[Editor's note--this is a continuing series featuring Chicago photobloggers. This week features talented photographer Val Bromann.  I hope you'll enjoy Val's words and photos and check out her websites at www.valeriebphotography.com and www.sillyamerica.com.]

On my first big road trip, some friends and I took three days to drive around Illinois photographing the state’s roadside attractions. Back then my Saturn Ion was new and I didn’t know how to use my Canon Rebel on anything other than automatic. We drove to Charleston and saw the world’s tallest Abraham Lincoln and to Collinsville for the world’s largest catsup bottle, to the home of Superman and a to a two-story outhouse.


The last stop on our second day was to be the Bald Knob Cross of Peace: a giant glowing cross on top of Illinois’s closest thing to a mountain. Our directions stopped when an unpaved uphill road began. It was already after 9pm and quite dark. We hesitated, but decided to trudge on, slowly, half expecting Freddy Krueger to jump out and slash our tires. We carefully ascended until the glow of the cross came into our distant view. It looked far away and impossible to get to but eventually we were at its base.

Once there, I set up my tripod and held down the button on my camera. The automatic lens focused back and forth, not catching onto anything. I fumbled for a while, switching the dial to every setting, not knowing what any of them did, not knowing how to trigger a flash, adjust the aperture, extend the shutter speed. Eventually one of my friends did something to it that allowed me to take pictures. They turned out dark and grainy but I’m not even sure a well-composed photograph would have captured the sense of standing on a dark hill, both frightened and rejuvenated, with a glowing cross in front of us, listening to the eerie whistling of the winds.

I still drive that same car today. I still take road trips, veering off the highway and exploring the American road less traveled. My camera, and skill level using it, however, have been upgraded. Since that night on the mountain I’ve read books, taken classes, practiced, worked very hard to figure out how to take photos that don’t completely suck (or to even get my camera to take photos at all). And while I still sometimes feel like I’m driving in the dark, the journey is always worth it in the end.

[Thanks Val.  -DMO]