Ideas for places to visit in the Midwest
Every Spring, when I put up my bright red patio umbrella, a pair of Cardinals are waiting to make it their new home. The umbrella goes up, I go into the house and there they are building a nest. When I come back outside, they move to a safe distance chirping at me, hoping I will leave. Sadly it will never work because the umbrella is collapsed at night and the deck is a busy place. So perhaps next year…..
Photo take with a 300mm Tamron Lens.
Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in Southwestern Missouri is one of the jewels of the state. They have about 4 miles of paths that follow this stream through a valley/canyon south all the way to Arkansas. On the way you will view spectacular scenery including never ending waterfalls. A few ways to experience the area is by tram or walking. I prefer to walk in order to get the full experience.
It is an amazing place. Click here for more photos of Dogwood Canyon and its parent facility, Big Cedar Lodge.
To get a photo like this, use a tripod, use the lowest ISO you can, the highest f stop and a very dark ND Filter. You want the shutter open as long as possible to get the falls to blur and have white tint.
Driving up the The Great River Road outside of Alton, Illinois is a great experience. Driving from Alton, though Grafton on to Pere Marqutte State Park you will find great restaurants, wineries, bed and breakfasts and a spectacular view of the Mississippi River. Be sure to stop along the way to see the Bald Eagles and Pelicans.
A few miles north of Grafton is the Pere Marquette Lodge, a WPA project from the 30’s. The beautiful lodge is surrounded by these little cabins that are available for rent for the night as shown in this photo. This is a great place to hike, visit the park or explore nearby Grafton. Take your camera!
A wonderful spring scene at the White House Retreat in St. Louis County. This retreat is full of wonderful statues spread over an 80 acre campus allowing visitors to walk the grounds in silent meditation. In addition to the statues, the architecture and views are spectacular.
Forest Park is now in bloom with Daffodils and Red Buds trees kicking off the spring season. Walking in our park in St. Louis with its lakes, streams and architectural structures is always a delight.
Dogwood Canyon in Lampe, Missouri did not disappoint. The 6.5 miles of paved paths and 9 miles of trails with scenic views were surrounded by Dogwood trees. The sort of canyon/valley has a stream running through it with countless breathtaking waterfalls. Hike, bike or ride, this is a wonderful place to visit!
Hope Wilderness Chapel in Dogwood Canyon with springtime Dogwood and magnolia blossoms. This is in Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, a 10,000-acre slice of alluring Ozarks paradise located in Lampe, Missouri.
The park offers hiking, biking, Segway tours, wildlife tours, horseback riding, and trout fishing set against a backdrop of towering bluffs, waterfalls, spring-fed creek beds, and wildlife such as American bison, Rocky Mountain elk and white-tailed deer.
The park also features a fully restored working gristmill, museum, restaurant, and conservation education center that connects to a treehouse built by Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters
A simple display of Daffodils at Missouri Botanical Garden.
On the air intake on the bottom of this F-16 you will see the number 6. The Air Force Thunderbirds fly in a “five man” formation and take off that way. Plane 6 is the “missing man” and takes off alone. He briefly joins the other five to prepare for a fly-by of an airshow crowd. But briefly, just before the fly-by, #6 peels off from the group and never passes the crowd. This plane can be seen flying off in the distance and represents lost pilots and dignitaries from the past.
This plane is a F-16C Fighting Falcon and is seconds from taking off. You can see that the pilot lost no time getting his wheels up and is pushing the plane to catch up with the five planes that had taken off before him. The blur behind the plane is the the super heated exhaust coming out of the jet engine.
https://greatrivers.smugmug.com/Galleries/Missouri-Botanical-Garden/i-wtrgccZ/A
With “stay at home orders” in place from various government entities, it is tough to get some spring photos. Parks and cultural centers are now closed also. However, being the prolific photographer, I have over 57,000 photos stored on my computer, many of them not processed. This gives me the opportunity to find new photos without leaving the house!
This is a gate at our Missouri Botanical Garden surrounded by a Chihuly glass sculpture. The Garden is a center for botanical research and science education, as well as an oasis in the city of St. Louis. The Garden offers 79 acres of beautiful horticultural display, including a 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, Henry Shaw’s original 1850 estate home, and one of the world’s largest collections of rare and endangered orchids. This photo was taken about this time in 2014 showing the flowering trees in bloom.
This HDR photo is thee shots taken at different exposures, processed in Lightroom and AuroraHDR software. This process give the photo a wider spectrum of natural light and shows the vibrant colors as they were that day.
Click on the photo to see a larger version. Click here for my HDR tutorial.
Great Rivers Imaging 