“Photography is a love affair with life.” – Burk Uzzle
Tina had a great idea for our photo challenge. She suggests we only choose five favorite photographs we would like to use as screensavers on our computer! I quickly realized that picking just five was not going to be easy. The first picture I decided on was taken during a gondola ride in Venice with my husband. We liked this picture so much that it now hangs over our sofa. And since we wanted a contemporary look, it was edited using a Topaz software program.
“The canals lure you, call you, cry to you to come and embrace them from a gondola.” – Peggy Guggenheim
Another favorite is this still life which I composed for a photography club photo shoot a couple of years ago. The visiting professional gave a group of us an assignment to create a still life presentation using personal items that mean something to us. We also needed to consider composition plus the use of light and shadows. Since I love flowers, these flowers immediately caught my attention during a visit to the local florist. The tea pot was a special gift made by a family member and the stone flower vase is an old favorite.
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.” – Luther Burbank
As mentioned above, I love flowers and enjoy having them around the house so many years ago I started raising African violets and orchids. These three orchids are at least five years old and I look forward to seeing them bloom again every year especially since and their beautiful flowers last almost two months.
“To sit in silence at the shore, watch the waves and hear the surf, is to appreciate the very beath and heartbeat of the earth.” – Doe Zantamate
A lovely scene on a beautiful fall afternoon right after a heavy rainstorm. This picture was taken in Kennebunkport, Maine, beside the well-known swinging bridge which connects the Kennebunk Lower Village area to Dock Square in Kennebunkport.
“Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals in the world and smart animals are fascinating to us humans.” – Douglas Adams
This is one of many small pods of dolphins that inhabit the Kiawah River not far from our house. This was taken when a group of Kiawah Photography Club members took a charted boat out to photograph the many dolphins living in the river. We got lots of pictures of Bottlenose dolphins strand feeding and others interacting and playing games with each other. This particular pod, the parents and their calf along with another adult, decided to follow our boat for a while. It was amazing to see them swimming so close to us.
Thanks, Tina, for suggesting such a great photo challenge! Be sure to check out her post and enjoy seeing her beautiful pictures by clicking here.
“Just smile and be the reason for someone to smile.” – unknown
Great favourite images Sylvia, they are beautiful.
Thank yu so much, Leanne, and thanks for visiting!
These are all beautiful Sylvia. Of course I loved your dolphins, but the first flower arrangement is really amazing. How have I never noticed it before?!??!
Many thanks Tina, so glad you liked these images and especially seeing our pod of dolphins again!!
The Venice photo is precious, Sylvia. I liked the whole gallery, but Venice stuck with me.
So glad you like the Venice picture, Egidio!! This picture was taken a few years ago and forgot about because the original image was not good (blown out, etc) and unimpressive looking. A couple of months ago I decided to play around with it in Photoshop, Nik and Topaz software and this is what I ended up with. As a side note, I belong to another photo club (http://www.psa-photo.org/) and in one of their study groups I learned how to edit pictures as I envision them looking, to help correct camera mistakes and also in fun, artsy ways.
That photo club is a good resource. It’s nice to be able to tweak photos to match what we see or envision them to be.
All absolutely amazing, Sylvia!
Thank you so much, Sofia!