Spring is *almost* here

So I've been busy taking pictures of Peorians these days...mostly high schoolers in the Spring play at the nearby high school but, unfortunately, nothing I have permission to post here. I do this as a favor to one of the teachers I know. It's been fun but time consuming as I'm also putting the play program together. I used to work at a print shop many moons ago and, although I haven't held that job or anything similar since 2006, I still miss the challenge of working against a deadline. Heck, who am I kidding? I miss the smell of ink and the sound of the presses running in the back room. Those jobs were some of the best ones I had and I can almost taste the ink on the back of my throat as I sit here and reminisce.

Aside from that, I've been watching our backyard and trees diligently for robbins. According to this entry from last year the robbins should be back by now. But even if it takes another week or so to see one, I'm mostly just excited to see the mercury rising in our thermometer for a change. I've actually gone to work wearing just a light fleece jacket rather than the heavy LL Bean one that's good to -5 and of which I've become fondly attached to since December. It'll be good to ditch the jacket altogether and start digging in the dirt again. I've got plans for a flower and a faerie garden in my yard this year.

Anyhow, as you've read, I've got nothing interesting to say and no pictures to go with it. I'm sorry about that.  Eventually things will pick up again on the Peoria photos front so check back often.

Coming Over

I really do think I'm gonna grab a willing model and head out to this place to take some portraits. I'm really liking all these curves and lines and semi-circles:

Neverending Archways

Imagine if walking through these archways would zap you into the past...or maybe the future...where would you go?

I don't think I'd go anywhere other than here. I'm pretty content being here.

Hide n Seek with the Sun

Most definitely a great place to take portrait pics:

More Pergola

Just a black and white of the lines and shadows in the Glen Oak Park pergola:

Glen Oak Park Pergola

Some of the Flickr group members got together to check out the gazebo at Glen Oak Park this past weekend. First of all, I had no idea there was more than one entrance to that place. Second, I thought all there was to see was the zoo and Luthy Botanical gardens. I now stand corrected:

I know I've seen this pergola in other photographer's photo streams but I never knew where it was. It's a gorgeous place to check out, photographically speaking, if you haven't been there already. The dusting of snow on the ground really made it stand out the day we were there.

More pics to come later this week.

Steps of Stone

There's a house in East Peoria that has the most amazing stairs made of stone. They look particularly incredible in the Fall with leaves scattered about and in the Winter right after it's snowed. I never seem to have my camera at the right time but I got lucky the other day:

I hope this Fall I can capture those stairs again with the Fall leaves on them. Here's a pic I took last Fall just to give you a peek:

I'm not at all happy with this photo but that's the best part of being a digital photographer--you can immediately see your results, learn from the mistakes and retake the shot if the subject allows.

Footsteps in the Snow

A little bit of Peoria coming to you from the East Peoria side:

Those two identical buildings on the right hand side are called the Twin Towers. They house a few businesses on the ground floor and condos.

Had a dream the other night that Spring was in full swing and all these wonderful plants were coming up in my yard...then I woke up to hear the weather lady say the low for the night was going to be 3 degrees. In that state between being fully awake but not quite asleep and still feeling the warmth of the sun from my dream, I got ticked off. Can you blame me? ;)

Anyhow, this is what the outside looks like right now. The snow was ankle deep in some places. Although it's a beautiful thing to photograph, I can't wait for it to be gone.

Snow Days

Gotta love the snow days around here. Hoping to get out there to take some pics in a little bit. Let's see what I can capture. The only bad thing is that when the snow plows come through, all the snow gets pushed to the side of the road, leaving no place to pull over. I got slightly stuck the other day but, thankfully, I had the presence of mind to park on a hill so I was able to roll backwards to get the car moving. It would have been a bit embarrassing having to call the Husband to ask him to come get me out. He always rubs it in when I do stupid things like that. Right, Husband?? :p


I leave you with a pic of the daughter I took last night. It's gone from me having to bribe her with candy to me paying her with cash. *sigh* Nothing in life is free anymore, is it?

 

Shaking Things Up

I'm shaking up the blog. Thinking about renaming it altogether but haven't quite decided to what. My Life in Peoria, maybe? Living in Peoria? Not sure. I know I haven't explored enough of the area to take Peoria out of the name but I'm no longer wanting to keep it so narrowly focused. It's limiting and tough to update some months, especially in the winter. So bear with me while I think things through.

In the meantime, I've been playing with light and flashes and taking pictures of actors these days. No one famous...at least not yet. I've been helping out a local high school with head shots of the kids in the upcoming school play. It's been a lot of fun and has highly challenged my thinking and planning skills, which I like. I'm determined to figure this off-camera flash stuff out so I can branch out into creating more interesting photos.

IN other news, my pre-teen turns 13 tomorrow. Puberty kicked in a few months ago. His crackly voice and upper lip fuzz remind me of that every day. He's shot up a good couple of inches recently and I find it charming that he keeps measuring himself to me about twice per week. He's obsessed with growing taller than his mother. As I write this I shake my head cause I can't believe it's been thirteen years since I laid eyes on that beautiful face with those wonderfully curious baby blue eyes. I still see his baby face when he sleeps. I guess that never goes away for us mothers.

So tomorrow we'll celebrate his birthday, maybe reminisce for a little bit and then I'll officially be the mother of two teenagers. Shiver in fear with me.

Mono Monday

This is a shot of the inside of the hallway that leads into the Peoria Civic Center:

I do love all those lines!

Through the Windows

Another place I really enjoy visiting for photographic purposes is the Peoria Civic Center. It's another one of those places where the 'mood of the view' changes from season to season. I loved walking into the building through the glass hallways this past Fall. Now the scenery has changed once again:

Swirly Whirly

Not sure I captured this quite the way I wanted but thought I'd post anyhow.  This is the view from the parking garage across the street from the Peoria Civic Center:

Wouldn't it be cool to skateboard all the way down?

Peoria Docks

One of the areas I find very beautiful in this town are the docks down by the river, believe it or not. I never get tired of going down there to photograph them. They look different from season to season and I especially like them in the winter:

Just to orientate you (especially if you're not from around here), that bridge you see in the background is the Murray Baker. It carries I-74 over the Illinois River and into Peoria. To my left is the Peoria downtown area and to my right, across the river, is East Peoria--a completely separate, much smaller city.

Mono-Monday

A little late for Monday but monochrome nevertheless. Forgive my lateness in posting this. I scheduled it ahead of time not realizing it wasn't going to post till Tuesday. Ah well.

Some of the Peoria Flickr group members and I went out walking around the downtown area this past weekend. It was pretty cold out but once we really got moving it wasn't so bad.

I was hoping to get lots more pictures but between the cold and the lack of motivation, I ended up taking just a few shots. This week's photos are from that walk, starting with a black and white shot of the outside of some building we walked by: