Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning February 26, 2010 is: 
Photos for “ Shadows or Play of Light “
suggested by, bumblefish

 

 

 

 

I think if it weren’t for shadows and play of light we may not be able to take photos at all.  I am constantly playing with settings to try for the best photo if I have time and when I am just playing I am constantly changing settings to see what the camera can turn out with the existing light and the changes of settings.  I enjoy the playing and do better for learning than with a manual. 

 

Some photos with a bit of shadow

but more with the light playing with subject matter

and the affects we see due to atmosphere or time of day.

 

 

1-  2-

 

1- Rainy days are great for light from headlights or street lights playing with the atmosphere. 

2- The sun sits to the left of the school bus throwing its shadow to the right but there is an unexpected amount of light on the windows with nice reflection.

 

 

3-  4-

 

3- in the dark and rain, the exhaust catches the colors of the tail lights giving the whole car a red glow of light.

4- The contrails from jets catch the light and make lots of pattern along with the busy wispy clouds.

 

 

5-  6-

 

5- Shadows from the evergreens are thrown across the street and they camouflage the boy walking nearly under the tree.

6- Steam rises and the light catches it.  Steam and clouds and exhaust are always interesting to me to photograph.

 

 

7- 8-

 

7- More rain and nearly dark out but there is still a bit of shadow riding along under the truck.

8- Late at night going into the Bay Bridge tunnel in Virginia near Norfolk.

 

 

9-  10-

 

9- the same bridge but going out of it into the artificial night lighting.

10- Daytime and entering the same tunnel but from the opposite direction.  The light at all hours of the day changes its look and changing the settings on the camera can change it even more.

 

 

11-

 

11- going out the other end and the explosion of white light is nearly blinding.  Light really plays with photos and can make or break it.  It’s always interesting and fun to do a series of the same scene, changing the time of day.

 

 

12-

 

I took this photo to get the tree.  I’m partial to Birch and Sycamore trees because of the wonderful light and dark bark of both of them.  They give Winter a really special look.  This tree has a wonderful shadow too so it works for this challenge. 

 

 

 

Have a great week and thanks for your visit and comments.

 

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY with 
the Weekly Photo Challenge
It runs for one full week from Friday mornings to late Thursday nights. 

 

The challenge beginning February 19, 2010 is: 
Photos for “ Pictures on Walls “
suggested by, zeal4living

 

 

 

 

My house is small but I have managed thru the years to bring in things I liked enough to buy.  From figurines to pictures I have some.  Taking photos of pictures on my walls wasn’t the easiest because of small spaces and lots of reflection.

 

 

 

My Photos

 

 

1-

I am an eclectic collector as I like so many things.  Color, patterns, content, workmanship and cost all play a part.  This picture is a Bev Doolittle technique imitation by Judy Larson.  I have 3 Doolittles but they didn’t photograph well.  This image is one of two I have from this artist.  It has a lot of reflection in the glass so not the best photo.  The subject matter is Native American in the camoflage of a woods filled with Beech trees.  It’s signed and dated and came from a shop.  Bev Doolittle perfected the technique and I found her work after she had done a number of them and was famous for her work.  Judy Larson must have liked what she saw so her technique imitation.

 

 

 

2-

This is in my bedroom and I have things in it that are more primitive in style and some very sophisticated and busy.  The above is a print of flowers with the names beside each.  I found it in a thrift store and I imagine when it was printed it was printed up and sold by the thousands.  I liked it so trucked it home to go on my wall.

 

 

2b-

A partial room image for a better idea of the picture placement.

 

 

 

3-

I have a lot of signed pieces but they aren’t necessarily of any real value.  These caught my eye at a garage sale.  I brought them home and they have been hanging in my bedroom ever since.  They hang to the left of the glass display case my husband built for me, in the above image. 

 

 

 

4-

This wall assortment is in my Christmas room.  Top far right is a rubbing taken in England from a gravestone.  My nephew and his wife did them on their honeymoon and sent them as gifts in Christmas cards.  The piece to the right and down from it is a print, Christian in nature and is of the Virgin Mary and child.  The one below and at left is the Angel reporting to Mary she would soon carry and deliver the son of God in virgin birth.  Those pieces and some others are part of a collection my son built.  They are a perfect addition to the room.  

