September 18, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #165: Going Wide

“Appreciation is like looking through a wide-angle lens that lets you see the entire forest, not just the one tree limb you walked up on.” – Doc Childre Life through a wide angle lens. This is where the camera records what you see when looking at a particular scene with eyes fixed in one area.  By using shorter lenses you are able to get more in the picture and everything is on a smaller scale.  Wide angle lenses are versatile and work well in landscape scenes, street photography and architecture shots. I decided to feature a few landscape scenes which were converted to black and white.  The header shot was…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Black and White, Fine Art Photography, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Travel

August 27, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #162 It’s All About the Light

“I am forever chasing light.  Light turns the ordinary into the magical.” – Trent Parke The challenge this week is to explore the magic of light.  Share images illustrating the extraordinary power light has to convey emotions in a photo. This first picture shows the sunlight on clouds which have been stirred up by ocean breezes.  The light has turned them into a golden color giving the picture an airy, light, optimistic feel.  “Photography is painting with light” – Miroslav Tichy The power of light… I can still recall an eerie feeling sweeping over me as everything turned pinkish and blue.  This soft natural light created several surreal, ethereal moments…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Fine Art Photography, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Natural Light

July 10, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #155 On the Water

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” — Loren Eaiseley Having spent most of my life near the water, it’s the wildlife living in and on the water I enjoy seeing the most.  Three favorite pictures show Bottlenose Dolphins, a Mute Swan and Great White Pelicans enjoying the water.    Some of you have already seen this dolphin picture as they are following behind our boat.  This particular pod lives in the Kiawah River in South Carolina.  There are several previous posts where you might enjoy learning more about these very unusual pods of dolphins:    #88 Chaos,   #89 A River Run Through It   and …

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Wildlife

June 11, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #151 From Large to Small

“The world is glittering with gold and yellow streamers of sunlight wind through the tree boughs like God was throwing a party!” – Christine Anderson Patti is challenging us to pick one color and then select several photos featuring  just that color.  Starting with a large subject and then progress down in size by showing smaller and smaller examples.   Yellow is such a happy color that I decided to feature it.  As the sun came out from behind the rain clouds it ended up casting such a lovely yellow glow on everything it touched.  (This first picture was featured not too long ago in my post on Natural Light.) “How…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

May 17, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #148 Spots and Dots

Dots are defined as a small round mark and Spots are a small roundish mark, differing in color or texture from the surface around it.  One place where I often see round shapes is on the beach when waves leave behind lovely soft areas of air bubbles which slowly disappear.  The morning sunlight is accenting these bubbles and the sand which gives the area a lovely glow.  (Double clicking on the image shows off the colors.) Another example is some of the tiles in an American Mah Jongg set.  It consist of 144 tiles which includes three suits (totalling 36 tiles each).  The suits are called Dots, Bams, and Craks.  Below is…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Fine Art Photography, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Spots and Dots

April 24, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #144 Taking Flight

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”  William Blake The phrase, Taking Flight, made me think of birds although it can easily describe other things flying like butterflies, bees and balloons.  Looking through my photo archives, I found pictures showing several species of birds Taking Flight that I’d like to share.  (Double clicking each image shows a larger version).    These two pictures are of the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) as he gracefully glides through the air, so quietly he can hardly be heard in spite of his size.  These owls are the largest common owl in the eastern United States with a wing…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Birds, Kiawah Island SC, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

March 13, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #138 Natural Light

“Light makes photography. Embrace light. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.” – George Eastman Light from the sun is constantly changing throughout the day.  Clouds play a big part in this and also shadows which are created as the sun reflects off another object.   Natural sunlight can shine directly on an object, it can also be seen as back light, the golden light just before sunset plus the beautiful colors seen in sunrises and sunsets. Here are a few images showing examples of natural light.  This first one was taken after a heavy rain…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Natural Light, Photography, Sunsets

March 2, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #137 SOFT

So many things can fit the description of soft.  For example: soft foods, soft to the touch, visually soft colors, soft movement, soft sounds.  Ann-Christine would like for us to show examples of a few soft things.  Remember walking in soft mud or sand and having it squish through your toes, and how good it felt? Swans and other water fowl can  softly glide over the water without making a sound even when paddling frantically underneath.  And speaking of soft, what could taste better than a soft, delicious donut!  Unless it is ice cream or banana pudding…. Yummy!  Flower petals, animal fur and Spanish Moss are a few things of…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Abstract, Animals, Fine Art Photography, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

February 23, 2021

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: #136 The Letter S

The challenge this week is showing subjects that begin with the Letter S.  For the fun of it, I also decided to use multiple words starting with “S” to describe each photograph.  Interestingly, the common thread surrounding these pictures is the ocean.  This was not planned ahead, it just happened – Humm. Silhouettes showing people waiting for the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.  The sun’s rays streaming through the clouds created a beautiful display. Shadows, silhouettes, and a sunset as several men fish and watch the soaring seagulls overhead. Swirly S shape carved in the beach sand the ocean tide advanced onto the shore. Sun and clouds casted shimming…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Ocean, Sunsets

January 14, 2021

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: #130 IT’S A SMALL WORLD

This week Lens-Artist’s guest host, Anne Sandler suggests we think about close-up and macro photography.  She skillfully describes the difference between the two.  Be sure to read her post, It’s a Small World. I have a macro lens but find that it is not used much.  Instead, I tend to photograph small objects using a long lens with a short focal point. This particular picture below was taken with a Nikon 18-300 lens, focal point of 145, f/5.7. My banner shot is the beautiful variegated Shell Ginger flower from Florida. This was taken with a Nikon 18-105 lens, focal point of 42, F/4.8.  Interestingly, months ago before being introduced to…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Flowers, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography, Wabi Sabi Photography