February 4, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #234 Messages

“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” – Martin Buber Animals have their own unique way of communicating such as this Bottle Nose Dolphin sending the message of affection to her calf. This was taken in the Kiawah River, Kiawah Island, SC. This is our American Cocker spaniels a few years ago when Bentley sent a warning messsage to Chester telling to leave his sock alone!  A Mute swan sending me a message that I was getting too close.  A Canada goose sounding the alarm to others of approaching danger. Below is the Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Like all lighthouses along the coast,…

March 28, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #89 A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

This week Amy suggested using the title from the book, “A River Runs Through it” by Norman Maclean as our photo challenge.  What is so important about a river?   It is a source of life for all of nature and also man plus it symbolizes the power of nature and fertility.  I live close to the Kiawah River which runs between Kiawah Island and Johns Island and the mainland area surrounding Charleston, SC.  The river is in a constant flux of change as well as the wildlife that depends on it for survival.  The images below offer a glimpse into some of the life by the river. This river is…

March 18, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #88 CHAOS

Ann-Christine chose Chaos as the word challenge this week. Choas in some form seems to be most everywhere. On Kiawah Island, there is a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins who learned to feed in a chaotic manner called strand feeding. This taught behavior is only seen in a few parts of the in the world.  You can see from the pictures below how chaotic strand feeding is!    The first part of the feeding routine looks more organized.  Working together, they locate a school of fish and begin herding them towards the shore as shown below. Once the fish are boxed in with no escape route, the dolphins attack by herding them…

May 3, 2019

LESS IS MORE: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

This week Amy wants us to think about how the concept of “Less Is More” can impact our pictures.  Removing as much as possible to establish the focus on only one or two elements in an image, while still conveying the overall feeling or spirit, can be challenging at times. “Simplify:  say no to the good so you can say yes to the best.”  Decided to experiment with two of my favorite subjects – flowers and bottle-nose dolphins.  I wanted to see if it is really true that sometimes “Less Is More” can create a better picture. “There is beauty in simplicity.” – unknown This image seems to be a…

August 4, 2018

SOFT: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

  My favorite imagine of soft has to be this mother and calf expressing affection in a soft, tender moment.  These bottlenose dolphins live year around in the Kiawah River on the western end of Kiawah Island, SC by Capt Sams Spit.  These pods are among the few in the world who strand-feed which is a learned behavior taught over the generations.  Their favorite food is mullet; the dolphins work in groups to drive schools of mullet on the shore and then beach themselves to trap the fish and feed.  Many pictures of this unique behavior is on the internet, to read more search “Kiawah Island, SC bottlenose dolphins”.  …