April 10, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #194 Bokeh

“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” – Destin Sparks Bokeh, what is it and how can you create it with your camera? Since this is such an interesting subject and fun to do, Sofia has challenged us to feature a few of our favorites this week. Bokeh is the out-of-focus background in a photograph which is lovely to look at. It is created when background objects are softly blended together, displaying an array of beautiful colors, while the subject is in focus and sharp. Good Bokeh does not have hard edges or sharpness and sometimes there are round, smooth circles of light visible. So, how can…

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

March 24, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #191 Curves

“In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.” – Edward Bulwer-Lytton Curves seem to be everywhere, especially in nature! When outside have you ever looked around to see how many curvy objects you can see? A few days ago I spent some time with my camera on the eastern end of the beach on Kiawah Island. Most everything in sight was curvy. The header image shows curved dune grasses bent by the blowing breeze.  Sand dunes also tend to be curvy; their shape is constantly changed by the wind. The full picture is shown at the end of this post. The picture below shows the length and curvature…

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

February 26, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #187 Water

“Dance with the waves, move with the sea, let the rhythm of the water set you soul free.” – Christy Ann Martine This week Anne suggests we think about Water.  She says, “Water enhances our photos, adding impact. Photographing it is also fun and sometimes a challenge.”  I agree, photographing water makes the picture more interesting, especially if wildlife is around.  The first several pictures show some of the wildlife we have on Kiawah Island.  These pelicans are resting after having spent their morning diving for food.  In a few more hours they will be out again, fishing, before darkness arrives.   Kiawah is the home of a pod of dolphins…

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

January 22, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #182 Interesting Objects

It is amazing how many interesting sights are around us once we start looking for them.  This week Patti suggests we share a few things we have seen when walking through a city, the country, a museum, or a beach.  Something different that catches our eye.  This banner shot was taken a few years ago when visiting a botanical garden in Canada.  These artistic metal flowers among the other plants added a lot of color and interest.  And, below is a popular ice cream shop in Maine which is known for their long list of delicious ice creams plus humorous signs around the property.  The picture of the cow and…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

January 16, 2022

Cellpic Sunday 16 Jan 2022 The Painter

“The Sea, once it casts its spell holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Cousteau My husband and I spend our summers in the southern part of Maine and I love walking along Marginal Way in Ogunquit.  This beautiful walkway, beside the Atlantic Ocean, is lined with native trees and flowers with plenty of benches so people can sit and enjoy the ocean.  Even though it is only a little over a mile each way there are many wonderful opportunities for picture taking.  On this particular day I was out early before the crowds gathered while a sea mist was still hanging in the air.  On this…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Cell Phone Photos, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Travel

January 14, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #181 Double Dipping

This week Tina has suggested we share photos from other challenges we participate in or places in which we post.  I have not participated in other photography challenges so the wonderful thing about this topic is that I am discovering other bloggers terrific challenges!  Cellpic Sunday by Journeys with Johnbo.  John Steiner’s challenge is to share any picture taken with a cell phone, iPad or other mobile device.  This has been posted before, it is one of my favorites, and I still can not believe is was taken with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Cee’s Flower of the Day  Cee Neuner has been hosting Flower of the Day challenge plus…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS

January 6, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #180 Highlights from 2021

“There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” – William Frederick Halsey, Jr.     2021 was such a challenging year for so many; hopefully everyone one got through it ok and became a wiser and stronger person.  I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy Year in 2022.   Tina suggested we show our favorite pictures from 2021. When looking through my pictures I was surprised as to how many I found. The opening picture shows a pair of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) which were featured in an April post, entitled Taking Flight.   The next two images are from a…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Highlights from 2021, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

December 16, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #178 Holiday Lights

“We didn’t realize we were making memories; we just knew we were having fun.” – unknown I always enjoy the sights and sounds surrounding the Christmas holidays and especially the time spent with family and friends.  Christmas music everywhere, Christmas cards, buying gifts, wrapping presents, decorating the house, the smell of the tree and other evergreens throughout the house, all leading up to the big day.  Since Tina is giving us our choice of topics this week, I decided to share a few pictures of holiday decorations.  (Each of these images can be enlarged by double clicking it.) For years, during the Christmas holiday my husband and I would spend…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Christmas Holiday Lights, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

December 4, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #176 One Image/One Story

“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.” – Cecil B. DeMille The challenge this week is to show pictures which tell a story.  Ann-Christine asked, “What is a photo story? Some photos are staged, or taken just for their story, and some stories come up first when you see your photo on the screen. A lot of photographic storytelling involves capturing shots of interesting scenes and phenomena that cannot easily be explained through words…. There are so many stories to capture…and to tell.” It is normal to see fish constantly swimming in an aquarium and hopefully the banner image tells their story since most fish have…

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

November 20, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #174: Shapes and Designs

Images featuring shapes and designs, they are all around us, easy to see once you become aware of them.  They can be found in nature, your home, garden, architecture, fabrics, paintings, just about everywhere.  This week Patti invites us to share a few we have noticed.   A dead tree, dried out by the elements, has been shaped into an interesting design.   It’s base looks like a circle with small branches curving overhead and off to the side. Beautiful star shaped clematis flower growing along the fence in our yard. Once the flower petals die, this lovely circular seed pod appears and remains for quite some time. Other examples of shapes…

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