Friday, September 30, 2011

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!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

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.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Restful

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

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

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!

Monday, September 26, 2011

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.


Sunday, September 25, 2011

Symmetrical

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

Saturday, September 24, 2011

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.

Friday, September 23, 2011

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.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

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.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

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.

Monday, September 19, 2011

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!)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Busy

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

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Fashion


Friday, September 16, 2011

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!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

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.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Refreshing

Need I say more?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

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.

Monday, September 12, 2011

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!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

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!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

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.

Friday, September 9, 2011

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.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Fragile

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

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.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

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!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Heavy

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

Trying my hand at single-image tone mapping.




Sunday, September 4, 2011

Nature


Saturday, September 3, 2011

Debris

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




Friday, September 2, 2011

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... :-)

Thursday, September 1, 2011

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.