For the first time in years, I actually hit the woods to do some photography. An example of what I found there is on the right; click for a sampling of some of the pics that I took today.

It was a beautiful day – a fall day: cool (high not breaking 60 degrees), little breeze, clear as a bell. Leaves starting to change and the flowers all, for the most part, done for the year. (I should have gone out last week, when the flowers were still popping to a degree.)

Nice day, nice area – Ryerson Conservation Area. Forest, prairie, a working farm (currently closed for renovation, unfortunately).

This really drove home a point I already knew: I need a better camera. The one I’m using is great for snapshots and such, but … I don’t do snapshots. I do heavy backlighting, extreme close-ups, document the division between water and terra firma.

For example, I grabbed three shots of a heron wading in the water in the middle of the Des Plaines River. With full telephoto (I don’t even know what it is, but it’s only a 1:3 ratio, so maybe 80mm equivalent?), the heron was just a dot. Blowing up the pic didn’t help, as the low light in the picture resulted in a slow shutter speed, which (in turn) results in a blurred bird.

Damn. I hate when that happens.

Was fun to see the critter, however.