St. Andrew's - landscape photography

Easter Day
Photograph by Tom Atwood

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Edwardsville, Illinois. 

Shutter: 1/15; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 200; Focal Length: 18 mm

A Passing Shower - landscape photography

Fruit Road near Edwardsville, Illinois
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Some days the sky has a lot of energy. Brief storms blow up and blow away. The rain pours, soaks a field, and suddenly gives way to sun and rainbows. Every direction is a picture.

Shutter: 1/80; Aperture: f/13; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 18 mm

Blue - Edwardsville Senior Pictures

AlexWever
Photograph by Tom Atwood

This is one of the first senior portraits I took: Alex Wever  leaning against a lumber warehouse, a kind of blue landmark in Edwardsville, Illinois. In fact, this portrait of Alex is a kind of blue landmark, too. Blue bricks, blue metal siding, blue jeans, blue eyes.

Shutter: 1/125; Aperture: f/1.8 (late in the day); ISO: 100; Focal Length: 35 mm

Polarizing - landscape photography

Blacktop Road near Lebanon, Illinois
Photograph by Tom Atwood

There is a lens filter, known as a "polarizing filter," that brings out deep colors in color photos, and as you can see, also adds unusual contrast to black & white images, especially to clouds and a bright blue sky.
Almost other worldly.

Shutter: 1/200; Aperture: f/8; Focal length: 18 mm; ISO: 100

Low light - landscape photography

Garden of the Gods
Photograph by Tom Atwood

It was just after dawn among the cavernous sandstone formations in the Garden of the Gods near Harrisburg, Illinois. The light was dim, even outside the caverns. This photo was taken at a slow shutter speed to allow as much light as possible through the lens. The color was saturated slightly in editing.

Shutter: 1/80; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 200; Focal length: 200 mm

The God Tree

Moon near Marine
Photograph by Tom Atwood

My friend calls this ancient elm the "God Tree." And it does have power at its location in a thin place near Marine, Illinois. I have photographed it many times, on this night as the moon rose above the field.

Shutter: 3/5 sec; Aperture: f/5; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 75 mm

Virgin Farm

Near Emerald Mound
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Olympian Craig Virgin invited me to his parents' farm near Lebanon, Illinois one snowy day. Or did I invite myself? Either way, it was lovely.

Shutter: 1/250; Aperture: f/10; ISO: 100; Focal Length: 18 mm

Guesswork

Blue Heron on the Mississippi
Photograph by Tom Atwood

A photograph like this involves a great deal of guesswork. And luck. The heron was flying at dusk, after the sun had gone down along the Mississippi River at Alton, Illinois. The low light meant using a slow shutter speed, and focus was at best, a guess. I took several pictures of this magnificent bird, and one of them turned out. This one.

Shutter: 1/80 sec; Aperture: f/13; Focal Length: 200 mm; ISO 400

Frozen

East St. Louis Relays
Photograph by Tom Atwood

Sometimes, more than helping you see, a photograph can help you feel. In this case, the feeling is tension. High school runners at an invitational track meet wait anxiously for the baton to be passed to them in the 1600-meter relay. Their nerves are part of the image. 

Shutter: 1/500; Aperture: f/6.3; ISO: 400; Focal Length: 18 mm

Darkness

Milky Way above the
Garden of the Gods
June 17, 2012
Photograph by Tom Atwood

The Garden of the Gods is one of the darkest places in Illinois. One of the few areas where you can see the Milky Way on a moonless night like this one on June 17, 2012. In the photo above, the sandstone rock formations were lit by a flashlight during the 25-second time exposure. (The flashlight also caught some trees, which you can see in the lower left corner).

Shutter: 25 secs; Aperture: f/3.5; ISO: 5000; Focal Length: 18 mm