Tag Archives: Caterpillar Visitors Center

A historic day in Peoria

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!

Well this past Friday all the anxiety and fears about Caterpillar staying in Peoria or moving somewhere else were answered in a historic press conference at the Caterpillar Visitors Center. Cat is going to stay in Peoria and they are also building a brand new world headquarters here as well! A couple of years ago Cat announced that they would be doing a study to determine what their options would be in terms of a new facility or a renovation or that they could leave all together. The state of Illinois hasn’t had a pro-business climate for a number of years now and there are a lot of states that are much more pro-business. I’m sure that the offers that Cat received from other states and even countries to have the world headquarters would have been numerous and I’m sure that they had to really think about what would be best for the company. We are very fortunate that they are not only staying, but also going to completely change the face of the city and the skyline of Peoria!

I can only begin to imagine the shot in the arm that this project will have on our local economy. To think of what Cat will be doing, but then also what other businesses will do now knowing what Cat’s plans are for the area. We are going to see new construction and business coming into the downtown area because of this headquarters that will be right downtown. I can also see more retail stores along with restaurants and bars as well. I have a feeling that in ten years when this project is all done, it will be hard to remember what our city looked like, but everyone will be so proud of what it will become! This will be a jewel no doubt about it!!!

Alright, here’s a bunch of snaps from the historic press conference at the Caterpillar Visitors Center this past Friday. You’ll see photos of our new Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner along with some of our local politicians and a few of our friends from Caterpillar as well!

For those of you not in Central Illinois, he’s a great link with a computer generated look at what the new world headquarters will look like and also how it’s going to transform the city of Peoria! http://youtu.be/JV3FfmAnNnI

Alright, it’s time to get busy and the city of Peoria is moving forward with a little more pep in our step this week! We hope that you have a very wonderful week as always and thanks for checking out these photos!!!

Kev and Jan

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kmccat22feb15

Spotlighting Peoria

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Monday mid-morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!

I’ve been a busy little beaver this past week. I’m doing some charity work for the United Way on a project for them and we got some good shots this past week and I know we’ll be getting some more good snaps this week as well!

The other project that I’m working on is one for the Peoria Convention and Visitors Bureau and this one will be going on for the next year. What we are trying to do is to step up the quality of the PACVB library of images that they use to help promote the Central Illinois area. We have a really good story to tell here in Peoria for visitors that come to the city to see places like the Peoria Riverfront Museum or the Caterpillar Visitors Center. We’ve also got visitors coming for different events like the TT motorcycle races or the IHSA boys basketball tournament. There are also a number of great hotels and restaurants, so we really have a lot going for our area!

One of the other areas that the PACVB is working on is the convention business. I shot some photos at the Growmark convention at the Peoria Civic Center this past week. Getting big conventions like this is huge for not only the Peoria Civic Center, but also the Peoria area. A lot of local business also benefit from these conventions as well like the hotels, restaurants, gas stations and shopping centers. This is why PACVB is working hard to get more conventions like Growmark to come here to Central Illinois.

Here’s one of my shots of the entire ballroom for the Growmark convention at the Peoria Civic Center and you can see just how big of a deal that this is!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and I hope that you have a great rest of the week!!!

Kev

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kmcpcc22july14

Day and Night PIA!

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

Well it’s one of those holiday weekends coming up that’s a long weekend and that means this week is a short work week for most of us! The 4th of July is this coming Friday and I know that a lot of you will be traveling or are already traveling for the holiday! Make it a safe one on your travels and also make it a fun one! I know that having a long weekend sure is nice and we can put work aside for a couple of days and have a little fun is even better!!!!

I’m always very proud of Peoria and I think we have a great city here in the Midwest! Last year we won the All-American city for the fourth time in the history of those awards! There’s lots going on in Peoria and also a lot to see and do!!!! We should all be proud that the city is moving forward and not remaining stagnate! The Peoria skyline along the Illinois River has always been a wonderful view from across the river in East Peoria and it’s fun to watch the sun go down and see the lights of city come up!

Here’s a day and night shot of our city!!!!

I hope that you have a safe and wonderful 4th of July this coming weekend and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!! 🙂

Kev

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kmcpia21june14a

Chihuly and Thanksgiving

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New Mexico greetings to one and all!!!!

It’s been a little over a year since the Caterpillar Visitors Center and the Peoria Riverfront Museum opened up in downtown Peoria and it sure has been a great improvement to our city!

For those of you that remember Lakeview Museum, the PRM is a huge upgrade and they really have done a nice job with it! Since PRM has opened, we’ve had a couple of major shows with a great show of photographs from nature photographer Ansel Adams and now a show of glass work from the George R. Stroemple Collection. In this collection is the work of one of my favorite artists, Dale Chihuly! Chihuly’s glass work is incredible and if you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and come down to PRM in the next few months and check it out!

Here’s my snap of the exhibit room at PRM of the Chihuly and Friends show!

It’s Thanksgiving week and like me, I have a feeling that a lot of people that I know will be taking advantage of this short work week and traveling! I’ve traveled down here to New Mexico to spend Thanksgiving with my folks and am very happy about that!!!! I’m thankful for the people and things in my life, so this is a great time of the year to reflect on all of that!

