Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – A River Runs Through It.

This week, Amy is asking us to find a place where a river runs through it for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. We always seem to be drawn to water on our travels and, very often, rivers feature quite a bit on these trips.  There’s something fascinating about a river as it makes it’s way through so many different kinds of surroundings, from the quiet countryside to the bustle of a big city. The first two shots of the Bad River and its tributary,Tyler Forks, were captured at Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin.

 

The next three images are of the Eau Claire River at the Dells of Eau Claire in Wisconsin.

The next two places are a little closer to home. The first is the Des Plaines River as it flows placidly through Joliet, Illinois. The next is the Fox River tumbling over the dam at St. Charles.

Normally, the Chicago River would just be gearing up for a busy season of river traffic but who knows what things will be like for the next few months. I’ll miss these familiar sights. I’ll be staying put for the foreseeable future, but these rivers will keep flowing on.  Stay safe, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – Fences and Gates

This week, Cee is looking for fences and gates for her Black & White Photo Challenge. I captured these images at the Volkening Heritage Farm, Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg last year. I haven’t had an opportunity to visit so far in 2020 and for now the facility is closed because of the virus. I will be sorry to miss seeing all the wonderful sights that nature has to offer there this spring but hope to return in the summer.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Upwards

This week, Cee has asked us to point our cameras upwards for her Fun Foto Challenge. While I was at the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden a couple of weeks ago, I made the most of every opportunity and took pictures from all angles including upwards, and orchids weren’t the only things I captured.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Change Of Perspective

This week, Patti is asking us to Change Our Perspective for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. I spent much of the time on Friday on my knees at the Chicago Botanic Garden, photographing flowers at the annual Orchid Show. This was my second visit, the first being on the previous Sunday when there were crowds of people and not much room to maneuver. It was a different story on Friday afternoon when there were times that I had the place almost to myself. When I wasn’t crouching down, I was looking up or twisting round and performing all kinds of contortions in order to get a different view of the blooms on show.

It’s not always easy to separate flowers from the surrounding foliage and sometimes it’s necessary to get into some rather undignified postures just to get the right angle.

 

They change the theme of the show every year and this time it was all about color and light, with some intriguing installations to highlight the displays. This one with the mirrored globes provided an interesting view of the orchids from different perspectives.

And another, with various colored strings that caught the rays of the sun through the greenhouse windows, provided ample opportunity to view the flowers in a whole different light.

While the towering chandelier, although not the easiest thing to access, still offered a variety of angles that resulted in a few interesting shots.

I always feel like a kid in a candy store as I’m taking in the sights at the show. There are just so many delightful blooms to reward the effort of a few somewhat uncomfortable moments of trying to get up from a kneeling position. The ends justify the means in this case.

 

 

 

Firelight

Another entry for Becky’s Square Light Photo Challenge. This time it’s firelight. The image was captured at the Flower and Garden Show on Navy Pier in Chicago some years ago.

Featherlight

Another entry for Becky’s Square Light Photo Challenge. This time it’s featherlight. Images captured at River Trails Nature Center, The Morton Arboretum, Spring Valley Nature Center and The Chicago Botanic Garden.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Cold

This week, Tina has chosen Cold as the subject for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. There was a time, not so long ago, when I would have thought nothing of standing around in the cold capturing images at the nature center. These days it’s almost impossible to convince myself that it’s worth the effort to put on fifty layers of clothing and risk slipping on the ice just for a few pictures, which is why I had to go some way back in the photo files to find these, taken at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg.