Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – My Photography Journey

This week, Amy has asked us to recount our Photography Journey. Mine has been a long and varied one.  Starting in England, it probably began in the late 1950’s when I appropriated my parents’ Kodak Brownie camera. My subjects were usually my dear Mum and Dad but when they weren’t available, I’d sneak up on the dog.

 Although I liked the results that I got from the Brownie, there were so few pictures on a roll of film and I later switched to the smaller format of the Kodak Instamatic, only using the Brownie on the odd occasion. The pictures weren’t anywhere near as satisfactory but evidently quantity took precedence over quality in those days. Black and white eventually gave way to glorious color and in the late 1960’s the lens was focused mainly on my eldest daughter and my parents’ garden, with occasional visits to Whipsnade Zoo.

I brought both the Brownie and the Instamatic with me when we came to live in the US in 1973 and continued to use them to capture our family’s early days in Chicago. But I wanted more! I longed for a camera where I could change the lenses and add filters and swagger about in a photographer’s vest, pretending to know what I was doing. Then in 1987, my husband bought me a Minolta X-370 and, so that I might give it a good test run, we took a trip to Niagara Falls and, later that summer, to the Badlands in South Dakota. During subsequent years it accompanied us to Virginia Beach, Wisconsin, Iowa and Florida amongst other places.

I experimented for a while with a Polaroid camera but, although it was useful for those situations when you needed the picture right then and there, the results were disappointing to say the least and the novelty soon wore off. I even branched out with a Super 8 movie camera but the short duration of the film, the high cost of processing and the fact that it had no sound were not in its favor.

My first foray into digital photography was in 2002 with a Canon Elph. Wow! What a revelation! No more eking out pictures on a roll of film and saving what I could spare from the housekeeping to get them developed, only to find that half of them were duds. Digital photography was here to stay, thank goodness!

Later I received the gift of a Canon EOS Rebel. Since then, I’ve upgraded to a newer model and rarely go anywhere without it. I’ve tried to vary the content of my pictures but I suppose nature is my preferred subject, although the family photo files take up quite a bit of space on the hard drive.  Over the years I’ve belonged to a couple of camera clubs and learned quite a lot about composition and presentation from my time there, but I never could get the hang of f-stops and metering and technical stuff like that. These days I usually set the camera on automatic and hope for the best.

The last two images were, I thought, especially appropriate for this challenge, the first picture being of our youngest granddaughter taken just days after she was born in 2019 and the second of my dear mother taken two years before she passed away in 2011, at the age of 96, both the focus of much of my photographic journey.

January Squares – Room Up Top

There is plenty of room Up top for Becky’s January Squares Photo Challenge this week. And the view is pretty spectacular from up on the top floor of these high-rise buildings in downtown Chicago.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a high-rise in Chicago. You can catch a great view from up top these less conventional structures; the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the YMCA Leaning Tower in Niles, a lookout tower at Fort Snelling in Minnesota and the Moser Tower Millennium Carillon in Naperville.

Whether corporate or cute, there’s always room up at the top; Oakbrook Terrace Tower in Oakbrook Illinois, the Amegy Bank Tower in Houston, the James H. and Joann N. Collins Tower along the River Walk in St Charles and a lookout point in the rose garden of Olbrich Gardens in Madison Wisconsin.

January Squares Photo Challenge – Step Up

This month, Becky is asking us to Square Up for the January Squares Photo Challenge. So, here I am, Stepping Up with a few images to kick off the year.

Going Up! Steps along the River Walk in downtown Chicago, Naperville and San Antonio.

Some impressive steps leading up to even more impressive buildings; The Baha’i Temple in Wilmette, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Bartlett, McCormick House at Cantigny Park and the State Capitol Building in Minneapolis.

Stepping up to the sky or just up to the garden; the Norge Ski Jump at Fox River Grove, the Moser Tower Millennium Carillon in Naperville and the Chicago Botanic Garden.

And winding things up; stepping up at The Grove Redfield Estate in Glenview, McCormick House at Cantigny Park, Marion Cultural and Civic Center in Illinois and the State Capitol Building in Minnesota.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Found in The Neighborhood

This week, Ann-Christine would like us to share what we have Found in the Neighborhood for the Len’s-Artists Photo Challenge. I make no apologies for dipping into the photo files for this one. We have been asked to stay at home as much as possible for the next 30 days because of the virus and, in trying to comply, I am not about to venture out for anything less than toilet paper and Marmite. These pictures may not be recent but I don’t think I’ve published them here before.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge- Dark Red

With limited travel and photo opportunities, it’s been quite a challenge to come up with recent pictures rather than dipping too far back into the photo archives, but here are a few shots, taken in the past few weeks, that I thought would fit in with Cee’s theme of Dark Red for her Fun Foto Challenge.

The last of the roses at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

The barn at Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumburg.

Two places of interest in the historic shopping district of Long Grove.

And lastly, a leftover guest from our Family Fall Festival.

Pull Up A Seat – In Long Grove

As I had promised, I returned to Long Grove this week to make further purchases at Paddy’s On The Square and, while I was there, checked out a few places that seemed like pleasant spots to Pull Up A Seat and take a break.

