Maine Archives - My Colorful Expressions

December 10, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #228 Diagonals

Diagonal lines play an important part in creating a more interesting photograph. Consciously or unconsciously, they tend to move a viewer’s eyes through a picture. This week’s challenge is to consciously look around for to see how often diagonal lines are visible, either in nature or man-made. When composing the shot below, I took advantage of the digonal line created by sand dunes in the forground. Does this line plus the tall sea oaks lead your eye to the focus of the picture, the sun and clouds? This golf course picture shows two types of diagonal lines. First, is the shadow at the base of the putting green (right side, middle…

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

October 2, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #166: Colors of Autumn

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” – Lauren Destefano Autumn comes early in Maine. You can tell it has arrived when a sweater or light jacket is needed in the mornings, leaves begin to turn into lovely yellows, reds and oranges, colorful chrysanthemums are visible everywhere and small groups of Canadian Geese stop over in local ponds for a day or two as they head south. “How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burrows. A look…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Autumn Colors, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Photography

August 7, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #159 POSTCARDS

Postcard pictures from the southern coast of Maine – show postcards or our own pictures which could be used for postcards and which create happy memories. Years ago I collected postcards when traveling to remind me of interesting sights and happy memories. Now in the era of digital photography it is easy to snap a picture and design my own postcards for friends. Friends like seeing them along with a brief note, a thank you or just ‘thinking of you’ message. “I choose to collect memories instead of things.” – Elena Levon Since I am in Maine now it only seems right to show my postcard pictures from here. The…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Fine Art Photography, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Photography, Travel

July 28, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #158 Along Back Country Roads

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost This week we are challenged to feature images seen on back country roads. Roads we walk or ride on off the beaten path, through farmland, forests, quaint small towns or in the middle of nowhere. Here are a few sights which caught my attention when exploring unknown country roads. The building below is on Peake’s Island, a small Island in Casco Bay off the coast of Portland, Maine. Peake’s Island is only accessible by ferry; the few people who live there have cars, otherwise others have…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Fine Art Photography, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Old Buildings, Photography

March 13, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #138 Natural Light

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman Light from the sun is constantly changing throughout the day. Clouds play a big part in this and also shadows which are created as the sun reflects off another object. Natural sunlight can shine directly on an object, it can also be seen as back light, the golden light just before sunset plus the beautiful colors seen in sunrises and sunsets. Here are a few images showing examples of natural light. This first one was taken after a heavy rain…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Natural Light, Photography, Sunsets

November 21, 2020

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #123 Found in the Neighborhood – Wabi Sabi

For our Photo Challenge, Ann-Christine suggests we rediscover our surrounds. Look around and make an effort to notice things that are generally overlooked. Think outside the box. As she says in her post, “There is so much to discover, if only you open your mind and all your senses. Follow that road, follow your curiosity… There might still be lovely surprises around the corner.” Be sure to see her post on Found in the Neighborhood. The Kiawah Island Photography Club had an interesting program earlier this week. Jamie Konarski Davidson, an award-winning freelance outdoor & nature photographer, gave a presentation entitled “Wabi Sabi: Finding Beauty in Imperfection”. Wabi-sabi in photography…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Black and White, Fine Art Photography, Maine, Old Buildings, Wabi Sabi Photography

November 12, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #122 When the Sun Comes Out Tomorrow

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt The sun’ll come out tomorrow….Just thinkin’ about Tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs… These are a few of the words from the song Annie sang in the Broadway musical, Annie. Ana from Anvica’s Gallery is leading the Photo Challenge this week. She is encouraging us to continue to be hopeful and know a brighter future is ahead. She wants to remind us of Annie’s optimistic outlook on grey and lonely days when things were difficult. Be sure to see Ana’s uplifting post and beautiful pictures! Morning sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. The top picture was taken by the…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Fine Art Photography, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine

October 22, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #119 A HIDEAWAY

Being outside with nature has always provided special hideaways; a wonderful place to relax and surround myself with beauty and tranquility. “Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy while cares will drop off the autumn leaves.” John Muir, Our National Parks This week Ann-Christine wants us to think about our hideaways, where we like to retreat for relaxation and solitude. So many wonderful places such as early morning walk on the beach while watching Sandpipers feed, sitting by the river’s edge observing canoes idly drifting in the breeze, observing gorgeous sunsets or…

written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Birds, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Silhouette Photography, Sunsets, Wildlife

October 10, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #117 PHOTO WALK

This week Amy invites us to take a walk with our camera. Taking the time to look around at sights which are normally taken for granted. It was shortly after sunrise on a cool, foggy Maine morning when I grabbed the camera for a photo walk. “In nature, everything has a job. The job of the fog is to beautify further the existing beauties!” – Mehmet Murat Jldan There are several ponds close to our neighborhood so instinctively I headed there. What a lovely sight. The sun was trying to break through the fog, bright light reflected off marsh grasses and a few ducks out for a morning swim. Ordinally,…

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

September 23, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #115 INSPIRATION

This week Tina is inviting us to show images that Inspire us. I had a hard time narrowing down this topic because the truth is, whenever outside there are many Inspirational things all around to see and photograph! My husband and I are in southern Maine now so I decided to feature some Inspirational pictures taken in Boothbay Harbor. On a couple of occasions we visited this area with our friends to play golf, spend the night and enjoy the town. It is quite picturesque as you can see; a popular yachting and tourist destination, known for lobster fishing, boat building and numerous celebrations throughout the year. Plus, Boothbay Golf…

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

Several years ago, a talented group of four ladies started a blog log called Lens-Artists Photo Challenge. Each week one of them selects a topic and the challenge for all LA blog followers is to post their pictures and text relative to the topic. By the way, anyone is welcome to join this international group of photographers.

Participating in this continues to be quite rewarding. It has trained my eye to be more aware of people and things to photograph in addition to making new blogging friends all over the world.

Photography has always been a big part of my life and traveling offers many wonderful photo opportunities. I live on Kiawah Island in South Carolina and spend summers in southern Maine. Hope you like seeing my posts as much as I enjoy creating it!

“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” ∼ Ansel Adams