Tag Archives: Illinois

Power Boats at Speed

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The Labor Day weekend is the time for power boat racing at Kankakee IL.  My friend Joel Love had told me about this and suggested I come down.  The Monday was the only day I had free so I drove on down.  Kankakee is about an hour south of Chicago so a short hop.

The racing takes place along the river.  There is a large park area on the south bank which was where I headed and, as it happened, was also where Joel was set up about 10 feet from my chosen spot!  The boats launch and recover on the north bank but the lighting was a lot more friendly on the south side.  It turned out that Monday was the day the weather went from warm and sunny to cool, windy and occasionally cloudy.  However, it still held well enough, even if I was a bit colder than planned!

There were a variety of classes of racing underway.  Some small individual boats and some far larger and more complex looking single seat racers.  Catamarans and mono-hulls were taking part in the different classes.  It all made for a lot of fun racing.

There were some boats that were clearly better than others and so the races weren’t always involving close competition for position.  However, the faster boats could easily lap the slower boats in some races so you could end up with a steady stream of boats and some passing being necessary.

The other thing you could get a lot of was retirements! Some might be mechanical problems but other were more spectacular.  Flipping the boat, rolling the boat, spearing another boat – all of this went on.  The more dramatic stuff was often where I wasn’t looking of course!  The wind gusting about the course could make for a little excitement if the boats got a little nose high.  Given their speed and lack of weight, a slip was likely.  The boats seem to disintegrate pretty dramatically when they hit the water.

One class had so many incidents and restarts that they eventually called it short of the full race distance.  By that point, the competitors had become expert at getting lined up in the starting positions since they had done it so many times (although there was a bit more space at each restart due to the number of boats falling out of the race!).

It was a fun event to watch and even more fun to shoot.  The action was close, there was plenty going on and the boats were colorful.  If something dramatic happened, that was a bonus – provided everyone came out of it okay.  I got the feeling it was a bit like NASCAR or hockey in that the fans enjoyed a bit of the unplanned activity as well as the racing.  The tour takes races to a number of locations so you might want to see if it is ever in your neck of the woods.

I took a ton of pictures throughout the day so here are a few more.  Enjoy!

What’s the best camera?

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I suspect you have heard the phrase, the best camera is the one you have with you.  Well, I am a bit of an idiot as I went out to a location the other evening for another reason but didn’t stick a camera in the car.  We headed to Moreton Arboretum out in Lisle.  We are members and go there pretty regularly to wander around.

This time they were running a cheese and wine type of event.  Tables were set up outside, there was a bar and a tapas menu.  A very pleasant way to spend an even out in the warm as the sun gradually headed down.  The photographers amongst you are thinking golden hour.  Why didn’t I think of that.

There is a lake near the visitors center which I will have shot a number of times from different directions, usually in the harshest light of the day.  This time I was there when the light was great and as soon as we took a stroll around the lake, I was kicking myself for not having brought my camera with me.

Plan B was my phone.  The camera is okay but not special.  However, it was the best camera I had with me so it would have to do.  It doesn’t handle too much contrast well so a little angling to try and get what I wanted was in order.  Not stunning results but it’s what I got so here you go.

This last shot was something we saw when wandering around.  I might explain more another time…

Lego Masterpieces

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An event was held recently that I had never thought of visiting before.  It was a Lego convention of some sort held up in Wheeling.  I had no idea what to expect at this – was it going to be a lot of vendors selling stuff or exhibitors of their creations.  It is safe to say, it was a lot more fo the latter.  I don’t know whether I was being unimaginative, but the quality of the work was astounding.

There was a lot of variety.  Quite a few Lego fans obviously like fantasy themes and so there was plenty of work like this.  I wasn’t as interested in that as I was in the creations of normal things that people had put together.  They obviously have a lot of imagination – and a lot of Lego.  One guy (who admittedly worked for Lego) had come from Australia.  I had seen a previous creation of his online.  It was a Qantas A-380 and was stunning.  This time, he had recreated the Love Boat and the captain from the series had coincidentally been in the day before and autographed it!

There was far too much stuff to fairly represent here but below are just a few shots of things that I was really impressed by.  (By the way, I know I said the fantasy stuff isn’t my thing but the Lord of the Rings display is included since it was quite incredible!)

Agility for Dogs

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If herding the sheep weren’t enough, there were other dogs being put through their paces.  An agility course had been laid out and a bunch of owners were running their dogs through the course.  From what I could see, there wasn’t a particular route that was supposed to be followed.  Instead, they seemed to go wherever they felt like it.

Of course, when I say where they felt like it, I don’t always mean the owners.  One dog in particular was very excited but not at all interested in the course.  it ran in circles and barked at its owner until she finally gave up.  They had another go a little later but that ended the same way.

