This week, I was disappointed to learn that the folks who created the Weekly Photo Challenge are closing it down. Since discovering the challenge shortly after I started Journeys with Johnbo in 2013, I looked forward to Fridays, and then Wednesdays, each week as they published the challenge and I endeavored to share photos from my gallery that spoke to the theme. In this final challenge, the group of challenge authors invited us to share our all-time favorite photographs. You can read their entire challenge post here. Following their lead, I present my personal all-time favorite images. The two draft horses in the opening image were captured as they awaited their work assignment of hauling a hay wagon at the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion.

One of the things about the challenge that I will miss most is the interaction with other photo challenge participants. Far and away my best source of new followers were those who discovered my humble travel journal through my challenge responses. More importantly, I discovered new friends who regularly comment on my posts. Tina Schell, de Wets Wild and others comment regularly and I consider them to be photography friends. I hope we continue to find places to connect and comment as we move forward. Shortly after acquiring a new camera and getting reacquainted with photography, I happened to cross the large bridge that traverses the railroad yard in Fargo. I saw a mile-long train of brand new oil cars no doubt destined to the newly discovered Bakken Oil Fields in western North Dakota.

Not all my favorite photos came from one of the four cameras I’ve adopted since restoring my interest in photography. The image above was captured by my Samsung cell phone. Nashville at night took on an extra glow with a sudden rain shower. Somewhere along the way, I decided that cell phone cameras are much more powerful than people give them credit. Along the way, I started a weekly feature here called Cellpic Sunday where the rule is that the image must be captured on a mobile device.

As of my review of images captured and stored in digital format, my gallery contains close to 30,000 images. That doesn’t include many of the RAW images captured to create my favorite type of photograph, the 3-image HDR. Using software, three images captured at three different exposures are melded into one image that provides greater detail in the darker areas of the image and tones down blown out highlights. The image above, also captured at the Steam Threshers Reunion features Old 353 as it is getting ready to take on passengers. Note the detail in the undercarriage below the engineer’s cab. It’s that great detail that I love about HDR images.

While I mostly shoot landscapes, I have ventured into action photography on occasion. My favorite action shot features a barrel rider at the National Senior Pro Rodeo in Buckeye, Arizona. I enjoy posting challenge photos to share. I’m not sure where my next challenge post will draw from, but I will be back next week with a new theme. In most browsers, you can click on the image in the gallery below to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

Buckeye, Arizona.

This week, Jen H. asks to “show us something twisted.” Details of the challenge post can be found here. Looking through my gallery, I realized that there are many desert plants and trees that exhibit some form of twisting. I normally think of the mighty saguaro with a single trunk and maybe multiple arms all pointing skyward. In reality, though, life has a way of twisting things out of shape. Among other desert plants, I’ve included a few examples of saguaros “doin’ the twist.”

The tall and gangly cactus is long-lived, many specimens well over two centuries old. Those signature “arms” don’t appear until the sixth or seventh decade of growth, typically. By then, the trunk is peppered with holes made by several species of birds, probably the most common, the gila woodpecker.

Occasionally, two saguaro grow side by side. These two appear to be in some sort of prickly embrace. “You see, when two saguaro love each other very much…”

One of my favorite shots in the Arizona desert is the tall sycamore tree that twisted its way toward the sun so that it could grow around the overhanging rock cropping above the tree’s base. You can just see the tip of the outcropping in the upper right corner of the photo above.

One of my favorite desert trees is the mesquite. It’s branches grow, bend, and twist in random fashion. I enjoy looking at all the natural variations of this beautiful tree. They grow quickly in the desert environment and can live quite nicely on the scarce diet of water found in the Arizona Sonoran Desert.

John Steiner

This week, Ben Huberman asks us to keep things fluid and focus on liquids. He comments on how “H2O-heavy” he finds his gallery of images. You can read his entire challenge post here. Well, I must say, going through my own library of images, I find I have a very liquid-centric library as well… the liquid being mostly water also. What’s not to like about lakes, rivers, streams? Being an avid cruiser, I have no shortage of ocean photos, sunrises, sunsets, moonlit seas, calm and turbulent waters. Instead of sharing yet another sunset at sea, I decided to share some liquid in motion.