Thursday Doors – In Long Grove

Not only did my recent trip to Long Grove result in the successful conclusion of my quest for Marmite, but also the addition of many more pictures for the photo files. I tried to remember all the things I was supposed to look out for and came up with a few doors that I thought might merit a spot on Norm’s Thursday Doors.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – What A Treat!

This week, Tina’s choice of What A Treat as the theme for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge sparked a trip down Memory Lane and prompted me to re-visit and re-capture the glory days of a once-popular tourist destination.

There was a time when we considered spending the day at Long Grove’s historic shopping district a treat. On busy days and especially when there was a Festival in progress you would be lucky, despite the myriad parking lots, to find a space to leave your car. Yesterday it was almost empty.

It was here that we came to buy perfumed soaps and chocolate-dipped strawberries, to eat ice cream in the summer and drink hot apple cider in the Fall. We would browse for hours through antique shops, boutiques and novelty stores.

It was here, too, that I came to find the sort of foods that I missed so much from home; Spotted Dick, Bovril, Oxos, oxtail and Mulligatawny soups (before the ban on imports that contained beef because of mad cow disease and other import restrictions more or less drove them out of business.) Here I stocked up on Christmas puddings, mince pies and Twiglets, and got recent news of home from the proprietor who made frequent visits back across the Pond.

To be fair, the decline in Long Grove’s fortunes began long before Covid arrived, but it certainly didn’t help matters. Remembering the good old days, it was very sad to see all the places that had closed down and so many of the beautiful old buildings falling into disrepair.

Gone is the magical place where you could find all manner of plush toys, much to the kids’ delight, and gone too, the store that sold the best Christmas decorations. No more, the shop that sold every kind of kitchen accessory known to man and, as far as I could tell, even the old apple press (the core of the annual Apple Festival) is no longer functioning.

The old covered bridge is still standing but only just. They had only recently reopened it after having it renovated because of damage caused by an accident involving a delivery truck, when the very next day it was hit by a chartered bus. What are the odds!

But it’s not all gloom and doom. There are still some businesses that are hanging on and people are working very hard to make a go of it. Restaurants and wine bars seem to be the glue that is holding Long Grove together these days, despite the limitations set by the pandemic.

And on the bright side, there is still a touch of whimsy, despite a general feeling of doubt about the future of the place.

I did my bit to help the economy with the purchase of a jar of Marmite (what a treat!) and various other items at Paddy’s on The Square, with a promise to return in a week or so. It may not be how we remember it but, if you are in the area, I urge you to stop by the historic shopping district of Long Grove and sample some of the treats that are still available. Who knows! Despite all adversity there may yet be a chance for the revival of Long Grove’s glory days.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Communication

This week, our guest host, Biasini the horse, has chosen Communication as the topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. This was an interesting theme with many connotations; so many ways to communicate our thoughts and feelings.

Can you hear me now? Probably not. I saw this pay phone at our local gas station and, figuring it was something that would soon be a thing of the past, I took a picture for posterity. Mobile phones have almost completely replaced this old-fashioned mode of communication and a good thing too. It was a miracle if you could find one that hadn’t been vandalized and was still in working order.

The best way to communicate with the crowd, when even a voice on a loudspeaker can’t be heard, is by means of the electronic signboard seen here at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Back in the day when there was no such thing as radio communication between ships, flags were the means of issuing orders, declaring a vessel’s country of origin and also its intentions. These flags were hoisted at the Tall Ships Festival at Navy Pier in Chicago.

Sadly, another form of communication that seems to be going the way of the dodo is the newspaper. Our household cancelled the daily newspaper many years ago in a cost-cutting purge that saw the abandonment of many such unnecessary luxuries, but I missed scanning the news from this crisply tangible source, missed filling in the ridiculously easy crosswords and mourned the loss of connection with the community. It’s just not the same, reading the ‘police blotter’ online.

Some years ago, I photographed a protest that had been prominent in our local news. I rarely take pictures of people and when I do, they are usually candid, unposed shots that don’t normally turn out that well. I don’t feel comfortable in this situation but I summoned up my courage and engaged the protesters in conversation, asking them about their cause and obtaining permission to take their pictures. I explained that I was writing a piece for my blog about the town itself and had just happened to come upon the protest by chance. Many of those present that day were quite happy to pose for pictures but many weren’t and of course, I respected their wishes, but I found it rather ironic that people who were willing to communicate their displeasure with their current working conditions by standing at the roadside, brandishing placards and screaming at passing motorists, were not willing to express their obviously deeply-held views on a more personal level. This communicated to me that they either mistrusted my motives or were afraid of possible reprisals. Fair enough.

Finally, with a nod to Anne Leueen and her horse, Biasini, here is a shot that I captured at Arlington Race Track a couple of years ago of my granddaughter, who loves horses, making contact with one of the outrider’s mounts, a communication of kindred spirits.

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge – Symmetry

This week, Patti has chosen Symmetry as the topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. On the road and in the garden, we’ve come across symmetry in all kinds of places; Cantigny Park in Wheaton, a display of artwork in Galena and the Art Museum and a bridge in Milwaukee.

Although my own garden follows a more free and easy cottage-style format, I enjoy visiting the symmetrically formal layouts in gardens such the ones seen here; McGovern Centennial Park in Houston, Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville and Green Bay Botanical Garden.