MCS DeKalb, IL 8/23/2011

I woke up early this morning in order to get to the office and get some work done but..... I decided to take a little detour and grab some photos of the approaching MCS. The photos below were taken around 8:30am from my usual spot. Sorry I didn't save any radar images. Enjoy.

Spot the precip. on the lens... ugh.

Water drop on the lens again....

And Again.... 

Okay.... now its comical. 

DeKalb, IL Convection 8/13/2011

Nothing exciting here. Just a line of storms that looked promising as it approached the city and then promptly proceeded to weaken the closer it got to the city. Below are just some convection shots. Enjoy.

Backside of the convection. 

Backyard Chase 8/12/2011 No. IL

Today was another nice surprise. I was radar watching back at my apartment and noticed a nice little cell to my northwest. It didn't look to great but, it was showing signs of life. I grabbed my stuff and sat it by the door in case I decided to head out. About that time the bells and whistles started going off for a tornado warning. I was a bit confused again because it didn't look great but, I could see why they threw a tornado warning out on it. I headed out and the closer I got to the storm the better it looked. The road network wasn't bad but I decided to sit and let this thing move towards me for some structure shots. What ensued were some of my best shots all year and I didn't spend more then 10 bucks in gas to get them! I didn't have much time to play with the settings on my camera so the quality is so-so. Either way, it was a great night after a long day of work. Enjoy.

Zoomed out shot. Color saturation.

DeKalb Co. Windfarm 8/10/2011

Today was another spur of the moment photography session. It was such a beautiful day I had to get out and enjoy it. So, I headed out to the edge of the windfarm just south of town. I found a nice quiet country road and took it all in. It really helps me clear my head and relax. I need these things in my life when everything else seems so hectic and depressing. A break from media, work, and negative thoughts always recharges the battery. Anyway, below are the photos I took. Not too much editing went into them. Just lots of shots and tweaking of the settings. Enjoy.

Corn

Fluorescent white balance

Wispy Cirrus

Chicago Trip 7/30/2011

My good friend Alex Luboff, my girlfriend Shana, and I decided to take a trip to Chicago last weekend. She had never been and I have been wanting to go all summer. So, we drove to Alex's house in the suburbs, hopped on the train, and rode it downtown. It was a hot day. The heat drained us and we ended up getting some photos, lunch, then headed back. Either way, it was a great trip and I want to go back as soon as I can. I like the city but sometimes I think it is too fast paced for me. Here are some photos I took while there. Though I may have gotten a bit carried away while editing them....in my opinion. Enjoy.

Buckingham Fountain.... Married with children theme song anyone?

The mist felt fantastic.

Just because.... DeKalb Summers 8/4/2011

Well, today was just one of those beautiful summer days. I decided to drive out west of town and grab a few photos of the corn with the sunset behind it. Low dewpoints and mild temperatures.... love it.

The End. Fin.

Lightning show 8/2/2011 Dekalb, IL

Tonight was a great night. I saw that some storms were popping up to the west of town and looked to be headed for DeKalb. I figured I would take a ride to the parking garage and try to grab some lightning shots just past dusk. I knew that the storms would intensify and that meant that the lightning flash rates would increase bettering my chances to get a shot. At first things were slow and I took some tower shots with the sun shining on them.

Tower over DeKalb, IL.

After dark fell I got some okay cloud-to-ground shots but they were never quite in frame and were somewhat dull. I am thinking it was from city light pollution causing some washout. This is just my amateur photography skills poking its head out. After the storm passed I decided to drive out to the west part of town and try to get some shots from the back side of the line. Man.... what a lightning show. It was completely lit up. It had to be in the top three lightning shows I have ever seen. I was a bit scared being out in the field so I didn't spend much time out there.

Shot just west of DeKalb, IL.

Shortly after this shot was taken I realized if I can clearly see what setting my camera is in due to the constant lightning flashes I should probably get back into my car and stop being the tallest object in the field.