I retired about three years ago, and one of the benefits of that was to have more time and flexibility to travel. Right around that time, my wife and I learned about a place in Illinois called Starved Rock State Park, which had a number of small rock canyons and waterfalls. It was then April, and we thought that we would just go ahead and go right away, partly because we just could, and partly because perhaps it would be less crowded than if we waited. We also brought the dog along to see how well she would travel, since we were contemplating longer cross-country trips for future years.

The park extends along the Illinois River on the south bank, with the various canyons running into the cliff walls. We started exploring it right after breakfast. It was mid afternoon by the time we made it to La Salle Canyon, seen here. The trail approached the waterfall along one side of the canyon, passed behind it under the rock overhang, and then continued on to the next canyon. I took shots from several locations, but preferred this one from behind the falls. I usually shoot various exposures from a small fraction of a second to several seconds, and decide later which exposure I like best. In this case it was .6s. The sun and partly cloudy skies were a bonus.

Our dog Katie, a West Highland Terrier, did not care about the exposure, and was completely happy just being able to go along with us.