If you’re going to travel this week to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving, make it a safe one!!!!!

Have a great week as always and thanks again for checking out my work!!!!

Kev

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kmcprm22nov13

PIA Skyline

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!!

I wanted to get out and get a new shot of the Peoria skyline last week and the weather was perfect! Our skyline has changed over the past few years with the new additions of the Peoria Riverfront Museum and the Caterpillar Visitors Center. The downtown is coming together and in the coming years is going to change even more! It will be interesting to see what happens next!!!

Here’s my new shot of the Peoria skyline and I’ve also got some links for a computer desktop images for those that are looking for something new to look at as well.

Widescreen image http://kevinmay.com/kmcpia19may13ws.jpg

Standard screen image http://kevinmay.com/kmcpia19may13ss.jpg

Facebook cover image http://kevinmay.com/kmcpia19may13fb.jpg

I hope that you have a great week to come and thanks for taking the time to check out my work!

Kev

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kmcpia19may13

The Peoria Riverfront Museum

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!

The Peoria Riverfront Museum has been open for about six months now and I had yet to make it down to check it out. For those of you not from the Peoria area, PRM is located in the same block as the Caterpillar Visitors Center along the Illinois River in downtown Peoria. I have to say that I was very impressed with how nice PRM is! I was down there shooting some photos for the Peoria Chamber of Commerce to help promote the museum. There is a lot to do and see there and they also have done a great job with lots of things for kids to interact with and that’s great! Like anything else, if there aren’t some things for the families to do, it won’t be as successful. I know that I’ll be going back at some point in the next couple of months because they have an exhibit from famed nature photographer Ansel Adams and that will be wonderful!

Here’s some of my shots from the Peoria Riverfront Museum! Do yourself a favor and check out PRM!!!!

I hope that you have a great week to come and thanks for taking the time to check out my work!!!

Kev

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kmcprm28apr13

Stitching

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April Fools Day Peoria greetings to one and all!!!!

Sometimes I get asked if I ever miss shooting film for my photos and the answer is no! There were things that we could only dream of doing with our photography back in the days of printing in the darkroom that are now possible with shooting digitally. One of those things that’ve been doing for probably seven or so years is “Photo Stitching”. It’s pretty simple, you take a series of photos and then in the computer you “stitch” the images together to create one big image. In the case of the snap that I’m sharing today, this is my first attempt at doing a 360 degree photograph. Inside the Caterpillar Visitors Center here in Peoria is what I like to call the “Big Room”. In this room there are a bunch of Caterpillar products including a life size version of a 797F mining truck. It’s hard from a photography stand point to get a good shot showing the size of these machines and the scope of the room all in one photograph, but that’s where this stitching shot comes in!

Here’s my photo of the CVC “Big Room”. This 360 degree photograph is 72 individual photos stitched together! Enjoy!!!!

Thanks as always for taking to time to check out my work and I hope that you have a wonderful week!!!!!

Kev

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kmccvc25mar13

The best Peoria Illinois sunset ever?

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Christmas Eve Peoria greetings to all my friends around the world!!!!

The end of the year is almost here and it seems like just yesterday it was summer time and hotter then heck!

Peoria has been my home for over 30 years now and I can remember coming here when I first started at Bradley University all those many years ago. No matter where I go or what I do, it’s always a wonderful feeling to come back home to Peoria!!!!

Here’s todays promo and the city of Peoria looks great! Sunset on the Illinois River from under the Murray Baker Bridge with Peoria in the background!
I’ve also done an incredible Time Lapse of the same setting of Peoria and do yourself a favor and see this 30 second video on YouTube. Watch in at HD quality for a real treat! Here’s the link

I hope that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa!!!!! Thanks as well for checking out my work, I really appreciate it!!!!!

Have a great one!!!!

Kev

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kmcpia22dec12

Jeff Burton, Richard Childress, and a new Cat race car!

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Monday morning Peoria greetings to one and all!!!

We’re fast approaching the end of the year and things are starting to wind down as they always do here in December!

This past week here in Peoria I got to shoot a fun event at the Caterpillar Visitors Center. Nascar’s RCR (Richard Childress Racing) unveiled their new version of the Cat Chevrolet Impala SS for the 2013 NASCAR racing season. They pulled out all the stops on this one and brought the race car up to Peoria in one of their race haulers and to see that rig in person is amazing!!! Car owner Richard Childress and driver Jeff Burton were also there to do the big unveil and then talk with the media and also do an autograph session with the fans! I was amazed to see Richard and Jeff still having smiles and be upbeat at the end of the two hour autograph session and you have to know that they were both probably a little tired, but they never showed it!!!! Smiles all around!!!!!!

Here’s this weeks promo with some of my snaps from the day at the CVC!

Thanks as always for checking out my work and I hope that you have a great week to come!!!!

Kev

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Caterpillar Visitors Center

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Monday morning greetings to one and all,

A few weeks ago I shared some photos from the grand opening of the Caterpillar Visitors Center and also the Peoria Riverfront Museum here in Peoria, Illinois. I was able to get out since then and shoot some “glamour” shots of the CVC building durning the day and the night. It’s a good looking building and a photographers dream to shoot!

I hope that you’re going to have a great week to come and thanks as always for checking out my work!!!!

Kev

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