fourpointedstar

I’m back to those photos from my October waterfalls trip – Copper Falls State Park is absolutely incredible; four waterfalls with so many great trails too! The main entrance to the parking lot is up that river channel, and you’re actually looking upriver in this photo. But what you can’t see is the 10ft falls at the bottom of the image, and the 35ft Brownstone Falls just a little farther onward. It was a very impressive view, and someday I’ll have to go back and take a lot more time to wander.
You can see all of my images from Copper Falls here.

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I can’t imagine being a bird and needing to put my tiny feet in the cold cold snow.

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Nature always has such a delightful way of displaying her beauty. As the steam slowly lifted off of the river water and wafted over the shoreline ice, it would condense into these wonderful abstract stars. What a subtle display of beauty on a brutally cold morning.

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I drive past these wide open fields every morning, and in the winter they are typically very boring. But on Friday morning, the fog was perfect; just dense enough to conceal the horizon, and just thin enough to show the small patches of forest in the middle of the flat fields.

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This small falls was a fun little find on my way to the Perry Creek Waterfall. I always enjoy these little vignettes; there would be no way to have a better vantage point of this small spot without getting VERY wet or using a drone, and these kinds of little vantage points feel so natural and secret.

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I have often joked that no photography trip is successful unless I lose or ruin an article of clothing, and this trip was no less successful! As I was walking up the Roaring Creek to Lost Falls, I stepped into about 3 feet of gushy mud. My shoe barely made it back out as I pulled my foot back out.

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While I’m certain that at certain times of the year the Devil’s Punchbowl has a torrent of water flowing through it; it’s plainly obvious by this tiny channel that most of the time, its a small trickle.

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I had not originally planned on visiting Durward’s Glen Waterfall on my July trip, it just happened to be “along the way”. However, just the canyon was well worth the trip; it was absolutely gorgeous, and even though you’re surrounded by a Catholic campground & getaway, it feels miles away from anyone else.

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To reach the (very small) waterfall at Durward’s Glen, you have to hike along the stream, and once you get past a certain point, through the stream. What you can’t see in this photo is the “Private Property” signs on the right hand bank.

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The staircase in the Ironwood Theater was absolutely gorgeous! (And we’ve already established that I like photographing staircases.)

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I have always loved the more abstract forms in architecture and row after row of seating is no exception.  The Ironwood Theater had these chairs produced to be as close to the original seating as possible, and the chairs come in various widths so that you’re not always staring at the head in front of you.

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The Ironwood Theater is nearly 100 years old (built in 1928). Starting 30 years ago, a group of volunteers began restoring the theater to its former glory, and you can definitely see portions of their handiwork through the photos this week.

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I have a collection of stairs photos; so from the moment that I saw Lauri’s photo of this staircase, I knew that I had to photograph it and add it to my collection.

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If you know me, you likely know that I love photographing waterfalls, and recently someone asked “what counts as a waterfall?” Well, the water has to fall; it’s as simple as that. Now, I won’t drive hours to see a waterfall like this one (small, artificial), but the girls let me know about this cute location in Sun City Huntley, so one afternoon I stopped by to capture the small cascade along their artificial stream. The real question: does this count as a “nature photo” on my website?

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What’s cooler than a fully tricked out hot rod?
Wauconda Cruise In always puts on a good show, and this year, I was able to attend in both July and August.

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I’ve captured many images from this location over the past 15 years, but it’s only been the past 2 or 3 years that I tried to capture light trails of the Wells Street bridge’s CTA tracks. I love the light trails in this photo, now I just need to capture a bicyclist with lights on their bike riding down the river walk ramp.

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I’ve captured Elgin’s fireworks shows from the Chicago Street bridge a few times (link to the most recent set of photos), so last year I wanted to photograph them from a different viewpoint. We parked near the riverwalk and then walked just north of the Highway 20 bridge. I never posted the resulting images since I’d just come back from my July waterfall trip (link); however, this image definitely works to celebrate the New Year!

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It’s the end of the year; the time to consider your past year and to strive for a “new you” this coming year. I resolve to take more photos… and probably do other stuff too.

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