Nature Walk -- Seager Park, Naperville

Can you meander quickly?  That's what I did at Seager Park on a recent spring afternoon.  I had a short time available, so I meandered for about twenty minutes, then returned to the car.  I've said it before--if you look, you can see beauty everywhere.

Everywhere I walked, beds of these little white flowers carpeted the floor of the woods.

I think all of these little "umbrellas" I found were maple trees.  The sunlight was shining beautifully on the leaves.

These little umbrella trees--maple or whatever--also blanketed the floor of the woods.

And those little white flowers--oh, my.  :)

I found these teeny purple flowers as well.

Even an old, rotting log--or piece of bark--can be beautiful when lit up by the sun as it lies on the grassy ground.

Virginia bluebells, here in the Prairie State!

I spotted some little yellow flowers (buttercups, maybe?) intermixed with the white.

Robins hopped around the leafy banks of this little brook.

Time to go, which meant climbing back up this little hill toward the car.

I passed by this bridge when I first started my little walk, but I couldn't find the right angle to shoot it.  On the way back, though, I stepped right into the spot I had been looking for.  It was a beautiful moment just before I had to head back home and to reality.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Back to Lake Renwick

The photog class I was taking really pushed me to "escape" the confines of home and get out there in search of images for my weekly assignment.  This time I was supposed to play around with f-stop and depth of field, and I thought it'd be great to go back to Lake Renwick for another recon mission.  ;)

I captured some great images of some swans that were out for the warm evening, and I ended my day with a nice lake sunset.

Of course I had to put on my macro lens and look for details in the warming spring vegetation.

I love the golden hour, and took a nice reflection shot of the wharf/pier at Budde Lake as the sun turned the grass a nice golden color.

I took a pre-sunset shot, just to get a feel for where I should set up my tripod and enjoy the changing view.

This robin obliged me with a pose while I waited for the sun to sink on the horizon.

Once I was set up, I took photo after photo every couple of minutes.  In post-edit, it's hard for me to choose just a few images to keep, but I force myself to be brutal in deleting as many images as I can.  I aim for three, but since the sunset changes as the sun sinks, sometimes I just have to keep more.  I met my goal this time with three (I think) beautiful images of a beautiful evening sunset.

I'm already planning on going back, now that the weather is a tad warmer.  I'll definitely have on my walking shoes!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Lake Renwick

For a spring outing I drove over to Lake Renwick Preserve.  After doing a senior photo shoot here last summer, I filed this location away for future reference--both business and pleasure.  There are a lot of walking/biking paths I have yet to explore, and a bird rookery that is open only during certain seasons.  I definitely want to explore that!

For this spring outing, I wanted to capture some "S" curves (for the photog class I was taking), and the man-made paved sidewalks were certainly accommodating.

I also found some "S" curves waddling along those sidewalk areas.

And "S" curves wading into Budde Lake.

Even the robin made a great "S" curve!

Here's a very clear "S" in the man-made wharf area.

On this super-windy day, the birds were out floating, flying, and resting.  I caught this Canada goose snoozing on a little rock at a little island.

I was getting blown around trying to take pictures, it was so windy!

You can see the grasses blowing in the gusts.

I had a fantastic time outdoors, wandering around with Ellie and discovering "S" curves.  I love it when an assignment becomes more than an assignment, and it becomes a pleasure to capture those special images.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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