Crabtree Nature Center

Crabtree Nature Center, near Palatine and Barrington Roads in Cook County, was along a route from one photo shoot to another last week. A stop, a gentle walk, some sunshine and some relaxation . . . along with some nice images. The Center is very friendly to wildlife, as the bird hotel seen here will attest. Early in fall, some of the colors were gently turning, as we see here.

SUNDAY POSTER

Fall closeups

Always fun to look more closely at smaller details while out shooting landscapes. Here a single fallen leaf looks powerful though a bit lost on the ground, while a feather marks the path of a bird. The feather reminds me a lot of a dear friend.

Kenyon Farm Preserve

Right near South Elgin High School is a small but pretty forest preserve called Kenyon Farm Forest Preserve. Right down the street from the school, the preserve is adjacent to the active Kenyon Farm.

Early in the area, I stopped for a photo walk and was impressed by the incoming formation of geese, on the way to a landing on the pond nearby. It was a large group, all in sync.

Fall Farm Work

Along with another fall color shot, Spring Valley gave me some fine images of a farmer with his team working the field. Up and back, one row at a time, constantly talking gently to his two fine partners.

Farm Birds

Part of Spring Valley is a farm, with farmhouse and barn and several animals. Up near the henhouse this chicken posed atop the fence, while a hawk was soaring above looking for its next meal.

Spring Valley

One of my assignments actually took me to Spring Valley Nature Preserve, where a high school encampment was an exceptional field trip experience with actors in costume teaching students. In this beautiful setting, I finished my work and headed to the car, stopping along the way to collect these images.

I like the experiment of shooting landscapes in the portrait format. Gives the viewer a different perspective.