 

 

 

4b-

Backing up in the room for a better idea of the wall display and some of my Christmas collections sitting around.   Someday I hope to have better photos.

 

 

That’s it, a partial view of some of the things that clutter my house, the dust catchers I like.

 

A DISCOVERY, I totally misinterpreted what the challenger had in mind for this challenge but WYSIWYG. 

 

 

Thanks always for your visit and comments and keep on taking those photos.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY 
the Weekly Photo Challenge 

 

The challenge for the week of February 5, 2010 is: 
Photos for “ Water, In Motion “
suggested by, JayneBug

 

It’s so cold here THINKING about a lot of water freezes my innards but, 

 

 

A mix of photos, some older, some taken this year.

 

 

1- This is a locally taken photo, of an Ohio rainy day.  The Waters in Motion comes from the skies to the roads and fields where it travels in rivulets or torrents to streams or city systems where it makes its way to rivers and oceans around the world.  The same water falls year after year being taken back to the clouds by evaporation.  There is only so much of it and the cleaner we keep it the better off we are as it is necessary for living no matter if you walk on two legs or four or even eight as nothing lives without it.  The amount of dirt, filth and sewage, because of the numbers of people in the world who use the resource, makes it difficult to keep it fresh, clean and suitable for use.  We may or may not believe in global warming but to take what we drink lightly and to not be concerned about our water supplies is foolish if not foolhardy.  Treat our water supplies with kindness. 

 

 

 

2-  This is what ”Waters in Motion” looks like running off a windshield and this is parked, not moving so not causing even worse visibility from the mile per hour force of the drops coming at you.  I’ve seen it much worse. 

 

 

 

3-  Another local image, a very nice living area with a man made lake.  Even man made lakes must have a source of Waters in Motion running to and from it to keep the lake fresh and livable for fish, turtles, frogs and water snakes.  Just because someone can afford to live in an area like this one does not in fact make them good stewards of water supplies.  Many people think nothing of dropping any type of garbage into the lakes, rivers, streams and oceans and on roadsides where run off  finally carries the trash into the larger waters of rivers and oceans. 

 

 

 

4-  This little running stream runs along and between farmland and the highway.  As it runs through man made culverts that are sometimes dry, I assume it is runoff from the farmlands during or after rainstorms.  The run off carries germicides, pesticides, and fertilizers off the land.  These things run into the rivers and oceans and affect the populace of creatures that live there.  If they don’t die from their intake of chemicals, the chemicals build up in their bodily systems to be eaten and built up by larger animals or fish living in the same waters.  Eventually these same chemicals reach our tables.  I’m not sure what the answer is but I do think we need refreshers on how to take care of the things that we need in order to survive.  I love the heavens, stars and moon and planets but have never in any instance wanted to go live on any of them to get away from a destroyed Earth.

 

 

 

5-  Another lovely farm pond that offers to its owners fishing and a really nice swimming hole and in this case it’s large enough to boat on.  Most of us would like to have what we see here but taking care of it offers hugh problems even families who have inherited the land have not come to grips with.  The American Indian looks at the Earth as a Mother from where all sustenance comes.  It’s a thought worth keeping in the back of our minds.

   

 

 

6-  The fields here are ripe with grain and none of it could happen without “Waters in Motion” either fresh from the skies or from irrigation ditches in dryer areas.  No water; no fields of corn, wheat, rye, oats, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, beans, broccoli, beets, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, clover hay for cattle or the simplest of grasses for the animals to eat.  None of the grasses or hays amounts to no beef cattle, sheep, pigs or wild game.

 

 

 

7-  One of the rivers that receives all the run off from Waters in Motion wherever they are.  In the spring it’s normal for snows to melt and send the cold flowing running waters from the mountains to the streams and rivers and beyond.  It looks very peaceful in the evening when you can’t see what careless people have left behind in the way of garbage left from picnics and fishing line broken and left on the ground or in the lake to tangle the legs of the geese that come to feed.  I have picked up loads of garbage from spots people say they love to frequent and I have no understanding of where there thinking is when they are so careless with what they say is so important.

