A year in the lens...

Nuisance

2012-01-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

I love to ski. I like to see freshly fallen, undisturbed snow on days when I don't have to drive to work. Otherwise, I find the white stuff to be a huge nuisance.

Kitchen

2012-01-15T12:42:00.002-06:00

One of the staples in our kitchen pantry.

Utilities

2012-01-07T15:21:00.002-06:00

This drainage ditch in my neighborhood reroutes water during heavy rains. The homeowner in whose side yard the ditch and culvert reside allows wild grasses and reeds to grow along its banks. I occasionally see ducks floating in the water. I wish all city utilities were this attractive.

Eating

2012-01-01T23:04:00.002-06:00

As is true of many New Year's resolutions, one of ours is to start eating healthier. Here's the top shelf of my fridge. My long-time fellow bloggers should notice the distinct absence of my favorite beverage....the hardest habit to break!

The Last Hurrah

2011-12-31T06:00:00.001-06:00

Phew! Another blogging year down! I posted every day this year, but made liberal use of my free themes in the busy month of December. So glad to have made some new blogging friends and to have kept up with the old. Looking forward to next year's Challenge-52! Happy New Year, everyone!! Thanks for visiting!

Unnamed mountain near Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Free theme: Challenge

2011-12-30T10:31:00.000-06:00

I don't know how my DBF Jon does it - photograph birds. I enjoy being out in the fresh air and sunshine, but waiting for a bird to stop and pose for me challenges my patience. I was tracking this hummingbird and managed to catch him in flight.

Free Theme: Unexpected

2011-12-29T06:00:00.007-06:00

One would not expect to find a large, glistening lake in the desert climate near Phoenix Arizona, but Saguaro Lake is an unexpected surprise.

Only two more days to go, folks!!

Free theme: arches

2011-12-28T08:18:00.000-06:00

I liked the arches under the bridge that spans Tempe Town Lake near Phoenix.

Free theme: Hefty

2011-12-27T08:39:00.001-06:00

Jon and I spent a morning in the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ, enjoying the weather and the many species of birds. This fellow was serious about his bird photography, sporting a hefty, camo lens.

Free theme: loyal

2011-12-26T06:00:00.002-06:00

This loyal horse waits patiently to head out on the trials in the San Pedro River Nature Conservation Area in southeast Arizona.

Free theme: Woof!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

Heidi the dog poses for a photo in her holiday wear. Happy holidays to all my blogger friends!

Free theme: Vast

2011-12-24T11:03:00.001-06:00

Early in the week, we were in southeastern Arizona and we drove into the Las Cieneges Natural Conservation Area. I loved the vast expanse of grasslands spread before this range of mountains.

PS: I have no idea why there was a pattern on yesterday's Technology post. Must be the way the phone and the Blogger app compressed the image before upload??

Free theme: Technology

2011-12-23T13:43:00.002-06:00

Technology is allowing me to use an app to post to my blog from my phone. The photo was also taken on my phone. I love technology

Free theme: Spider

2011-12-22T06:00:00.001-06:00

We are visiting Arizona and spent the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Gardens, which was hosting an interesting art installation. Throughout the garden were oversized bugs fashioned from cedar, black walnut, and other woods. One of my favorites was this spider and her web.

Sharp

2011-12-21T08:41:00.000-06:00

On our visit to Ramsey Canyon in Sierra Vista, Arizona, was saw this beautiful Painted Redstart perched on the roof of the visitor's center. He sat so still I was able to get a nice, sharp photo.

Hiding

2011-12-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

Jon and I are in Arizona for the Christmas holiday and we took a drive down to Sierra Vista, in the southeast corner of the state. Hiking into Ramsey Canyon, we almost missed spotting this deer, who was hiding in plain sight. She seemed completely unconcerned by our presence, and after taking a few photos, we walked on.

