I had some free days last week, so I made a last minute decision to visit the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. My itinerary included a stop in Cincinnati to visit a church on the drive to Lexington on Monday. I photographed various subjects in Lexington and Frankfort on Tuesday and Wednesday before driving back to Orland Park on Thursday. Click here to view my favorite images from this trip.

Most of my photography trips are very hectic. Let's just take a look at one day (Wednesday) of this short trip:

• Drive from Georgetown to Frankfort, Kentucky to arrive at the State Capitol building at 8 am
• Take photographs of the interior of the Capitol from 8 - 10 am
• Participate in a 90 minute tour of the Capitol from 10 - 11:30 am
• Capture pictures of anything I missed in the Capitol from my earlier photo shoot
• Walk around downtown Frankfort in the rain
• Visit the Thomas Clark Center for Kentucky History
• Take a guided tour (one on one) of the Old Capitol building in Frankfort from 1 - 2:30 pm
• Visit the Frankfort Cemetery and locate Daniel Boone's grave from 3 - 4:15 pm (note that this took longer than expected as the road to the grave was temporarily closed due to a funeral)
• Drive to Lexington
• Walk the grounds of the Lexington Arboretum
• Grab a quick dinner
• Visit the Mary Todd Lincoln home (only the exterior as the building closed at 4 pm)
• Drive to Georgetown
• Walk the Georgetown College campus and photograph the interior of the Chapel and library from 7 - 8 pm.
• Return to the hotel and begin uploading all of the day's images, entering captions and GPS information and backing up everything on an external hard drive from 10 - 11 pm.

This is a fairly typical day for one of my photography trips. Some trips provide more challenging days. During my recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, the days started much earlier (as sunrise is was a couple of hours earlier in the summer) and ended much later. Then, there's all of the post processing after the images are captured.

Once I return home from one of these trips, I feel like I need a vacation!

Here is an image from each stop along the way during this Wednesday in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky:

State Capitol

Marble staircasesMarble staircases of the Kentucky State Capitol building at 700 Capitol Ave Loop in Frankfort, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Thomas Clark Center for Kentucky History

Kentucky Hall of GovernorsThe Kentucky Hall of Governors in the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History displays over fifty portraits of former chief executives of the commonwealth in this permanent gallery. Photo captured at 100 W. Broadway in Frankfort, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. This photograph consists of three exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Old Capitol

Staircase under cupolaA self-supporting marble staircase splits to become double circular stairs. The windows of the cupola illuminate the rotunda of the Old Kentucky State Capitol building at 300 W. Broadway in Frankfort, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Daniel Boone's Grave

Daniel Boone's graveBurial site of Daniel Boone in the Frankfort Cemetery overlooking Frankfort, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. This photograph consists of three exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Lexington Arboretum

Flight 5191 sculptureSculpture commemorating the victims of the Comair Flight 5191 crash (2006). The 49 birds represent the 49 victims and the names of the victims are engraved at the base. Photo captured at University of Kentucky's Arboretum at 500 Alumni Drive in Lexington, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. Sculptor is Douwe Blumberg. This photograph consists of three exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image. Georgetown College

Georgetown College LibraryThe Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center at 400 E. College Street on the campus of Georgetown College (established in 1829) in Georgetown, Kentucky on October 30, 2013. This photograph consists of five exposures blended together to create a high dynamic range (HDR) image.