Penning Photography Daily

I almost passed this image opportunity up.

After taking a morning walk in Riverside Park, as I was leaving, I noticed the horses out in a large stable yard, eating their breakfast. The hay, alfalfa, whatever it is, was placed in about twenty piles in a football-sized area. The horses were clustered around the piles, heads down and munching.

There really was no parking area set aside for me to pull over, so I made my own. I k-turned around, and parked near a cross-roads where there was a spot that would get my car out of the way.

I switched lenses and walked over to the fence. Clearly marked, do not trespass, and do not feed the horses, I was careful to keep my distance as I walked up and down the fence, looking for the right photo compositions.

The fog was just a haze in the distance, seen here in the background. You can tell how cold it was, by the foggy breath that the horse has put out in the grain. I also noticed a steam cloud, in the right background, likely coming up from the output of one of these beautiful beasts.

What I found fascinating was the behavior of the horses. Some were keeping to one pile, heads down all the time and munching away. Others would stay a while at one location, then move to another for what appeared to be no reason. There was at least one horse, that had a pile to themselves, and no other horses would approach. Some communal rules in evidence perhaps. This horse was occasionally nudging the pile, trying to uncover some possible tasty nugget.

Never pass up the opportunity when it comes to you. A good habit to practice.

There was fog last night as the cold air moved in, covering the warm moist earth with a gauzy blanket of white.

There’s a special type of light that happens with fog. I want to find it and use it. Typically, this means getting up early or staying up late, as the conditions for fog occur most frequently with the change of night into day. Soon after sunrise, the fog is most often swiftly diminished to nothing with the warm rays of the sun. Not always, but most of the time.

I should have gotten up before the sunrise.

Here, a field of prairie grass is covered in frost from the overnight chill, and there’s just a hint of the fog left, seen as a haze in the distance. The light of the rising sun is shining on over half of the field, and can most clearly be seen on the trees to the right of frame.

Those trees remind me of soldiers, standing at attention in the light of a superior officer performing an inspection. They stand before the sun and soak up the light.

Another day, I’m resolving to get up before the sun and get the elusive fog images that fill my mind with anticipation.

One day.

I like how the tree was leaning out, over the lake, towards the sunset.

It was that magic “golden hour” light at the end of a day, and it was cold. I was taking advantage of the time to myself, watching the setting sun. The changing light was turning everything into shades of gold. Shadows were lengthening as if the coming dark of night was slowly spilling out across the landscape.

The cold was seeping into my bones, making me put alternate hands into my coat pockets, in an effort to keep my fingers from freezing. Aside from my hands, not much else was complaining of the encroaching freeze.

The sky and the sun were enough to keep me rooted. I was just warm enough. Thankfully the wind was nearly calm.

It was a good day to be cold.

I get so many cat photos, as they are fitting subjects for me, when I am changing lenses or settings on my camera and want to test.

Here, Sissy, the more subdued of the two felines that allow us to inhabit their home, turned to me as I was testing out the camera. I made a clicking noise with my mouth to get her to turn her attention to me. It seemed to work out well. That slightly cocked head gives this portrait of her just the right amount of inquisitiveness that make up a cat’s nature.

Even thought this was “just” a test picture, I have learned to keep all but the most unusable frames that I take. Someday, I’ll see something that I didn’t see before, and bring out a suitable photograph from the pile that make up my catalogs.

There’s hidden gold in them thar hills.

This circle of birdhouses was something new to see for me.

In Southwind Park, in Springfield, Illinois, there’s many different installations to interest visitors. An accessible tree house is one, bocce ball and horse shoe pits are another. This circle of colorfully painted birdhouses around a large and equally colorfully painted representation of Abraham Lincoln’s top hat is a surprise.

I wonder what type of birds they are built to attract? Not Purple Martins, that much I know. We had Purple Martin condo-style birdhouses in the fruit tree orchard we maintained where I was grew up. There, the idea was to attract the mosquito eating birds, to cut down on the bites.I’ll inquire with the Park District to see if there’s an answer to my question.

Here, it was another fine foreground subject for that spectacular sky. We’ve had some doozies lately.

Lucky me.

It’s a whole lot of flat land around here.

A few bluffs and the occasional hill can be found, where the Sangamon river or some other of nature’s toolbox pushed the earth up to the sky.

That’s one reason why I find rocks so wonderful.

As a lad, we used to explore the limestone hill that was across the creek on our place. We’d play pirates, cave explorers, and rock hunters, as we would dig into the side of the hill into the rock. We’d play king of the hill, explore for arrow-heads or other artifacts, and have a ton of fun.

So, rocks are something I enjoy.

This pile of limestone (at least I think it’s limestone) is part of a series of piles that are part of the wetland restoration area in Southwind Park. It was the first thing I went to when I got out of my car that day.

The sky was a great counterpoint to the rock edges and faces. Nice blue and soft, feathery clouds.

Anyone want to go digging for hidden gems?

Out for a walk on one of our local trails, I was passed by many runners and a few folks on bikes.

It was a beautiful day for being outside. The sky was clear of clouds, showing it’s full blue mantle. The temperature had risen to a comfortable 40F and the winds, while gusty and brisk, were moderated by the trees on the trail.

I took off in the mid afternoon. It was my first time on this trail even though it’s been there for decades. I ease into new things.

After this runner passed me, I thought, what a perfect opportunity for a picture. A couple quick shutter presses later and here you are.

I was lucky.

I caught her in mid-stride. Both feet in the air, a nicely defined shadow underneath. That the trail was curving just ahead is a nice bonus.