PS: Steven...in yesterday's post, work your way up from the ground line about halfway and you'll see the line of demarcation between the lake and the sky. See it? It's pretty big, for a lake. ;-)

Free Theme

2011-12-19T06:00:00.001-06:00

Finals week has been busy - no time to take pictures...soooo....free theme here I come. I took this picture in a lakeside park in Chicago in early November. You can catch a glimpse of Lake Michigan between the trunks.

Handbag

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

This shopper carried a stuffed monkey in a hand-held bag from Eddie Bauer. Some lucky child will enjoy a new toy this holiday season.

Softness

2011-12-17T07:12:00.001-06:00

Soon we'll be off to Arizona to visit family. This is Pluto, the family cat, in a photo from a family gathering in June. You'd think the theme was family, but actually, I'm focusing on the softness of Pluto's fur.

Laundry

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Smells

2011-12-15T08:21:00.000-06:00

On this gray, dreary day, I decided to post a photo I took back in May. I'm sure this daffodil smells sweet...

Sports

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Members of sailing club on the Charles River in Boston ready their boats for a Sunday morning lesson.

I love . . .

2011-12-13T06:00:00.001-06:00

. . .quotes from literature found in unlikely places, such as on a bridge face. Taken at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, when fellow blogger and Village member Ellen and I met up for a fun photowalk back in October.

Domestic

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've never cared for the taste of beer, but Jon enjoys sampling ambers from microbreweries. When he finds one he likes, he keeps the bottle as a reminder. All of these beers were brewed in the US, so they are all domestic, at least to us. Maybe not to Ron.

Homemade

2011-12-11T06:00:00.002-06:00

...with a little help from Betty Crocker

Obligations

2011-12-10T07:00:00.003-06:00

As a teacher, one of my obligations at the end of each semester is to write, administer and assess final exams.

Soothing

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

The owners of this charming house on Plum Island (Mass) must find their back deck view very soothing. I know I did!

Holiday

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Remember this post, from back in April? Same house, same tree, different bike, different holiday. Always festive!

Thriving

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

I think these are Bittersweet (Ellen? Confirm??), but whatever they were, they certainly were thriving out on Plum Island.

Slowly

2011-12-06T06:00:00.001-06:00

These two women and their lovely dogs make their way slowly into the mist on a recent early morning walk at a local park.

Joy

2011-12-05T06:00:00.001-06:00

I took great joy in watching these tiny Sanderlings along the water's edge on Plum Island, Massachusetts. When the water would recede, they would all scurry onto the newly-soaked sand, scrounging for a bite to eat.

When the next wave rolled in, they would turn, almost as a group, and scamper away from the curl of the water.

I managed to also catch them mostly in profile. They were a joy to watch!

Alive

2011-12-04T07:49:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's building was also reflected in North Pond, across the street from the LP Zoo. There was enough breeze to ripple the water, making the reflection look almost alive.

Contemporary

2011-12-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Back to downtown Chicago. I liked how these contemporary apartment buildings were reflected in the tranquil lily pond at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Disorder

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

The main floor of this upscale department store might look orderly, but the brown display table nearly in the center of the photo is off-kilter, creating, for me, a sense of disorder.

Square

2011-12-01T07:00:00.004-06:00

I enjoyed this whimsical, square storm drain in place along with walkway beside the Charles River in Boston.

It's December 1st everyone! Just one more month to go!! Let's finish strong!!!!!

Pleasure

2011-11-30T07:16:00.000-06:00

Judging from the number of footprints, many people took pleasure in the beach at Sandy Point on Plum Island, Massachusetts on an early November weekend.

3-exposure HDR processed in Photomatix.

The Arts

2011-11-29T06:43:00.000-06:00

Walking along the Charles River in Boston, we crossed under a road through a viaduct that contained this tile mural depicting a scene from Revolutionary War times. I enjoyed this blend of history and the arts.

Symbol

2011-11-28T06:57:00.000-06:00

My grandpa, an engineer, graduated from this fine institution. Today, my aunt, his youngest daughter, lives within a 10 minute walk of the campus.