At the south end of the Wailua River, just north of the town of Lihue, a short trip on a Hawaiian road, and a short walk will find you at Wailua Falls where a bifurcated stream of water plunges some 80 feet (24 m) into a small body of water. To those of a certain age, the scene might look familiar, at least to fans of the long-running Fantasy Island TV show. Starting in season two, the opening credits featured an overflight of the falls on the Wailua River. If you want to see an aerial view of the falls, you’ll find it on YouTube here. One thing I learned from the video is that there is actually a third stream of waterfall. From this viewpoint, it’s behind the larger of the two falls. Don’t confuse this Wailua Falls with the falls on the road to Hana on the island of Maui.

While we were there that early November day, I decided to try to do a smooth water shot of the falls. Having no tripod, I found a sturdy wall upon which to set the camera, stopped the lens down to f22 and the exposure meter gave me a 1/3 second exposure time. The opening image with an f7 lens opening gave me a 1/200 second exposure. I would have liked to include more of the falls in the ‘smooth’ water photo, but I would have had to tilt the camera down and handhold it. I don’t think I could have held the camera still enough to give me a sharp image.

A few days after this excursion, our trip to the botanical garden on the island was interrupted by some heavy rain showers. After raining heavily much of the day, the rivers on the island were full and carrying lots of extra water. We went back to Wailua Falls to see the bifurcated stream had grown into one large waterfall.

On most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it for a better view. Reviewing these images reminds me that I’d like to head back to the islands. I envy my daughter and her family who will be leaving for Kauai on vacation in just a few short weeks.

John Steiner

Someone once said, “A mile of highway can take you a mile, but a mile of runway can take you anywhere.” It wasn’t until I was 48 years old when I discovered I had a place in the world, a place in the sky, actually. This week, Erica V. asks us to share our place in the world. She writes, “Where do you belong? In the hustle and bustle of a big city or amongst friendly faces in a small town? For this week’s challenge, show us your place in the world.” You can see her entire challenge post here.

On August 29, 1996, I walked into a flight school in Fargo, and only a short time later, I actually brought an aircraft into the air, on my own… under the watchful eye of an instructor. Of course, I didn’t land the plane, that would come several lessons later. But I kindled a love for the sky that day and since then, I’ve logged over 1700 hours as a pilot in a single-engine airplane. In addition, I’ve spent untold more hours in small aircraft and hanging around airports.

Those first hours were spent in a 1970’s era trainer with gauges similar to those in the image above. The Cessna 182 panel in the photo above is one I find myself behind regularly as it is in the plane I use to tow a glider. At first glance, all the dials might seem confusing, but it doesn’t take long to learn what each one does. These days, in newer model aircraft, the dials are replaced by two digital displays and a collection of buttons and switches, and the information contained thereon is more complete.

In July, 1997, I was given my license to fly and in September of that year, I joined Civil Air Patrol (CAP). I’ve written about this volunteer organization before. CAP is an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and CAP manages the largest fleet of single-engine aircraft in the world. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure and responsibility of being Pilot-in-Command of just a few of these well-equipped aircraft. I’ve landed at airports big and small, from El Paso, Texas to Hallock, Minnesota; from San Diego, California to Syracuse, New York in these small aircraft. Not on single flights from one to the other, but on flights that were destinations on separate trips. In the image above, a CAP aircraft just landed at Hillsboro, North Dakota and was taxiing to the refueling station.

The image above is a selfie captured on my longest flying mission for CAP to date. Last summer, Hurricane Harvey attacked the Houston Texas area. Six North Dakota Wing members and two aircraft traveled to Houston to help with the disaster relief mission. I flew just over 30 hours as pilot-in-command while our aviation photographer in the back seat captured images of the aftermath of the hurricane. My co-pilot, Shawn, is an instructor and he was invaluable in navigating the complicated Houston air space.

In the image above, Casey, our aviation photographer checks his gear while Shawn checks the oil as we got ready to depart on one of our mission sorties in Houston. I will sign off on this post with an image captured at a fly-in at Bismarck, North Dakota. That beautiful yellow Cessna was on display and the rising sun gave me yet another opportunity to enjoy one of my favorite places in the world, the airport. In most browsers, you can click on an image for a better view.

