ChimpersCage

I've lived within 20 miles of Bloomington Normal since I was 3 and in Central Illinois all my 50 years. Seems like there is always something new to see. Growing up I remember seeing the hawks, vultures and other raptors when driving through the country. By the time I was in my late teens, DDT had cut their numbers to the point that they were a rare sight. Eagle in Illinois during that period were limited to the northwest edge of the state along the Mississippi River. Today, the raptors are back and I almost always see one a week somewhere - even when I don't get out of town. Eagles are as close as Starved Rock State Park or the Illinois River at Peoria and Pekin. Once in a while one will even spend time at one our our county parks. Yesterday it was a moth that appeared on the brick siding of my home. Turned out to be a female Imperial. What a beautiful creature. It hung there for a few hours, then disappeared as mysteriously as it had come. Imperials - Images by Alan ...

On Saturday (June 20), the Kellars of Ridgeview got together at what may have been their last family basketball event. Rodney, Teri, Michael, and Lauren have been a basketball family for a long time. Rodney is the 23 year coach of the Ridgeview Mustangs. Teri, his wife plays many roles at the school in addition to a full time position at a local corporation and mom to Michael and Lauren. Michael graduated about 4 years ago and has one semester of student teaching left before getting his degree. That student teaching will take place at Ridgeview Jr. High. Michael has also played baseball during college. He pitches. While attending Ridgeview, Michael was a multi sport student playing basketball and baseball. He's currently being scouted for some major league and independent leagues to continue with the small round ball. Lauren just graduated from Ridgeview. While there, she was also a multi sport athlete. She practically grew up on the basketball coach, often seen after ga...

Well, the late spring and summer are generally down time for sports action photography in Bloomington Normal, at least for me. In late June, I normally cover the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All Star games, but other than that I get to work on personal projects. Those could be anything from home repairs, car updates to photo shoots. One photo project I work on when I get time and some good weather and light is my collection of landmarks in the Bloomington Normal area. See the slideshow below. Recently added were some shots from downtown. The old McLean County Courthouse, now the Mclean County Museum of History and the State Farm Downtown building and a few others in that vicinity were my recent takes. Also some stitched panoramics of Miller Park on Bloomington's west side. Downtown is of real interest. It's been dying an agonizing death for years. I'm sure there are people that have moved in to town a dozen years ago that have never been down there!. The old buil...

Just east of Bloomington Normal is the Twin Grove Wind Farm. This electricty producing farm is the largest in the nation and has just started the paces of getting larger. It's also the subject of many people with cameras. I don't go out there very often that I don't run into someone else stopped along side on of the blacktops taking photos. I first went out there a few years back when they were still installing the turbines. they basically are built using 3 components - 3 prop blades, the turbine housing and a multi-part stand. All is trucked in from a rail yard. The trucks are so long that they had to build very large corners on all the roads so the trucks wouldn't be dragging the back end through the ditch. There are so many mills in this field it's really hard to figure out what to shoot and also pretty hard to not get at least one good shot if you stick around for a hour or so. Last night, there were some scattered clouds and I got there a couple hours be...

Yesterday (May 27) was one of those weird days. I spent a couple of hours in the dental chair getting a tooth ready for a crown. Normally I would say that was a bad thing, but in this case it gave me a rare opportunity to see a day time Cubs game. Yes, the dentist has a TV within viewing site of the chair. Carlos Zambrano (Big Z) was attempting his 100th career win for the 2nd time. No, he didn't get it - he got tossed in the top of the 7th instead, leaving the game with a 2 - 2 tie agains the Pirates. Here's the deal: The Pirates had one on third. Carlos threw a wild pitch which sent Giovanni Soto chasing. Z covered the plate, placing his right foot between the plate and the base runner. Soto corralled the ball and tossed it to Z, who applied the tag as the player bellf-flopped a slide in. The camera angle and zoom weren't sufficient for me to tell if the runner was safe or out. The umpire called him safe setting off Z. Now for the real tricky part. Z got tossed for making...

Tomorrow is the Friday before Memorial Day. Memorial Day was originally created to pay tribute to and remember those who put their lives on the line so we can all enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States of America. Let's all stop to remember that on Monday. Memorial Day in the last generation or two has become more of the unoffical start of summer - 3 weeks shy of the summer solstice which really makes that beginning. The Friday before, brings lots of people out after the long winter and dreary wet spring to begin that early start to summer even earlier. The beginning of summer also marks the start of camping, hiking, climbing, barbque, vacation and a host of other "seasons" we hold precious in the times of good and warm weather. Many of those activities take us to the many state and national parks for picnics and day activities with family and friend - in addition to those listed above. Starved Rock State Park in Illinois is about an hour to the north of my r...

As much as I love to be out taking pictures, it is always more special when you are shooting something you care about or believe in. Today was one of those times. I was blessed with an invitation to another Troop 3 Eagle Court of Honor. This time around it was for #144 of Troop 3 - Wesley Humphrey. I've been fortunate to have been hanging around Troop 3 since my son joined the troop in 2003 (or so). He is #142. Troop 3 has been Chartered since 1919 and is one of the longest running troops in Central Illinois. The first time I remember meeting Wesley was in the parking lot getting ready to go on a camping trip. Wesley was still a Webelos scout and was attending the campout as a visitor. Troop 3 holds one of these campouts every year so that Webelos and their parents can attend and see if they would like to join Troop 3 after crossover. Wesley and his dad - Chuck - both attended. I think we went cabin camping (it was December) at an old scout camp on the outskirts of Peoria....