April 27, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #296 Abstracts

“Abstract art was the equivalent of poetic expression; I didn’t need to use words, but colors and lines. I didn’t need to belong to a language-oriented culture but to an open form of expression.” – Etel Adnan This week Ritva of Ritva Sillanmaki Photography selected Abstracts as the photo challenge. Much has been written on this subject, Ritva describes abstracts as “photography which breaks the normal rules of realism. It turns everyday scenes, objects, or textures into visual poetry, inviting viewers to see beyond the surface.  It is a genre of photography that focuses on the shapes, colors, textures, and patterns of the subject, rather than its literal representation.” It…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

April 20, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #295 Rocks

“The most beautiful stones have been tossed by the wind, washed by the water and polished to brilliance by life’s strongest storms.” – unknown I have always enjoyed photographing interesting looking rocks. They have Rocks such a variety of unique colors, patterns and shapes based on where they were formed. Looking through my photo archives here are a few favorites taken over the years. I will begin with the Natural Bridge in Aruba, one of the largest of its kind several years ago.  It measured approximately 25 feet high (7.6 meters) and 100 feet long (30 meters.  This rocky land formation was originally part of an ancient cave and made…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

April 6, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #293 Water in Motion

This opening shot captures one of many beautiful designs that can be created by splashing pool water in the sunlight as a person goes down a water slide and hits the water! As I thought about different ways water could be in motion a few adjectives came to mind. For example, the two pictures below show how powerful and dangerous an ocean can become at times. Or, how graceful and beautuful it can appear with lovely reflections on the surface.   Water in Motion can also create momentary feelings of comfort and energy as soft, hypnotic sounding waves wash up on the shore. Heavy rain beating on a wooden deck during…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

March 16, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #290 Circular Wonders

“The whole universe is based on rhythms. Everything happens in circles, in spirals.” – John Hartford When thinking about the photo challenge topic this week, everywhere I looked I saw Circles! I have been to the beach a lot lately, our dogs love it there plus it is a beautiful place to take long walks early in the morning. The other day after a recent storm a lot of sea foam had washed up on the sand. The foam was particularly interesting this morning because the early sun was reflecting off hundreds of tiny circular bubbles giving the appearance of lovely arrangements of colorful jewels all along the beach. The…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Flowers, Kiawah Island SC, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

March 8, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #289 Tools of Composition

“The camera sees more than the eye, so why not make use of it?” – Edward Weston John of photobyjohnbo is hosting the challenge this week and he suggests we focus on only four compositional factors in photography; Shape, Form, Texture and Light of objects. The first two, Shape and Form, are occasionally used interchangeably although they have two distinct visual characteristics which is determined by the way light strikes the object. A Shape looks flat or two-dimensional where as a Form is an object that is emphasized by shadows and highlights creating depth or a three-dimensional look. Let’s compare a few pictures to show how to determine the difference…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Chicago, Kiawah Island SC, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

March 2, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #288 Window Shopping

“’Window shopping is a dance between temptation and self-restraint,’ captures the essence of the experience when one strolls past enticing store displays without making a purchase.” – unknown Ritva, of Ritva Sillanmaki Photography, is hosting our photo challenge this week and her topic is to feature different types of window displays that attract attention. This could be the use of vibrant colors, expressions of shoppers, unusual displays or even storytelling. For example, who wouldn’t be temped to have lunch or dinner in such an appealing looking resturant in Burano, Italy? The window display in the beautiful Hotel Catalonia Catedral in Barcelona, Spain is a terrific way to draw attention to…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

February 23, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #287 Sound

This week Donna of Wind Kisses suggests we feature a few pictures showing examples of sound. Sources of sound can be divided into two types: geophony or natural and man-made.  A few examples of natural sounds would be blowing wind, flowing streams or oceans, storms or animals such as the barking dog playing on the beach in the header shot. Well-known man-made sources are road vehicles, airplanes, music, home appliances, for example. I will start off showing a few examples of man-made sounds. “The city is a symphony of sounds, from the sirens to the laughter to the footsteps of strangers” – unknown Big city sounds is a continuous hum…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

February 16, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #286 Weather

“Sometimes I wish that I was the weather, you’d bring me up in conversations forever. And when it rained, I’d be the talk of the day.” – John Mayer “The weather” almost always seems to come up in general conversations! Discussions can center around what to wear outside to stay comfortable, whether to plan an outing on a given day, how today’s weather makes us feel, and this list could go on. For some photographers, weather is an important consideration before going outside with the camera! Suppose the light outside is too harsh or flat at midday or too stormy or its snowing too hard to venture out? These are…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

February 6, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Chllenge #285 Warm Colours

“Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” – Don McCullin Warm colors tend to stand out and draw attention. Most people generally think of only red, orange and yellow although gold, beige, creamy neutrals, brown and tan are also warm colors. It is said the brain associates warm colors with a range of feelings, including passion, comfort, anger, and power. Below are a few examples featuring all eight colors. For fun, as you look through these photos, see if any of them influence the way you…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

January 27, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #283 Illustrate a Favorite Quote

“Birds in flight fascinate me. I admire eagles, falcons [and all birds]. I’m inspired by a feather but also its color, its graphics, its weightlessness and its engineering. It’s so elaborate…” – Alexander McQueen This week I am sharing a few favorite quotes and illustrating them with pictures. This first quote relates to the header image showing a flock of Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) during one of their stop-overs on Kiawah Island, SC. These birds migrate from their winter home on the coast of southern Chile and Argentina to islands above the Arctic Circle for summer, a flight of more than 9,300 miles or 14,966.9 kilometers, a journey which…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Red Knots Migration