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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Weekly Header Challenge -- Shadows

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 ~ Shadows

Chosen by Lew.

A quick search in the shadows uncovered a few shadow images for sharing this week.  Here is my header image:

My brother Jeff and I took Danny along for a February walk at the Riverwalk in Naperville (beautiful place to wander if you visit the Chicagoland area!).  At one point we stopped to check camera settings and talk about potential shots.  That's when I took this.

I found one shadow image from another winter walk in the woods.

Enough of winter; how about a summer walk in the woods?  I look so tall!

A final fun shadow image from last year's trip to University of Illinois for the ICTM State Math Tournament.  We traveled there to support Thomas' math team, Alpha Omega, which did really well (5th overall as a team!).  Thomas also took 9th place in individual pre-calc; not bad for a self-taught math geek.  I snagged the shot as we were walking back to our car to head to a restaurant for a meal with the team students and their families.

I hope you found some images lurking in the shadows!  I'm off to visit your blogs to see what you've brought into the light!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Letting Go

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 ~ Letting Go

Chosen by me.

Although I had something specific in mind for this week's theme choice, I thought that it would be broad enough that my fellow Headbangers would be able to get creative with it.  Here is the image I chose to use in my header:

This was my wedding dress, from almost 28 years ago!  In my journey to a simpler life, I've been decluttering and getting rid of excess in our home.  One item I ran across when we "remodeled" our master bedroom closet was my wedding dress and veil.  I was okay with donating it to Goodwill, but wasn't completely sure until Fernando gave me two thumbs up.  It was time to Let Go and say goodbye to this physical item that was no longer serving a purpose in my life.

To help preserve my memories, I decided to do a little photo shoot my the dress and veil, and had planned on doing it at The Morton Arboretum a month ago.  I had the dress ready, my camera bag packed, but when Fernando and I arrived at the Arboretum, I discovered I left the dress at home, in a bag next to the front door.  Sigh.

Seeing that my theme was scheduled for this week, yesterday seemed like a good time to get this photo shoot taken care of.  *The queen of procrastinators has spoken.*

The only logistically available place yesterday was my back yard.  I figured--why not?  This venue was also more significant to me than the Arboretum; we've lived here for 17 years and I have a special place (under "construction") in the corner of the yard.  So, that's where I went.

It was breezy and cool, but I managed to get some pretty images of the dress and veil, plus some of the details--beading, lace, fabric.  A friend made this dress for me as a wedding gift, so it was important in more ways than one to capture the details.

I've told many friends, when they've had a hard time getting rid of something with memories attached, to take a picture of that item, then say goodbye.  Having photos helps preserve the memories, detaching them from the physical item and freeing me from the burden of excess stuff.  Thanks for helping me along this journey!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Any Sport Not Played with a Ball

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 ~ Any Sport Not Played with a Ball

Chosen by Mac.

I believe this is the only sport I've photographed which isn't played with a ball.  Unless chess or Scrabble is a sport...

I cropped my header image (above, if you're reading this the week it was published) so you can't tell just what that object is they're trying to catch.  Here's the full image:

Frisbee, and some serious air time!

For years, our guys have been involved in an informal Frisbee league which meets weekly throughout the summer.  Today, I'm featuring images I took at one of the games last year.

This sport is technically called Frisbee football, and involves passing, catching, throwing, blocking, etc., in order for your team to get the Frisbee into the goal--someone has to catch it in the end zone.  There isn't supposed to be physical contact, nor can you run once you've caught the Frisbee.  I tried playing it once--there are several dads who play--but gave up halfway through and decided that photographing it was much more to my liking than running around on a hot, humid summer evening.

Photographing sports means a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.  This also means a higher ISO, especially for this game played in the evening.  By the end of the night (dusk) I had my camera set to ISO 8000 to obtain at least a 1/500 second shutter speed (fast enough to freeze most sports).

I also take a lot of multiple images (in burst mode) to capture the action.  I try to keep just the best shot that captures the action; otherwise, I end up with hundreds of images!

Brothers chasing down the Frisbee.

Don't collide!

This was a nice trip down Memory Lane for me, and since it's supposed to be in the 80s today, it feels like a Frisbee day!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- The Color Pink

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 ~ The Color Pink

Chosen by Everyone.

We all decided on the color Pink for this week's theme, in honor of Kathy and me, the two girls in our Headbangers group.  I'm eager to discover what images the guys have come up with this week!  To start, here is the image I used for my header, a pink hollyhock blossom with some extra buzz:

Pink comes in a variety of shades, so here are the rest of my pink images.  Yeah, they're all flowers, but I love them!

Hollyhock blossom.

Clematis.

Flowering crabapple.

Hollyhock before it blooms.

I took this last one at The Morton Arboretum a few weeks ago.

Pink magnolia.

That's my pink for this week!  This was the perfect color for this week's spring weather.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Is Spring Finally 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 ~ Is Spring Finally Here?

Chosen by Tom.

I'll let my images be the answer to this week's theme question.  The full image from my cropped header is below.  When we arrived at our friends' home after a concert, these beautiful tulips greeted us, drenched by the afternoon's rain.  I dallied outside for this quick shot before going inside, and I'm so glad I did.

My back yard garden says Yes--it's spring!  Look at this rhubarb coming up!

Yes, it's spring!  The garden needs to be weeded--the first of many times throughout the year, lol.  And notice that Joseph was able to wear his shorts for our garden chores!

Yes, it's spring!  The trees at The Morton Arboretum are in full bloom.

White magnolia.

Pink magnolia blooms.

Red maple tree blossoms.

Blue scilla.

A carpet of mayapples!

Finally, the daffodil glade screams, Yes, it's spring!

I hope I've answered the question.  *grin*


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge -- Found Object

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 ~ Found Object

Chosen by Kathy.

For this week's theme, I decided to show you what I found on my last two visits to the arboretum.  I expected to see certain things there, such as trees and daffodils (at least I hoped for the daffodils to be in bloom!), but some things were unexpected. 

Pictures from Visit #1 -- Using my Macro

Here is the image I used for my header:

This little fella was happily munching away on a nut, right in the middle of the walking path, in the shade of a tree.  I had brought my macro lens as the only lens on my camera, and that allowed me to get a little closer without having to crop the image.  Also, this squirrel was apparently a longtime resident of the arboretum, because he let me get up close and personal without a bit of concern on his part.  Plus, he posed for me, too!

It was a challenge to find shots with just my macro lens, but the below worked well.  Imagine how tall this tree is, since I missed the bottom half!  I discovered a nest up high, plus I loved the twisty trunk.

Fernando discovered a garter snake in the leaves, and "helped" the snake slither my way for its portrait.

Pictures from Visit #2 -- Using my 24-105mm F/4L

Yesterday, Fernando and I went back to the arboretum to see if the daffodils were in bloom yet.  I brought just one lens, a challenge yet again.  Here are the things we found.

Daffodils with scilla scattered around:

Here is part of the daffodil glade.

We took a walk around and found a section of woods covered with mayapples.  They weren't quite open, but when they are, they're the neatest looking sight--the wooded floor covered with little leafy umbrellas.

In an open field, we came upon a clump of white and pink magnolia trees.  What a pretty spring sight! 

Here are the fuzzy buds from a few of the trees:

And one of the open blossoms:

Those are just a few of the things we found on our two trips.  I know there'll be other things to discover the next time we go, and I can't wait until then!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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