This year most of my photography friends and I have been on a quest for sunflowers. Many of the early plantings were washed away with all the spring rains that we had. But I’ve managed to find a few patches here and there on the Illinois side of the river from St. Louis. This beauty is from a fairly large field just east of Alhambra.
While I was at the Watershed Nature Center this morning I was watching some birds at a feeder. As I turned around this is what I saw. Thankfully the standoff ended peacefully.
Scott Air Force Base had an airshow last weekend to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the base. It’s been 5 years since the last airshow so the crowds were large. On Friday though they had an open house for all of us ID card holders. The stars of the show were the Thunderbirds. Here are a couple of shots of them in action.
This was the best of both worlds for me. While I’ve been primarily a nature/wildlife shooter my photography lately has been focused on urban decay. So while we were exploring an abandoned power plant in East St. Louis two barn owls were inside and started flying around. It was dark and hard to focus but I was able to snap a few shots of these magnificent raptors in flight inside the building. Next time I’ll be prepared.
The Mississippi River was near its crest at St. Louis and it’s that time of year when the sun sets through the Arch. With the water as high as it is I was able to get this shot of the Arch just after the sun went down. What is unusual is that I was able to get a full reflection because the water is so high. Normally you can only get a little bit of it.
Wow, it’s been raining pretty much non-stop for the last couple of days. When all is said and done we’re supposed to have anywhere from 5-8 inches of rain since Friday. As I was going to bed last night I saw this puddle in the front yard and the street lights glowing. Thought it made a nice scene.
I survived my first Shutterfest! I’ve known about it since it’s inception four years ago but this was the first year I could actually attend due to school and other commitments. It is an amazing experience to be around so many other photographers who are all so excited to be there and to learn. There was some sensory overload at first and at the end just exhaustion. But I’ve already got my ticket for next year and am inspired to do more with my photography.
