Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR

Standing in the road in front of my house, I can look out of town to the west. I live at the edge of town and there are only 3 more houses past mine on my side of the street. Taken on September 23rd, 2015.

As the world goes by, time seems to stand still around these little creeks located here in Southern Illinois. This place is less than 10 miles from my town.

This is a closeup of a blossom on one of my Granny Smith apple trees. Most of my apple trees are blooming except for a couple that I planted this year - but, they're about to bloom. Taken on April 13th, 2016. Ah, the mysteries and subtleties of life - this is almost it's own little world.

This is Dennis Tufano, the original lead singer of The Buckinghams. I got to see him perform live down in Jackson, Tennessee at the Caravan of Stars 31 concert. He always puts on a great show! In fact, this was the sixth time I've seen him live. The Buckinghams were out of Chicago and I live in Illinois, so you can see why I have a certain fondness for artists of of Illinois.

This is Peter Rivera, the original lead singer and drummer of Rare Earth. I got to see him perform live down in Jackson, Tennessee at the Caravan of Stars 31 concert. He can sure electrify a crowd and he drums and sings just as great as ever.

A self-portrait of me in a lighthouse shooting with my Minolta XD11. I had my digital camera on the hand rail and ran to get positioned before the self-timer went off. Taken at the Lighthouse Landing marina, located in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. Shot on April 22nd, 2016 with my Sony Alpha SLT-a77v DSLR.

I saw this great-looking Chevy down in Tennessee recently. The license plates said it was from California. Looks like it's had a recent fender bender because the left front fender has a coat of black primer.

An all-night convenience store along the interstate on one of my trips. Taken in Florida a couple years back

Taken on April 21st, 2016 after a bout of bad weather.

I shot this with my Sony SLT Alpha a77 DSLR set on a black and white mode. It was a pizza I had this past Saturday.

The neon sign for a small mall located in Carbondale, Illinois. Taken on September 3rd, 2016 with my Sony SLT a77v DSLR.

This Buick Skylark was sitting in a used car lot and it was for sale! I saw it yesterday, September 3rd, 2016, in Marion, Illinois.

I was sitting inside at a Denny's when this Corvette pulled up and parked. Of course, I had to go out and get a shot of it!

The old Dairy Queen in Carbondale, Illinois. It does good trade because it's located on the strip and Carbondale is a college town. Camera: Minolta X-370s Lens: Minolta MD Zoom 28-70mm, f/3.5, @40mm Film: Kodak Portra 160 Aperture: f/8 Shutter Speed: 1 sec. Date: September 3rd, 2016, 9.50 p.m. Location: Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.A. Developing Chemicals: Unicolor C-41 Water pre-soak: 1 minute at 102 degrees Developer: 3 ½ minutes at 102 degrees Water rinse: 1 minute (to keep chemicals clean) Blix: 6 ½ minutes at 102 degrees Water rinse: 3 minutes at approx. 100 degrees Stabilizer: 1 minute at room temperature Water rinse: 1 minute X-370s Portra 160 Carbondale 30-2gf

The markings on the inside of the wings of this particular type of butterfly are quite striking. But, it's the outside of the wings where you can recognize what gives them their names. Toward the lower-mid area of the wing, you can see two little pearlescence marks, one just a dot and the other a backwards "C." Together they make a kind of question mark symbol and that's what gives them their name. There is also a Comma Butterfly in my area that only has the "comma" and not the dot. Taken just a few moments ago in my yard, about 20 feet away from where I took the shot of the tomato I just posted.

This is only my second tomato this year, and it's a dwarf one. For some reason, this year's growing conditions are all mixed up and I'm not getting any big tomatoes like usual. Taken just a few moments ago in my yard.

The girl's shirt says "Knee Deep & Lovin' It, Farm Girl." Taken this afternoon, (September 23rd, 2016) in the heart of my little town. Today was the start of our annual event, called "Dairy Days," and it features rides, games, food stands, baby contests, parades and the eagerly-anticipated Queen contest, where we crown Miss Dairy Days for another year. The kids love these kinds of street carnivals and it makes good photo ops for us photographers. All the little towns around my area have their own themed days. Corn Days, Mule Days, Popcorn Days, etc.