Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – I’m Listening

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge gives us the perfect opportunity to share pictures that don’t really seem to fall into any particular category.  This piece of whimsy caught my eye outside a local electronics store last fall.  For more on Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2017/01/29/cees-odd-ball-photo-challenge-january-29-2017/

Weekly Photo Challenge – Graceful

The Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post, set for us this week by Ben Huberman, asks us to define our idea of graceful. Some of the most graceful movements I have ever seen have been performed by Japanese dancers.  The images below were taken some years ago at a local Japanese Festival.  I didn’t have an automatic focus on my camera then, and was working in very low light without benefit of flash and although I was quite happy with the results at the time, I keep hoping for another opportunity to photograph these wonderful dancers with more up-to-date equipment just to see if I can improve on the outcome.  For more on The Weekly Photo Challenge go to https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/graceful/

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Public Transportation

This week, Cee invites us to take public transportation for the Black & White Photo Challenge.  My first thought was that I rarely take public transportation, pictures or otherwise, except for the train into downtown Chicago and that, only rarely.  But then I realized that the term ‘public transportation’ covers a good deal more than just trains and buses so I went through the photo files and came up with quite a diverse collection.

A more leisurely style of transportation; a horse and wagon awaits passengers at the Wade House Historic Site in Greenbush, Wisconsin. A great way to get from the Wesley Jung Carriage Museum to the Old Wade House.

Taking the lift up the mountain at Snowbird Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.  It was the first time I’d ever ridden in one of these and was too busy taking pictures to be nervous.

A more conventional form of public transportation; one of the tour buses that takes visitors around the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.

This was another first; a ride on the Star Line hydro jet ferry that took us from Mackinac City to the Island.  Although I’m always apprehensive about being on water, being a non-swimmer, I found this form of public transportation very exhilarating.

A more familiar form of public transportation and one seen in many towns around this area; Metra trains are a comfortable and convenient way to get around and certainly beat sitting in traffic jams for hours on end and paying exorbitant parking fees when you get there especially in downtown Chicago.

One kind of public transportation that I don’t plan on taking any time soon is the airplane.  The only time I was on one of these was when I came over to the US from England.  Like many people, I can’t explain my fear of flying.  The flight over here was good, nothing to put me off of doing it again, but there it is; an irrational fear of flying.  I suppose if it was an emergency and I had to do it, I could, but it’s not something I would do by choice.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2017/01/19/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-public-transportation-2/

Thursday Doors – Open Government

No, I’m not going to get into discussing politics but I thought this might be a good topic for this week’s Thursday Doors given the current political climate.  These pictures were taken a couple of years ago at the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  For more on Norm’s Thursday Doors go to https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/thursday-doors-january-19-2017/