Photography Challenge Week 2: Straight Out of the Camera

I’m running a little behind on my posting, but I have a really good reason. Just in case you have forgotten or didn’t know, I live in a Chicago suburb. And, as Januarys are wont to be, it’s pretty cold here. AND — my furnace went out last week. More on that later, but today’s post is all about Photography Challenge Week 2: Straight Out of the Camera.

This week’s challenge as described by the Dogwood administrators:

WEEK 2 Technical: SOOC Straight out of the Camera. No Photoshop. Shoot a compelling image and post it without edits. No cheating! (Be sure and save the image file for the end of the challenge!)

I took these photos with the challenge in mind, trying to get the best light I could and to crop in my camera rather than in post-processing. All of them would improve with some processing, so I look forward to touching them up later in the year. I’m not really a big processor, but I do improve lighting, color, and almost always do some cropping on my photos.

Tiny Tavern table flowers Navy Pier

Taken at our table at the Tiny Tavern on Navy Pier in Chicago, this photo does a decent job of following the rule of thirds. It’s the best of the four I took.

Quilting tools

I’m part of a crafting group at our church and I loved the POV on this photo of the quilt patch and the quilter’s tools.

Crochet project

The craftwoman’s hands as she starts a new crochet project.

Next up on the photography challenge:

WEEK 3 Artistic: Land Your inspiration this week is land. This could be a landscape, or an image inspired by the land in some way.

Link up your photos in the comments or on my Facebook page if you want to participate with me. I’m always looking for constructive criticism and I know you will be kind.

As far as the furnace story goes, it took us three visits by the repair tech and two replacement parts to figure out what was wrong with our furnace. We were early adopters of a high-effeciency heating system and over the years our furnace has saved us a lot of money in gas bills. Since we sign up for a service contract every year, we have also received both warrantied parts plus labor and discounted replacements over the years. This time was a doozy — with our tech finally figuring out that we still had a first-generation electronics board when most of them have been replaced over the years because they failed. Carrier is now on the fifth-generation board for this furnace — versions one, two, three, and four were all faulty in some way or another. The tech never thought to even check the serial number on our board because he just assumed it had been replaced long ago. The board was unable to talk to our fancy thermostat and eventually just gave up in disgust and shut down the furnace. Obviously it was a relief to get it fixed, and then today, our tech came back again for our maintenance check and to fix our humidifier, which was also not working. I have asked multiple times if I should just replace our aging furnace, and our guys keep saying no.

I’d say that I’m assuming they know what they are talking about, but my experience this week tells me that assuming makes… wait for it… an A** out of U & Me. 🙂

Did you watch the first episode of the new PBS series about Queen Victoria? It looks good so far, and sent me and my friends to the internet to look up all those tangled family trees that got her on the throne.

Have a wonderful week!

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Photography Challenge Week 1: Rule of Thirds Storytelling

This is my story and I’m sticking to it.

I got booted back into writing on my blog by my son who posted a very personal story on Facebook about his annus horribilis of 2016. It’s his story to tell, but I share it because I want to give him some credit for giving me inspiration to write again. I’ve also had a difficult year, but that’s no reason not to write. Actually, for me, it should have been a reason TO write.

Although I didn’t stop taking photos, I did stop posting them on photo sharing sites. I also began to curate who saw my photos on Facebook. What a knucklehead way to react to depression. Enough said.

Back in the photography saddle again

For 2017, I’ve decided to participate in the 52 Week Photography Challenge from Dogwood Photography. Each weekly assignment will include a thematic hook plus a photography technique. Week One’s task is to tell a story using the rule of thirds, a common photography technique.

“Story Telling: Good photographers can take beautiful images of something. Great photographers can take an image that tells its story. This category makes use of compositional rules and directed prompts to push you towards not just looking at the beauty of something, but to find a way to tell that something’s story.(https://dogwood.photography/52weekchallenge2017.html ).

