Weekly Header Challenge -- Far Far Away

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 ~ Far Far Away

Chosen by Kathy.

After a two-week break for us headbangers, we're back with a new year and a new theme.  My first thought upon seeing the theme was Paris, but I've used lots of photos from there, and it was also a while ago.  The most recent "far away" place I've been is California, so I thought I'd feature this image, which was taken at sunset at my sister-in-law's home.  In silhouette, with the palm tree branches gently swaying, it looks like an exotic place far away from wintry Chicago.

You may remember from a few weeks ago my header image from Huntington Beach, California; here is a "re-post" sunset image from that far-away locale.

While in far-away California, we had the chance to visit and connect with many family members.

The hibiscus flower is definitely not from around here; another "far far away" flower!

Here is our "far far away" family, with a photo of my aunt held by her granddaughter, and many family members in front of her home.

That's it from far far away!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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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 -- Odd Shots

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 ~ Odd Shots

Chosen by Kathy.

This week was another tough week for me in choosing images to feature.  I'm not sure I did such a great job picking out shots I thought were odd; however, I tried to pick ones that others might think are odd.  So here they are!

My header image, featuring my sweet husband, uncropped:

 This is what happens when you fall asleep at a family gathering.

This next one is odd because of the framing.  It would have been an amazing shot of the sunset with the silhouette of the tree, but I was shooting from the passenger side of our moving vehicle, and caught the window frame on the right, the rear view mirror below the sun, and Fernando's face on the left!  (Mac, I would've had a great view if the steering wheel had been in the British style!)

Yeah, this next one...  Not sure what it was about...  Again, shot out of the passenger window while we were at a red light waiting to turn right.  I hope he found his hamster-loving wife...

Yes, I took a picture of legs.  These two shapely-limbed ladies walked the parade in those shoes.  Which makes it an odd shot.

After said parade, I caught this shot at our friends' post-parade barbecue.  Not sure what they were doing with a door...

I think this was Danny, below, who wanted a little ice cream under his whipped topping!

Hope these brought a smile to your face--or at least made you ponder, huh??  See y'all next week!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Aah! Time to Relax!

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 ~ Aah!  Time to Relax!

Chosen by me.

Well, as you may be able to guess, I chose this theme to coincide with our mini vacation to the Adirondack Mountains and Lake Bonaparte, because I knew we'd be relaxing there quite a bit throughout the week!

Here is the uncropped image that I used for my header.

Jake was able to get a week off work, and he is dating a sweet young lady, Allie, who was also able to come with us and experience what a typical family vacation is for us.  The two cuties had plenty of time to sit, relax, do things together, chat, and just get to know each other better.

Here are some more relaxing images from Lake Bonaparte...

Fishing near the High Rocks.

Relaxing on Jackson Rock.

Beautiful sunset from our dock.

My morning mug of tea, a chair, a dock, and a beautiful view.

Swishing feet in the water!

Exploring the tree house.  (Allie's New York cousins came to visit.)

Playing cards on the front porch.

Since I'm a huge fan of sunsets, and sunsets at the Lake, I leave you with one final relaxing image, with a kayaker paddling by.

I hope you've had time to relax this summer!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Textures

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 ~ Textures

Chosen by Mac.

Popping in with a quick blog post for this week's theme!  We just returned home from a week's vacation in the Adirondack Mountains, at my parents' summer home on Lake Bonaparte.  All of my featured photos today are from our trip.

Here's my header image, uncropped:

This mushroom, as you can see below, was at least 10 inches in diameter--as big as a dinner plate!  My macro shot above shows the interesting texture.

Who can resist the texture of ice cream?  And whipped cream?  Not I!  We visited the local ice cream parlor, Treats 'n 'Tiques, for dessert one night.

I love the old textures in the sign below, which was hanging at Treats 'n 'Tiques.  The "'Tiques" is short for Antiques, and they have several on display, including old memorabilia from the area.

In town--and I use that word loosely because the main area of town is literally one block long--there is a park along the Oswegatchie River, next to the bridge at the end of the one block "business district."  You can see the bridge in the image below.

Above, I used a shutter speed of 1/250th second to achieve a stop-action kind of shot.  The texture of the water appears hard and crisp.

In the below shot, my shutter speed slowed to 4/10 second, and the texture of the water changed to a soft, flowing one.  Cool effect, huh?

Water can also appear calm and smooth, and I leave you with this final image of one of the sunsets.  It was a mostly cloudless evening sky, but I loved the orange radiating out from where the sun had set earlier.  The longer exposure (6 seconds) created the smooth, calm effect, which goes nicely with the peaceful sky.

That's all I could manage today; but, I will have more time to dedicate to next week's challenge.  See you then!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Summer is Here!

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 ~ Summer is Here!

Chosen by me.

June 22 marked the first day of summer, so we know, calendar-wise, that summer is here!  Here are all the ways I love that summer is finally here...

My header image, uncropped:  Diving right in to summer!

Summer is here in all these ways:

Water sports on  Lake Bonaparte...

Ball games...

Fireworks...

Summer flowers...

And harvests from the garden...

Canning adventures...

And food on the grill...

Farmers market...

And festivals for fun...

And finally, sunsets on the lake.

Summer is here!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Silhouette

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 ~ Silhouette

Chosen by Kathy.

Silhouette, different from shadow:  The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background.  Here is the image I chose for my header:

I took this shot purposefully; I was compiling a photo book for my parents' 50th anniversary, to be presented to them at Christmas, and I wanted an image that would decorate the back cover, and also be featured in the book.  While up at Lake Bonaparte on vacation, and while shooting the sunset (as I typically do every night up there!), I asked them to pose for me, just for fun.  There's a little bit of chromatic aberration (the purple haze around my mom's head) due to shooting into the light source, but otherwise it's a beautiful image and looks amazing in their photo book.

Below are a few more images for this week's theme of silhouette.

At my friend's son's Wisconsin farmhouse.

Palm trees in Vero Beach, Florida.

I took this last one for a photography class in which we were assigned to shoot in front light, side light, and back light.  Jacob and Thomas trekked along with me to shoot in back light, and while they goofed off in front of the setting sun, I snapped this image.  They were laughing and having a good time, and this image is a great portrayal their camaraderie and brotherhood.

That's it for this week!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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