Illinois Across the Land

Whether you find beauty in a remote forest or a sparkling nighttime cityscape, Illinois offers jaw-dropping scenery and opportunities for adventure with stunning landscapes, natural wonders, small town charms, and big city thrills. Join photographers Lee Mandrell and DeeDee Niederhouse-Mandrell on a visual journey across the Prairie state, as they travel from the beaches of Lake Michigan over rolling forested hills and picturesque farmland, through covered bridges, past historic barns and windmills, and up to the edge of the awe-inspiring rocky cliffs of the Garden of the Gods.

Featuring more than 140 gorgeous photos, Illinois Across the Land inspires travelers to explore the state and discover historic landmarks at the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historical Site, rushing waterfalls in Starved Rock State Park, native wildlife in Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge, breathtaking sunsets at Carlyle Lake, and so much more!

For Lee Mandrell, photography started out as a hobby that quickly ignited into a fiery passion and then into a lifelong career. He started out at age fourteen with a secondhand Minolta Hi-Matic E rangefinder. Mandrell worked as a custom darkroom technician in a professional lab for years and was eventually promoted to production manager. An early adopter of both digital technology and Photoshop, he is still actively involved in all current photography techniques and practices. He is author of Indianapolis: The Circle City and coauthor of The Great Smoky Mountains: A Visual Journey and Indiana Across the Land. DeeDee Niederhouse-Mandrell's interest in the art of photography began over twenty-five years ago. What started out as a hobby eventually turned into a paying photography job--she is now the principal photographer for the Ray Skillman Corporation. After several years, Niederhouse-Mandrell became the corporation's creative photography manager for their upper-end magazine advertisements. She is coauthor of The Great Smoky Mountains: A Visual Journey and Indiana Across the Land.