunset forming in the western sky, so I found a new spot and stopped to take pictures.

At one point, the sun’s rays hit the right angle to illuminate some of the humidity that had been hanging in the air for the past…. well,… MONTH.I’m not completely complaining, since I wouldn’t have been able to capture those rays so effectively.

In the foreground, there are some sunflowers that were growing wild in some rocks on the bank of the river. In the background, you can make out a few of the buildings that comprise Peoria’s Warehouse District.

All-in-all, this was my favorite shot from the evening. There are many more to see, though; just click on the picture to be taken to my flickr page.

Lightning Strikes

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I had taken LOTS of pictures over the last few weeks, but I couldn’t ever seem to find the time to load them up on my computer and get them posted for you to see. Well, today was the day that I finally got to play with them.

This photo is from just the other night. I had made a quick stop at Big Lots, and I noticed, while walking in, that there was a ton of lightning activity in the sky. I hurried to shop and get back to my car. I got the camera and tripod out, and started trying to capture the lightning.

I swear that I stood there for at least twenty minutes, and this was the very last photo that I took. It is also the only one that caught the lightning. I was determined to catch the lightning in at least one picture, and so once I had one, I left. Plus, the lightning had really slowed down by the time that I caught this one.

I wish I had the ability to create like this, or to be able to tell such a story without a single word.

Sunset

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

Sooo, this past Saturday I attended a workshop/class on “No Light/Low Light Landscape Photography.” This essentially meant that we spent time photographing landscape scenes during sunrise and sunset.

We met at 4:15 in the morning (!!!) for the sunrise session, which produced some amazing pictures, and then we met again at 6pm for the sunset. In the morning, the rain came right after we finished our shoot, but in the evening the rain just kept of falling. We found ourselves under a pavilion on the East Peoria side of the river looking towards the west while the sun was setting behind the rain clouds.

Then, all of a sudden, the sky turned bright pink and this is what we saw. It was IN-CER-ED-I-BULL!!! This turned out to be my favorite picture from the whole day.

If you want to see many, many more, just click on the picture to see all of my pictures on flickr.

Prepare to Enter

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I have been driving past this set of stairs for more than a decade, and I have always wanted to stop and take a picture. Well, I did so tonight, and here it is for you to see.

Central IL Back Roads

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

I like rust. I don’t like it on things that belong to me, but I sure like to find it with my camera.

This picture was taken near a bridge construction site, and it appears that these bits of metal will be used to form rebar supports for concrete. The site was abandoned (at least for the weekend), so I took the time to explore the equipment that was there. This bucket of metal was just too fascinating to pass up, so I captured it and brought it home.

skyline

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

WOW! I never would have guessed it, but this photo was chosen to be displayed in an exhibition at One World Cafe later this summer! I just have to hurry up and get it printed. matted, and framed so that it’s ready to hang…

The show is going to run from July 25th to September 19th, and it celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Peoria Flickr Group. This group is comprised of both professional and amateur/hobbyist photographers from the Peoria area, and the contest was open to anyone that wanted to submit a photo. This picture will be one of 13 on display. I’ll post more details as the time gets nearer, but make plans now to stop in at One World sometime during August!

Riverfront Park

Originally uploaded by Full-on_Amateur

The Peoria Flickr Group has monthly contests for its members. They provide a subject/topic and many people go out and try to capture that subject/object with their camera. It’s always neat to see how different people interpret the subject/topic in their own ways and also to see how they capture them on film.

I went hunting for July’s “Patriotic Celebration” images, and I was let to Riverfront Park and Constitution Garden, which are essentially in the same place. While I didn’t find much that screamed “Patriotic Celebration,” I did find an old train turn-about, which allowed train engines to be spun 180 (or 360, technically) degrees to be routed in a different way. It’s been out-of-commission for a LOOONG time, but the rustic look of the tracks and ties make for some neat photos.

This is just one of a few shots that I took of the turn-about, and there are more on my Flickr stream. Hopefully I’ll get to share more pictures from the weekend very soon…. I just need to find time to sort through them all…