John Steiner

This week, Michelle Weber gave us an unlikely challenge, literally. She asks us to share a photo of something that’s unlikely. Of course, her example is a photo of a cheetah riding in the bed of a pickup. C’mon, that’s a pretty hard act to follow. You can read her entire challenge post here, and see the photo she took while she was in the (pickup) bed with a cheetah. Well, in my gallery of images, there wasn’t even a handful of images that I could remotely call “unlikely”. I was tempted to share a few shots of Fanning Island with the notion that it is unlikely that I shall ever return to visit there again. I passed up the shot of one of my EMT friends who deftly picked up a rattlesnake that was beside the trail on one of our hikes and moved it safely back into the desert so that it might not be startled and strike some unsuspecting hiker who happened to step just a bit too close. Then there was the image of soap bubbles floating by as we traveled the air currents in a hot air balloon. What about that giant cutout of a toddler playing with his “toy” tractors?

I settled for the opening photo. This very long walk through a perspective garden at the Denver Botanical Garden in Colorado. OK, so it’s not really all that long. It’s an optical illusion. From this perspective, the sidewalk is wide. It actually gets narrower as it goes to the other end of the garden. Same with the garden beds on each side. The large hedges that border the walk are trimmed taller on this end and are progressively shortened to make it appear that they shrink into the distance. It is truly a great optical illusion.

OK, so I mentioned I wouldn’t include those other possible examples of unlikely images referenced above. I lied. I will share them with you anyway. In most browsers, you can click on one of the images to enlarge it.

The coral atoll in the Republic of Kiribati is about 1134 miles (1825 km) due south of Hawaii. Named Fanning Island after Captain Edmund Fanning who first spotted it in 1798, the island’s native name is Tabuaeran. It’s unlikely I shall ever return there.

Here’s a “don’t try this at home” shot. One of the hikers in our group was trained and knows how to safely pick up and move a rattlesnake. No animals or humans were harmed in the safe removal of this reptile from right next to the trail. It is highly unlikely that I will ever do something like this.

On a hot air balloon ride, the pilot broke out a soap bottle and bubble wand. Soon large amounts of soap bubbles were emanating from the basket of our balloon. What I found unlikely about this is the fact that the tree as viewed inside the bubble is sharply focused while the objects outside the main bubble exhibit a large amount of motion blur and appears not to be sharply in focus.

This boy and his tractor used to sit just north of the I-10 in Buckeye, Arizona. For a few years we would pass this cutout on our way to our house in Buckeye. When we passed the “little” boy, we knew we were less than five miles from home. To give you a reference of size, the orange tractor in front of him is a real full size tractor. The blue tractor is a large cutout. Shortly after this photo was taken, the cutout disappeared. It was moved and put into storage as the area where it was is now a stack of bridges connecting the I-10 to the 303, a new perimeter highway being constructed that bypasses the Phoenix metro to the west. Rumor has it that the owner of the cutouts is looking for a new location to place his artwork.

John Steiner

This week’s photo challenge asks us to pay attention to lines. Being somewhat literal, my opening photo features two guys making lines. OK, I’m not so sure that’s what Cheri Lucas Rowlands meant when she suggested that we share compositions dominated by lines. But don’t take my word for it. you can read her entire challenge post here.

Some lines are unmistakable. I miss those days when an automobile manufacturer could be identified by its classic lines. From the triple bar tail lights on the Ford Mustang to the classic tail fins on late 1950s model vehicles like the 1957 Chevy Bel Air above. Though the triple-bar tail light still identifies a Mustang, most cars built in the last decade are almost unidentifiable in their sameness. The classic lines are all but gone in favor of aerodynamics and better fuel economics.

They don’t call the outlines of tall buildings in a city skylines for nothing. even the Las Vegas Hotel, New York New York’s mocking architecture is as easily identifiable as the real skyline of the city. In the skyline photo, on the right and far in the background, the lines of Diamondhead identify this skyline as belonging to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Lines define architecture in other ways as well. This image of the pre-revolutionary Old South Meeting House in Boston is juxtaposed in front of a modern skyscraper. Arches dominated older designs where modern steel structures don’t require the strength or beauty of the arch in engineering as demonstrated in the image from Nashville, Tennessee, below.