 

 

Thanks for stopping to view my photos and to put up with my thoughts that may sometimes be uncomfortable.  
May all your encounters with running waters be safe, pleasant and warm. 

 

Keep on taking those photos.

 

 

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY 
the Weekly Photo Challenge 

 

The challenge for the week of February 5, 2010 is: 
Photos for “Closing Time“
suggested by, LadyLioness1973

 

I had to do some thinking per this challenge.  I haven’t worked for years other than at home and I haven’t any photos from days I did.  I finally decided on a time of day I felt was reasonable for a winding down or Closing Time for most of the work force (other than the night shifts), choosing 6:00 p.m. as what I felt might fit for a winding down feeling.  After selecting 6:00 p.m. I went through photo folders searching for photos taken at the approximate time of 6:00 p.m.  The photos I am including were, once again, taken from the passenger side of our moving car, at the “Closing Time” of whatever community or highway we were driving on at the time.  This was a round about way of doing this challenge but it did allow me the chance to play with it.  I try to come up with something for all of them and the outcome for this challenge is the variety of photos you see below.   

 

“Closing Time” Photos

 

1- 6:00 November 30, 2009 and we are driving home from our Thanksgiving visit at my sister’s home in Rockford, Illinois.  As long as there is light I take photos.  The trees are bare and the sky cloudy but the lighting in this one appealed to me for posting.  At this time of day the traffic is lighter if you aren’t in congested areas of a city and as the traffic is lighter, it is definitely “Closing Time”.

 

 

 

2-  October 20, 2009 and this is a loclly taken photo.  It’s 6:15 and the shadows on the expressway made this a darker image.  Traffic can be heavy at this time of day as we are in between 4 or so shopping malls and a lot of restaurants that can be busy but it’s a Tuesday and Tuesday is usually quieter.  Compared to the #3 photo taken the next day and only a few minutes difference in time of day you can tell how the landscape makes a world of difference for photos.

 

 

 

3-  This was taken October 21, 2009 at 6:07 p.m.  Such a difference in the light for this day compared to the light and color in image #1.  Thirty nine days made a lot of difference in foliage and light.

 

 

 

 

4-  We are driving to Rockford in this image.  The time is 6:01 on November 20, 2009.  I think this image is a good exmple for a “Closing Time” image.  It appears the work on this farm is done for the day.  I think dinner may be being served and maybe some feet being warmed by a fireplace in the main house.

 

 

 

 

5-  This is 3 miles exactly from our house.  It’s 6:06 on Friday, December 4, 2009.  The heavier traffic isn’t all that surprising as this area jams up on Fridays.  I think a lot of the drivers will be glad to be home shutting down or closing down or winding down from their day.  Traffic makes me want to find a spot to relax. 

 

 

 

 

6-  It’s 5:58 on Sunday November 30, 2008.  It’s rainy and colder and at this time of day on a Sunday “Closing Time” come earlier.

 

 

 

 

7-  Another business that looks shut down for the day.  It’s 5:59 on December 22, 2009 and we are on our drive to Virginia.  There are a lot of business wound down as people are thinking Christmas so doors close on time.  In a day or so it may be harder to find a place to stop and eat so we carry extra snacks and finger foods for this trip.

 

 

 

8-  A year earlier, 2008, same trip and it’s 5:58 on the 24th.  The weather was terrible, lots of ice on the road so we spent the night in a motel and we are late getting to Virginia.  The roads have fewer cars as Closing Time came early at a lot of business today.  You can tell from the view people aren’t on the road.  Business may be wound down for the day but everything is winding up in homes across the continent and around the world.  It’s Christmas Eve. 

 

 

Thanks so much for the challenge.  Thanks for visiting my site and thanks always for any comment.

.

 

 

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the Weekly Photo Challenge 

 

The challenge for the week of January 29, 2010 is: 
Photos for “Festival or Theme Park Rides“
suggested by me, PhotoGraphics

 

I have in the past done a lot of riding in the theme parks.  I used to love it but only take photos as a distant spectator now.  I do enjoy the color and the excitement generated by the parks and the smell of the junk foods I still enjoy.  People come for miles for what they have to offer in the way of shows, activities and rides but most of my kicks come from being able to do some photography of the places and the people who enjoy a day of noisy riding.  My photos are all distant, taken from our car in the lot at King’s Island Theme Park, I can only photography what is seen from the parking lot but if I could offer the sound coming from the park you would know there is so much more than what I see.  Anyway, a few photos taken during the summer of 2009.

