Cee’s fun Foto Challenge this week is Basically Two Colors.








Cee’s fun Foto Challenge this week is Basically Two Colors.
In December, the Chicago Botanic Gardens has a light show, which people attend at night. Local artists create structures that are lit up one way or another. The show is called “Lightscape” and has become an annual holiday tradition. There is a set path you walk through the gardens, passing a lot of beautiful “bright” creations.
I’m back at Tourmaline’s Countdown to Christmas. Let’s see, where was I?
Day 19: Mail
I almost always send holiday cards through the mail. Usually they are late, but this year I’ve mailed them all before Christmas! I order my cards from Shutterfly and couldn’t imagine what to send in this coronavirus year! The one I chose was amusing & appropriate, I thought – it just said “Well, That was CRAZY! Happy 2021 (finally)”. It included four photos, one a selfie of me and Dale in masks, one of Hazel, our cat, and two scenic. (I am unable to copy and paste it here and I used up all the cards!) I had Shutterfly print our return address on the back of the envelope, so sending them was easy! I only had to add my half-page letter, address, stamp, seal, and mail!
Day 20: Toys
Day 21: Snow
We haven’t had any (yet)! But here are some photos from last winter.
Day 22: Night
Last night, for the first time in 800 years, Saturn and Jupiter were to line up in the night sky, and we would see them as one brightish light near the horizon. We were going to go to a park after dark to look at this phenomenon, but alas! It was cloudy!
What I like about night at Christmas time is all the holiday lights that brighten up the darkness when the days are short and the sun sets before 4:30 p.m.!
Lens-Artists’ Photo Challenge this week is Pick a Word: Choose one (1) word or more – choose all of them if you like! The words available are the following:
Comfortable
Growing
Tangled
Crowded
Exuberant
Guest host Shower of Blessings has given us the theme for Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87: Reflections.
My car is a source of several types of reflections:
Reflections of holiday lights on its hood
Light from its headlights reflecting on snowfall
An image in its driver’s side mirror (Rocky Mountain National Park)
Bodies of water are also great sources for photographing reflections:
One of the ponds at our senior community – the reflection was clearer on the water side (left) than the ice side (right).
Hippo and its reflection (Serengeti National Park, Tanzania)
Egrets on the edge of a lake (Tarangire National Park, Tanzania)
In this close-up of two geese that are part of a sculpture, the reflection of the top of the sculpture, geese in flight, can be seen in the pond. (Chicago Botanic Gardens)
Polished surfaces, such as glass and mirrors, are good places to look for reflections.
Glass pots on display at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington – the pattern at the bottom of the pot on the left is reflected on the platform.
Glass bowl
Glass sculpture on the roof of the museum after a rainfall – the birds are actually reflected in the puddle – it reminded me of the egrets in Tanzania!
The polished floor in the courtyard of a mosque in Cairo, Egypt
It took me awhile looking at this photo to realize it was actually a mirror image I was photographing, at a restaurant in Cairo. There was also a mirror at the far end, where the actual scene of our group having dinner was reflected, in the second photo.
Finally, semi-spherical mirrors were used to enhance flower exhibits at the annual orchid show (Chicago Botanic Gardens). This photo is a bit blurry but I liked the reflection – and you can see my camera in my hand at left!
And now, a theme-related video of a golden oldie from the 1960s!
This week’s topic for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge is squiggly or crooked lines.
Valentine on an apartment door
Waterfall of lights at Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lightscape show
Wilted orchid
Ripples on a frozen pond
I took this photo at O’Hare Airport a few years ago on my way somewhere. These neon lights stretched overhead above the moving sidewalks.
Neon lights in Cairo at night
Day 27 of Becky’s January Month of Squares with the theme _____light.
A “square” photo for Becky’s January Square photo challenge with the topic of words ending in “light.” This is another photo taken at LIGHTSCAPE at Chicago Botanic Gardens – a close-up of one of the flower-shaped lights used in many of the light exhibits.