November 8, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge 372 Ephemeral

“It is the ephemeral nature of things that makes them wonderful.” — Yoshida Kenkō Ephemeral can be defined as a fleeting glimpse or short-lived event or object that comes and goes quickly, for example bubbles, fireworks or cold brew coffee as cream is poured in the glass on the right, creating an interesting looking design.  About a minute later its appearance softened and a different pattern was created. Truly an ephemeral experience! There are many examples of ephemerality in nature and this next series illustrates a few.  First is a dandelion plant as seeds from its flower head are being blown off by the wind. Snow and ice formed on this railing…

October 11, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #368 Autumn Colors

“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. Maine as well as other states in New England have a well-deserved reputation as being one of the prettiest areas during the…

October 4, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #367 Everyone Should See This

The challenge this week is to share a few photographs that have inspired me or are meaningful in some way. Each picture either has a story to tell or captures a particular meaningful moment. All were taken near our home on Kiawah Island, SC, except the last one. This first picture is telling a story about an Anhinga and the juvenile alligator. When I walked nearby, the Anhinga was quietly resting on the fence post. Then, when the alligator decided to cross the golf path and head for the water on the other side, the excitement began! The Anhinga went crazy, he started making loud “cruk-cruk-cruk” sounds while moving around…

September 12, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #364 Quiet Moment

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” —Hermann Hesse A Quiet Moment is precious time spent alone with one’s thoughts. Away from the hustle and bustle of everyday sounds. Alone time can provide the experience of inner peace and personal growth by listening to your inner voice, enhancing your creativity, improving mental clarity and gathering your strength. Quiet moments can be further enhanced by being with nature or going to a favorite place in your house for reflection.   This first series of pictures shows my favorite Quiet Moment locations close to our house in Maine. This first…

September 6, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #363 Virtual Scavenger Hunt

“Of all man’s works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.” – Henry Ward Beecher The photo challenge this week is a virtual scavenger hunt. Anne is challenging us to look through our photo archives to find the right one that meets her criteria. Who knows, I  may find a few pictures I had forgotten about. She suggested a list of items to look for. Here are a few: something with green eyes, or cool jewelry, something circular, rectangular, has a design or a pattern, something with bumpy texture, a soft texture, or something of glass, and her list goes on….   All…

June 28, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #354 Reflections

Seeing reflections in a photograph can instantly make a picture more appealing. They can be used to create visually interesting and unique artistic designs by adding symmetry, depth, and a sense of surrealism. Reflections are created by any kind of light (sunlight or artificial light) bouncing off a reflective surface (like a mirror or water). If the surface is smooth a clear reflection is created. A rough surface scatters light rays and the reflection becomes blurry and usually creates an artistic looking designs. I have a few pictures showing reflections created by various reflective surfaces. For example, a large puddle of water, a mirror, sunglasses, ocean waves, beach sand, a…

June 21, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #353 Stormy

Take time to look towards the sky, notice the various cloud formations and lovely colors created by the sun’s light. The photo challenge topic this week is Stormy. Many things can be referred to as being stormy but generally I think about stormy weather such as snowstorms which often occur in Maine, rainstorms, severe storms which can be most anywhere and then there are also hurricanes and nor’easter which are formed over water and occasionally move over land leaving a lot of destruction in its wake. Having lived most of my life along the eastern coast of the United States, I have experienced a fair number of storms, especially Nor’easters…

April 26, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #345 My Go-To-Places

“Connections we make to people, places, things, and ideas, are what give purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Emily Esfahani Smith One of my favorite places to be is at home on Kiawah Island, outside walking in the neighborhood or on the beach. This is something I enjoy doing several times a week. (Years ago I loved jogging on a regular basis with our dogs but after having to replace two worn-out knees, my doctor advised me to take up another gentler sport, like walking.) I love going on long walks, especially with Tucker, our two year old Cocker Spaniel. These walks are important to me and he enjoys…

April 5, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #342 It’s a Wild Life!

This week Egidio of Through Brazilian Eyes is suggesting we show a few pictures of what we consider to be wild! There are lots of possibilities to consider so I decided to show a few wild animals I have encountered plus a couple showing mother-nature in a wild mood! This scene in the Atlantic Ocean was taken at Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine in 2011 as Hurricane Irene was passing through. Notice how the ocean was wild and raging due to high tides and strong winds. My husband and lived on Kiawah Island and one of the many unique things about this Island is the pods of Bottle Nose Dolphins…

March 29, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #341 Personal Favorites

“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…