 

The Eiffle Tower replica at King’s Island can be seen from a great distance from the expressway and roads in the area.  It has to be one of the logos that are reminders of the park along with noted Hannah Barbarra characters.

 

 

The taller rides can be seen from the parking lot but the park has a gentle slope to it and there are others with some height to them.  I used to walk the park and there are gardens, shops and shows any adult can enjoy even if they have no interest in rides.  Both of our kids worked at King’s Island years ago so we took time then to buy tickets and enjoy the sites as well as the food.

 

 

I don’t know how many people visit the park but it usually has a full parking lot in the summer and other activities, for instance a Haunted House at Halloween brings in visitors at times other than summer.

 

 

The taller rides generate a lot of screaming.  I enjoy trying to catch the riders with my camera.  How high this ride is I can’t say but it’s some distance from the light pole and the pole is pretty high.

 

 

 I have wondered how many tickets or dollars this ride costs as it carries very few people at a time. The ball rides on the wire between the crane type lifts and it’s thrown into the air but stays attached to the wires.  I just happened to catch it at it’s highest at the same time the small plane was flying overhead.

 

 

I don’t know the names of any of the rides but the ride on the right has a fair following as it’s always full when it travels to the top.  I am not sure how many people can ride it at a time but their feet dangle over the sides of the round fenced floor that rides up and down the center pole with their feet hinting at just how full it is.

 

 

I think as a kid I might have been bored just taking photos of the rides but it never enters my mind to be bored when watching for shots to become available.  I enjoy it and it’s a lot easier on my back. 

 

Thanks always for your visits and comments and keep on taking those photos.

 

Follow this Link to Visit and PLAY 
the Weekly Photo Challenge 

 

The challenge for the week of January 29, 2010 is: 
Photos for “On the Road Again“
suggested by, leanneannette

 

I brought home from our Christmas trip nearly 8 gigs of photos from our “On the Road Again” trip.  I have spent lots of time going through them, deleting the really bad ones, looking again to delete duplicates of same quality and looking again just to be looking to remember how nice the trip was.  The trip was timely, giving me new photos for the challenge but I’ve also been dealing with a computer change and another computer fix but think I have boiled the imaged down with the discovery I have only a couple of gigs I want to share in this challenge, JUST KIDDING.  It was hard to choose and I do have more than usual so I’m putting the images into this entry in small sizes and you can click on them to see larger if you care to.

 

My “On the Road Again”
Christmas to, while there, and from Virginia trip, photos

 

 

1-   2-

The photo on the left, #1, was taken on December 22, 2009 at the beginning of our trip.  We start late to drive nights while traffic is relatively nonexistent.  The time is 5:40 p.m and you can barely see any snow, just a dusting as the big storm from a few days before had pretty much passed over our area.  Only a few more miles down the road, 40 minutes time (6:19 pm), you see a more solid dusting.

 

 

3-   4-

We have driven into the night and are now in West Virginia.  Traffic has halted and is jammed due to construction? or ?? and we pass each other gingerly in the night.  Finally the problem with lots of flashing lights and a car off the road or an accident but we couldn’t really tell.  This is typical of what we hoped to avoid “On the Road Again”.

 

 

5-   6-

At 9:13 p.m. we see the dome of the capitol building in Charleston, W. Virginia.  Charleston is a lovely university town with the river running its length and beautiful grassy slopes leading down to it.  There are wonderful historic homes and classic forms of entertainment in Charleston.  We always enjoy the sites when we can visit in the daytime.  Finally, at 11:55 p.m. we cross the state line into Virginia.  Digital camera’s are wonderful for keeping all your information of time and date so handy inside them and because of the data I can give accurate times.  There are ski slopes in Virginia but rarely do we see snow piled on the roadside.  It was left behind, from the big storm covering miles and miles in all directions.  We are really glad it was cleaned from the roads before our drive. There is no ice, no slush, no snow.

