August 13, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #109 The Sun – A Road Trip North

“Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” – Helen Keller This week Amy challenges us to feature pictures of the Sun.  Saturday, when she announced our word challenge, my husband and I were traveling north up the east coast from South Carolina to Maine.  Not knowing what images to share, I decided on photographing the sun various times during the last leg of our three day journey to Maine.  These images were taken on Sunday during a seven hour period with the iPhone 11 Pro Max, from inside the car at 70+ miles an hour.  (If you’d like, double click each image to view…

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

August 4, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #108 SANCTUARY

“Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” – Hermann Hesse This week Xenia from Tranature.com is challenging us to share our thoughts about our Sanctuary, where we find it and how we create our place of calm and healing.  Be sure to check out her blog. My Sanctuary is a place I can visit either literally or figuratively.  It is a brief retreat from a daily routine plus ever changing events I cannot control.  The importance of a personal sanctuary is to create a balance between a hectic lifestyle and a time to relax and clear my mind. …

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

July 19, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #106 AUTUMN

This week Patti wants us to continue thinking about the four seasons; this week the topic is Autumn.  Be sure to visit her post and enjoy the lovely autumn images. To me Autumn is about the beautiful colors Mother Nature creates as the air gets cooler and tree leaves change to glorious oranges, reds and yellows. Maine as well as other states in New England have a well-deserved reputation as being one of the prettiest areas during the fall months.  Over the past years my husband and I have spent our summers in southern Maine,  and occasionally stay through the fall and winter months.  Such a treat to be there…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, Maine, Photography, Travel

July 15, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #105 SPRING

This week Tina selected Spring as our photo word challenge.  After thinking about this topic, I decided to approach the topic of Spring a little differently by focusing on an event that occurs each spring on Kiawah Island when Red Knots or Calidris canutus rufa begin to arrive. These birds leave their winter home on the coast of southern Chile and Argentina and journey to the mainland and islands above the Arctic Circle; a one-way trip of more than 9,300 miles or 14,966.9 kilometers!  For years now Kiawah’s beach is a stop-over in their semi annual migration. Red Knots are amazing birds and one of my favorites.  They are documented as being…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Kiawah Island SC, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, SC, Spring

July 9, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #104 SUMMER

“Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.” – Jerry Has This week Amy asked us to celebrate summer with our photos.  To me summer time represents people having fun outside, warm air, sunshine, fun at the beach, eating ice cream, outside meals, kayaking, fishing and riding in a convertible with the top down!  So, I decided to share a few favorite pictures of people enjoying summer on Kiawah Island.  “Summer is singing with joy, and the beaches are inviting you with dancing waves.” – Debasish Mridha   Summer time means after dinner bike rides on the beach with a cooler of beverages to enjoy as the…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Kiawah Island SC, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Summer, Sunsets

June 16, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #101 A Single Flower

“Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul.”– Luther Burbank Lens-Artists Photo Challenge has a well- known guest host this week, Cee Neuner at Cee’s Photo Challenges.  For our topic this week she chose an interesting topic, “A Single Flower”.  Flowers mean so much to so many people.  They can help you feel better and happier; a gift of flowers can express love, friendship and caring.  Their beauty is unparalleled.   “A single flower is miraculous.  It may not live long, but before it withers, it blooms to its fullest and bestores nature with so much love and beauty.” – Amita I…

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

June 13, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #100 The Long and Winding Road

Tina chose “The Long and Winding Road” as our photo topic this week.  I found a few of my favorites looking back through the archives.   I enjoy photographing roads or paths that meander out of sight, around the bend .  They seem to bring up questions such as where the road leads, what sights are around the bend, how old is the path, who are the people or animals using it?  Each of these roadways look so inviting that it is hard not to want to explore them.   “When the road ahead seems too long, look back to see how far you’ve come.  For even if the hill before you…

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

June 6, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #99 OLD AND NEW

This week Amy asked us to show pictures featuring our interpretation of “Old and New”.  Am sure you would enjoy seeing Amy’s post which shows a mix of history, architecture and modern building.   She suggests we can explore fashion, collections, treasures….I decided to feature a hundred year old children’s book plus an advertisement featuring Mr Peanut, ninety years ago. “Old books exert a strange fascination for me – their smell, their feel, their history.  Wondering who might have owned them, how they lived, what they felt.” – Lauren Willig This series of pictures below are from a Mother Goose Book dated 1921.  My mother passed this down to me…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Old Book, Photography

May 25, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #98 DELICATE COLORS

This week’s challenge from Ann-Christine gives us a chance to explore Delicate Colors; beautiful, soft shades of color blending into each other. Being surrounded by these lovely colors can be  soothing and relaxing in spite of the hectic world we live in now. 🙃  Delicate Colors are all around us, waiting to be discovered when outside and one with nature.               Ann-Christine shows beautiful examples of delicate colors she found in her garden and neighboring forest. “There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.” – Edouard Manet Each of these pictures show a different color palette that only mother-nature can create…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, Digital Art, Kiawah Island SC, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

May 5, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #94 ALL WET

Tina selected “All Wet” as our topic this week.  “All wet” would be ducks splashing in the water, dolphins spraying water as they strand feed or pelicans diving for fish in the ocean.  Another example of All Wet is our cocker spaniels getting a bath, which isn’t a pretty sight.   Be sure to see Tina’s post this week (Travels and Trifles), she has featured beautiful pictures of grizzly bears catching salmon in Alaska! After searching through achieved photos, I decided to show pictures of our trip to Burano, Italy (near Venice).  Even though there was a soaking rain throughout the day, no one seemed to mind.  I enjoyed seeing…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, Burano Italy, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography