Weekly Header Challenge -- Last Week's Sky

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Fishing Guy 

Kathy 

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 ~ Last Week's Sky

Chosen by Lew.

This was almost last week's sky.  I haven't had time to pick up my camera the past week or so, but I definitely brought it on our unexpected trip to California for a family member's funeral.  On our one free afternoon, Fernando decided to head to Huntington Beach; it was in the 70s and sunny, a perfect afternoon for a nap.  And, a perfect evening for a beautiful sunset, complete with surfer silhouettes!  Here is my header, uncropped:

And, for your sky-viewing enjoyment, here are the other pictures I took that afternoon as the sun made its way down.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - The Sun

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 ~ The Sun

Chosen by me.

First, my thoughts behind the theme choice...  Since you really can't take pictures of the sun--with our DSLR cameras, anyway--I really wanted to share images that show the sun's effects.  Meaning--I can tell that the sun was shining, or I can see the sun's rays, or its effects on my subject.  And I found it a tad difficult to find good images.  Here are the ones I chose; first, my full header image:

This is my baby squash plant (it no longer looks this way; they grow quickly!).  The sun was behind it, illuminating the leaf's veins.  You can even see the shadow of the stem at about the 5:00 mark, if it were a clock.  I love how it looks like it's glowing.  Later this autumn, we will be glowing as we eat the yummy squash we'll get!

Another view of the sun on my squash.

These next two images are some of my favorites, as far as the sun is concerned.  They were taken at WIU at Jacob's college graduation; don't you love the lilacs' color and scent?  I do.  In this first image you can see some of the glow of the sun.  I decided I wanted a sun star, so I moved around until I could make that happen.

To get the defined rays--and I shoot on manual--set the f-stop number as high as you can on your camera.  This results in a very small aperture.  (Small aperture = high f-stop number.)  The small aperture, combined with a slower shutter speed, allows more light into the camera lens, and results in a sun star!  My shutter speed is 1/160 second in the below--slow enough to get a proper exposure on the flowers (any faster and they'd be in shadow).  And that's the technical how-to for sunstars!

I love the below, since it shows the sun's light more subtly on the flowers.  You can see the illumination, and how the sun rolls off the yellow petals  and into shadow.

Here's a bright, sunny day atop the tower that houses the Millenium Carillon in Naperville.  I caught a bird flying by, too!

The sun was not our friend for this late afternoon wedding.  It shone directly into our faces for the whole ceremony, and I'm sure the photographers were challenged to take good pictures of the bride and groom.  (It was a beautiful wedding, though!)

At said wedding, I tried to take a selfie as we waited to enter the reception hall.  We're too close to the lens to be in good focus, and the sun was shining in.  But it's cute nonetheless.  :)

Two more sun stars to brighten your day.  This first one is a building at the University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana).

And my final sun star is within the tower that houses the Millenium Carillon.  Perfect time of day, sun shining through the building--rather cool!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Cloud Formations

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.

Feel free to click on the other participants' blogs

to see what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Cloud Formations

I don't usually take photos of interesting cloud formations unless something else is involved--the sun or a storm, for instance.  So with the help of sun and storms, here are my images for the week, starting with the full image from the header:

January 6, 2012 - In the dead of winter (Riverwalk Park, Naperville).

I just happened to catch this while at the park

waiting for Fernando's physical therapy session to end.

September 7, 2013, at Thomas' first home football game (they won!).

I was on the field and this was behind me just prior to the game.

I framed the shot with the speakers on poles to create some symmetry.

July 5, 2013 - Red Hawk Park, Carol Stream, Illinois.

During one of the guys' summer Frisbee games.

I actually edited out the telephone poles on the horizon.  :)

April 14, 2012.

No storm here, but these clouds were like vertical swirly things all lined up.

August 23, 2011, from my front yard mid-morning.

These summer storms are awesome; this one came in in a straight line,

barreling right toward us making things darker and darker.

I just stood there on the edge of my driveway

(that's my house on the left) watching it come in.

June 29, 2012, taken from my back yard patio.

Our back yard faces generally west, and the storms blow in from that direction.

I try to aim my camera high to avoid the signs of suburbia.  ;)

June 11, 2013, standing in my back yard.

A crazy storm blew in and the clouds were much more spectacular in real life.

August 7, 2011, taken from my front yard.

These storms missed us, and they made for a cool image

with the sun setting to the west.

May 19, 2011 -- Vero Beach, Florida.

Friends invited our family down to vacation with them for a week

in a beach house on the Atlantic Ocean.  I made the effort to get up at 6am

and trudge down to the beach to shoot a sunrise,

and this is what greeted me:  an offshore morning storm.

June 1, 2013, taken from my back yard again.

My husband loves me!  I would've missed this one since I was in the basement

editing photos, ironically enough, on the computer down there.

He called me up, saying simply, "Honey, you've got to see this."

It's one of my favorite sunset images!

July 19, 2012.  Read the next photo's caption for details!

July 22, 2012 -- My favorite place on Earth on a summer evening.

Lake Bonaparte, Harrisville, New York.

My parents have a summer home on this lake, and I've been vacationing here

since I was in my mother's womb!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 -- Week 49

Project 2012 -- Week 49

December 2-8

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

The week started off gloriously warm, in the upper 60s.  This is not normal for Chicagoland, but after last years very weird winter, I no longer rule anything out.  Fernando and I took advantage of a beautiful late afternoon by strolling through Knoch Knolls Park.  Again, my 50mm lens is pretty much what I use for all my shooting now, until I can obtain a new lens.  It's still challenging, but I'm learning how to frame my images better, especially the scenic ones where I'm limited as to what I can capture.

[337] River in evening sun

[338] Sunset through the trees

When Joseph and I went in to Oberweis to pick up milk for the week, I noticed a turnstile of recipe cards.  One for eggnog cookies caught my eye, so we thought we'd try making them for a get-together at the end of the week.

[339] Cookie time

[340] Eggnog cookies

The recipe said that I could roll out the dough and cut out the cookies, but it didn't say I needed to refrigerate the dough.  A little internet research helped me out, and the cookies were gorgeous.  Yeah, they also tasted good.  They were soft, and tasted sort of like a sugar cookie, but with a hint of nutmeg.  I don't like eggnog, but these cookies were good.

The next images are from the luncheon that a Godly lady from our church hosted for ladies and young ladies.  Eight of us packed our Suburban to make the hour-long drive down to Lori's home.  She really likes the beach, the ocean, and everything about them, and her home reflected that love.  She and her husband have six sons, too!

[341] Ladies lunchon

[342] Christmas table

[343] Plate of food

The food was outstanding, and I came home with memories of a beautiful afternoon, awesome food, great conversation, wonderful fellowship, and Christmas carols sung in our car.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 -- Week 45

Project 2012 -- Week 45

November 4-10

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  This is my time to look back over the past week, 
choose seven favorite images I've taken, and share them here with you.  
If you have a project you're working on, please leave a comment 
so I can visit your blog and see what you're up to!

This was another restful week, with one big shock at the end--I think my 17-85mm lens is permanently on strike.  After doing a Littles Portrait Session with my 50mm lens, I tried to take some sunset pictures with my 17-85mm, and received an "Error 01" message that the lens was failing to communicate with the camera.  That had happened once or twice recently, but but was always resolved with turning the camera off/on.  I've tried the lens several times since that sunset, and it's a no-go.  It is my kit lens, and the lens I use for everyday shooting--which, as you know, I do a lot of.  Sorry to whine here!  But, I'm about to research getting a new lens, and soon so I can keep up with my skills, my blogs, etc.

Okay, I've ranted and now it's time for pictures!

This first one is not the actual ballot; our county provides sample ballots online, and we printed several out to go over and mark up so we were ready to vote.

[309] Voting Day

[310] First presidential election

Danny (above) was excited to vote in his first presidential election.  He wasn't so excited to learn the next day that every candidate we voted for lost.  We were redistricted into a liberal district, and now have liberals representing us at all levels of government--from local to national.  Welcome to Illinois politics.

I've been "downsizing" my spices, using smaller jars for those spices I use less frequently, in order to make room for all the jars on my little spice rack.  I've still got some jars on the top of the rack, but it's working pretty well so far.

[311] Spice rack

Here's the larger view:

[312] Kitchen spices

I found a bag of Andes mint chunks in the freezer, and figured I'd better make some cookies with them.  This was the recipe on the back of the bag, and they are dee-lish.  (It was a basic chocolate chip recipe, using the mint chunks instead of chips.)

[313] Mint chip cookies

Remember the "M" and "J" letters from my last Project 2012 post?  I stained them and brushed a cost of polyurethane on, and here they are below all set up at the C. home, ready for twin girls!  Yes, the apples are real--I'd rather have real props if I can, and don't they look just lovely?  I can't wait to show you the images from the shoot--I got some beautiful shots!

[314] Portrait props

Right after the above portrait session, I drove over to a nearby park to catch what was going to be a spectacular sunset.  Kit lens on, click the lens--error message.  I already ranted about it above, so no re-hashing it here.  I stuck my 50mm on and captured this shot--still beautiful, though not as wide-angle as I would've liked.

[315] Sunset at the park

All in all, some basic and regular shots this week.  I'm learning to trust the Lord with my photography--both professionally (try shooting natural light on a dark, stormy afternoon in a back living room!) and personally (my all-around kit lens...).  He knows what's best, and I'm trying to trust Him for a solution.

Here's to this upcoming week, for both you and me!  May our cameras be trusty, and our pictures be inspiring.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Looking Through the Gates of Heaven

Sunsets are so beautiful

that they almost seem

as if we were looking through

the gates of Heaven.

John Lubbock

This was the last sunset of vacation.  The amazing thing about a sunset, is that there are several mini-sunsets within the whole.  Ellie with her wonderful technology can capture each stage of the sun setting, and I end up with several sunsets, each image just as beautiful as the other.  Come with me, step by step, through this last amazing sunset.

If I experienced nothing of this vacation except sunsets, I would have been content.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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