Weekly Header Challenge -- Looking Up

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 ~ Looking Up

Chosen by Tom.

For this week's header, I have fresh, new images to share!  These were definitely an occasion where everyone was looking up, and looking all around--we were surrounded!

Some big storms came through just a few nights ago, and we happened to be out on our front lawn at the perfect time.  Sometimes we're oblivious to the shapes, colors, and scenes of thunderstorms, and we didn't think about this particular storm until we went outside to say goodbye to Jake's girlfriend Allie and her family, who came for a visit.  Sunset was nearing, and the sun was reflecting the most brilliant colors off the clouds to the northeast.

Here is my header image, uncropped so you get the full effect:

When weather "happens," digital images usually don't do justice to the grandeur and majesty of the sky lit up with clouds and colors.  But, I did my best to capture the sky.  Below, our house was framed with blue-tinted clouds.

As we turned our backs to the house and looked northeast, these billowing clouds met our eyes.

A little later, as the storms continued to develop north and east of us, we saw the color display become even more dramatic.

Besides this storm, there were other recent images I took where I was looking up.  Here's one from last week's fireworks show in Naperville:

Also, as I was gardening last week, I heard a familiar tap-tap-tap, and looked up to spot this female downy woodpecker on a half-dead tree on the other side of our back yard fence.  Yes, I garden with my camera nearby, since you all know I blog about our everyday life!  I was able to get close enough to this bird and set my telephoto to 105mm to get the below image, with no cropping.

Finally, here's an older image at my favorite portrait session location just a few miles from my house.  These are the concrete steps leading up to the wooden footbridge across the DuPage River at Knoch Knolls Park.  In order to look up these stairs, I had to crouch really low on the ground.  It's a great perspective to use with stairs!

I will be out of town for next week's theme, so I will see everyone the following week with (Lord willing) lots of new images to share!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - The Dark Side

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 Dark Side

Chosen by Katney.

I want you to know that I really debated with myself over this week's header.  My first thought, obviously, was Star Wars, and although I could find some related images, my mind wandered just a little to the...dark side.  Yep--my header portrays just one aspect of the "dark side" of my family.  Jacob's 23rd birthday was in January, and we turned off the lights to get a good candles-in-the-dark image.  He decided to have a little fun with it, and the image turned out quite dark and creepy, as you can see below.

Major creepy, huh?  Welcome to my family.  ;)

To get the horizontal aspect of the header, I had to crop a lot out.  But I really felt this image best portrayed the theme.  Sorry, folks!  Now on to some happier dark images.  Here's the actual cake-and-candles image I took at Jacob's birthday:

 
On an evening out for ice cream with friends, we spotted several military helicopters coming in for a landing at our local airport.  I snapped this great image below--the darkness of night, plus the darkness of nighttime military maneuvers.

Winter can be a dark time, and we certainly had an endless one this past season.  Here was the view out of our front living room window early in January.  (You can see the shape of the angel on top of our manger.)

And here was the view out of the same window in April.  Long and dark winter, that was for sure.

There's a lot of light reflected on these evening storm clouds over our neighborhood, but there's a slightly menacing feel to them as well.

I love the below image, even though it was a mistake.  Really.  I think it looks like a dark, misty scene, with fog and shadowy trees, and some weird lights floating around.

Here below is almost the same scene.  I had been setting up a pre-fireworks image, and wanted to test the shutter speed.  I recall I had it at 3-4 seconds, and got a nice image (below).  I then pressed the shutter a few minutes later, and started to move the camera, forgetting that I had it on such a long shutter speed.  The above image resulted, but it actually turned out pretty cool.

After all the darkness and creepiness, I leave you with this cute image:  my friend's daughter, playing hide-and-seek after their house had been emptied for moving, peeked out from the darkness long enough for me to get this cute image.

What dark treasures await me at your blogs today?  I'm off to see!


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 26

Project 2012 -- Week 26

June 24 - June 30

Welcome to my Project 2012 weekly post!  I've stopped including the Linky section as of today, and I've decided to just share my own favorites.  If you're doing a project, leave a comment so I can visit your blog and see your images!

Last week was an activity-filled week.  Sunday was busy, first with a church service, then a special baptism service.  Our Danny was baptized.  :)

[176] Baptism

Then we attended the open house for a dear friend's daughter's homeschool high school graduation.  I captured this sweet shot right at the beginning, then put my camera away to enjoy fellowship and conversation.