Interpreting the rule of thirds at the Lincoln Park Conservatory

During the holidays, we decided to go to Chicago’s Lincoln Park to see the seasonal display at the Conservatory and the lighting festival at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The two venues are adjacent to each other and admission is free. They are Chicago treasures! I took my camera along hoping for some inspired rule-of-thirds photos.

lincoln park conservatory windows

Looking through the steamy and city-smogged glass of the 1890s-era Lincoln Park Conservatory, you can see the beautiful luxury apartment buildings along Lincoln Park West.

A visit to Chicago during holiday seasons should include a visit to the Lincoln Park Conservatory, which has special seasonal flower displays (and so does the Garfield Park Conservatory).

Garden Girl by Frederick C. Hibbard [1881-1950], Carved in marble: 1937. Location: Lincoln Park Conservatory.

Even Garden Girl by Frederick C. Hibbard [1881-1950],
carved in marble (1937), is decked out in a Santa hat.

 Storytelling in the urban community

A rainy grey day emphasizes the geometric forms of the cityscape.

A rainy grey day emphasizes the geometric forms of the cityscape.

That’s it for this week — thank goodness there are no rules that I need to follow. Next week’s theme is straight out of the camera. No cropping, no color adjusting, no brightening up the lighting. I’m wishing myself good luck on this one.

This photography challenge is based in Flickr, which I do not use.  I plan to share my photos here, on Google +, and on Facebook where I normally share my blog posts. Feel free to follow me on Facebook, but you know how it is with non-boosted posts. You may not see my feed. You will always see my feed if you use email or Google + delivery, or whatever you prefer for your social media feed. I appreciate all of you who stop here to visit and please comment on which photo you like better! Constructive criticism is welcome.

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Shadows and Reflections Photo Essay

I’ve got a new camera and I’m in love! More on that later, but today I’m sharing my photos from Fathers’ Day, with a theme of shadows and reflections in a photo essay.

As I’ve been learning about my camera and lenses, I’ve also learned that choosing a theme for the day helps to organize my creativity and my output. My relatives and friends will tell you that there’s only so many flower photos they can stand in one day!

My day started with church and the beautiful light that comes in through side windows in our altar area. That set my theme for the day.
Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

We went to the Art Institute of Chicago in the afternoon specifically to see the exhibit America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. This collection will be shown until September 18, 2016, and I highly recommend it. The show includes well-known works by Grant Wood, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe, and Thomas Hart Benton. While resting on the chairs outside the exhibit, I noticed that the glass wall of the exhibition hall was reflecting both the outdoor garden and the people walking by.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo EssayAfter we viewed the exhibit, we visited some of the other art galleries in the Modern wing of the museum. There were some winners, but I have to admit, I don’t get a lot of what is called modern art. I wasn’t the only one; every now and then we would encounter another visitor laughing quietly at a piece of “art”. The following two pieces caught my eye due to their three-dimensional nature that caused shadows and reflections.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

Five Blues (Punj Neelay) by Rasheed Araeen

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

We escaped to the cool basement rooms to see the treasures from Iran, and encountered beautiful tiles and artifacts.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

After we had our fill of art, Music Man asked for a pint of dark beer for his special day, so our daughter chose the Beer Bistro for our dinner. The beer list was wide-ranging, and the food was fresh and well-prepared. Of course, the camera came out to pick up a few interesting images.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

Mirrors make the best photos, and turning it into black and white highlighted all of the interesting architecture in this pub.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

There was some sort of metal tower out in the courtyard between the buildings, and the late afternoon sun caught its shadow.

Shadows and Reflections: Photo Essay

The metal tower again, framed by the barred window, a troll and a wine bottle inside the pub.

So what’s the new camera? It’s a 4/3 mirrorless Panasonic Lumix G7, and I bought a 14-140 zoom lens to use as my walking around lens. I am also borrowing a 100-300 zoom lens, which I’m pretty sure I have to buy from my friend. This camera fits in my purse, is lightweight, and takes lighting fast photos. I’m hooked!

