Sangamon River Ice Macro

Took the opportunity to swing by Lincoln Trail Homestead Park located in W Macon County IL on Wednesday. Wasn't expecting to see much but simply wanted to get some exercise despite being a balmy 20 degrees. Wandering down to the banks of the Sangamon River which is exceptionally low right now, I came upon numerous unusual frost and ice formations making for a worthwhile photographic opportunity. The large droplet on the end of the stick defies logic as there wasn't any water near it. Towards the end of my visit, I was treated to the distant call of an eagle located somewhere downstream.













Another one that defies logic though I imagine this came about as water levels dropped.

Disco Flakes

Ava has a flashing sword toy similar to THIS ONE so I got the "bright" idea to try and photograph snowflakes using it as the principal light source. Between total darkness, being hand held, an air temperature of around 20 degrees with single digit wind chill and a subject no larger than the letters in this message, I'm pleased with this first attempt.

Clipper on Steroids

Appropriately titled by my good friend over in Indiana, this storm noted for producing insane snowfall totals exceeding 8 inches over in Champaign IL (which is about 50 miles east), only dropped a few flurries at my location. Preliminary figures for the region c/o NWS ILX can be found HERE. The cut off line was so sharp that although NE portions of Macon County saw moderate snowfall, central and SW areas received nothing. It was not until around noon on Saturday and well after the persistent NW to SE band had moved on did we begin to see measurable precipitation wrapping in from the WNW. Picking up a mere .50 inch as storm total accumulation, I stepped out to try for the first snowflake macros of the season.











Suspended by a cobweb, a blob of snow blew in and took out one of the supports thus causing it descend slowly.


and from today, old theme but still...