Tagjoliet

4th of July Fireworks – Joliet Park District

Happy Birthday Day America! And what better way to say that than with FIREWORKS! Here in Joliet we are spoiled with not 1 but 2 fireworks shows. One of the shows is on the 3rd of July and this show has always been on the 4th. As a photographer I feel like I was actually able to capture a fireworks show in a photo. What do you think? These were taken at the Joliet Park District’s Memorial Stadium fireworks show. All the photos we shot in manual and had varying settings from 30 seconds to 6 seconds for the shutter speed. I personally shoot with my ISO on auto and then my F-stop was at F-8.I also HATE using a tripod but this is what they were made for right? I got a pretty good one that doesn’t break the bank either. You can check it out on Amazon here. It’s the Manfrotto brand and I have had it for about 4 or 5 years.

If you want to check out my shots from the other night you can see them here.

 

4th of July – Bicentennial Park

Happy Birthday Day America! As a photographer I feel like I was actually able to capture a firework in a photo. What do you think? These were taken at Bicentennial Park in downtown Joliet. All the photos we shot in manual and had varying settings from 30 seconds to 6 seconds for the shutter speed. I personally shoot with my ISO on auto and then my F-stop was either at F-22 or F-8.

Autobahn Country Club Joliet, IL

As I sit here trying to write this blog I am trying to think of words that can describe my day yesterday … Amazing, Exciting, Wonderful, Thrilling, FAST – This list can go on and on. I was at the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL. For those of you who don’t know Joliet has the Chicagoland Speedway where they hold the Nascar and Indy cup races. Just across the street is any one who loves speeds dream place to go. I know a few of the members and got invited to Lady’s Day at the track! My day started out by getting to take a few “Hot Laps” with Tom Bagley who is a former Indy car driver and also Director of Racing Instruction & Track Safety at the Autobahn Country Club.

Then we were taken to the club house for some afternoon snacks and to get some instruction on what we would be doing for the rest of the day.

I got to learn the proper techniques for braking for a turn and also got to do an auto cross course. Now you might be wondering by now what on earth was I driving to make this so much fun … That would be the 2012 Mercedes C 63 and the Audi TT. Amazing cars by the way! They are part of the Performance Fleet that includes cars from all the top manufactures. After we were able to master the Auto-Cross course we then were off to the Go Karts. (I was the 2nd fastest time with 34.76 seconds.) Then it was time for the moment we have all be waiting for … to drive our cars on the actual race track! With the fleet of cars that were there we all got to pick a car that we wanted to drive. I chose the Mercedes E63.

I didn’t think that these cars could get any better but they did! That was the nicest car that I have ever driven and it was not because it was on a race track!

I would highly recommend this as something you take a chance at! Here is the web site so you can check them out for yourself! www.autobahncc.com