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Spring Flowers in the Garden

As soon as it is reasonably warm enough to walk safely and comfortably, I like to visit the Chicago Botanic Garden at least once a week. I am lucky to have this amazing public garden practically in my back yard — it’s only about a 35-minute drive and as a member I get unlimited entry.

With the promise of a perfect day and glorious spring flowers in bloom, I headed up to the CGB with my camera, set on manual mode. I was determined to get some practice using manual rather than program or automatic modes.

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I saw a beautiful yellow finch in the parking lot, but this was the only bird that I captured in the park.

I saw a beautiful yellow finch in the parking lot, but this was the only bird that I captured in the park.

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Looking for the light revisited

Hey, friends! It’s nice to see you again. Thanks for sticking with me. I’ve been busy taking photos!

GotMyReservations Reflection

In photography class we are working on using natural light to illuminate our photos — to “see the light” is the hallmark of a good photographer. As bloggers, we know that a striking photo is important to our work. It’s also easy to use simple items to boost the light in your photos — try using a piece of white posterboard as a reflector. In this photo of a crystal punchbowl, I had a white foam core board over on the right, and the mirror also gave more reflected light. You may remember this mirror from a previous post about creating vignettes. I also posted another photo the last time I took a photography class. I’m very consistent. 🙂 Continue reading

Water Lilies Part Deux

Since I shared the beautiful and intricate lily pads this week, I thought I should also share some photos I took earlier this summer of the blossoms.

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It has been a fun summer for glorious flowers. I’ve enjoyed my walks at the Chicago Botanic Gardens; it’s good for my body and good for my soul.

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Giant Water Lilies

Did you ever see giant lily pads up close?
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I’ve been looking at these lilies all summer and focusing on their brilliant flowers.

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Since the flowers are mostly gone, my camera was attracted to the structure of the actual leaves.
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Without the flowers, the photojournalist (moi) was able to see the reflections in the water and how the lily pads inhabit the pool in which they live.

Sometimes life is all about perspective.

Here’s a lengthy explanation about the Victoria amazonica, which these appear to be. The photos were taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illininois.

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Hello again

I know. It’s been forever.

Playing with light

Playing with light

I’ve had lots of health struggles over the last months, but I’ve decided to ignore them.

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I’m trying to be more consistent with my photography, so at least for now, I’ll be sharing photos and talking about what’s going on in life.

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You are worth every minute I spend with you; I really value your kindness and caring persistence in staying with me.

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This week’s job is to figure out how to post to the blog from my iPad. I know; it’s probably really easy.

All photos styled by Janet McCarthy from displays at her shop, Lucky Junk in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

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Favorites of the Week

Sometimes I have things to share that are short and don’t really need a full blog post. My niece Jessie does a Saturday wrap-up post that I always enjoy, so I decided to try it myself. I hope you like my random thoughts. 🙂

Favorite photos

I joined a photography challenge called the 365 Project and have been posting photos daily. The point is to actually take photos every day and get some feedback to improve your photography. I have to admit that I’m not always perfect about posting that day’s photo. Sometimes I get nothing and resort to “filler” shots from previous days, but it’s my project and I can make my own rules. Right? Here’s a couple of my favorites from the last few weeks.

I have taken many photos of this little girl (with her parents’ permission, of course), and she’s always wary of the crazy camera lady. I thought this shot captured her wariness perfectly.

Click into photo to link to my 365 Project.

Click into photo to link to my 365 Project.

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It’s Time for a Holiday Photo Op!

We’ve been really busy around here with holiday decorating, entertaining, and house guests. All that exciting activity meant that I didn’t have a whole lot of time for blogging, but I have a few photos to share as we go careening into 2015.

Got My Reservations -- Christmas Pudding

We enjoyed a traditional British Christmas pudding.

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