look down

Header Challenge:look down

May 20, 2013

Normally, we keep our chin up and take on the world at eye level, which is fine for most things. But there are so many interesting observations we would miss if we did that with our cameras. Therefore, I chose "look down" for this week's Headbanger's theme. Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac and Lew.

Lead mining in Galena, Illinois

Lead mining in Galena.  If you're up on your geology, that will sound redundant.  The man below isn't real; it's a mannequin, and this was taken through a thick pane of protective glass.  We couldn't venture down into the mine, but the closest access was an observatory the size of a closet.  There was a museum on the main floor with plenty of artifacts and information, though.

baby 'possum

This little fella was found in my backyard last year, and the following morning, I found him again as I was doing yard work.  We took him to a local refuge, because if he stayed around here without his momma, he'd only be coyote bait.

wee little toad

Most wild animals are shy and skittish, and that makes it difficult to get a shot off.  That was not the case with this guy.  I used a tripod and manual focus.  When I tried moving him around to a different pose, he decided he was finished with me and hopped back into the leaves.

oak leaves in shimmering lake

This was taken flat on my belly, off a pier in Wisconsin.  The sparkles in the water drew my attention, and since it was in constant motion, I wondered if I could snap a relatively sharp image, and it worked.

Speaking of being flat on my belly, that's what I did to capture the header photo, too.  I walked past a room where someone had four cats.  There was nobody inside at the time to entertain them, and this one begged for my company, but I did not open the door for fear that I would end up chasing four cats through the whole building!  So instead, I talked to this cat from the gap under the door.

solid color

Header Challenge: Solid Color

February 13, 2013

This week's theme was my pick. I went with "solid color" because I like the idea of finding different shades and reflections on a monochromatic surface. Check out my  pals for their interpretations on this theme: Fishing  Guy, Katney, Imac (solid colour) and Lew.

[click any pic to enlarge]

Lots to see in the solid color category! First, I was amused by this tragedy... the Greek actor looks with dismay on the tacky utilitarianism as the artistic and extravagantly sculptured building is marred by a boneheaded placement of a window air conditioning unit. How uncouth!
 

Now, let's move from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri to Galena, Illinois' Main Street. Deviating from the category of fine art, how about a nice, steampunk Godzilla to dress up a store window?
 

The tour guide at the Galena & U.S. Grant Museum said I was completely free to take pictures inside the museum, so I have the bust of Grant in stone and bronze. I liked how the stone sculpture shows lots of reflected color that it picked up from the sunlit room. The bronze piece shows a before and after pic. The lonely piece on the back was was uninteresting until I crouched to a different position and held an off-camera flash high and to the left.



The Renaissance Suites in Galena felt like a home away from home, except that it had so many gargoyles! They look fun in daylight, but at night I bounced flash up from below to enhance their menacing appearance. Alas, I did not want a gargoyle for my header, so I skipped the fallen angel types and went with a golden messenger from the hosts of heaven. That was taken with a simple, point & shoot, compact camera. I used polarized sunglasses over the lens to get a bluer sky, and forced the flash to fill in some detail in the shady areas.
 

if Yoda was a gargoyle...

creepy

hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

Christmas in the Square

Header Challenge: Christmas in the Square

December 12, 2012

Lew provided this week's theme for the Headbangers.  This was tricky for me, and I'm eager to see how my pals did.  Generally speaking, I like the idea of a town square, but don't have a real-life reference that matches what I have imagined from stories I've read. Please see the posts submitted by my friends Fishing Guy, Katney, Imac, Sandy and Lew.

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Last year, two friends took my wife and me downtown to see a play and check out the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza, which is the closest Chicago has to a proper town square.  From the back seat of their minivan, I set the camera on my lap and snapped up this silhouette "street photographer style" as we drove through the decorated streets.

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Clockwise from the upper left: Puppet theater on a bicycle (which I found to be strange and annoying), the famous Picasso sculpture, a clock at Macy's (it used to be Marshall Field's), and the Eternal Flame war memorial flanked by pigeon sentries.

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The plaza at the Daley center was jam packed with masses of visitors and densely constructed shops selling food and knick-knacks German artisans.  But somehow, they made room for a large, life-size manger scene.  Why is there a Cuitlaxochitl in front of the lambs?  Don't eat that.

This header was carefully selected, not for any artistic merit per se, but because of the trolley's seductive blank side panel, which I shamelessly exploited for flagrant self promotion.

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The shops on Main Street in Galena had live Christmas displays in their windows.  I like the idea, especially if their people have fun with it.

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