Through Smoke

I took photos with my old friend Cecilia on Tuesday. We sort of had to make our own winter since Northern Illinois hasn't had a measurable snowfall since last February (nice). But, the weather channel says that we might, finally, get a real snow either tomorrow or Friday so I'm hopeful. 

For these pictures, we trekked across a dried out swamp, through a field, past some trees and finally came upon the right spot on the edge of a dried up pond (because there's really nothing around that isn't dried up anymore). It was also the perfect temperature outside (around 45) and the next day it dropped to 0 and it hasn't really gotten warmer since.

Anyway, a lot energy went into these pictures. We tore down branches, fought our way through thorn bushes, and braved the possibility (and reality) of first degree burns and smoke inhalation all before 1 o'clock in the afternoon. We also made some thrilling discoveries together, one of the greatest being the hypnotic way that pilling stuffing melts when it's thrown into a fire. It was awesome.

So, enjoy the pictures and the outtakes because Cecilia is the best and they were fun to take (also, I experimented a little with editing so yes/no?).

( ^ This is the exact moment where the fire actually burned through her shirt ^ )