"N" is for

2011-11-27T06:00:00.002-06:00

...never be afraid to ask for a critique. Here is my second try at the cove at Stage Fort, after some feedback from the blogosphere. Less heavy handed....is it nicer? More natural?

Heavy

2011-11-26T09:40:00.005-06:00

Topaz Adjust 5 has a setting called Heavy pop grunge. I like what it did to this image of the beach cove from Stage Fort State Park. This image is taken across the cove from last week's photo.

Here's the original:

What do you think? Is Heavy, too heavy?

Rule of thirds

2011-11-25T06:58:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, my DBF Jon is very interested in bird photography. I frequently accompany him on his outings, so when he wanted to leave for Thanksgiving dinner at his sister's a couple of hours early, I knew he had a bird-scouting adventure in mind. His sister lives about 30 minutes from Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. Jon had read on a friend's blog about seeing a snowy owl in the Refuge, and he wanted to see if he could find it. The friend's description of the location was "along Dike Road".

Hmmmmm.

Still, Jon's a great spotter, and it wasn't long before he found this beautiful bird. We took a few photos, piled back in the car, and headed off for a terrific day of family, football and food.

Home, I cropped this image down to follow the rule-of-thirds (I think), by positioning the eye of the owl in the upper third intersection of the photo. A little sharpening and here's my image.

Generous

2011-11-24T06:32:00.000-06:00

Mother Nature served up a generous helping of gorgeous scenery on the rocky Atlantic shore at Halibut Point State Park in Massachusetts.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Be generous with your thanks today!

K is for . . .

2011-11-23T08:23:00.001-06:00

. . . knowledge. In yesterday's post, many of you wondered what was at the end of the boardwalk.

Now you know. Top shot is looking south; bottom shot is looking north. Interesting how the camera interprets the light differently. Both shots were taken about noon.

Flat

2011-11-22T06:10:00.000-06:00

Although the dunes on Plum Island in Massachusetts were fairly rolling, the boardwalk was flat enough to make it an easy walk down to the beach.

(Yes, I am a shameless theme-stretcher...)

Interior

2011-11-21T06:36:00.001-06:00

The interior of Plum Island in Massachusetts was largely made up of these lovely salt marshes. The grasses were a beautiful gold, there was still a surprising amount of color in the trees, and the day was mild for November. A touch of Topaz brought out the distant trees.

Renewal

2011-11-20T07:00:00.003-06:00

A lone oarsman likely experiences a renewal of spirit as he cruises in the reflection of buildings on the Charles River early last Sunday morning.

Topaz really helped with this one. This view is facing east, about 8:30 AM. The buildings and trees were in shadow as I aimed into the rising sun. Using Adjust 5, I was able to recover the beautiful colors in the trees along the riverbank. The original image appears below.

From my past

2011-11-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

What (or who?) can be more from your past than your relatives! Jon snapped this picture of me with my Aunt Celeste. Many of you "know" my Aunt Betsy from Bobbie's mentions of her in her blog. Celeste is the youngest of the three sisters on mom's side. (My mom was the oldest). She hosted us during our Boston weekend, and came along on our day trip to the Gloucester coast.

Isolation

2011-11-18T07:00:00.002-06:00

What better place to find peace and isolation than a November beach on the Atlantic coast?

Cove at Stage Fort State Park, Gloucester, MA

Warm

2011-11-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

On Saturday, November 12, it was warm enough in Massachusetts to take a shirt-sleeves hike through lovely Halibut Point State Park, which boasts this pretty fresh-water quarry on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

Rough

2011-11-16T07:00:00.003-06:00

The surface of this boardwalk, leading to the Atlantic Ocean on Plum Island, Mass., was fairly rough.

Used my newly-installed Topaz Adjust 5. Much faster to load than 4, and lots of new sliders and presets. Fun to use!

