See you all on the flipside with vacation photos to boot! Enjoy some pretty flower photos from Luhty Botanical Gardens in Peoria until then.






Hey guys! I hope you are all ready for a fun weekend of grilling, family, outdoor games, pool parties, sparklers and of course fireworks! Here are shots I took at last year's fireworks display in Peoria. These were all taken at ISO 100, f/11, and 4 seconds.







There were 10 of us in total: Dave, Tim, Connie, Lynn, Lily, Bill, Laura, Maria, and Ivan, and yours truly. There are actually some fun shots of everyone from the group that Dave took, you can see them here. Here is Lily, Dave, and Lynn below.


Then we hit the streets around the Board of Trade area. The morning sky was still grey and threatened rain drops on us. We had the companions of hungry pigeons when we visited Federal Plaza and just one of Chicago's lovely sculptures. This is "Flamingo" by Alexander Calder, which was installed in 1974.


We meandered on to the Chicago Institue of Art on our way to Millennium Park. Here is a front view and a little pretty nook on the side of the building with a fountain.


Then we stopped at a more modern Sculpture at Millenium Park. This is "Cloud Gate"by Anish Kapoor, also loving referred to as "The Bean" for it's shape. The sculpture was completed in 2005.


And a quick shot taken with the Argo 75.

We spent a lot of time here taking silly photos of ourselves in the reflective surface both on the outside and underneath the bean. Then we got together again for a group "phoon". It was fun to watch all the people taking silly photos of themselves in the bean. We even saw a wedding party. I'm sure it is a popular photo op spot. I took a few more downtown building shots from here and then we wandered on again. As you can see that blah morning sky turned into gorgeous blue skies with big white, puffy clouds! I loved it!

One more Argo shot. =)



