Day 277 - Sky Bright

Love the look of the sky - too bad the power lines detract from the beauty.

Day 267 - Door to Paradise

Missed a few more days - here are a few pic's from warmer times - our trip to Wine Country last July. This is the entry to Peju - a great winery in Napa.

Exposure: 1/2500 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 24mm

ISO Speed: 800

Day 259 - Jagged Hill

Another missed day - ooops. This is a pic from our ATV ride in the desert when we were in Arizona! That was such a fun trip!

Exposure: 1/2000 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 24mm

ISO Speed: 320

Day 254 - Carvings

Looks like I missed another day, so this one if from our trip out to Arizona for Christmas. When we were hiking at Christmas Tree Pass there was an area of rock that had carvings all over. They were black on some areas which made them even more interesting!

Exposure: 1/50 sec

Aperture: f/14

Focal Length: 24mm

ISO Speed: 250

Day 244 - Life

So it appears that I do not have a picture for today. This shot is from our trip out to Arizona/Nevada for Christmas at Red Rock Canyon. Love how you can have all the stone and then a tree growing seemingly out of no where.

Exposure: 1/800

Aperture: f/4.5

Focal Length: 90mm

ISO Speed: 160

Day 243 - Jagged Horizon

Out last day in Arizona for our Christmas trip. We had a red eye flight later that night so we spent the day at my mom's. We decided to go for a hike at Christmas Tree Pass and of course I took my camera! It was a great day - a little chilly and a little overcast but so beautiful in the desert. This is one of my favorite shots of our hike. I love how the clouds look around the sun and the textures of the earth below.

Exposure: 1/640 sec

Aperture: f/16

Focal Length: 32mm

ISO Speed: 250

Day 240 - Desert Adventure

Today was the family ATV tour in the desert! I have to say it was a blast! We were out for over 3 hours in all different types of terrain. My grandma even went with us - and she just turned 80! The only bad thing was that even with sunglasses on, I got SO much dust in my eyes they hurt for a few days!

Exposure: 1/500

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 32mm

ISO Speed: 320

Day 239 - Canyon Snow

Day two of our trip at Christmas was to visit the Grand Canyon. We drove over 5 hours the night before to get there and I had big plans to get up early to get to the best viewing area for sunrise photos. Unfortunately Mother Nature had different plans for us. When we got up - it was snowing like mad and already had 3-4 inches on the ground. We still made our way to the viewing area (not easily - the roads were horrible) but you couldn't even get down to it because they had closed it off due to the snow! At that point we decided to go get breakfast at a hotel restaurant in the park. After we finished eating it had nearly stopped snowing so we were able to see a little of the canyon (as seen here). Overall it was a little disappointing as there was so much haze and clouds that you couldn't see down into the canyon at all - which I'm guessing is were you get the hugely immense sense of beauty and grandness of it. But I did see the Grand Canyon in a snow storm - so there!

Exposure: 1/3200 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 24mm

ISO Speed: 1600 (accounts for the grain in the shot)

Day 238 - Contemplation

We were out visiting my mom for Christmas and we spent a day hiking in Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas. It was a beautiful day for hiking - just a little brisk. We were walking back on one of the trails and I saw this guy just sitting and looking out at the beautiful view. He looked so peaceful - reflecting, contemplating.

Exposure: 1/1600 sec

Aperture: f/4.5

Focal Length: 55mm

ISO Speed: 160

Day 235 - Guardian Angel

One more cheater day for a bit (I hope!). This was one of the top pics from my shots at this cemetery but I didn't use it for that day's post. So this is a perfect opportunity to incorporate it in! You see, the one drawback to posting only one picture each day is that sometimes you get that great day where you have more than one that you might want to use! The sky is my favorite part of this pic!

Exposure: 1/200 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 65mm

ISO Speed: 250

Day 234 - Chevrolet

A few missed days coming up - so I went back in my (quite large) archive of photos for one today. I just had to get some shots of this car when I saw it on the side of the road. We were up in Door County and came across this gem! I just screamed out for an antique color wash!

Exposure: 1/80 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 58mm

ISO Speed: 400

Day 231 - From Above

Another day I apparently forgot to take a pic. This one is from our trip to Door County earlier in the month. We were in Peninsula State Park and climbed up the tower. The original was ok - I liked the curves of the road and the sparse look of the bare trees, but the color was pretty drab. So I tried to give it a boost with high contrast black and white. I really like how it turned out!

Exposure: 1/320

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 32mm

ISO Speed: 400

Day 230 - Enlightened

So a little warning as we get further into December - I seemed to have my forgetful hat on a lot and had my share of missed days! But 230 days into this crazy project and I refuse to give up! This was one of those days - so I pulled up this pic from our Christmas light viewing in Cathedral Square. I love the light on the church an that most of the Christmas lights in the shot were blue or white!

Exposure: 1/6 sec

Aperture: f/5.0

Focal Length: 24mm

ISO Speed: 1000

Day 225 - Antique Christmas

I was driving from my house to Ray's and really wanted to get a picture on the way. We only live a mile apart, so the options are somewhat limited. This was taken down his block. I have to say it was a pretty horrible picture straight out of the camera. I took it from my car with the window rolled down. I was really dreading posting it, so I thought I would try a few filters on it. I have to say I don't hate this pic as much!

Exposure: 1/8 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 84mm

ISO Speed: 400

Day 224 - Billowing

Another lunch time adventure to find a picture for the day. I liked the look of the smoke billowing out, but getting a perspective that worked well was a challenge. I like the end look of the smoke - but the composition of the smoke stack just shooting out of the bottom of the picture doesn't work that well.

Exposure: 1/2000 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 105mm

ISO Speed: 400

Day 221 - Sunday Drive

We were driving up to Gills Rock in Door County and found this awesome road! I just had to stop and take some pictures. Luckily it was December in Door County and there were not many people on the roads, as I was standing in the middle of it to get the shots! I did a little adjustment to the colors to get the yellow lines to pop a bit more.

Exposure: 1/200 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 105mm

ISO Speed: 400

Day 217 - Urban View

While it was still warm enough outside, I was able to take my camera to work and leave it in my car so I could go out at lunch and take some pictures. This one is right across the street from my favorite soup spot! I edited it with a high contrast black and white preset. I have to say this was a pretty boring pic as shot, but I'm really loving the B&W application!

Exposure: 1/1600 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 35mm

ISO Speed: 250

Day 211 - Reflections & Silhouettes

Ray and I were at the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit and I took a few shots in the Calatrava entry room. I just love the overall feel of this photo.

Exposure: 1/15 sec

f/4.0

Focal Length: 32mm

ISO Speed: 250

Day 208 - When Pigs Fly

It was a beautiful fall day so may people were putting up their Christmas/Holiday decorations. I found these gems at the house down the block. Tell me, what says "Happy Holidays" like flying pigs and geese dressed like Santa??!! Makes you wonder!

Exposure: 1/200 sec

Aperture: f/1.4

Focal Length: 50mm

ISO Speed: 1600

Day 207 - Tranquility

Out this afternoon taking some photos in the park. Absolutely love this shot of the water and how it looks almost like tar with the reflection of the afternoon sun.

Exposure: 1/5000 sec

Aperture: f/4.0

Focal Length: 50m

ISO Speed: 800