I picked an October 20 from my blog archives. I am featuring them here for Becky’s Past Squares (or SquarePast?) today. The photos below are from two posts on Oct. 20, 2016.
For Thursday Doors that week, I posted doors of houses in Des Plaines. I have selected the ones that are most seasonal.
I like the contrasting blue & orange in this photo.
The other post I did that day was for Cee’s weekly Fun Foto Challenge. Her topic was vibrant colors. This is, coincidentally, the topic of Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week. These photos were taken on a trip to Texas, where we visited the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Dale’s silhouette in front of a neon Texas flag!Pink Electric Chair (2006)
I took this photo about 3:45 pm today – I liked the way the backlit sunshine brought out the details of the flower! This is for Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge with the topic of “natural lighting” and Cee’s Flower of the Day 8/15/21.
Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge has the topic weathered. Nancy says, “Living close to the mountains and rural areas, I come across weathered items to photograph frequently. There are also a lot of different treatments that you can use to make an image look weathered. With this week’s challenge, try lots of different techniques.”
I tried “weathering” some of my photos using SnapSeed and my other limited photo editing software, but I couldn’t get that “weathered” look. So I relied on my naturally weathered photo subjects.
Three subjects taken in Poulsbo, Washington
Meet Josephine, a javelina I picked up at an art fair in Tucson, Arizona. Her natural look is weathered, because she is made from metal treated to appear rustic or weather-beaten. I experimented with SnapSeed, but I think her natural state is a better look. What do you think?
Her usual spot, next to the fireplace
Josephine decided to explore so she posed on my piano!
I did use SnapSeed to create a “grunge” look on some other items in my house, while working on a still life photo project. Click on the photos to see them larger.
Southwestern USA, and particularly along Route 66, is a great place to find naturally weathered subjects.
Weather-beaten vehicle at the Wigwam Motel in San Bernardino, California – now retired, it’s just for show!
North of Victorville, CA is Bottle Tree Ranch. Besides “trees” made from bottles, there are a lot of old junk items that the artist collected and put on display. The longer they are left in place, exposed to the elements (heat, wind and dust, occasional rain), the more weather-beaten they become! A bizarre place, but a photographer’s heaven!
Those of us over 50 most likely remember the old TV series Candid Camera – I can still remember the last line of its theme song: “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera!” Nancy Merrill’s A Photo A Week challenge this week is candids. I offer my submission, first with two photos taken of family members at my grand-nephew’s birthday/going away to college family gathering (that’s him in the second photo); and a few animal candids of wild and domestic furred or feathered friends.
Our cat had been sleeping behind some propped pillows on the bed – she’d never slept there before, and she seemed a bit surprised and perhaps annoyed that we found her hiding place!
Bodhi is a Tibetan spaniel (very much like lhasa apso).A pair of swans preparing their nest – swans mate for life and both share the nest preparation duties. Tragically, shortly after this photo was taken, the male swan died!
A different pair of swans, a happy couple – they are always together!
I seem to have caught this Canada goose at an awkward moment!
One of the most memorable moments of our three days in Paris last June was visiting the Eiffel Tower at dusk – we did not reserve in advance to go up to the top, but it was just as well. They light up the tower in the evening so it was especially beautiful on a cloudless night and I was able to take photos of it with variousperspectives!
Yours truly & hubby take a selfie!My sister Judy and my son JaymeMini Eiffels for sale – all with flashing lights!
Square Eiffel Tower Perspectives
Groups taking selfies & my selfie with Jayme! How touristy!!
I so rarely get a photo of a rainbow – or at least a decent one! Rainbows are so ethereal and fleeting – one has to really be in the right place at the right time to see one! Therefore, I always consider it a special moment when I do get a photo of a rainbow, the subject of Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week.
The most recent photo I took of a rainbow was strictly by chance – I was taking a walk in our community last month and sprinklers were on. In the mist, I saw a rainbow and fortunately my camera was handy. Not very scenic, though.
However, the rainbow photos I’m most proud of were taken three years ago on our trip to the Dakotas. (If they look familiar, it’s because I have posted them before.) We were on our way back into South Dakota from a side trip to see Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. We’d taken a picnic for dinner, but had to rush because it started to rain. For a while, we were driving through pouring rain. Then the storm let up and South Dakota greeted us with a double rainbow! Sometimes we could see the fainter outer rainbow, other times no – but the rainbow stayed with us for several miles.
Nancy Merrill is coordinating her theme for her challenge A Photo a Week with the C-19 pandemic. Most places are now at some stage of “opening” at this time, so the topic this week is any kind of opening.
Wanderlust & Wonderment 