SUNSET CATTAILS FROM A WETLAND PRAIRIE BEAR LAKE The sky came alive with

The sky came alive with fascinating colors with Eakin Creek West catching those same colors of the sky above on its calm surface with a box elder tree hugging the bank at Wildflower Park in Northern Illinois

A red-winged blackbird sings out to attract a mate while being perched atop a cattail at Wildflower Park

I was hoping for a sunrise that had soft lighting and cool colors but

I reached the trailhead soon after leaving the house with camera gear in hand and it wasn't long before I started seeing the wildflowers along the lake which included cup plants

Its been overcast just about every day since the first of the year so wanted to photograph a nice sunset for a change instead of the gloomy weather that we have had

SUNSET CATTAILS FROM A WETLAND PRAIRIE BEAR LAKE The sky came alive withI set out to photograph the sunset during the late afternoon hours on these short days of late autumn and was hoping that it would be a nice and colorful sunset. I thought I would photograph the sunset from Eakin Creek West first, which I did as a beautiful sunset appeared on this December evening with the sky coming alive with fascinating colors. After photographing the sunset from the creek, I looked for more subjects nearby as the colors were still