Compact

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Compact little sailboats await their sailors. Charles River, Boston MA.

Motion

2011-11-14T07:00:00.003-06:00

Practicing panning on a flock of sanderlings cruising the Massachusetts shore. This is really cool, enlarged.

Chimney

2011-11-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

A chimney beside an old manufacturing plant in Gloucester, MA.

Precious

2011-11-12T16:40:00.000-06:00

Visiting family in the Boston area this weekend, and we took a drive to the Cape Ann area. While exploring Andrews Point, we made friends with this precious pup.

Sandy

2011-11-11T07:00:00.001-06:00

Who would think that this long, lovely, sandy sweep of beach is just a few miles from downtown Chicago? Montrose Avenue Beach, one of my childhood playgrounds, looking north from the breakwater.

Scattered

2011-11-10T06:56:00.001-06:00

Golden leaves scatter across the surface of a pond. The older, brown leaves are underwater.

Heartwarming

2011-11-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

One giraffe loving up on another giraffe. Isn't that heartwarming?

Orbs

2011-11-08T07:00:00.005-06:00

orb/ôrb/
Noun: A spherical body

Something about me

2011-11-07T07:00:00.005-06:00

During my formative years, (1st-7th grades), I lived in Chicago, about 4 miles from downtown. I loved living there - we had beaches a block away, miles and miles of bike trails, woods in the many parks, a free zoo with horses (!) to visit, cheap transportation via bus or train downtown (things were different back then; my 10 year old self and friends were allowed to bus downtown without the parents), and friends from all walks of life. Today, we live about 75 miles away and get into the city several times a year for the theater, or just to wander around the lakefront, downtown, or museums.

Bliss

2011-11-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

This wood duck floats along blissfully on a golden pond. The water takes its color from reflected golden maple trees.

Pastels

2011-11-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

You should be able to find more than a few pastels in this palette of eye shadow pots.

Interaction

2011-11-04T06:48:00.000-05:00

(I hope the theme police will forgive this somewhat risque interpretation of the theme, but frankly I was surprised the Secretary of State would issue this plate number...at least six times....)

Ordinary

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I took an ordinary photo of some clouds and livened it up with Topaz Adjust.

Elegant

2011-11-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

Movement

2011-11-01T07:00:00.005-05:00

When Ellen and I were at the zoo, we practiced our panning shots on the carousel. Her shots turned out great. Mine....not so much. This is my best attempt at capturing movement.

Happy November, everyone! Only TWO MONTHS TO GO!!!

Recreation trail

2011-10-31T07:00:00.004-05:00

Topaz Adjust: HDR pop applied On the full-size image (before compressing for web), the oranges weren't nearly so vivid.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

High contrast

2011-10-30T07:11:00.002-05:00

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear . . .

2011-10-29T07:42:00.002-05:00

Minimalism

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Toss a stone in the water, focus on ripples. This image, other than resizing for web, is SOOC.

Landscape

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love fall colors!

Dark

2011-10-26T06:52:00.000-05:00

I could classify the color of this Inca Tern as dark. The pops of red and yellow really brighten him up!

Union

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

"We, the penguins, in order to form a more perfect union...."

Table

2011-10-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

A picnic table at sunrise. Sky and water colors modestly enhanced through Topaz Adjust.

Frosted

2011-10-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

Getting down low to see the frosted tips of the grass on a late October morning.

Seafood

2011-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well....let's hope not....

Fluffy

2011-10-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Pampered

2011-10-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

This young orangutan is pampered by her mom.

(Ellen: This was no flash...the gorilla was with a flash, then converted to B&W)

Night life

2011-10-19T16:32:00.000-05:00

If I recall, this tiny, poisonous blue frog is nocturnal, so wouldn't that make him a form of night life? :-D

Portrait

2011-10-18T07:00:00.003-05:00

Comfy and Cozy

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

A sloth bear enjoys a nap in the sunshine.

