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.

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.

Flickrites

One of the best things about having Flickr meet-ups and walk-abouts and get-togethers is the people I get to meet. I've been trying to get more into portrait photography so I took advantage of our meet-up to take pictures of some of the folks on our walk.

Meet Maria. She's an awesome lady who takes some really cool HD pics. You can find her stuff here:


This is Mike. This guy is great fun to hang around and he was a good sport when I asked him to pose this way and that for me until I got the pic I wanted--more or less. You can find his stuff here, including this lomo which I think captured the spirit of the day very well.


Meet Tim. He's one of the moderators for our group and also a great sports photographer. Tim also does a lot of volunteer work out at Wildlife Prairie Park with his family. Check out his stuff here.


What can I say about Bill? He's another group mod who loves hamming it up for the camera. I don't think anyone has a serious pic of Bill in their photo library. His stuff is here.


Lastly, a group shot. We talked them all into doing the Bill "Tiger" pose for this pic:


The Peoria flickr group is having another meetup on August 22nd from 9-11 am. It's a scavenger hunt at Springdale Cemetery. All the info is here. If you haven't made it to one yet but want to see what we're all about, this would be a great time to check us out.

Apple of my Eye

Someone just left this apple sitting on the ledge exactly like I found it:

Alcove Secrets

The alcove in the Sacred Heart Church across the street from the Peoria Civic Center is perhaps one of my favorite places to visit.

Yellow

Yellow is one of my all time favorite colors. Found this one in front of the Civic Center windows:


That's the Sacred Heart Church and a little bit of downtown Peoria reflected in the window.

The Twin Towers

Through the windows of the Civic Center.

Yellow

This was taken from the top of the parking deck across the street from the Civic Center:


For my out-of-state friends: the two tall buildings here are known as the Twin Towers. They house condos and office space. One of these days I'm going to go explore those a bit more. I imagine the view from the top is spectacular.

Vacation's All I Ever Wanted...

Oops! Didn't mean to post and run there but an opportunity to leave the area came up so we took it. Went to visit family in Michigan and halfway there I realized I had forgotten to post another pic here. So, to continue the photos from the Scott Kelby Photo Walk 2009, here goes:

This is one of my favorite angles for this big boat:


I call this one "I'm Not the Crew:"


As usual, click 'em to big 'em.

Barn

Another view of that barn from the previous pic and after the sun had come up just a wee bit more:

The thing that never ceases to surprise me is how much the sky changes as the sun comes up. This morning, the colors splashed across it must have been picked from every hue in the color wheel. Truly breathtaking. 

Sunrise

One more of the sun coming up then I'll move on to other parts of the flooded area:


This little park is on the west side of the building where Old Chicago and Joe's Crab Shack reside. The area from the front to where you see the rail (again) is normally all sidewalk.

Flood Pics Continued

Another view of the Illinois River in Peoria flowing over its banks:

Again, that barrier you see in the foreground is the rail that keeps you from falling into the river. The light sits on what would normally be the sidewalk. 

The Flood

I'd been teasing my New Mexico friends by telling them I was collecting animals, two by two, and building an ark. They thought I was kidding. Now they can see for themselves why I said this.

 

The rains we had here before Hurricane Ike hit in Galveston and worked its way here were incredible! Ike just added to the adventure. The Husband measured 4 inches in our rain gauge but that was only one afternoon's worth. I believe the official total was somewhere around 10 inches in 3 days. Now all the water they had up north has come down the river and flooded the little town of Spring Bay and parts of our downtown so my Flickr friend Tim and I made our way to downtown Peoria at the butt crack of dawn this morning to get some flood pics:

That long train of "cars" that you see in the middle is the rail that keeps you from falling over into the river. I'd say it stands about four feet tall. In front of it is supposed to be the sidewalk. Not this morning. As usual, you can click it to big it.

I'll have lots more flood photos to share this week so keep checking back!

This is what you call...

a real garden tea party. The cups were anchored to the saucers and pole with a screw. I liked the idea of using these as decorations. Certainly makes for interesting visuals.

Fountain

They have this fountain at the Luthy Botanical Gardens that's made from an old sink and sits in a bigger pond. They've laid out chipped plates in the sink and the water recirculates quietly. I really liked the calming effect it had on me as well as how cool the old sink looked. Check it out:

At the Luthy

Playing with pattern: