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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Ephemeral, Nature, Photography

October 18, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #369 Dreamy

Ann-Christine defined Dreamy in the challenge this week. She wrote: “Soft, dreamy photography is one that utilizes soft light, soft focus, delicate tones, and other gentle elements to create ethereal pictures. It often gives a blurred, or hazy feel to the images – an almost surreal or unearthly effect.”  This style often prioritizes mood and feeling, making it popular for subjects like romantic portraits, landscapes, and fairytales.  These Dreamy pictures were randomly selected and seem to convey different moods or feelings. The one below was taken in one the the many parks in Charleston, SC. Giant live oak trees like this one are seen throughout the City, offering shade and…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Photography

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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Photography

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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Nature, Photography

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…

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

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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Nature, Photography

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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

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…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Nature, Photography

May 23, 2025

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #349 The first thing I thought of…

“Daily laughter has been shown to elevate our moods, promote creativity and give us more energy.” – Robin Sharma It’s wonderful to smile or laugh out loud when seeing a particular picture, so this week Tina is inviting us to share a little humor by writing the first though that comes to mind underneath each picture.  She says “Sometimes our sense of humor kicks in before we press the shutter button, other times a perfectly serious image can be made humorous after the fact.”    Below are a few random pictures I thought would be fun to post. My eye sight must be worse than I thought! I wonder how that glass…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

April 19, 2025

Lens-Artist Photo Challenge #344 Abandoned

“Abandoned beauty. To notice the beauty in things left behind is to see the soul of the life it once loved.” – Heather Durren It’s always been interesting to photograph things that are old and especially those that have been weathered by the elements and or reclaimed by vines, plants and wildlife. These few photos show some random subjects I stumbled on over the years. A water glass or bottle was washed up on the beach during an ocean storm. Years of erosion from the salt water and pounding waves has created this lovely and intriguing design. This old, abandoned church was sitting on the side of a country road….

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Photography