Green Bay Lines

Here are a few lines for Becky’s Square Lines Challenge that I found in Green Bay, Wisconsin. These images were captured at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, The National Railroad Museum (note the line of geese taking a tour), Lambeau Field (home of the Green Bay Packers) and Heritage Hill State Park.

Spikes & Spires

After dabbling in architecture for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, I decided to look up for my 3rd entry in Becky’s Spiky Squares photo challenge. Here are a few spikes and spires from Chicago, Milwaukee, Asheville, Bartlett, Marion, Oak Brook and Green Bay.

June Squares – Roofs

I thought I’d try something different in the way of photo challenges and this one is from Becky who is looking for photo squares.  This month’s topic is roofs so I’m starting out with an image that was captured at The Botanic Gardens in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

For more on Becky’s Roof Squares go to Back at Kew again today

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 – Buildings

Instead of dodging about all over the place for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week, I thought I’d stay in one place and feature the buildings of Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

This 54-acre site, opened in 1977, showcases 24 historical and reproduction buildings typical of the early history of Northeastern Wisconsin between 1672 and 1940. The Cheese Factory, pictured above, was built in 1894 and was originally located in Kewaunee County.

The Moravian Church, built in 1851, is a popular place for weddings.  It was originally located in downtown Green Bay but was relocated to Heritage Hill in 1980.

Baird Law Office, built by Samuel Beall in 1835, was bought by Henry Baird in 1841 and was relocated at Heritage Hill in 1975.

The YMCA Library, built in 1873, was originally located on Chestnut Street and moved to Heritage Hill in 1977.

The Smithy, built in 1897 by Henry DeWitt, stood on the corner of Danz and University and was moved to Heritage Hill in 1976.  DeWitt specialized in decorative blacksmithing and later the building was used as an auto repair shop.

The barn, pictured above, was owned by the Lampereur family and is part of the Belgian Farm at Heritage Hill.

The Franklin Hose Company No. 3 was built in 1887 for the purpose of a volunteer fire department. It was disbanded in 1891 and moved to Heritage Hill in 1975.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2017/06/08/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-buildings-2/

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Path

The Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post, set by Cheri Lucas Rowlands, invites us to share a path.  As we move forward into the New Year I find that I’ve set one or two goals for myself and I’m fully aware that the path to achieving them may not always be easy to follow.  There are many different paths in life, some smooth and others rocky. Some lead to interesting places and others merely come to a dead end. Whichever path you take in 2017 I hope it takes you wherever you want to go.

The path across the causeway to Cana Island in Door County, Wisconsin.

A garden path in the Green Bay Botanical Gardens, Wisconsin.

Take my word for it, this is a path, and it didn’t get any easier the further we went.  The way to Cecret Lake in Alta, Utah.

Plenty of paths to choose from at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.

A delightful springtime walk among the daffodils along a well-kept woodchip path at the Morton Arboretum. If only life was always this easy.

For more on the Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/path-2016/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Chutes & Ladders

This week, Cee is inviting us to play Chutes and Ladders for her Fun Foto Challenge.  I always knew the game as Snakes and Ladders back home in the UK (it was the first board game to which I was introduced, as a child) and snakes would probably have been easier to find in the photo files but I did eventually manage to locate a couple of chutes to go along with the ladders.

Chutes and ladders at the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois.

Chutes and ladders in a couple of children’s play areas in Wisconsin, the second being at the Green Bay Botanical Garden.

This one is rather like a puzzle. Can you spot the ladder?  Part of a mural at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, Wisconsin.

A rough but sturdy ladder at the Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, Illinois.

You may be wondering what the last picture has to do with chutes or ladders. I would be rather baffled too if I hadn’t learned, while on a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, that this is what is known as a fish ladder.  The ladder, which is really a series of shallow steps, enables fish to get around dams, locks or waterfalls during their migration.

For more on Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2016/12/13/cees-fun-foto-challenge-chutes-and-ladders/

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Tracks & Trains

It’s “all aboard!” for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge which this week is all about tracks & trains. I used to love train rides when I was a kid, especially traveling down from London to Kent to visit my grandparents. Nowadays I rarely take the train except to go downtown.  It’s much more economical to go by train than pay for parking in Chicago.

A view of some train tracks in downtown Chicago.

A train pulling into the station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. We stopped in Glenwood Springs on our way home from Utah last year, just to stretch our legs and have a walk round.  It was off-season, the Spa of the Rockies was closed for cleaning and just when we got far enough away from the car, the rain started pouring down. Needless to say it was a short walk and the most exciting thing we saw was the train.

The Ashland Railroad Mural, painted in 2014, features the men and women who helped to establish the railroad industry in the North Woods. Right across the street from the mural stands Soo Line Decapod 950 which was, at one time, the worlds largest steam locomotive, weighing in at 190,000 pounds.

If you are a train enthusiast and enjoy looking around old train cars and engines, I can highly recommend a visit to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is where we saw the Silver Spirit.

For more on Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge go to https://ceenphotography.com/2016/11/17/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-any-tracks-and-trains/

Weekly Photo Challenge – Fun

Michelle’s choice of subject for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge on The Daily Post is Fun.  Here’s a fun little item that I found recently at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens; a colorful windmill with all kinds of bits and bobs attached to it that shone quite brightly in the sun as it slowly changed direction.

For more information on this weekly challenge go to https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/fun/

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge: Leading Lines

Right from my early years as a member of a local camera club I became accustomed to look for leading lines when composing images.  The habit has stayed with me and my photo files are filled with pictures emphasizing leading lines which came in very useful for Cee’s current Compose Yourself Photo Challenge. The picture shown above was taken on the Esplanade at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  The image below shows tram lines leading back down the mountain to the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah.

Some of these leading lines have distinct destinations such as the pool on the roof of the Visitor’s Center in Temple Square, Salt Lake City while others disappear somewhere along the way, leading us to wonder just where they are taking us, as in the image of a bridge at the Morton Arboretum leading us into the trees and on to whatever’s beyond.

Some leading lines are strong and straight, while others may have a curve or two along the way like this gravel path taking us to the farm at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg, a brick path drawing us to a gazebo at the Green Bay Botanic Gardens in Wisconsin, or one of the many bridges in the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Finally, leading lines in triplicate. A view of the canal, footpath and railway lines which all run along the same route in Galena, Illinois.

For more on Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge go to http://ceenphotography.com/2015/10/28/cees-compose-yourself-photo-challenge-week-5-leading-lines/