Nature creates her own designs as shown in the images below. Of all the trees I’ve seen in my life, my favorite is the mesquite tree. Branches twist and jut in a never-ending variety of design. Over the millennia, natural erosion reveals the layers composing the internal structure of mountains of stone. The layered construction of Tent Rocks in New Mexico displays the characteristic lines of volcanic rock.

I close this post in the photo below with a line, a queue actually. These folks are standing in line to get their unobstructed photograph of the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign.

I submit for your review, a gallery of images featuring this photographer’s favorite examples of the use of lines to draw the viewer into the photograph, or to simply marvel at the design and structure of the subject. In most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

This week, Krista Stevens’ visit to the Johnny Cash Museum caused her to reflect on the prolific works of that iconic musician. That visit was her inspiration for this week’s challenge, “…show us your interpretation of prolific.” You can read the entire challenge post here. Though the usual thought about a desert is that it is anything but prolific, except for sand and wind. My visits to the desert around Phoenix have proven that concept of the desert to be inaccurate, at least for the Sonoran Desert.

In the spring, the desert plants, like most plants anywhere, wake up from their dormant stage and begin to bloom. In the dry desert climate, only the hardiest of plants bloom in the driest of years. Those winters with an abundance of moisture bring out the blossoms on most desert plants. One plant, however, that seems to blossom, whether it’s been wet or dry is the brittlebush. In wet seasons, they produce many more yellow flowers than in drier times, but each spring, we can expect the yellow flowers to appear on this smaller shrub. The gallery featured here focuses on the brittlebush plant, most shots captured in late spring, 2017. In most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

Buckeye, Arizona.

Having just left Buckeye for the season, Jen H. reminds us that it’s springtime. As I write this in Deadwood, South Dakota, there is a late season snow storm raging. Spring around here? Not so much… In any case, Jen asks us to share photos of renewal, awakening. In the desert, I am always amazed at the amount of colorful plant life, so I will feature some of my favorite desert plants in bloom. You can review Jen’s post here. In the photo above, a brittlebush plant shares a rocky ledge with a hedgehog cactus.

The birds and the bees enjoy the renewal as they awaken from their winter activities. “Busy as a bee” is a fitting tribute to their activities this time of year. It’s a time when people start thinking of those spring cleaning projects and we can all venture outside without the benefit of extra protective clothing (except maybe in those climates where protection from the sun becomes more important than ever. The small gallery of images features some of my favorite springtime in the desert photographs. In most browsers, you can click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

This week, I was reviewing images from a recent cruise to feature here on my Travel Tuesday series. I ran across this photo of my wife, (foreground), and my sister and her boyfriend, all enjoying conversation over dinner at sea. It made me smile and I couldn’t help but share the photo with my family and friends on Facebook on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Ben Huberman announced the weekly photo challenge and said, “…point your camera at something or someone that puts a smile on your face (or just show a smiling face.)” You can read the entire challenge post here.

Regular readers of this attempt at writing a travel and photography blog seldom find images of my family, as a rule. However, the photo above fit the topic of the challenge so closely that I couldn’t help but relax my usual policy of leaving out the family pics in my travels. Not only is everyone smiling in the photo, but I can’t help but smile myself when I look at it. I don’t even remember the context that brought about all the smiles. It doesn’t matter. The faces tell a story of one of those happy times in life that everyone can relate. In most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it for better viewing.

John Steiner

Buckeye, Arizona.

After a four-day road trip to Las Vegas where I captured over a thousand images, I sat down this morning and remembered I haven’t yet entered this week’s photo challenge. This week, Erica V. asks us to share our favorite sunrises and sunsets. You can read her entire challenge post here. Regular readers know that I have a favorite sunset spot in the Arizona desert near our house. Though I’m sure most of you are bored with seeing my favorite sunsets, a challenge is a challenge. I’ll keep the number small. This gallery only contains five images, a mere handful. On most browsers you can click on an image in the gallery to enlarge it and to scroll through each photo.

John Steiner