Seven Days Black & White Photo Challenge – Day 7

Seven days, seven black and white photos of my life. No people. No explanation. Day 7.  Challenge someone every day.  Today I challenge The Lantern Room

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 Fun Foto Challenge – Light Greens

Not just any old green, but light green. That’s what Cee is asking for in her Fun Foto Challenge this week, so here goes!

One of the many hotels on Mackinac Island, this one distinctive by reason of its color, light green, which really made a splash against the blue sky.

A light green classic car at Mount Prospect’s Bluesmobile Cruise Night.

Just a small part of my extensive frog collection.  There must be a light green one in there somewhere!

A beautiful view from Foothills Parkway in Tennessee.

The town clock in Mitchell, South Dakota.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2016/09/27/cees-fun-foto-challenge-light-greens/

 

Ribbit!

Here are a few of the pictures that I took at Ribbit! The Exhibit, at Morton Arboretum this week.

Sculptor, A.J. Cobb, who lives in Wilmington, North Carolina, shapes these adorable creatures from sheets of copper.

There are 23 frogs currently on display at the Arboretum, ranging from 4ft – 7ft tall.  It takes Cobb about 120 hours to create each piece and approximately 500 pounds of sheet copper were used to make the entire collection.

Ribbit! The Exhibit is open through September 25th at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.

Cee’s Compose Yourself Challenge: Always Take More Than One Photo

This week Cee mentions that it’s always good to take more than one picture of a subject and for the most part that is something I usually do.

I love taking pictures of our ‘little princess’ but it’s not until later when I review the images that I know what I’ve really captured. Everything always happens so quickly and much of the time the images are blurred but I know if I keep clicking away I’m bound to get some that are OK.

Here are pictures of the gazebo at Cantigny Park. I took several of these, the first two from only a slightly different vantage point and the third from a totally angle. Landscapes are somewhat easier than children to photograph, I find. They don’t move around so much and you can generally take your time composing the shot.

Wildlife, like children, tend not to stay in one place for too long. If you see something interesting, take a picture right away. Don’t fanny about waiting for the thing to come closer or the light to be just right. The picture may not be perfect but it may be the only one you get.  Then, if you’re lucky enough, you may get a second or third shot at it.

Sometimes when you’re in a place that you know you may never be able to visit again or at that once-in-a-lifetime occasion, you feel like you want to take as many pictures as possible. I don’t know how many shots I took of the Balanced Rock in Arches National Park but I had a hard time leaving without taking just one more.

Cee also asks us to choose two images from our post and explain what we like about them and whether we were surprised by anything in their content. I’ve chosen two from ‘the princess’ series. I’ll start by explaining that I don’t like to take posed pictures. For me they never work. The kids usually have fixed grins that don’t look natural or stand to attention like little toy soldiers, so I wait until they’re playing and their attention is drawn away from the camera. The first picture I like because she was in dress-up mode and also in a good mood. I caught her just as she was about to blow a kiss to the handsome prince, or in this case, Grandpa. I was surprised by the fact that the lighting turned out way better than I expected because of the window right behind her, which doesn’t usually work well.

The second picture was totally unexpected and I had to move very quickly to get it before the moment passed. What self-respecting princess would be caught without a green Gummy Lifesaver!

For more on Cee’s Compose Yourself Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/14/cees-compose-yourself-challenge-week-3-always-take-more-than-one-photo/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beneath Your Feet

You have to watch very carefully where you’re walking when you go inside the Butterflies & Blooms Exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The butterflies have a tendency to take a rest on the pathways so when I stopped to take a closer look at this one, it decided to hitch a ride on my shoe. It probably thought things were safer above my foot than beneath it.

In fact, it’s always good policy to look down occasionally to see what’s beneath your feet when taking a walk. I nearly stepped on this little frog while exploring the Paul Douglas Forest Preserve in Hoffman Estates the other day.

But looking down almost made me dizzy with this elaborately designed parquet flooring beneath my feet at the Dole Mansion in Crystal Lake.

There’s no mistaking which side of the path you’re supposed to be on when visiting Lake Arlington. The instructions are right there, beneath your feet.

For more on the Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/beneath-your-feet/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Green

As Kermit the frog will tell you, “It’s not easy being green.” Even the foliage ceases to be green in October so I thought I’d look elsewhere for examples of green.

At a display of vintage cars in Long Grove, Illinois.

One of Kermit’s relations perhaps. It was easy to spot this frog as the green stood out against the color of the path.

From a real frog to a sculpture in the Nicholas Conservatory, Rockford, Illinois.

A piece of Chihuly glass artwork on display at the visitors center in Columbus, Indiana.

A green parrot. I must have been feeling extremely brave that day, either that, or I had a very long lens.

I’ve seen plenty of yellow swallowtail butterflies but this one, at the Butterfly Exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden, had a distinctly green tinge to it.

To find out more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2014/10/21/cees-fun-foto-challenge-the-color-green/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Found In Nature

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week on Cee’s Photography at http://ceenphotography.com/2014/01/21/cees-fun-foto-challenge-found-in-nature/ is Found in Nature.

Here are a few things that I have found as I walked around Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg.

Of course, there have been times when I’ve walked the length and breadth of Spring Valley and not found a thing or at least nothing much worth photographing. And then there are days when it’s all happening. Finding this family of muskrats was one of those days.

I was sorry to come across these tent caterpillars as they can cause a lot of damage to tree foliage when found in large numbers.

This delicate Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly was a more welcome sight.

An interesting find was this piece of tree trunk ‘art’.

A busy little chipmunk found foraging for food.

A-Z Challenge: B

Frizztext’s A-Z Challenge this week on Flickr Comments at http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/tagged-b-2/ is the letter B. These seemed to be obvious choices.

A bear blowing bubbles at Lincoln Park Zoo.

A booming bullfrog at Spring Valley Nature Center.

A blue butterflyin the butterfly exhibit at Brookfield Zoo.

A blue boat on the Chicago River.

And a bridge leading to the Japanese Garden in the Chicago Botanic Garden.