April 5, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #91 SIMPLICITY

Patti suggests we think about Simplicity this week so I decided to feature a few flower and landscape shots to illustrate how beautiful and elegant things are when they are not lost in the detail.    “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci     “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry     “Simplicity is the glory of expression.” – Walt Whitman     “There is beauty in simplicity” – unknown     “Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy” – Isaac Newton     “Our life is frittered…

March 18, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #88 CHAOS

Ann-Christine chose Chaos as the word challenge this week. Choas in some form seems to be most everywhere. On Kiawah Island, there is a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins who learned to feed in a chaotic manner called strand feeding. This taught behavior is only seen in a few parts of the in the world.  You can see from the pictures below how chaotic strand feeding is!    The first part of the feeding routine looks more organized.  Working together, they locate a school of fish and begin herding them towards the shore as shown below. Once the fish are boxed in with no escape route, the dolphins attack by herding them…

March 5, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #86 SAME SUBJECT, DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

This week Patti wants us to feature pictures taken from different perspectives, or angles, of a subject instead of standing in front of it and taking the shot at eye level.  Perhaps spending a little extra time exploring the subject from different angles. Get down low and look up or move up high and check out the view looking down, or maybe move laterally to include or exclude other items near the subject, especially to see if the light changes in an interesting way.   The Trinity Church in Boston, Massachusetts, is located in Copley Square in Back Bay.  This first picture shows the Church at street level.  The second image…

January 27, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #81 SEEING RED

Patti invites us to show pictures featuring the color Red.  Red colors are believed to be a symbol for many things: passion, love, rage, danger, good luck.  Even though shades of red can be in many tones, it’s rarely seen as demure.  Perhaps Taylor Swift says it best: “Red is such an interesting color to correlate with emotion, because it’s on both ends of the spectrum.  On one end you have happiness, falling in love, infatuation with someone, passion, all that.  On the other end you’ve got obsession, jealousy, danger, fear, anger and frustration.”   Ladybugs are considered to be lucky charms by many cultures when they land on someone…

December 29, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #77 MY FAVORITES IN 2019

Patti suggests we show a few of our favorite photograph from 2019.  I also decided to share again a few of my favorite quotes plus my all time favorite from Ansel Adams.    “You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” – Ansel Adams   “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  …

December 11, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #75 NOSTALGIC

This week Tina wants us to share a few special nostalgic moments.  Thinking back the great memories of the fun times spent with our family is right up there at the top of the list.  Our children and grandchildren are scattered in the northeastern part of the country so we do not have the opportunity to see everyone as much as we’d like.  This means getting together a few times each year is a real treat. Without fail, we always seen to congregate either in the kitchen, on the beach, or at the pool.    “Sometimes we will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.”…

November 1, 2019

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #69 SEEING DOUBLE

This week Tina suggests we feature pictures showing “two of a kind” or Seeing Double in a photo.  It can be people, animal, or things shown in sets of two. A fun topic to think about!   Two youngsters playing while the parents watch close by.  Not sure whether they are siblings or friends but it is almost like Seeing Double and they are two of a kind.  Wish I can say this was taken in the wild, instead these elephants live in the Wild Kingdom Park at Disney World in Florida.   Belgian Draft Horses enjoying each other’s company on a beautiful fall day in Maine!  This particular pair always…

October 12, 2019

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…

September 18, 2019

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…

August 28, 2019

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…