Purple Coneflowers

Ahhh, so this is what a polarizing filter can do! The image is completely untouched in Photoshop - just me, my camera and the filter. I'm pleased!

Best viewed in large.

A Tale of Two Foci

One of the things I'm learning to play with on my new camera is changing the object of focus in the shot. Yesterday I had some fun with it downtown at Millenium Park, in the garden area.


Front Focus


Back Focus

Which do you like better?

Echinacea, close up

Too many freezing cold photos lately, so here's a blast of summer. Pink and purple coneflowers, or echinacea as they are also called, are predominant in the prairies and parks all over here in the summer. I look forward to them blooming every year.

Butterfly on Milkweed

One of the best parts of living in the Midwest is seeing all the prairie land come to life in the spring and summer. Between the various and multiple flowers blooming, one after the other, and the butterflies and birds coming to feed, no two days are the same. More prairie shots can be found in a set at Flickr.

Summer Field

I passed by this field of prairie wildflowers every morning while I trained for my triathlon this summer. I couldn't help but be cheered on by the daisies and chicory and various types of coneflowers. It was such a sunny sight, even on cloudy days! Now that our first snowstorm has turned into crushed lawns and dirty piles of shrunken snow, I thought this PotD might be a healthy reminder of warmer days to come.