August 3, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #56 SEASCAPES

  “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Cousteau   This week Amy encouraged us to show favorite pictures of various Seascapes, such as the water front, shoreline and waves.   Early one morning when walking on the beach at Kiawah Island, SC with our dogs, I was excited to see this female Loggerhead turtle returning to the Ocean after laying her eggs in the sand dunes. Fortunately, I was able to take a series of pictures documenting her long, laboring journey back to the ocean. This first one, originally posted on Mar 15, 2019 in my blog “Around The Neighbor”,…

July 24, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #55 DREAMY

DREAMY, this is the subject Anne-Christine chose for this week.  I found this topic a little difficult to define since dreamy can imply many different things – a dreamy song or meditative music, a dreamy atmosphere, a person who daydreams often or someone who is so visually beautiful they look dreamy.   After some thought I decided to “artistically” edit a few pictures in hopes of creating dreamy colors along with soft dreamy shapes and designs! “Everything that’s lovely is but a brief, dreamy kind of delight.” – William Butler Yeats     “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Yves…

July 18, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #54 DETAILS – Achilleion Palace, Corfu, Greece

This week Patti is challenging us to show details surrounding a particular person, place or thing which otherwise appears so visually overwhelming it is hard to know what or how to photograph it.  She points out that sometimes focusing the camera on details can best describe the beauty and history of the site and help tell the big story.  Click here to enjoy her post on Details. The Achilleion Palace in Corfu, Greece is a good example of a place so massive and beautiful it was difficult to know how to photograph it.  In addition, it was a bit challenging figuring out how to get some good pictures as crowds…

July 12, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #53 CHOICES – Black and White

In celebration of the one-year anniversary of Lens-Artists Photo Challenge we are invited to post pictures on a subject of our choice.  I decided to feature only black and white images this week.  Interestingly, since not all pictures turn out to be good black and white candidates.  Worthy ones tend to emphasis shapes, lines and texture, in addition to shadows, reflections and contrasts.  Often times these features add mood and emotion and can attract more attention, maybe this is why many people believe this is photography in its purest form.  Hope you enjoy seeing these images in a different “light”! 😊 “There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.” –…

July 4, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #52 SERENITY

This week Tina chose to challenge us with the word SERENITY.  Looking through my pictures it became obvious I tend to be drawn to serene landscapes.  I guess it is visual and mental peace, stillness and tranquility of the moment that captures my attention in the otherwise hectic life style I lead.  A popular definition of Serenity is the absence of mental stress or anxiety, a state of peace and quiet; perhaps this is the reason why I have enjoyed practicing yoga over the years.   “Serenity opens the door to inspiration and creativity.” – unknown   When coming upon this inviting scene I thought how wonderful it would be…

June 25, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #51 UNIQUE

This week Amy invites us to feature Unique looking pictures.  To me, an abstract scene is unique in the purest sense of the word.  On occasions I like to take pictures with the idea of conveying a Unique or abstract look.  Hope you enjoy seeing a few of my favorites!   “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”  Albert Einstein   This is a picture of a reflection on the water.   This image was created by the sun reflecting the colors from a man’s clothing; an aqua shirt, green cap and brown pants.   I like this because of its unique design with interesting, distinctive…

June 22, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #50 TREES

Ann-Christine invites us to explore Trees this week and show a few which have caught our attention.  I often look for unusual formations and details in the shape of their trunk and branches plus whether or not they are growing in an unusual place such as asphalt and concrete.  As a side note, other trees have been previously featured in my blogs although the two best known are Angel Oak on Johns Island, SC and the Lone Cypress in Pebble Beach, CA. When in Aruba a few years ago, we located this well-known Diva-Diva tree on the beach close to the road.  There are a couple of the popular Mysore Fig trees on the Winter…

June 15, 2019

FAVORITE THINGS: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

Patti invited us to share a few pictures showing a favorite place or activity…” just about anything that brings you happiness.”  I have many favorites (family, people, pets, places, pictures I’ve taken) so it is difficult to pick only a few.  I could fill volumes of books with a list of Favorite Things!    Since we are in Wells, Maine for the summer, I decided to share a favorite activity I have enjoyed for years – going on early morning walks.  Often our two cocker spaniels, Bentley and Chester, and my husband accompany me (along with my camera!). A few days ago, we decided to walk around Ogunquit.  Unfortunately, after…

June 7, 2019

WILD: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

Tina asked us to think about the word Wild this week and show examples of something Wild.  Wild animals, birds, flowers, weather, Wild behavior….this list could go on and on.  Since I enjoy being outside it seems that where ever I go untamed, Wild birds seem to be everywhere, happily chirping, calling to each other or sounding an alarm if another bird has invaded their space.  Sometimes if I’m lucky, many different species can be found congregating in a favorite area as they socialize between meals or share a feeding area.  It’s interesting to watch the behavior among the different species although if you get too close they immediately take…

May 30, 2019

FIVE ELEMENTS: Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

Amy’s challenge topic for this week is FIVE ELEMENTS.  She chose to highlight the Five Elements recognized by the Chinese, Wu Xing:  water (shui), metal (jin), fire (huo), wood (mu), and earth (tu).  In daily life these are regarded as the foundations of everything in the universe and natural phenomena and commonly used by designers and Feng Shui masters. In the universe, each element interacts positively or negatively with another element.  Positive interaction would be how metal generates water; water nourishes wood; wood feeds fire; fire creates earth; earth bears metal.  Negative interaction would occur when fire melts metal; metal chops wood; wood breaks up the earth; earth absorbs the…