fourpointedstar

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Cynthia and I share the same birth month and when she was younger, we would plan trips for our birthdays. This was a hiking trip to Matthiessen State Park; evidently I never posted all of the photos. You can see the other images here.

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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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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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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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