Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week has the topic Shiny.






Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is on a series exploring the senses. This week it is the sense of touch.
Touching each other is something many people miss during this pandemic, where we are told to stay 6 feet away from others and not to touch our face! In fact, handshaking as a form of greeting someone may become a thing of the past.
Touching, or petting, our furry friends is one of the ways we communicate with them, and it is something that they generally like. This touching is pleasurable for both human and animal.
Hazel’s fur is so soft and smooth.
You can tell Hazel enjoys this attention!
Dogs also love the attention. Dale always stops to pet some of our neighbor’s dogs, like this one, “Iphi” (short for Iphigenia).
We are touched by raindrops that fall on our heads when we pass under a tree just after a rain shower.
Just as we find out it is raining when the raindrops touch us, we are also touched by the wind, the sun’s heat, or the cold of winter.
Animals and people touch to show love for each other.
Romantic love:
Sisterly love:
Old friends coming together:
Sometimes we want to touch something because of its texture.
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge theme this week is shiny. Using photographic manipulation and mistakes added to the shiny-ness of some of these photos!
Icicles – I got the effect I was looking for in this shot, with the late afternoon sun shining behind the icicles to create a golden glow. (Taken from my living room window)
The full moon rising in the darkness plus the bright holiday lights on people’s balconies brought out the contrast between dark and light. Using my cellphone camera made the moon look larger and shinier than it actually was. (Taken across the street from my church in Des Plaines)
I cropped this shot to focus on the shiny golden table surface with the reflection of a shiny wine glass. (Restaurant in Cairo, Egypt)
This photo needed no modification – the shiny white marble floor of this mosque reflected the architecture around it, creating an awe-inspiring effect. (Al-Azhar Mosque, Cairo, Egypt)
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, Israel is easy to spot with its shiny golden dome standing out against the shades of white of the old city. I enhanced the contrast to emphasize this magnificent building.
This photo was an accident – I had my camera on the wrong setting so this photo of sailboats on the Mediterranean Sea (at Cesarea, Israel) was overexposed. But I liked the effect and the shiny surface of the Mediterranean casts a white glow on the scene. (I also discovered I needed to clean my lens!)
The day following this, we drove along the coast of the Dead Sea by motorcoach on our way to Masada. It was still relatively early, so the rising sun made a shiny reflection on the surface of the Dead Sea, our first view of it. Once again, my cellphone’s sensitivity to bright light made the sun bigger and brighter than it was.
The theme of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is cold. Very timely, since Chicagoland has had an unseasonably cold November, with our first major snowfall (8 inches where I live) on November 26. Here is how our neighborhood looked (from the comfort of my living room! 🙂 ) that morning.
My husband was out with our snow blower, as were many of the neighbors.
Of course, this is nothing compared to the Arctic vortex that descended on the Midwest during the winters of 2014 and 2015. The icicles never had a chance to melt and we had some huge ones!
The icicles hanging from our eaves had their beautiful moments, reflecting the sunlight.
When it’s very cold outside, I like to go to a local Mexican restaurant which serves a delicious caldo de pollo (chicken soup) with big chunks of white meat, potatoes, carrots, and green beans. They serve it with a tray of chopped onions, limes, and cilantro, and a plate of rice to add at will! This was my bowl last Wednesday evening.
To get in the mood, here’s a seasonal song that is played a lot at this time of year.
The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge this week is “Out of this World.”
Plant, San Antonio, TX
Tree roots, San Antonio, TX
Icicles outside my house, Des Plaines, IL