Enjoying Illinois

Last week, there was a gorgeous sunset in the Chicago area, and I was lucky enough to capture it in a little 4x4 square. It was one of those photos where you feel complete joy when you see you've framed a moment up just right. I love those kind of photos.  

This week, I felt even luckier because one of my photos was selected by the Enjoy Illinois Instagram feed as one of their featured photos: 

(Check out these Instagramers' feeds for more great photos. Photo credits: Top: @thecreatornd; Middle: @evanbrownphotography, @writegirl,@thewandering_eye, @zacheisenhauer; Bottom:@shirley319, @relaxocat, @kbucklandphoto,@old_school_artist) 

Enjoy Illinois is the official arm of the Illinois Office of Tourism, and they do a great job engaging Illinois fans across the state. Instagramers get a boost for their shots, and Enjoy Illinois gets to show everyone what kind of adventures you can have around the state. It's amazing to see what a great advertising vehicle Instagram has become.

In case you don't follow me on Instagram already, I'm @writegirl. Here's the original photo: 

August 20, 2014, sunset

I may (or may not -- I confess to nothing!) have climbed down somewhere a little off-limits and I'm pretty sure the people walking around the pond were wondering what in the world I was doing squatting on some rocks on the edge of a pond at twilight, but it was worth it. You can't tell from this shot, but there are two main roads beyond this pond, and I had to wait quite a while to get this shot without any car headlights in it. Patience -- and strong quads -- pays off!