This week Ann-Christine challenges us to show a few Candid pictures. She says “taking photos of people or animals if they have no idea that you’re doing it is called candid photography. One of the beautiful things with photography is being able to catch someone in the act. It adds natural life to your picture taking.” After reading this, I decided to go back into my photo archives for a few candid shots of Cocker Spaniels, which sadly are no longer with us. These two dogs, Spencer and Winston, gave our family wonderful memories as they consistently showed their love of life and each for other. “In the world…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #66 FILLING THE FRAME
Patti asks us to show some images which demonstrate “Filling the Frame”. The implied ‘frame’ is simply the border of a photograph. When choosing to “Fill the Frame” only the subject is shown with very little open spaces around the edges. Why is this concept of interest to many photographers? If the subject is the only focal point in the picture, then it is easy for the viewer’s eye to connect with the details and also get an idea of the kind of feeling the photographer wants to convey. Earlier this week for a couple of days, the Kiawah Island Photography Club hosted Richard Bernabe, an internationally prominent professional…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #65 VENICE ITALY – SPECIAL MEMORIES
Am happy to be back with my blog this week. I had to take a break to pack up the house and travel over a thousand miles back to our winter home on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. This week Tina is asking us to think about a place we have visited which holds special memories, for example a small town, city, or country. She suggests we show pictures which help capture the spirit of this place so others can see and feel what we did. Not too long ago my husband and I spent a couple of days in Venice, Italy, and both of us instantly fell in love…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #63 MAGICAL
Our topic this week is Magical; Ann-Christine suggests we think about something that appears magical to us. When I mentioned this topic to a good friend she suggested I go for a walk along the edge of the woods near our summer house. She had seen wild mushrooms growing and was struck by their astonishing colors and textures which looked so magical growing on the forest floor. Seeing these wild mushrooms among the sun rays and shadows made them look like they had truly been created by magic! “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats This…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #62 SILHOUETTES
This week Patti suggests we show pictures featuring Silhouettes. Silhouette photography is quite interesting in that it can evoke emotions, tell a story plus entice viewers to spend a few extra moments exploring details. “One of the most effective ways of dramatizing a landscape or a wildlife subject is to capture its silhouette. The combination of a strong form with a beautiful background is unbeatable.” – Jim Zuckerman Friends relaxing with their beverage while observing the ongoing gorgeous sunset in the Gulf of Mexico! Is there a storm approaching, adding extra drama to the evening sky? “It was sunsets that taught me that beauty sometimes only lasts…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #61 PRECIOUS PETS
This week Tina invites us to share pictures and a few thoughts about precious pets that have been in our life or have somehow touched us. I cannot remember being without a pet of some sort and usually had several different ones at the same time – because our family consisted of three boys! Need I say more?? The assortment of “pets” varied over the years; a parakeet, a snake or two, ferrets, a few frogs, lizards, and tank full of tropical fish. The more traditional (or normal) pets over the years were several Irish Setters, a rescued Siberian husky, a poodle, two Himalayan cats and American cocker spaniels. Now that…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #60 FRAMING THE SHOT
This week Amy suggests we show several different examples of framing our shot or subject. There are many ways the subject can be naturally framed, tall objects such as trees, shrubbery, poles, window or door frames, anything that directs the eye to the center of the “frame”. Often times this can be done in the camera when the picture is taken or during the editing process when cropping. “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 A self-portrait using…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #59 ANGLES AND PERCEPTIONS
This week Ann-Christine challenges us to explore the word Angles and Perceptions using pictures. Not necessarily geometric angles (although there are numerous angles in each flower) but photographs looking at the same object from different angles and observing it from a different perspective, which in turn influences our perception of the world! She says “the importance of different ways of seeing the same object, thing, person, happening…cannot be overestimated.” Viewing objects this way and forming a new perception is very powerful! “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – William Shakespeare I decided to show this beautiful hibiscus on the table from different angles;…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #58 SOMETHING OLD, NEW, BORROWED AND BLUE
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue… This is from an old English rhyme and this week Patti is challenging us to feature pictures of places or things that have some or all of these good luck qualities. She also mentioned that showing all four qualities in one image could be extra challenging, and it certainly was! This topic required a bit of thought 😟….then, I remembered taking a family visit to Peak’s Island in Maine a couple of years ago and how pretty it was with an abundance of color everywhere; buildings, homes and vegetation! Before taking you on a short pictorial tour around the Island I’d like…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #57 TAKING A BREAK
This week Tina invites us to explore a few things people can do to Take a Break from the daily grind of life – to re-energize, regroup then move forward again, feeling refreshed. I stumbled on a very interesting chart entitled, “50 Ways to Take A Break“ from the Independence Center when exploring the internet. Since this chart is so relevant to our topic this week I decided to include the links, it shows 50 fun ways to take a break and enjoy doing it! “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” – Dr. Suess Often times taking a break…