Weekly Header Challenge - Diptych

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

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 ~ Diptych

Kathy picked the theme for this week:  Diptych.  Basically, this is a composition of two images which are related to each other in some way, and which can tell a story.  Here are my diptychs, starting with my header image:

Moser Tower and Millenium Carillon, Naperville, Illinois.

Personally, I think the tower is a monstrosity--our family calls it the Tower of Sauron (for you Lord of the Rings aficionados)--but it houses a carillon that plays at scheduled times throughout the day, and you can also climb to the top.  The views are phenomenal, which is the main reason I do like the tower.  Read about it here.

I chose this set of images because I love the lines that are created within the images--first vertical then horizontal and curved.  I also love that the colors blend so well between the images, and that there's a balance between the vertical first image, and the horizontal orientation of the second.  And there you have my reasons.  :)

On to the rest, with simple captions because hopefully the images tell their own stories!

From my garden.

Peachtree City, Georgia.

Climbing wall.

Shooting range.

January wedding.

State math competition.

Moving the computer desk.

Yardwork.

Wisconsin farm.

Josh's honors convocation.

Dancin' music.

I was going to use two of the below images in a diptych, but since I couldn't decide which two to use, I created a triptych instead!

Rural Illinois farm.

I think the three images go perfectly together to create a "big picture" of the farm.  Thanks for letting me cheat a little on this week's theme!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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The Animals on the Hill

Dogs and cats, cats and dogs!  At this Wisconsin farm, there were now animals to photograph!  More specifically, baby animals.  What fun!

These kittens are not pets.  They are--or will be--barn cats.  Hobbes, the orange tabby, is spunky and adventurous, friendly and fearless.  His half-sister, Nala, is quite the opposite.

Hobbes and Nala

Nala was elusive and it was hard to catch her with the camera.  I did get a nice pose below.

It started sprinkling a bit, and afterwards, Nala hopped up on the patio table to lick her way across.  It was a great opportunity to capture her.

The spunky Hobbes

Sadly, a few days after these images were taken, Hobbes and Nala disappeared.  After a few days, Hobbes came back, skittish and afraid.  Nala never returned.  Bryan, the farm owner, guessed that they may have had an encounter with a coyote.  Hobbes quickly reverted to his playful self, and was joined later by another kitten.

The barn kittens were fun to photograph, but I think Bryan's new house dog (which will become the family pet) is seriously the cutest dog on the planet.  Her name is Zoe, and she is a cockapoo.  Just look at her with her little biscuit (and blue octopus toy)!

How could anyone resist a face like that?  She is simply adorable, and if I were in the market for a pet, I'd take her brother, who was available at the time.  In a shout-out to her breeders, visit their Facebook page.  Her fur is so soft, she doesn't shed, and she is a smart little puppy.  Although I must say, by this time she has probably grown and is not as little anymore!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Flowers on the Hill | Wisconsin Website Photographer

I spent an amazing day at the Farm on the Hill, and got to witness two incredible sunrises.  Skip the fact that I promptly went back to sleep after I saw each one.  ;)

Today, I'm featuring the images I took with my macro lens.  Remember; they're not weeds.  They're wildflowers.

Want a print?  Be sure to visit the print art galleries section of my website.

Flower images -- click here
Farm and country images -- click here


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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The Farm on The Hill | Wisconsin Website Photographer

I know you just read my post about our time down on a farm.  Well, down in that case meant south.  And now I'm talking about another farm, and up on the farm--north, that is.

It was my great privilege to visit the Farm on the Hill up in Wisconsin, in the Driftless Region (what a lonely sounding name!), to help with this amazing farm start-up!  Besides watching guys work and pitching in where I could, I also had the honor of doing on-site photography for this soon-to-be pasture-raised lamb, chicken, and egg business.

Although the farm is in its infancy, its owner, Bryan Havens, is working hard to get everything ready--both house and lands--for the animals that will soon inhabit the spaces, pastures, brooders and stalls.  I have already been invited to return once those farm denizens arrive, and I can't wait for the opportunity to provide Bryan with some all-natural, pasture-raised images of his up-and-running farm in business!  ;)

Story behind the sunrise above:  Since the farm is a four-hour drive away, my family and I drove up on a Friday night and spent the night right on the farm.  I gratefully slept in a cot in the kitchen/dining area, and I slept really well, too, through the night.  Somewhere near morning, 5-something and I never looked at a clock, I was lying there peacefully, noticing it was getting a bit lighter in the room.  I finally rolled over in my cot and opened my eyes--and found myself looking out of a huge picture window and onto a gloriously brilliant sunrise.

I hemmed and hawed for several seconds, figured I wouldn't get another chance, and grabbed my camera.  All the settings were wrong, I didn't have enough light to fix everything, plus everyone was sleeping, but I found the most unobstructed view I could and shot.  *click-click-click*  *click-click-click*  (Danny told me later that he heard me shooting away!)  I ended up with the above shot, through the window and over the deck railing.

Then I went back to bed.  :D

Enjoy the rest of these images of the property in all its farm-y wonder and beauty.

The neighbor down the hill.

The walkway to the farmhouse.

Love the color and texture of this silo.

Tool shed.

Stalls in the lower barn.

I can't tell you how much I loved the lower barn!  It didn't seem dirty or anything, although it needs a good cleaning out.  I loved the stalls, and especially the stone--just look at that texture!

I noticed the barn swallows making an entrance at the back, so I stood there for a while trying to get a good shot.  I must've taken 10-15 shots, and this was one of them and my favorite.

Windmill by the farmhouse.

View from the back deck.

The next-door-neighbors have horses.  :)

Garfield, one of the barn cats, walking along the second-story railing.  *yikes*

The sun setting behind the barn.

What a beautiful end to our first day on the farm!  I'll share more tomorrow--I had some flower fun with my macro lens!

Don't forget that you can purchase prints, etc. of my images--the farm-y and rural ones are here!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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