Subjected to the Eagle Eye View

(Grafton, IL US) Sannibel the Southern Bald Eagle peers into the camera lens during  the yearly eagle presentation  at Pere Marquette State Park.  Every year thousands of people come into the area to see American Bald Eagles that have migrated along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to escape the harsher northern winter.

Every year there is a program at Pere Marquette Park State Park about eagles and other birds of prey.  This year they set up in a dark corner of the fabulous lodge building that was built during the Great Depression.  It was very dark and people were crowded many people deep and despite being tall and having long arms, there really wasn't any way to capture anything good from behind the mass of people.

There is a restaurant in the facility that has a door that opened directly behind the bird on its perch and as I gently opened that door the bird hopped around on the perch and squatted a bit to get a view of me as everyone was trying to photograph the bird from the other side.

So yes, I really did have the eagle eye on me for a while.

The 360 Degree view

(Grafton, IL) Passengers enjoy the view from the top deck of the Spirit of Peoria paddle-wheeler as it cruised  north of Grafton on the Illinois River at dusk.  This vessel is one of the very few remaining true stern-wheeler's traveling the US inland waterways that has no other form of propulsion.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Used a panoramic camera to capture a few images aboard the Spirit of Peoria riverboat as it was cruising upriver at dusk.  If you look closely you can see the same people at each end of the image.

A great tool to have when you want an image that is different!

Image quality was reduced and re-sized to 20% of original so that it loads quickly.

Spirit of Peoria Website Link

Things You Find In Boxes

(St. Louis, MO) The Presidential Limousine carrying US President Ronald Reagan streaks toward  downtown St. Louis via Lindell Blvd. near the intersection of Grand.  Photo was taken with Polaroid SX-70.  © Michael Weaver

While in the basement last night I saw an old pink shoebox with some 5x7 sheet film holders and other assorted odd items including my Boy Scout "Totin' Chip" that allowed me unsupervised use of an axe while camping and the instruction book for my first SLR, a Ricoh TLS 401 that now sits in a cabinet as a reminder of what I used in high school to make money with.

This Polaroid image was in the box and I remembered that I had not been able to leave St. Louis Photo because the streets were blocked off for the Presidential motorcade that was going to be coming through.  I asked someone if I could use the display SX-70 and panned the camera as the limousine sped by at a really high rate of speed.

Not that you can see it in the photo, but President Reagan did wave as he passed by.

Life before Instagram and Twitpic!  No connection required, just point and shoot with a picture being spit out the front.  Still pretty cool when you think about it.

About Feeling Grateful

(Fieldon, IL) Mark Angel holds the only thing he found that was usable the morning after his home burned on November 13, 2012 in rural Jersey county Illinois.  The CD with kindergarten images of his son who is now in fifth grade was found in a case and covered with water and debris.  The gloves and jacket he is wearing are borrowed as everything the family owned was destroyed in the fire that kept restarting and kept the local volunteer fire department busy most of the night.

I live in a very rural part of southern Illinois.  It's a great place to live in many ways except that some of the things many take for granted by living in a metropolitan area are lacking in the rural parts of this country.  Fire protection is an issue.  Not only is fire protection an issue, but access to water so that a fire can be extinguished is an issue as well.

While out shopping for new basketball shoes for his son, Mark Angel received a call that his house was fully engulfed in flames.  Someone driving by the house saw the fire and called it in to the authorities, but the result was a total loss of everything the family owned.  If you have never seen what a house fire is capable of, no words, photos or videos can fully describe the aftermath.

It's really no different that what hurricane Sandy did to many along the eastern US coast several weeks ago except that everything is either melted or burned beyond recognition, not washed away.

(Fieldon, IL)  Homeowner Mark Angel talks to an Illinois State Fire Marshal investigator as two of the volunteer firefighters that responded the the fire that destroyed his home the evening before look on. 

With Thanksgiving upon us, we all need to be grateful.  Mark was grateful to at least have one CD of photos of his son. Considering he lives less than one mile from me, I know I have many reasons to feel grateful.

Game Face of the Week (4)

It was a hot day and evening.  Someone wanted to be in charge.  I have images of calls gone bad, but these sum it up!  I won't name names or locations.  If they stumble on this, they know who they are.

The baseball game was put on hold for lightning way off in the distance.  A phone call was made to see about possibly resuming the game at a later day and time.  The answer was that the game needed to be continued after the threat of lightning had passed and this was communicated to the person above.  When told this, he immediately said to get that person on the phone because he wanted to talk to them.  He wasn't even the home plate umpire!

Needless to say the game continued late into the night and more than a few people thought many of the calls made by officials were just plain wrong.  The umpire above even had a fan removed for expressing displeasure at his officiating.

Trying to Beat the Heat!

(Alton, IL) A young boy stands under a cool mist of water as other children run and play around him.  The afternoon temperature was in excess of 100 degrees F and everyone was waiting for a concert and fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July. 

The weather has been brutally hot for the last several weeks here in the Midwestern US.  The image of this boy was taken on a day when afternoon temperatures were in excess of 100 degrees F.  An Alton firefighter placed a firehose with a nozzle set to spray in an open area next the Riverfront Amphitheater.  As the sun started to set there was a concert and fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July.

Once Every 100 Years or so...

(Elsah, IL) A view of Venus as it starts to transit across the space between the Earth and the Sun.  Venus is the larger dark circle at approximately 8:00 on the image of the Sun.  You can also see sunspots on the face of the sun.  They are the smaller dark spots visible across the face of the Sun.

Venus just crossed the face of the Sun.. that is if your vantage point is someplace on Earth.  Won't happen here in the Midwestern US again until 2117.  Thought I really should try to see it this time rather than next.

(Elsah, IL) Dr. Thomas Fuller, the man in charge of the telescope at the Principia College observatory, adjusts the focus of the telescope that was used to provide the image above.

(Elsah, IL) The Principia College observatory sits atop a high concrete and steel platform so that it has an unobstructed view of the sky.

Images were shot with Leica digital rangefinder with Leica and Voigtlander lenses.  The Leica lens was used to place up against the telescope eyepiece to capture the Sun and Venus image.  The Summicron lens dates from 1958.  The other two images were shot with a Voigtlander 12mm Ultra-Wide Heliar.  Great lens for tight spaces.

More pics at: http://www.michaelrweaver.com/p663271124