Bed Time

Going through my theme list, I realized I'd never posted this entry for bed time.  This was taken at the very beginning of the year, on our trip to Mexico. Wouldn't mind being back there again!

H is for . . .

This beautiful red-tailed hawk buzzed the roof of my car as he soared overhead and landed on a lamp post. I pulled over, fetched my trusty purse camera, and snapped just one photo before he flew off.

Restful

Interestingly, Frank Lloyd Wright is no longer buried in his grave. You can read why, here.

Sweet

The sweet smell of newly-rolled hay filled the air as we stopped to admire the main barn on the Frank Lloyd Wright estate. Pretty sweet view, too!

Passion

Architecture was Frank Lloyd Wright's vocation, and his passion was blending the natural world into his designs. The main house at Taliesen sits high above the Wisconsin River valley, with large windows and healthy trees making a person inside, feel part of the nature outside.

Symmetrical

A series of symmetrical windows on the side of the theater on the Frank Lloyd Wright estate, Taliesen.

Together

This summer, we visited Taliesen, the Frank Lloyd Wright estate. I took several blog-themed photos there and then never got around to posting them. Here's the first...

This is the Romeo and Juliet tower, constructed in the late 1800s to bring water to a school on the site. Its unique design ensured that the two, entwined structures would stand for many decades. Indeed, because they are together, they are stronger and more wind-resistant than either would have been were it standing on its own.

Simple

This simple boardwalk at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin allowed us to safely walk through the marshy areas of the park.

Large

Fiddling around in Photomatix with an image I took this summer of a large monument in southern Utah. Replaced a washed-out, high-noon sky, too. Can you tell?

In the details

Someone took the time to work out the details of building this fence while not destroying an existing tree. Cool.

Empty

Yes....I broke down and snatched up Topaz B&W Effects before the price went up. This is Painterly, with enough detail dialed back in to read the label on this empty bottle.

Morning routine

The morning routine of walking to the end of the driveway to fetch the paper sometimes results in the reward of a spectacular sunrise. This one is a little underexposed, but it vanished in the time it took me to swap camera settings to try a second shot. Lightened a little in PS; otherwise, SOOC. (And yes, it rained most of the day - red sky at morning really was a warning!)

Busy

Not a particularly artsy shot, but this gives you an idea of how busy the vendor tables were at the beer festival.

Fashion

R is for . . .

. . . robot! This fun beer dispenser attracted thirsty visitor to the distributor's booth at the recent Screw City Beer Festival. Added poster edges in Photoshop for a cartoony look.

Notice the tattoo on the arm of the gal on the right; it matches the gear logo of the brewery. That is one dedicated worker!

In the city

I live on the far southeast part of my town - technically in the county. The beer festival we attended was downtown, in the city. In between exploring the beer tents, I paused to take this picture of some of the buildings.

Refreshing

Need I say more?

Bottoms up!

My DBF Jon, and his running-on-no sleep son, Aaron, show off their translucent tasting glasses from the Screw City Beer Festival, organized by Aaron. The festival, named after our city's storied history as a screw-manufacturing town, introduced guests to craft-brewed beers from northern Illinois. The event was a huge success, and Aaron finally got to catch some well-earned ZZZZZs when it was all over.

P is for . . .

...pretzels! Jon's son Aaron was a major force in organizing a craft beer festival over the weekend. I am not a beer drinker, so I'd never been to an event like this before. I saw several people walking around with necklaces made of pretzels, and I asked this guy about the story behind them. In essence, they are used to cleanse your palate between samples. Pretty darn fashionable, too!

Hope

Wanted to post something patriotic today. I've already used the theme of Patriotic, and the letter V, so I went with hope, which seems appropriate on this day we'll always remember. Thank you to our service men and women, and our first-responders, for all you do!

Still life

Some of our modest tomato harvest.

In my first year of photowalking, back in 2009, tomatoes were also the subject of the Still Life theme. I even used the same bowl. Back then, however, the tomatoes came from my neighbor.

Five

In the Necedah Wildlife Refuge, a flock of pelicans flew overhead. I was firing away with my camera in burst mode, and found I had taken this rather benign shot of five.

A couple of frames further into the shoot, I found this far more interesting image.

These birds were still quite high; they were not coming in for a landing. I was surprised they didn't crash, but they continued on their journey without mishap.

Fragile

Packaging

Really????

As an aside, both my phone and one of my MP3 players use these tiny MicroSD cards, so, excess packaging notwithstanding, I snapped up a couple when Target put these on sale for $9.

School

After work last week, I wandered out to the "backyard" of our campus, where the lawn meets the river. Took three shots and had Photoshop merge the photos for me. You can just see the building through the trees on the left side of the photo. We're a small school, but we have a great location!

Heavy

A heavy, brooding sky over the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in central Wisconsin.

Trying my hand at single-image tone mapping.

Nature

Debris

Amazing how the tree service easily disposed of all the debris left from the tree removal, using a chain saw and a chipper.

Chores

I had neither the desire nor the skill set to take down an old, lightning-struck tree in my yard, so I called a tree service to accomplish this necessary chore.

Ha...during my first year of blogging, in 2009, my entry for "Chores" showed shots of a wood chipper we rented to dispose of some lopped-off branches. Apparently, in my house "chores" and "trees" go together... :-)

Goodnight, soccer field

The soccer goal on this athletic field is silhouetted against the backdrop of a late summer evening sunset in Rice Lake, WI.