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2-18-07
Things have been a little
too repititious lately, so my buddy Joel and I decided to set off on a
mini road trip to Galena, IL. What is eerily
ironic about this though is that last year on the exact same date we
decided to do the exact same thing. It wasn't planned that way,
just pure coincidence. Anyway, it was a pretty fun trip even
though things really didn't pan out the way I had hoped. There is a
tower near Galena which overlooks the countryside and can see for
miles. The entire area from Savannah to Galena is very scenic and
provides many photo opportunities.
There is a place in Savannah that I have yet to see. It's called the Palisades and it has huge bluffs which overlook the Mississippi. Last year it was closed up for some reason and it was also shut down this year. When we entered the gate and followed the road around, I spotted a deer about 60 feet or so from the truck down in a little ravine. Soon after a few more passed right in front of us. They really didn't seem too afraid of us. They did end up running away, but it wasn't a full sprint, just a casual little dash. I'm sure they are used to vehicles and people. By the time I slapped on my zoom lens, they had ran way off to the right, but thankfully stopped to check us out from a "safe" distance. Joel actually got a really good shot of the deer running out in front of us. So, this is almost the only thing worth photographing the entire trip. But, like I said, it was just really nice to set off and get away from here for a little while.
There is a place in Savannah that I have yet to see. It's called the Palisades and it has huge bluffs which overlook the Mississippi. Last year it was closed up for some reason and it was also shut down this year. When we entered the gate and followed the road around, I spotted a deer about 60 feet or so from the truck down in a little ravine. Soon after a few more passed right in front of us. They really didn't seem too afraid of us. They did end up running away, but it wasn't a full sprint, just a casual little dash. I'm sure they are used to vehicles and people. By the time I slapped on my zoom lens, they had ran way off to the right, but thankfully stopped to check us out from a "safe" distance. Joel actually got a really good shot of the deer running out in front of us. So, this is almost the only thing worth photographing the entire trip. But, like I said, it was just really nice to set off and get away from here for a little while.
So after
being mildly disappointed that the gates were all closed off, we shot
straight across the highway and down to the river. This was the same
exact place as last year where we stopped and took a few. It was
actually very nice out today compared to the below zero temps of last
time. It felt like spring after all of the frigid temperatures we have
been having lately. We joked around and were saying things like "looks
like we took a road
trip to see some deer." Well, little did we know that it pretty much
was.
I saw this little guy but he must not
have saw me. He came very close to me and I already had the 300mm
locked and loaded.
I walked about 20 feet out from the bank out on the ice. I knew it was very shallow here since Joel visited this area last year and took alot of pictures. There were very quick lily pads growing clear out to the island. Normally I get somewhat weirded out knowing that water of unknown depths lies beneath, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. There was a pretty neat cloud deck floating in from the west. There were times when the sun was blocked out just enough so that you could see the perfect yellow disc, but I didn't have my camera ready when it happened. This picture below was almost what I wanted to do with the sun, but not quite. It's kind of hard to see, about 1/4 of the way down from the top and about 1/3 from the left.
Frozen Mississippi backwaters.
So after spending about 15 minutes here, we take off again and head further north. Man, if I could afford it, I'd move anywhere around that area. The scenery is just awesome. There are alot of wide open spaces and even some rolling hills in some areas. There is one pretty long stretch where signs say "Watch For Falling Rocks". On the way back is when I noticed some huge boulders sitting off the side.
So, we finally get the turn that takes us to the tower and the landscape just opens up. We pull up to the tower and I notice the bottom of the stairs boarded up. As luck would have it, the 75' tower was going under routine maintenance and was shut down for several months. Oh well, the scape was still open enough to get some shots.
It honestly doesn't even look that tall when you first drive up to it, but man, once you are at the top, it feels like you are a mile high.
I walked about 20 feet out from the bank out on the ice. I knew it was very shallow here since Joel visited this area last year and took alot of pictures. There were very quick lily pads growing clear out to the island. Normally I get somewhat weirded out knowing that water of unknown depths lies beneath, but it really wasn't that big of a deal. There was a pretty neat cloud deck floating in from the west. There were times when the sun was blocked out just enough so that you could see the perfect yellow disc, but I didn't have my camera ready when it happened. This picture below was almost what I wanted to do with the sun, but not quite. It's kind of hard to see, about 1/4 of the way down from the top and about 1/3 from the left.
Frozen Mississippi backwaters.
So after spending about 15 minutes here, we take off again and head further north. Man, if I could afford it, I'd move anywhere around that area. The scenery is just awesome. There are alot of wide open spaces and even some rolling hills in some areas. There is one pretty long stretch where signs say "Watch For Falling Rocks". On the way back is when I noticed some huge boulders sitting off the side.
So, we finally get the turn that takes us to the tower and the landscape just opens up. We pull up to the tower and I notice the bottom of the stairs boarded up. As luck would have it, the 75' tower was going under routine maintenance and was shut down for several months. Oh well, the scape was still open enough to get some shots.
It honestly doesn't even look that tall when you first drive up to it, but man, once you are at the top, it feels like you are a mile high.
On the way out there is this huge dropoff to the right hand side of the road and it REALLY opens up and exposes the countryside.
This was my first ever attempt at a panoramic. I really don't think the program is that great though. It's the Canon PhotoStitch that came with the Rebel. There is a very, VERY obvious seam toward the middle of the picture. I have also tried to stitch this was via Photoshop, but it was even worse. It is very tricky to line up certain matching points, even when using a tripod.
So, time to turn around and head for home. I really didn't capture anything too special, but it was a very good time just getting away. On the way back, I was just screwing around and started shooting out of the passenger window. I had my filter pack with me so I screwed on the circular polarizer. I very rarely use these, but I just wanted to mess around and see if I could minimize the sun's rays.
So, once again, it was a pretty laid back trip. Evidently February 18th is a good day for tripping to Galena. I suppose I could call this the "2nd Annual Galena, IL Road Trip." Who knows, maybe we'll just start doing this every year on the same date. It's good to get out and see the sun during this time of year anyway. Ahh...spring is just around the corner!