Square in September – Lantern Pink

My final submission for Becky’s Pink Squares is taken from the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanic Garden in St. Louis. Although many of the lanterns showed pink during the day, at night the color changed dramatically to red, so I’m glad I took a few pictures when we were there earlier.

 

For more on Becky’s Square in September Photo Challenge go to Hello September!

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Working on the Water

I thought I’d stick with the water theme for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge, People at Work , this week, having recently submitted a post for Nancy Merrill’s Photo Challenge Water

Working on the barges at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in Cairo, Illinois.

Working the tour boats on the San Antonio River in downtown San Antonio, Texas.

Working to keep us safe on Lake Michigan at the Air & Water Show in downtown Chicago, Illinois.

Working to keep the lakes and gardens beautiful at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – High and Mighty

This week, the color is red, for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, so I thought I’d share two of the pictures that I took while I was in Minnesota recently. The first was captured at the Cathedral of Saint Paul and the second in the State Capitol Building.

 

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to Red.

Square in September – Fairy Pink

Today’s image for Becky’s September Squares ‘In the Pink’ photo challenge was taken at the Jeremy Rochman Memorial Park in Carbondale, Illinois.

This rather poignant figure is one of a series of Dungeons & Dragons characters in a park that was dedicated by a father to a much-loved son who was killed in a car accident at 19 years of age.  For more on this touching tribute see Dungeons and Dragons in Carbondale.  For more on Becky’s September Squares photo challenge go to Hello September!

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Different Perspective

Cee has left the topic open for her Black & White Photo Challenge this week so I thought I’d revisit my trip downtown recently to get a different perspective on some of the things that I saw there.

Looking up at one of the lions outside the Chicago Art Institute on Michigan Avenue.

Taking the long view outside the Lyric Opera House on Wacker Drive.

On a day crowded with walkers, runners and tourists down for the Air & Water Show, these artists on the River Walk managed to stay very calm and focused on their projects.

Looming overhead, the stainless steel headdress of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry, in Millennium Park.

A view within a view at Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.

Getting the bird on the River Walk.  Some of you may remember this little guy from a previous post.  He was very obliging and allowed me to take lots of shots from different angles.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Open Topic.

Square in September – Pinkalicious

Today, for Becky’s ‘In the Pink’ September Square, I thought I’d share this image, captured in Chicago while I was down there for the Air & Water Show. As soon as I saw it, I thought of this photo challenge.

 

For more on Becky’s Square in September go to Hello September!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Air & Water Action

 

Up until recently I’ve usually made my trips to downtown Chicago on a weekday but the lure of the Metra weekend train pass got the better of me and this time I planned to venture down on a Saturday and Sunday.  The fact that the Air & Water show was on, posed something of a challenge. Normally I would avoid big events such as this like the plague but since I’d never seen the A&W show and feeling rather adventurous I decided to take action and go ahead with the plan, and was I glad that I did!

I wasn’t, however, willing to walk all the way from Ogilvie Station to North Avenue Beach, the site of most of the day’s action, but I figured Oak Street Beach would still afford a pretty good view of things and I was right. I perched on a wall by the beach and stayed there (the place was so crowded I didn’t dare give up my spot.)

Although most of the action was in the air, the water provided one or two interesting shots as conditions on Lake Michigan were fairly choppy.

To be honest, I couldn’t actually see what I was photographing most of the time.  I’d never taken shots of anything like this before and wasn’t prepared for how quick the action was, as the planes went zooming overhead.

So I just set the camera on automatic action and kept my finger on the button, hoping for the best. Not that I’m offering it as any kind of excuse for the poor quality of the images but, as you can see, the visibility wasn’t exactly at its best, although, thankfully, they did allow the smoke to clear somewhat every once in a while.

 

When I went back on Sunday I decided to skip going to the beach and walked down to Navy Pier via the River Walk, then south along by DuSable Harbor. Even then, I still got a good view of the aerial acrobatics although the water was a lot calmer by the harbor.

Thanks to Patti for setting the topic for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.  For more on this challenge go to #9: Action

 

Square in September – Think Pink

It’s September and Becky is back with her Square Photo Challenge. This month the topic is In the Pink and no, I wasn’t under the influence when I took this picture! We stopped for gas in Wisconsin recently and this was what we saw.

Apparently this pink elephant has been a fixture at the gas station in DeForest since the 1960’s.

For more on In the Pink go to Hello September!