Some of the dogs, though, were very skillful and could zip across the jumps and through the poles without pausing.  A fun thing to watch for a while, particularly when it was too hot to move for a bit!

Perfect Weather for Rugby

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Nothing like playing a winter sport like rugby on an 85 degree day.  Why not make it sevens just in case you weren’t warm enough.  I strolled across to see some of the rugby later in the afternoon.  Having been a rugby fan for many years, I thought I would see how the play was going.

Sevens is a trickier version of the game since it is a lot faster and it requires handling to be very slick.  I don’t know the pedigree of the players I was watching but I wouldn’t be surprised if the heat was affecting their game.

A Scottish winter and an Illinois summer are very different climates in which to be playing.  The ground was certainly wet underfoot after the recent rain but the temperature was high and the humidity higher so I think something as energetic as sevens was a stretch.  However, they still played hard and followed the rugby tradition of trying to harm your opponent at every opportunity.

Pipes and Drums – Not Enough to Scare this Englishman

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As you might expect from a Scottish festival, there were pipes and drums aplenty!  I am sure they are designed to intimidate the enemy and, as I’m sure you know, the enemy of every Scotsman is an Englishman.  Therefore, I was walking into the lion’s den on this day even if some of the claims of Scottishness were a little tenuous!

The various bands that were competing were all taking the thing very seriously.  They were well practiced in their routines and the musical ability was high – no strangled cats on this occasion.  Moreover, they really showed their commitment to the cause by dressing up in the full outfits, despite the fact that they are designed for a Scottish climate, not a hot, humid, summer day in the Chicago suburbs!

There were bands all over the place warming up, tuning the pipes, getting some last minute practice in before their time slot came due.  There were a series of judges around the arena scoring them on different aspects of their performance.  As their time was up they streamed out of the arena and another band was already waiting to come in.  No pauses for the spectators here!

Sheep Dog Trials – Insert Verdict Joke Here…

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As part of the Scottish celebrations, there was a demonstration of sheep dogs at work.  This was something I always thought of a either a northern England or Welsh activity but I guess it is a big deal in Scotland too.  Anyway, a bunch of dogs were taking it in turns to demonstrate their skills with a small flock of sheep brought in especially for the occasion.

The dogs and the shepherds were certainly very effective.  They could move the flock wherever they felt like it (although the attempt to split the flock in two was a little less successful).  The dogs were really fun to watch as they zipped around the flock and then froze on the ground until needed again.

The sheep were amazing as well.  These creatures are obviously very fixated on one thing.  Eating!  The dogs could get them quite jumpy but a second alter they would forget everything and start munching on the grass.  I suspect if left alone, they wouldn’t move far at all as long as the grass lasted!

Highland Games

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The suburbs of Chicago had an interesting offering recently.  A festival was held to celebrate Scottish culture (no Rob, don’t go there) and to hold Highland Games.  I haven’t been to this event before and this year it had been moved to a new location which was supposed to be able to handle the amount on show better so we headed along.

It was hot and humid (not very Scottish) so not a day to hurry yourself.  However, to add some authenticity, the recent heavy rains had left the field very boggy in parts.  The vent was huge and I shall tell more about it in the coming days.  One of the first things we went to see was the tossing of the caber!  The games had already had a couple of events and more were due later in the afternoon.  However, we got one fo the more famous events while we were there.

Competitors had come from all over the country.  The men and the women were competing together (obviously with different cabers) and it was quite something to watch.  All of these people looked like they could handle themselves in a fight!  They were big people.  A couple were school teachers so I suspect their pupils know how to behave.

The announcer suggested that the women had chosen too long a caber and no-one managed to get it over while we were watching.  However, the men were having more luck and there were quite a few successes including some that were given perfect scores – do you know how to score this event??  A good start to the afternoon.

Making the new site work

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So, I have finally taken the plunge and moved the old version of the website offline and transferred to the new version.  I immediately notice that my two trial posts when the site was in beta seem to be in reverse order.  I have no idea why that might be so I will keep on posting and see whether everything shows up in the right place eventually.

The photo life has been a tad restricted recently.  Other work commitments have had me on the road and basically without a camera for a while so I have been plotting my next ideas.  One good opportunity was, of course, the moon coming so close to the earth.  Saturday was a lovely day here in Chicago so I was hopeful of some good shots.  However, when I made my way out to the planetarium (and I was not alone out there!!), the cloud cover drifted in.  It started out on the horizon but with clear sky above.  Patience my young Padawan.  Of course, as the moon rose, the clouds spread out and covered the sky.  Lots of disappointed people went home.

I actually tried the next night but the result was just as bad.  Ho hum!  The results you see here are not impressive although given the low light and the shutter speeds, they could have been worse, I assure you!