Entrance

2011-10-16T07:00:00.002-05:00

This sign near the entrance to the restrooms at the zoo had both Ellen and me reaching for our cameras...as we noticed the reference at the very bottom to our blogger friend Steven...

Show no fear

2011-10-15T07:22:00.001-05:00

Fellow blogger and Villager Ellen and I enjoyed a day at the zoo while she took a recent visit to my neck of the woods.

This gorgeous jaguar showed no fear as we admired him through the glass.

Front Doors

2011-10-14T07:10:00.000-05:00

Eight

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

When counting the members of a crew, the coxswain is not included in the head count. This is an M8 (8 men) scull.

In the Shadows

2011-10-12T07:00:00.006-05:00

Yesterday morning, my neighbor's yard was largely in the shadows.

I'm not really happy with this image. In real life, it was mistier and softer. This was shot on "intelligent auto" mode of my little purse camera. I knew I'd have some blown highlights where the sun was peeking through the tree, but I didn't have time to mess around - I was heading off to work. I did play with shadows, highlights, camera RAW, some adjustment layers, and a couple of textures (which I ended up not using), but after all that, this image isn't much different than the SOC photo.

Any ideas on how to bring out that fine layer of mist against the far treeline, and generally make this photo more interesting would be gratefully accepted and tried out.

Friendships

2011-10-11T08:51:00.000-05:00

Teammates often form lifelong friendships. These three looked pretty chummy.

I opened this image in camera RAW and, just as an experiment, dragged the clarity slider all the way to the left. I kind of like the Topaz-y result of dialing down the detail.

Neglected

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

This bike was left neglected as its young owner dashed off to follow his favorite crew at the regatta.

Busy

2011-10-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

These gals, in the middle of a regatta, are busy both oaring and listening to their coxswain.

The letter L

2011-10-08T07:12:00.000-05:00

...is for leaves.

Roadside

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

I pass this little farm and its lovely retaining pond on my way to work. Usually, I'm zooming by at 70 mph, but today, due to construction, traffic came to a stop. I pulled out my purse camera, rolled down the window, and snapped this shot.

Unfinished

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

This structure, in Wisconsin's Tower Hill State Park, reminds me of an unfinished fort; there is no roof!

Autumn

2011-10-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

I woke up early the other morning and couldn't go back to sleep, so I thought I'd drive over to my local park and try to catch the sunrise. No clouds, so not much drama. I did see yesterday's eagle. Fiddling around in the near dark, I captured this exposure of one of the few trees that is changing color. Shot at f/8, .6 sec, (tripod and cable release) ISO 200, at about 6:30 in the morning (sun was due up at 6:55). In PS Camera RAW, I pushed the exposure 1.3 stops to brighten it up. I had my white balance set to Cloudy to try to pop the color on the leaves. I think it worked.

Strong!

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Not the greatest picture. It was just before sunrise, I had my ISO set to something crazy like 800, and this beautiful eagle took me by surprise as it floated over the lake where I was waiting for the sun to come up. We don't usually see eagles around my neck of the woods. This strong, silent bird flew a lazy circle and then took off to probably find some breakfast. I took three shots, and after some Photoshopping, managed to almost salvage this one.

In My House

2011-10-03T07:00:00.003-05:00

Jon and I both enjoy football. Each season, we make a game out of picking the winners from each game, every week. These are my picks from Sunday. I put the phone in the photo to demonstrate that I chose my teams before the games started. (I didn't do too well this week!)

Wine

2011-10-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

Add some fruit and other ingredients to wine and you have Sangria. Yummy accompaniment to chips and salsa.

Warped

2011-10-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

My warped sense of humor found this Ford Escape with its unique license plate, parked in Illinois outside a Mexican restaurant, amusing.

Bed Time

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

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 . . .

2011-09-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

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

2011-09-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

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

Sweet

2011-09-27T08:35:00.000-05:00

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!