[177] Sweet moment

Thursday reached 100+ degrees!  It was a day to stay indoors in the air conditioning.  We drank lots of water, too!

[178] 100-degree day

Here's what came through Friday morning (below).  We hadn't had rain in at least a month, so it was appreciated, even though a bit stormy.

[179] Incoming

In preparation for Fernando's birthday, I made a couple of pies.

[180] Birthday pie

We took our guys to Friday Frisbee.  It's so nice to see adults playing right alongside the kids.  Mr. Storm (below, orange shirt) can sure hold his own with them!

[181] Frisbee moves

I love the fact that our sweet Joseph gets to play.  The other kids seem to naturally include him, and this warms our hearts.  :)

[182] Joseph plays

Those are the highlights of last week for me.  What about you?  What have you been up to lately?


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 -- April 8-14

Project 2012 -- Week 15

April 8 - April 14

How to Link Up With Us

1.  Click here to read the Project 2012 Guidelines, and to get the code to place in your blog.
2.  Fill out the little form below (insert the URL of your blog post, not the main URL of your blog).
3.  Please visit others' links and leave comments; you will receive visits and comments in return!

My Week 15 Photos

I used my camera in spurts last week, and got some good images.  It was a week of celebration!

I brought my camera to church, hoping to take a few photos.  I did manage to take a couple of the stained glass in the beautiful chapel we use for services.

[99] Stained glass message

For Resurrection Sunday, our family gathered together to celebrate that HE IS RISEN!  We enjoyed grilling, while also celebrating my dad who turned EIGHTY later in the week!!

[100] The Grillmaster

[101] Happy Birthday!!

[102] Eighty years!!

Then I set my camera aside for a busy week of preparations.  Friday was the culmination of all that prep work.  One of Friday's events was my photography presentation to our local 4-H Club.  I had several students thank me for coming, and tell me that I did a fantastic job.  I was thrilled to be able to share with them some of the things I've learned over the years about taking good photographs.  They were a great audience!

[103] Presentation to the 4-H group

Later on Friday, we had several people come over for Game Night--games, laughter, singing, laughter, talking, laughter, eating...  You get the idea.  My parents "happened to" stop by, and my dear friend Nan had brought cupcakes, other dessert, and ice cream to celebrate--once again--my dad's 80th birthday (which was actually that day, the 13th).  Below, my mom (with Nan) brought in the cupcakes while singing to my dad (that part of the house is really dark and I didn't have my flash--this was the best I could do!).

[104] Second celebration

Saturday was a day of recovery, and the Lord ordered our day as a day of rest, clearing our schedule of commitments so that we could recover from a hectic week.  Jacob was the only one who had to work--he went in for eight hours' work at a local police department for his college internship.

Later in the day, 7:30pm or so, clouds started rolling in.  I notice stuff like that, since I'm frequently at my kitchen window which faces southwest.  My camera happened to still be sitting on the counter, so I grabbed it and took a few shots.  The below clouds rolled through very quickly; within five minutes this particular formation was completely gone.

[105] Cloud waves

I hope you also had a great week, with great images and more importantly--great memories!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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P2012 -- Week 11 -- 3/11-17

Project 2012 -- Week 11

March 11 - March 17

How to Link Up With Us

1.  Click here to read the Project 2012 Guidelines, and to get the code to place in your blog.
2.  Fill out the little form below (insert the URL of your blog post, not the main URL of your blog).
3.  Please visit others' links and leave comments; you will receive visits and comments in return!

My Week 11 Photos

I took some photos for a photography class I'm enrolled in, but didn't use them for the class.  The below image was supposed to be an example of an "S" curve.  I didn't like it for fulfilling the assignment, but I like the shapes and colors.

[71] Fallen leaf

Another "S" curve I didn't use.

 [72] "S" curve

I made the below salad for supper with family.  Yum--and it's so good for me!

[73] Raw kale and avocado salad

After Thomas showed off his jumping skills, Danny wanted in on the action.  Another warm winter day (!!) provided the opportunity for both Danny and Thomas to show off.  Below, Danny did a half-turn in mid-air and landed backwards.  Notice how they're using Dad's plastic sawhorses instead of the glass picnic table!!

[74] Fancy jump

[75] Scrunch up!

Warm winter day = break out the grill!!  (Ribs, chicken, and bratwurst.)

[76] March grilling

Storm clouds rolled in around sunset time, creating a beautiful sky.

[77] Evening storm clouds

I hope you had a great week of shooting!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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