Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 5

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 5.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge allaboutwordswa

If I pick you and you don’t feel like participating or if you’ve already taken up the challenge, that’s fine.  I understand.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Couples

This week, Cee has us looking for two of anything for her Black & White Photo Challenge. Going through the photo files it wasn’t too difficult to find pairs both in nature and everyday items.

Pairs of shoes at the Stephenson County Historical Museum in Freeport, Illinois.

Two horses waiting to pull a hay wagon at Willow Springs Garden in Wausau, Wisconsin.

Two ducks enjoying a sunny day at Historical Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A pair of warriors at the Chinese Lantern Festival in the Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis.

Two of the elk in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Couples, Twins, Two of Anything

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Focus

This week we’re getting in or out of focus, however the fancy takes us, for the Photo Challenge set by David at The Daily Post.  I have a multitude of images that are unintentionally out of focus. I’ve even tried using them for competitions, claiming artistic license, although the judges just weren’t buying it.  I do have  a number of pictures that, all things considered, are quite sharp. And then there are those that, by some miracle, just seem to have the right balance.  It’s sheer luck when this happens as I’m not one to fiddle around making adjustments to the camera when I’m out shooting. Even if I spent time reading the manual that comes with the camera, I’d probably never remember all the technicalities.

 

I like this shot of a swan at the Chicago Botanic Garden for a couple of reasons. The flowers in the foreground add some color to the picture but also, being slightly out of focus, give the impression that we are hiding behind them watching as the swan goes gliding by.  A similar effect can be seen in this image of a moose taking it easy at Snowbird Resort near Salt Lake City in Utah, although who was hiding from whom I’m not sure.

I think the following images benefit from having the background out of focus, allowing us to concentrate more fully on the subject: flowers at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, a young man playing the part of a soldier at the Fort on Mackinac Island and a goldfinch enjoying some sunflower seeds in our garden.

For more on The Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to Focus

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Isolated Subjects

Cee’s topic for this week’s Black & White Photo Challenge is Isolated Subjects and, being a non-swimmer, I can’t think of anything more isolated than being out on a boat. If anything goes wrong, you can’t just get out and walk home! This shot was taken just off Mackinac Island. We were on the hydro-jet ferry which was slightly less scary than being on a yacht.

The buffalo, on Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake in Utah, didn’t seem to feel the need to stay together.  Most of the one’s that we spotted were alone.

During a hike to Cecret Lake in Alta, Utah, we stopped to watch someone scaling the rock face.  I was almost too afraid to look, it seemed so dangerous. Rather like sailing, if something goes wrong, you’re on your own!

Isolated in time, this prehistoric skull looks out from the Natural History Museum of Utah.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2016/09/15/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-isolated-subjects/

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Three Items or The Number 3

Continuing on the numbers theme, this week’s Fun Foto Challenge on Cee’s Photography Blog calls for Three Items or The Number 3.

Three water fountains in the Rose Garden at Cantigny Park.

Three road wheels on a tank at the First Division Museum in Cantigny Park.

Three butterflies enjoying some purple flowers.

Lucky number 3! A racehorse at Arlington Park.

Three fish cruising in the waters of the Garden of Reflections at the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2015/06/23/cees-fun-foto-challenge-three-items-for-the-number-three/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Two Very Different Items

Cee has set an interesting photo challenge this week calling for Two Very Different Items.

I’ve heard of a bull in a china shop but climbing up a wall???? Outside the Talbott Hotel in downtown Chicago.

I’ve also heard of Crate & Barrel but crate & bear??????

I don’t think you’d find these two in Crate & Barrel; squirrel in a pan.

A giant face, sculpted by artist Jaume Plensa, in Millennium Park, dwarfed by a nearby skyscraper in downtown Chicago.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2015/06/16/cees-fun-foto-challenge-two-very-different-items/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: One Item

Thanks to Cee for her Fun Foto Challenge this week and the subject One Item.  It gives me a perfect opportunity to share some of the images that I captured at the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois on Tuesday.

One moss-covered boulder at the foot of the West Waterfall.

One lonely duck in a scrimmage for food with a whole crowd of hungry koi in the waters of The Garden of Reflection.

One red umbrella on the Floating Deck.

One cheeky chipmunk checking out visitors in the Pond Strolling Garden.

One statue; Ancient Scholar – Bunjinzo which, according to the visitor’s brochure, was carved approximately 600 years ago.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2015/06/09/cees-fun-foto-challenge-one-item/

A Word A Week Photography Challenge : Hole

Once again, Sue Llewellyn has come up with a subject for her Word A Week Photography Challenge on A Word In Your Ear at http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/a-word-a-week-photography-challenge/ that gives me the opportunity to use pictures that I might not otherwise have shared. Thanks Sue!

I think I could safely bet that you will never, in a million years, guess the title of this sculpture. We came across it while taking a walk through the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Created by British sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth, this interesting piece of artwork is entitled “Summer Dance.”

“Hey, this might look like just a hole in the ground to you but it’s home to me!” A prairie dog on guard in The Badlands, South Dakota.

Yes, folks, I’ll take a picture of pretty much anything, even a hole in the ground. This one just happened to be one dug in our yard when the plumber came to clear the tree roots out of our sewer pipes.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Roads

Some roads seem to just disappear around a corner, like the one pictured above at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.

Other roads appear to go on to infinity like these two byways in South Dakota (above) and Wisconsin (below).

Sometimes it’s not so much about the road but what’s in it. A group of inquisitive burros block the road in Custer State Park, South Dakota.

These are my entries for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge on Cee’s Photography at http://ceenphotography.com/2014/08/26/cees-fun-foto-challenge-roads/

Life With The Lions

No, not Ben & Bebe! Oh my goodness, am I dating myself here! Is there anyone out there who still remembers Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels? Anyway, back to the lions. It’s rarely that I’ve ever had such a good opportunity to photograph the big cats at any of the zoos that I’ve visited, and I’ve been to quite a few over the years.

Last week I timed my visit to Brookfield Zoo perfectly. The weather was pleasant without being too hot and the animals were fairly active. The lions, although not exactly leaping about, were at least visible.

There seemed to be a large number of children at the zoo that day, mostly on school field trips and, kids being kids, they weren’t content with watching the lions just laying about. They wanted action! They roared and screamed (the kids, not the lions) in an effort to induce the king of the jungle to get with the program.

The lion merely looked bored out of its skull and I could imagine a George Sanders-like voice a la Shere Khan in The Jungle Book drawling “Oh please,” while it lazily stropped it’s claws on a nearby rock.

There was a moment when things did get quite interesting. The female had secured herself a sizeable hunk of meat and prudently dragged it off to the other side of the enclosure. The male, trying to appear nonchalant, began to sidle over towards her.

She immediately dropped what she was doing and took a few steps towards him with a look that said “Well, do you feel lucky, punk??” He, probably feeling nothing ventured, nothing gained, took one more hesitant step. But you could see he didn’t give much for his chances and he was right. Mrs. Lion covered the ground between them in a flash and let him have it, pushing him away with her huge paws.

And just like that, the confrontation was over. The lioness went back to her lunch and the male, realizing that he’d met his match, slunk back to the safety of his ledge among the rocks. The fathers in the crowd, poor devils, groaned in sympathy while the mothers pumped their fists and gave each other high fives.