We are approaching the end of the year already and I still don't feel like fall has arrived; leaves are still on the trees while cooler temps have been here for a few weeks. Here in Central Illinois, the colors have not been great but we have seen some good color in patches, hopefully, your area has been colorful. Both images this month are from my trip out West in August this year and I am planning to make another trip west in the near future for a visit during a different time of year than I have done previously;  ...Continue Reading

Fall is officially here and in the Midwest, the trees are dropping leaves - unfortunately, not colorful leaves. In Illinois, it has been really dry for a few months and I am not expecting any spectacular color displays. Might need to take a trip to find some color in the leaves. This month's images are from the Dakotas, one from each state, and a wildlife image for your mobile phone. I hope you enjoy them. The first image was captured a couple of months ago near Midland, South Dakota. This particular loca ...Continue Reading

First off, apologies for not having this update message in your inbox first thing today. The intention was to have it completed and ready for viewing early this morning but there was a change in images and I was not fully prepared while traveling over the weekend.The weather is changing in the Midwest and we are starting to experience fall-like temperatures, hopefully your area is having good weather and for those friends in the Southern Hemisphere, I hope your winter is ending and spring is showing its face. We wo ...Continue Reading

Normally this time of year, I head west to enjoy some National Parks but this year, I am not sure I will be visiting any western parks. Maybe I can make an early winter trip to make up for it. I was in planning stages for a trip to Grand Canyon National Park next year, for a long hike starting at the North Rim. With the current Dragon Bravo Fire and closure of the northern section of the park for the remainder of this year, that trip might need to be changed. Currently here in the Midwest, our air quality is at 'un ...Continue Reading

We have hit the halfway mark of the year, six months down and six to go - hard to believe the year is half over. Long-time subscribers know that we normally provide a Fourth of July fireworks display as one of our images this month but we have decided to try something different; let us know by sending a comment if you like this or not. Last month we had an image from San Francisco; this month we are traveling across the country to another major city with the skyline of New York City as viewed from New Jer ...Continue Reading

Hopefully everyone is doing well and able to relax on the weekends, unfortunately my current schedule does not allow for relaxation. Not complaining, no one is forcing me to take photography jobs out of state but I should say no once in a while. This past month saw me going from the Midwest to the West Coast for a couple of weeks and then to the East Coast for a week. Made some time on each swing to capture some images I have been wanting to do but due to flight delays some of my plans had to be changed. As we move into ...Continue Reading

Summer feels like it's right around the corner, not sure if is reality or that's just an illusion. We are in full motorsports mode now; ice hockey has finished (unless the NHL calls) and that means long travel days has begun. Traveling by air is challenging at the moment and while most of my travel delays have been minor, it's still a little stressful when airlines have issues that can create the feeling you are not going to arrive at your destination on time. So far, the travel has been to Alabama, California, Florida ...Continue Reading

The first quarter of the year has passed and now we can hope Mother Nature provides all of us in the Northern Hemisphere a nice spring, with a few rain showers but no more damaging storms. For my friends in the Southern Hemisphere, hope your fall and winter weather provides the conditions you enjoy - either way, maybe everyone can get outside and enjoy some sunshine while taking a nice walk. Occasionally, we have a theme with our two images and this month we have one, 'motorsports' but of the four-wheel type. The f ...Continue Reading

We are in spring meltdown mode as the temperatures warmup and any snow we had is turning into water very quickly. Winter in Central Illinois was not very snowy and I would rate as mild overall. We had some snow but generally it did not last very long once it fell. Our wonderful DOT teams made sure our roads were white with all the salt they dropped, does wonders for the vehicles. I have seen some predications that spring is going to bring big storms across the US but I honestly don’t know how the weather models can pred ...Continue Reading

Hopefully everyone is having a pleasant winter season in the Northern Hemisphere, here in the Midwest we have been riding the temperature roller coaster. Personally, I wish it would stay colder, not necessarily below freezing during the day but low enough to keep most waterways frozen to enhance the photo opportunities. The National Weather Service is predicting February to be near normal for the majority of the Midwest while most of the South and Eastern seaboard is above normal. Would be good for the photography to ha ...Continue Reading