Travels

Some of the magnificent and extremely old rock formations found at the Garden of the Gods Park, located in the Shawnee National Forest. It was just after a brief rain shower, so there are still some darker clouds showing. There were a couple eagles flying overhead and I happened to spot this one while taking a break on the trail and waited for him to get in a good position.

Located in the Garden Of The Gods park in the Shawnee National Forest area of Southern Illinois. This is Pounds Hollow, a popular swimming area.

This is a part of the Shawnee National Forest called Pounds Hollow. It is a popular swimming area for youngsters in the summer months and features a sandy beach, a snack bar/concession stand and picnic tables for families. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 100 color 35mm film Shooting program: "O" (manual) Aperture: F/8 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 6:21 p.m. Location: Shawnee National Forest, Illinois, U.S.A.

One of the many panoramic views from Observation Trail along the Garden Of The Gods, located in the Shawnee National Forest. It was raining on and off all day and you can see one of these little showers developing off to the right of the image. Still, it didn't dampen the spirits of the few other groups of people who were out on this day to see the rock formations that millions of years ago sat at the bottom of an ocean. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 200 ISO color 35mm film Shooting program: O (manual) Aperture: F/8 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 2:40 p.m. Location: Garden Of The Gods, Saline County, Illinois, U.S.A.

The moon coming up over The Garden Of The Gods, located in Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois.

One of the many scenic overlooks that Garden Of The Gods offers. The gnarled, old tree kind of makes it look like Yosemite or somewhere like that to me. Converted to black and white from color original. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 200 color 35mm film (converted to black and white) Shooting program: "O" (manual) Aperture: F/8 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 3:03 p.m. Location: Garden of the Gods, Shawnee National Forest, Illinois, U.S.A.

This is a part of the Shawnee National Forest area known as Bell Smith Springs. I had travelled here in hopes of being able to photograph the gorgeous waterfalls that are featured here, the whole area of which I've heard is in one of the most beautiful and scenic locations in America. Unfortunately, the falls were dry and not running. But the rock formations created years ago when this whole area was at the bottom of the ocean were still magnificent. There were tiny rivulets of water that dripped down from above on these rocks and a few that seeped out from places showing in the photograph and the ground was continually damp because of this water flow. I had never been to this particular area before, but I found it to be quite charming although very hard to reach! To get to this particular vista, after following a winding path down the side of a hill for a quarter of a mile or so, one had to go down about three straight flights of stairs made out of natural rock from the area, and at times, no more than 2 feet wide in spots. But it was worth it to discover this hidden little valley. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 100 color 35mm film Shooting program: Aperture priority Aperture: F/16 Shutter speed: 1 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 10:36 a.m. Location: Bell Smith Springs, Pope County, Illinois, U.S.A. Bell Smith Springs Rock 3df

The stone stairway cut into the natural rock leading down into Bell Smith Springs. They were fairly steep and not very wide in spots. Plus, on the way down, I found out by nearly falling that one of the steps had a stone missing on the leading edge. They were much easier to go back up them than coming down, I thought. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 100 color 35mm film Shooting program: Aperture priority Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter speed: 1/10 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 11:32 a.m. Location: Bell Smith Springs, Hardin County, Illinois, U.S.A. Bell Smith Springs Stairs 1df

This is a local historical landmark called the Iron Furnace, located near Elizabethtown in the Shawnee National Forest. It was built around 1837 and continued operations until the beginning of The Civil War. It is 32 feet high and built out of large limestone blocks mined locally at Cave-In-Rock. It was put into use again in 1872, and used up until 1887. In the 1930's, it was partially destroyed to supply rock rubble for the embankments of the Hog Thief Creek Bridge built by the CCC. The current appearance is thanks to a restoration performed in 1967. Today, it is the only remaining iron furnace in Illinois. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 200 color 35mm film Shooting program: "O" (manual) Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 4:08 p.m. Location: Shawnee National Forest area, Illinois, U.S.A.

One of the many panoramic views from Observation Trail along the Garden Of The Gods, located in the Shawnee National Forest. It was raining on and off all day and you can see one of these little showers developing off to the right of the image. Still, it didn't dampen the spirits of the few other groups of people who were out on this day to see the rock formations that millions of years ago sat at the bottom of an ocean. Camera: Minolta XD11 Lens: Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm, f/1.7 Filter: Hoya HMC 55mm Skylight (1B) Film: Kodak Gold 200 ISO color 35mm film Shooting program: O (manual) Aperture: F/8 Shutter speed: 1/100 sec. Date: July 9th, 2010, 2:40 p.m. Location: Garden Of The Gods, Saline County, Illinois, U.S.A.

We passed by this tranquil-looking scene in Western Kentucky yesterday, October 6th, 2013

This horse was drinking at the nearby Amish store today. Photographed on October 7th, 2013.

Here is the color version of a photo I posted in sepia last night. My girlfriend said I should have posted this one instead of the other one. What does anyone else think? Is the color one or the sepia one more desirable?

This is Magazine Mountain, located near Clarksville, Arkansas. It is the highest point in the whole state.

This was taken near Clarksville, Arkansas on Sunday, October 27th, 2013. The leaves hadn't all turned everywhere here, but in some spots they were quite beautiful.

Taken in Altus, Arkansas while staying here for a wedding back in 2013. Camera: Minolta SRT-101 Lens: Minolta MD Zoom 28-70mm, f/3.5 Film: Kodak Max 400 Shooting Program: Manual (no batteries) Aperture: f/11 Shutter Speed: "B" (bulb) 2 seconds Date: October 25th, 2013, 9.26 p.m. Location: Altus, Arkansas, U.S.A. Minolta SRT Max 400 18-1cf

This is St. Mary's Catholic Church, also referred to as Our Lady of Perpetual Church Help, and it is located on St Mary's Mountain Lane in Altus, Arkansas. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976. We attended the wedding of Carla's cousin there on October 26th, 2013.