That's right!  I don't think I'm out of my funk but blowing a tire going down the interstate while driving to work yesterday morning ended up being just the thing I needed.  I normally would be off today, but I took yesterday after getting stranded on the side of I-65 for an hour and then taking about 2 hours to get a new tire.  After all that drama was over I decided that I'd get the things I was planning on doing today done and then go find me some pictures.

It was hard (it's been raining quite a bit with a lot of flooding around here for the past couple of days), but I think I succeeded in finding some wonderful subject matter and examples for Pablo's Highlights and Shadows challenge.

What do you guys think?  Did I find some photos or just take some shots?  Let me know honestly, I'm all ears!  I have more of both subjects, but I thought these fit the challenge the best.  I plan on posting them for critiques as well.  I find when I'm in a funk and I take pictures, they're not exactly up to par.

Suggestions explored:
highlights lightened       and cropped

Nuttin' moves cargo like a strong, reliable Fargo...

 Fargo 

 My New Toy , given to me by my sister Vicki...  We need to all take time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life that can give us so much joy...    blessings to you all...   Ms Judi :)

PS  We are getting the house ready for Chester's visit... he should be here next week, the same time as my daughter from New York... we will take lots of photos for all of you to view.. I might be able to sneak him to the wisconsin casino ..

Decided to give Pablo's challenge a go.

I confess these are from a trip in October, but just went through them again and put a few through Lightroom.

To go to Upper Antelope Canyon you need to hire a Navaho guide because it is on the Navaho Reservation.  It was very crowded, lots of tours going through as well as photo tours, which we were on.  You had to shoot high enough to go over heads but low enough to keep from shooting the sky and getting blow outs. 

A cable release and tripod are necessary for the long exposures.  ISO between 400 and 600. 

 Antelope_Canyon_1 

 Antelope_Canyon_2 

 Antelope_Canyon_3 

 Antelope_Canyon_4 

 Antelope_Canyon_5 

Thanks for looking and have a good rest of the week

I wandered around a local cemetery this weekend taking pictures of angels.  I hope you like them.

 P1035049  P1035220   P1035134    P1035035  

Yesterday they took the Astroland Icon, the rocket, down from it's perch on the Coney Island Boardwalk, throwing the town into shadows. The whole thing has me walking in shadowland. I apoligize.

Highlights 8/1/8 

 Shadows 1/6/9

Charles Denson, director of the Coney Island History Project says his group is currently in "serious negotiations" with a group that will move the rocket to a new Coney location. "It looks like it [might] be staying. It's a survivor, and it'll keep the Astroland name alive. It's a time capsule; everything inside is absolutely preserved." Charles Denson author of Coney Island Lost and Found the definitive reference book of Coney Island.

The Rocket is 46 years old and Astroland is the only home it's ever known! Looks like the Rocket's poised for a journey. I hope there's a place for it in the "new" Coney Island. - Tricia - Save Coney Island Coalition

Neptune City - Nicole Atkins
You can't see me from this view
All the way down
Trailing the procession
I'll hide out a few more days
Then I'll be leaving this place soon

Our hearts are singing out just for you
A cemetery song for summer
And if we knew just what we could do
A cemetery song we'd not sing

I'm sitting over Neptune City
I used to love it
It used to be pretty
I'll come down, walk around a while
Until I'm sure I can never go home again

Maybe if I paid attention
I could learn to love the landscape I was born to
By the river in the rain
Let it make me new again

Our hearts are singing out just for you
A cemetery song for summer
And if we knew just what we could do
A cemetery song we'd not sing

I'm sitting over Neptune City
I used to love it
It used to be pretty
I'll come down, walk around a while
Until I'm sure I can never go home again

 WisconsinSundown  ByMsJudi 

Happy New Year to everyone !  :)

 DSC06323 , DSC06416 , DSC06324 , DSC06023 

Seems like forever when the net provider says....14 days and you will be back on..and it took 20!!! aarrgg.. anyway.These photos i took were all in the afternoon as the sun was going down around 3:30 or so.Very beautiful colors this time of year.

I do a bit of wood carving as you might have guessed. It helps to take photos in the progression of various works using Highlights and Shadows to see what needs to happen next in the process. I've taken several shots of this particular project which is still underway and thought this would be a good one for the challenge. I set it up using only a small flourescent desk lamp and setting the exposure for 2.5 seconds and worked with a telephoto on a tripod. I then took some sheets of paper folded in half and set up a couple of spots of reflected light in the lower left and lower right of the picture. Let me know what you think.

 winter_dragon 

Thanks for looking!!!

Don

 sunset_1_P 

Salt Marsh in Maine.  I am not sure if this qualifies or not.  Definetly lots of shadows.

From out of the shadows...crept Miamoto, my daughter's first cat. Mia was a purely black tomcat we adopted as a 6 week old kitten, and this photo captured the handsome, sleek cat he became.

Mia loved to slink and creep around the house, but more than that, Mia loved my daughter. She was 2 years old when we adopted him, and at first I caught her lugging him around with his head through her little arm. I quickly taught her to carry him with his paws and upper body over her snug arm, and a bond was instantly formed between them.

My daughter could carry that cat for what seemed like hours, and he would simply hang there over her arm, content and secure. She never dropped him, never hurt him, once she realized how delicate he was as a tiny kitten.

Soon, though, Mia grew into a huge black tomcat. Even then, he'd panic if I picked him up, but she could lug him around the house all she pleased, and he was fine with it. Mia would still just go limp and succomb to her doting attentions.

It still amazes me how gentle she was with her big tomcat, and how much he adored my daughter. Eventually, we moved, and he ended up lost to us forever...but my daughter and I still remember Miamoto fondly, and we talk about him and keep his memory alive.

This photo is one of a precious few I have to remember him, and his unwavering love of my daughter, by. I think it captures his love of creeping out of the shadows, too. We still miss him so much...

This is the view to the west out of my front window as the sun came up this morning (taken THROUGH the window and zoomed in, so not as sharp as it was beautiful IRL).

Sunbreaks in our winter gray sky are unusual, and I thought this might be as close as I'll get to the 'highlights and shadows' challenge:

                         Sunrise over the Olympics

 Shades of White 

 Dancing_in_the_Light 

 The Climber 

January Is  Ice Cold 

Happy New Year, Everyone!

These were taken along the American River. I went off the normal path and ended up here. The blown out yellows were done on purpose, for aristic purposes. But if you don't like it, I'd like to know.

Then strolled along a little further over the bridge, and this felt like a dream. 

Hope you like..... and I'd like to wish all of us here a very Happy New Year!!!

Camera: Canon EOS 20D

~Here~

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 400

~Dream~

Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/16
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 320

King Of The Sky Bald Eagle

 The Hydrant 

 The Barn 

 The Hotel 

 The Tree