Photos from the past photographica since 2004 for the blue challenge.

reflections      Keyhole 

Beauchart Gardens BC      smiles 

The Bean 3      Koi 

River    clouds3  

Framed      UK2 

Ravello Italy      doorsnwindows6 

IMG_0912      BlueJayDay 

ParisDoors5 

 

I think I'm gonna make this my last installment of China shots; after all, I'll be there long enough to make y'all sick of seeing shots from there.  I've never been to NY, but I imagine the city scape in China to be somewhat like that.  The skyscrapers are phenominal....and there's SO MANY of them!  Here's a look at some of them, also some things you'll find on lots of streets.

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While I was there, I did see a few comical things.  We had been to KFC one day and were waiting on the driver to come and pick us up when I saw this duck following a motorcycle down the street!  Bless it's heart, it was running so fast to keep up....the man didn't acknowledge it at all; he just kept on going.  At least other vehicles didn't hit it.

A lot of the streets there allow U turns to be made.....and a lot don't.  I guess knowing which is which is important.....we got pulled over one day for making an illegal U turn.  Not only did we get pulled over, but the car behind us did, too.  Over there, the cops get the driver out of the car.  So.....here I am, with nothing to do, waiting for them to get done when the idea hits me.....man, get your camera out!  These were taken from the back seat 1 2.  Our fiasco didn't turn out too badly....the cop had forgotten his ticket book, so we got off scott free!  Whew!  We all got a good laugh out of that!

I hope y'all have enjoyed our "trip".  Like I said, there'll be plenty more.....

I forgot a couple of shots from my trip to the zoo the other day....heron two (for the theme)

I have a bit of news to share with y'all.....the trip I went on last week was to China; I spent the week in Shanghai and Suzhou.  It looks like I'll be living there for at least the next two years.  It was quite a culture shock, to say the least.  And, I'm not the easiest person in the world to feed....I'm rather picky....so, my food choices were really small.  I managed to get through the week....and, somehow, I'll get through the next phase of my life.  I have a ton of shots from there, as you could well guess.  I'd like to share some of the housing with you in this post.....some of it broke my heart.....highrise housing  heart breaking

This is a shot of the Hyatt; I was told this is the tallest building in Shanghai.  I know I was all the way to the top of it and it scared the bejeesus out of me!  I ate dinner on the 54th floor of the place!  Y'all know how well I like heights.....NOT......

Hope y'all enjoy!

Here's some great pics of building downtown in Ottawa, Ontario CANADA. I love the black & white pics the best. makes it look like it was taken long ago.
Building 1 ,Building 1BW ,Building 2 ,Building 2BW , Building 3 , Building 3BW , Building 5 , Building 5BW,  Building 6 , Building 6BW , thumbnail

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The tire on the roof is what made me actually stop.

I was in Hillcrest a while ago. Lovely day. The only downside was a drunk man almost breaking my camera :(

building

Two completely unrelated subjects.

cathelle's photos of abandoned buildings inspired me to dig up this photo of the nearby brickworks  that I took a while back. I like it much better after converting to black and white and playing around a bit.

I spent last weekend down in Margaret River. We bought lots of wine for the wine rack, and watched the sunset. Sometimes I think taking photos of sunsets is cheating because it's so easy to get a great shot.

Someone posted pictures of buildings the other day that were great. This is a shot  I got from the 7th story of a hotel. It has issues because I shot it through a glass window, but you can do some cool things with it in Photoshop.

I had so much fun scanning in old photos that I couldn't stop.  Once again, these are about 25 years old.
Abbott's Meter Lab
Foreshortening
Warehouse door
Oasis Drive-In
Lubbock housing
Joy Motel

These photos from about 25 years ago are my first attempts with my scanner.
Boat house
Across the tracks
Red Rover
Mac's Grocery
Ranching Heritage Museum

A bee  see D eeeeeeee eff

Well I was down on the farm where we store a lot of our landscaping equipment. We are looking into buying the place. It has over 100 acres included. Check out the pics below
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 THe farm House
 

While photographing mission churches in El Paso, a number of other buildings also caught my attention.  Here's an assortment.
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Seeing the old firehouse last night that Pyro posted, I went to two old deserted fire stations in Hanover and shot them this a.m.

The first is the original  Hanover Fire Department. It was used until sometime in the '60's.

The second is the  Eagle Company No. 1. On the side you can see the tower which Pyro told us they dried their hoses in. Another View. I cannot remember this being in use, maybe when I was a kid. The cornerstone says it was built in 1914.

I did a close up of the  Eagle Plaque on the front of the bulding which says it was the Eagle Chemical Company No. 1. I had to really darken this one down to make the print readable.

Maybe Pyro can tell us why it was called the "Chemical" company.

This is a shot of a firehouse here in Wisconsin. The tower was used for drying hoses. You may view a Photoshopped version at arsgraphica.

Thiensville Firehouse (Retired)

Enjoy!

. . . a place where you can stand in the middle of the street to take photographs.

Art
Eat and Drink
Glimpse of History
Moose

Well, the grandparents came to town, so my husband and I were free to go wander around town like adults and not parents.  Weeeee!!! So, of course could we think of a place to go that did not involve a kids menu or play area? Ah.....no.  The conversation went like this..."where do you want to go?  I don' t know, where do you want to go?  I'm not sure..."

 Finally we decided to head to Old Town Alexandria.  We stopped at Christ Church where George Washington and Robert E. Lee attended services.  Look at the headstones.  They are  black due to fires.  The army used the cemetary as a field hospital and soldiers built fires in front of the headstones to keep warm and slept there.  (shiver!) I loved the steeple on the church.  

After walking around there we hopped in the car and headed to downtown DC.  Here are some shots of buildings I thought were interesting or beautiful:
 building one
tall one
french looking...
Washington Monument
Hubby's favorite: the money place!
monument being restored

What do you think?

Today was so nice, I went out and just started shooting pictures.  Here are some of the ones I liked best.  Let me know what you think.
boats
roof cut outs
leaves in the grass
redtree
deck shadows
sails

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A huge number of people on Photographica have influenced me but I would be humiliated to fall short of imitating their style.  So I'll pay my tribute by naming just a few.  The photographer that drew me in to the site was Dirkbag.  When I first started lurking, I looked for his tagline first.  I loved the way he captured ordinary things and his technical skill.  I came to think of Austinspace as an older brother who had been there, done that, and who shared my love for urban landscapes.  I anticipated the surprises offered up by dennisjb and laughed at chef's sense of humor (although his typing skills pain me!).  I admired debora and tetedefromage for their strength and resiliency, I liked Laura Mars' irreverence and humor and was touched and amused by KayN's mixture of mother and madam.  Surferguy was fun and talented, Inkslinger was so open and daring and Tomitake has taken me someplace I always wanted to go.  And Moose is so skilled and funny and has "gently" encouraged me to post (with threats to kick my butt).  

So I can't imitate but I'll take you with me on an afternoon's wanderings.
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