“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 …
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #152 Shadows and Shade
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree and long time ago.” – Warren Buffett This week our Photo Challenge is to show examples of Shadows and Shade. I decided to feature various pictures starting with this opening picture showing both shadows and shade on the golf course green behind our house in Maine. In the picture below it is interesting to note tourists taking advantage of the narrow shaded area in the street along as well as the person who is also in the shade walking in the opposite direction. This street scene is in Corfu, Greece. Interesting shadows of the man and his son…
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…
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…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #146 Focusing on Details
“Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things we see and everything to do with the way you see them.” – Elliott Erwitt This week Patti suggests we feature photos Focusing on Details. I found a few images showing details that really seem to make the picture more interesting. This first one was taken a few years ago in Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West, Florida. This room is his writing studio where, it is said, he used the typewriter on the right to produce seventy percent of his works during the nine years he was in residence, 1931 – 1939. Notice that there…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #141 Geometry
The world is full of squares, circles, triangles which can be seen most everywhere. Boston Massachusetts is one of many cities filled with beautiful geometric, architectural designs both old and new. For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Patti wants us to focus on geometry—shapes that are visually interesting and form a pattern or rhythm. She suggests we think about geometry and the many examples seen everyday that we might not notice. Be sure to check out her post here. Once one understands what each geometric shape symbolizes it is easier to understand why certain shapes are associated with certain buildings. Rectangles or Squares represent Balance and Tradition; Circles –…
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #139 Special Moments
“It’s the special moments that keep you going and smiling, make you the person you are and give you a lifetime of memories.” – unknown With so many special moments over the years it was hard to limit it to a few pictures. The birth of my children and marriage to my husband is at the top of the list. ‘Aha moments’ also count as special moments; they capture my full attention, causing me to pause and savor the moment! A few of these memorable moments are shown below. Could not resist showing this special moment as one son sorted through his easter basket and the other one waited patiently for…
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…
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…
Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: #134 From Forgettable to Favorite
There are many Forgettable pictures in my archive files due to camera shake, wrong exposure, etc. So, they end up being either deleted or ignored. This week Tina wants us to revisit the Forgotten ones to see if it is possible to make them into a Favorite. (Not an easy task in some cases.😊) Thank goodness for editing software programs like Photoshop, Lightroom, Nik, Topaz and Luminar to name a few. Plus, some of these programs even have AI capabilities (artificial intelligence). They do a remarkable job of analysing an image and suggesting ways to improve it. In my editing workflow, Adobe Photoshop (PS) is the go to software program. Initial…