Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Weekly Header Challenge -- Reflections

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants
Imac 
Lew

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.
Click on the other participants' blogs to see
what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Reflections

Chosen by Lew.


After a scare with my computer--it sometimes refuses to recognize my external hard drive, so I thought I may have lost all my digital images--and about an hour of my time, I gained a few gray hairs and a few images to share with you here today.  I also became a world traveler for these images, from home in Chicago, to New York, and all the way to Paris.

Here is the full image from my header:

Cloud Gate, a.k.a. The Bean, Chicago, Illinois.

I left this image as I had edited it several years ago (2011).  The Bean is a great "reflector," isn't it?  Here's another very subtle image of The Bean:


Above, if you look closely, you can see the edge of The Bean.  I framed it with the tree in the foreground, and the concrete wall, so it looks like you're looking at the city skyline.  But, if you look at the buildings closely, they're a bit curved!  You're really looking at the city's reflection in The Bean.  Clever, huh?  *pats self on back*

One more stylized image from The Bean's reflection:


On to New York--not the city, but my favorite place on Earth:  Lake Bonaparte.  I photographed a 100-year celebration of one family's Lake home, when, toward the end of the event, I spotted the reflection of the Lake behind me in this gazing ball.  It was getting on toward sunset, too, hence the pinks and purples in the reflection.


Now I'm jetting across the Atlantic to Mac's side of the world, and Paris!  One of my classic favorites from our silver anniversary trip is this picture of Notre Dame across the Seine, with the lights reflecting a beautiful gold across the water.


On to the Eiffel Tower, with Fernando's and my reflections in the window as we waited for the elevator to take us to the top of the tower.


At the Grand Palais, I spotted this French flag and its reflection in the window.  I focused on the reflection, creating a bit of out-of-focus fuzz on the actual flag.


This is one of my favorite reflection photos.  We spotted this painter in a storefront studio, and my aim was to capture her at her art.  I ended up with an image that did that, but that also captured the reflections of buildings across the street, plus a whole lot to look at and let your eye wander over.


Thanks for traveling the world and reflecting on my images with me!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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10 comments:

  1. Pure magic Christine, Bean? Some sort of large mirror?

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    1. Gosh, I assumed everyone knew the Bean!! It's a "reflection sculpture" (my words) that looks like a giant kidney bean (hence its nickname), and it's located in a park in the middle of downtown Chicago. It has a reflective surface (mirror, I suppose!) Description from the website: loud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States.

      The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect Chicago’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

      Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.

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  2. Fantastic! The Bean is nicely framed in your 2011 edit.

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    1. Thank you, Craver! And I tell you what, I'll sure miss seeing your blog headers these next weeks and months. You will definitely be missed.

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  3. Love the bean shots!And what's not to love about Paris?

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  4. Very nicely captured Christine. I never heard of The Bean.

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    1. Tom, thanks. The Bean is definitely a "must-see" if you ever make it over here to Chicago. :)

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  5. The Bean sounds interesting. I have never heard of it (and of course, it was not in Chicago when I was there in 1953.) It made me go look to see if I had any reflections from the Experience Music Project in Seattle--another interesting building. No such luck, but next time I am there I will see what I can come up with. A couple of your pictures are just black boxes for me.

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    1. Kathy, the Bean is a really neat sculpture! If you ever make it back... All my pictures are visible to me; maybe your computer has issues? Not sure what the issue could be.

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