 

 

7-   8-

We are barely inside Virginia and the amount of snow dropped during the storm is evident at the roadside truck stop.  The sight of the deep snow followed us nearly to
Richmond.  Finally, the familiar Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel I have a photographer’s fascination with.  The tunnel takes us under the ocean and up again to the roads leading to Norfolk, Virginia Beach and beyond.   

 

 

9-   10-

At 4:39 a.m. we reach our destination.  Everyone is sleeping so we quietly let ourselves in and find our bed where we land until sometime later in the morning.  The house and our beds were a welcome site.  We made good travel time but calculate 11 plus hours for the road trip, stopping only for necessities.  Photo #10, a new day in Virginia and today we decorate the Christmas tree that will be planted outside, later in the new year. 

 

 

11-   12-

We have fresh Poinsettia inside and out but those outside struggled with the slightly abnormal cold of the Winter doing some freezing of their flowers.  They tried to rally but didn’t manage to spring back to what they had been.  Inside on Christmas Eve the fire is warm and the food is hot and both are inviting.  Christmas Eve foods include homemade Pumpkin/Squash soup and several different sliced meats and cheese and a pate’ spread and Avocado and Anchovy bites on crackers and Champagne and Asti, all delicious.

 

 

13-   14-

On Christmas day we spend time eating and visiting and some package opening.  The fireplace calls to all of us including our furry family.  The day after Christmas day, we take advantage of beautiful clear skies to go site seeing.  The beach is never far away and the historic districts are decorated so we can discover plenty to photograph.  The view with the water tower is fairly familiar to me having been on this drive before.  Sandy beach is off to the left but no stopping on this particular day.

 

 

15-   16-

Today we drive past estuaries as we are headed for a ferry boat which we missed because we made so many photo stops.  No matter 

 

 

17- 18-

as we saw this feautiful sunset on the way back home with silouettes of trees and landscapes that were breath taking.  On another beach drive specifically for sunsets

 

 

19-  20-

we took many photos like this one and afterwards we drove through a state park for photos of the Cyprus , #20, that grow in the swamp there.  We took a lot of night photos like this one. 

 

 

21-   22-

And there were lots of food outings.  Food at home, food out, there was lots of food on this road trip.  And the night lights made Christmas appear everywhere.  The Pelicans #22 are flying just off the dock at Chick’s Marina and Oyster bar.  It’s a favorite eating spot of Halie and Mitch and has become a favorite of ours, too.  Sunday brunch this time around and my mouth waters as I recall just how really good the oysters were along with she crab soup and other seafood delicacies.  There are so many wonderful choices, I wish I could taste test them all.

 

 

23-   24-

The Photo#23, I took it as we readied to leave this wonderful pizzeria (and other foods).  The doughs are hand tossed and the toppings out of this world.  The Sushi #24 is hand made at another favorite eating spot, right in front of you if you care to watch the master Sushi Chef who owns this friendly little restaurant in Virginia Beach.  I’ve never eaten better Sushi.  The name of the spot is Kyushu Sushi and is well worth looking up if you are in the area.  The fact is, all the eating spots we go to are well worth looking up.  We are practiced eaters of really good food and our visits are always punctuated with great food spots.

 

 

25-   26-

And finally, the sad day we keave for home, January 3, 2010, the beginning of a new year.  I love being home but leaving Virginia and our only child and her family is very hard.  But, back through the mountains we go, where the snow lingers deeply in spots, enough so that hay bales are regularly tossed to the cattle who are finding it difficult to find enough grass to eat.  The snow, the trees and farms, it’s all so beautiful.  Photo #26 shows the red sun glow on the Winter scape.  I love the particular beauty as you can only see it on a cold Winter evening when the sun is just the perfect angle on the brown tones of the trees.

 

 

27-   28-

We arrived home late on the 3rd.  On the 5th we had snow of our own, enough to whiten the landscape and freeze your fingers but we arrived home safe and all is right with the world.  The flag still flies and Spring is not very far away and while we are inside staying warm we can plan our next trip to be out and about “On the Road Again”.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks always for your visit and your comments and keep on taking those photos.