March 4, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #238 Alone Time

“Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln never saw a movie, heard a radio or looked at television. They had ‘Loneliness’ and knew what to do with it. They were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that was when the creative mood in them would work.” – Carl Sandburg Ann-Christine, who leads this week, is encouraging us to think about “Alone Time” spent in a favorite place away from outside distractions. By relaxing, mediating or working on an interesting project it is possible to temporarily clear our minds of daily ‘to do’ thoughts and allow random thoughts to emerge. Each picture shows someone enjoying their time…

February 4, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #234 Messages

“An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language.” – Martin Buber Animals have their own unique way of communicating such as this Bottle Nose Dolphin sending the message of affection to her calf. This was taken in the Kiawah River, Kiawah Island, SC. This is our American Cocker spaniels a few years ago when Bentley sent a warning messsage to Chester telling to leave his sock alone!  A Mute swan sending me a message that I was getting too close.  A Canada goose sounding the alarm to others of approaching danger. Below is the Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Like all lighthouses along the coast,…

November 12, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #224 Exposure

This week the challenge is learning more about Exposure and showing a few examples. When using your camera, the amount of exposure is determined by how much light passes through the lens. Exposure levels can also be determined in post editing using software such as Photoshop or Lightroom or the editing software in an iPhone. The picture below was edited using Photoshop and bumping the exposure slide up to give the image an ethereal look. The second one looks more like the image in the camera. Is there one look you prefer over the other? This is another example of how an original image can be converted into a high…

August 4, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #210 Three Favorite Photos

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” – Ansel Adams This week Sarah says, “join me in sharing three of what you consider to be among your very best shots… Look into your archives and apply your most critical eye; play ‘judge’ and try to look dispassionately at your images. Pick out three (just three) that stand out as particular favourites.”  Be sure to see her three favorites and learn why she chose them by clicking here. The scene below is a common sight in Kennebunkport, ME. What caught my attention on this particular day was low hanging rain clouds that were beginning to clear,…

May 7, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #197 Rule of Thirds

What is the Rule of Thirds?  It’s a compositional technique that divides your frame into an equal, three-by-three grid with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines intersecting at four points.  When placing main subject(s) on one or more of these focal points the image more pleasing to the eye and helps to create a balanced or visually interesting image. If you are not familiar with this rule, it is easy to experiment to see if you think it makes a difference.  Some cameras can display the superimposed grid over the image in addition most editing software programs offer it when cropping.  Although like most rules, it is ok to…

December 4, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #176 One Image/One Story

“The greatest art in the world is the art of storytelling.” – Cecil B. DeMille The challenge this week is to show pictures which tell a story.  Ann-Christine asked, “What is a photo story? Some photos are staged, or taken just for their story, and some stories come up first when you see your photo on the screen. A lot of photographic storytelling involves capturing shots of interesting scenes and phenomena that cannot easily be explained through words…. There are so many stories to capture…and to tell.” It is normal to see fish constantly swimming in an aquarium and hopefully the banner image tells their story since most fish have…