Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Cropping The Shot

This week, Patti suggests that we try Cropping the Shot for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.  One of the most useful tools in the image-processing arsenal is the cropping tool.  I can’t tell you how many shots I rescued from the trash with a little judicial cropping.

I can even ‘zoom in’ by the simple expedient of the cropping tool, giving me a closer look at something way off in the distance, as I did with this shot taken at Arches National Park in Utah.

And if I’m really lucky I can get four shots for the price of one with the aid of the cropping tool, as I did with this image that was captured along Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago, each picture focusing on a different aspect of the overall scene; the more leisurely pace of the bike path, the hustle and bustle of the traffic on the Drive and the work going on aloft.

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Going Back

This week, John, who is our guest host for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, has asked us to Go Back and take a second look at places we have visited in the past. My reason for wanting to go back and visit the first three places is that I was using a film camera at the time and was extremely limited as far as the number of pictures I could take. So, Niagara Falls (from the Canadian side,) Cypress Gardens in Florida and Virginia Beach are definitely on the list.

The same could be said of the Badlands in South Dakota, although we did go back eventually, one of the first places we visited after I acquired my original digital camera, but I couldn’t get out of the habit of being sparing with my shots and always regretted not taking more while I had the chance.

These days there’s no holding me back and I take literally hundreds of pictures when we’re on our travels, but time was against us on Antelope Island in Utah. We had already visited the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City in the morning and by the time we got to the island a big storm was brewing so we had a quick look around and headed back to base. We had planned on going back to Utah the following year to visit our daughter but instead, she moved on to Texas. As it turned out, much of the island’s vegetation was destroyed by wildfires that year so it probably wouldn’t have been a good idea anyway but, if I had the opportunity, I’d love to go back to Antelope Island.

To be honest, I’m not sure who took these pictures but it was with my husband’s film camera nearly fifty years ago, so it could have been either one of us. These images represent my final memories of home in England. We’ve never been back, for various reasons, and will almost certainly never have the chance now. If I could magically transport myself back there, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Thanks to John for giving us the opportunity to Go Back and revisit some of our favorite places.

 

 

 

Bad Lines

Today, for Becky’s Square Lines Challenge, here are some scenic lines in the Badlands, South Dakota.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Shadows

This week, Tina Schell at Travels and Trifles has chosen Shadows as the topic for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. There were surprisingly few of these in the photo files, or at least ones that I thought added anything to the overall picture. There were some, however, that I thought might just fit the bill. I selected the first shot, taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden, as I rather liked how the tree’s shadows led the way over the bridge as though reaching out to its counterpart on the other side.

Shadow symmetry by the McGinley Pavilion at The Chicago Botanic Garden.

Shadows standing out in the snow at Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg and on the path under a pergola at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Biltmore Mansion casts a large shadow over the landscape in Asheville, North Carolina.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Landscapes

This week, Amy has picked Landscapes as the subject for the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.  There are so many places yet to visit in this country but here are a few of my favorite landscape shots from my travels thus far.  They include scenes from Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and South Dakota.

 

For more on the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge go to  Landscapes.

APAW – On The Horizon

Nancy Merrill is looking to the horizon for her Photo Challenge this week. Here are just a few of the horizons we’ve seen on our travels. The first one is in Wyoming.

Then two in Wisconsin, the first at George K. Pinney County Park in Door Country and the second in the Kettle Moraine area.

The next two were in Utah, the first at Antelope Island and the second at Arches National Park.

The horizon from Galveston, Texas and one in Nebraska.

The horizon off Mackinac Island, Michigan and one in southern Illinois.

 

For more on Nancy’s Photo A Week Challenge go to On the Horizon.

OWPC – Panorama

The One Word Photo Challenge from Tourmaline this week is Panorama and, going through the photo files, I’ve come to the conclusion that some of my best panoramic shots were taken on our trip to Utah a couple of years ago.

For more on the OWPC go to This Week’s Challenges: April 15 – 21 (OWPC, WW & CYW)

Weekly Photo Challenge – Silence

We rarely go to places where there is total silence. In our immediate area, if there isn’t the sound of airplanes passing overhead then you can hear busy traffic on a nearby road or trains hooting and clanging as they make their way along the tracks.  So it makes a welcome break to go anywhere where the only thing you can hear is the wind rustling through the leaves or the birds twittering in the trees. That, for us, is comparative silence.  Here are just a few of the places where we have enjoyed such a respite from the daily clatter of life.

Wasatch National Forest near Alta in Utah.

Antelope Island near Salt Lake City in Utah.

Off-season at Heritage Hill State Historical Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Snowy Range scenic byway in Laramie, Wyoming.

For more on the Weekly Photo Challenge at The Daily Post go to Silence

 

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge – Scale

Sometimes when you take a photo it’s hard to get a feel for the actual scale of things.  It isn’t until you add something else to the picture that you get a better sense of just how large or how small that object really is.  Normally the vehicle seen in the lower half of the first image might seem quite large but, seen against the immensity of the mountains in Utah, it appears no bigger than an ant scurrying across the landscape.

The same could be said for the buffalo seen here on Antelope Island in Utah.

The cars in the lower decks of Marina City in Chicago look like nothing more than children’s toys.

You will have to look closely at the left of this picture to make out the parasailer, dwarfed by the mighty Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. He makes even the boat seem huge.

A close-up of these two window cleaners in downtown Chicago wouldn’t necessarily give you any idea of the height at which they were working which is why I pulled the camera back to give a better view of where they really were.

For more on The Weekly Photo Challenge go to Scale

The Nature of Glensheen

Earlier this autumn we traveled up north to visit Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota.  Despite the fact that the sun decided to hide behind the clouds for much of the time, there were still a few good opportunities for outside photos.  The garden was, understandably, past it’s best, but you could get a sense of how beautiful it would look when everything was in flower.  I could definitely understand why our guide said it was a popular venue for weddings, despite the rather macabre history of the house.

Glensheen sits right on the shores of Lake Superior and, depending on the weather, the view from the beach can look rather forbidding or quite inviting.

Walking through the grounds, which originally covered 22 acres but have now been reduced to 12, we came across a bridge that led to precisely nowhere.

The view from the bridge was quite interesting, however.  The Congdon family wanted to preserve as much of the natural beauty of the property as possible and if you look from one side of the bridge you can see the house framed by trees and from the other side you can see down to the lake.

The landscaping was carried out some time between 1905 and 1908 by Charles Wellford Leavitt who designed the estate to be self sufficient, incorporating a large vegetable garden, greenhouse, orchard, cow barn and water reservoir in the plans. Glensheen is well worth a visit not only for the very interesting tour of the house but also the garden and grounds.