January 30, 2022

Cellpic Sunday 30 Jan 2022 Winter Beauty

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” – Buddha  This flower is on a sasanqua camellia tree in our front yard near Charleston, South Carolina.  These evergreen trees were originally from Japan and typically grow 6 to 10 feet tall.  It has  attractive dark green foliage and flowers each fall into early winter.  Camellia Japonica trees, which are very similar, bloom in early spring and have larger flowers. This was recently taken with the iPhone11 Max Pro, edited in Adobe Camera Raw/Photoshop and Nik software. “Life is like a flower, it grows into something beautiful.” – Donnajo Calhoun Many thanks to…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Photography

January 22, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #182 Interesting Objects

It is amazing how many interesting sights are around us once we start looking for them.  This week Patti suggests we share a few things we have seen when walking through a city, the country, a museum, or a beach.  Something different that catches our eye.  This banner shot was taken a few years ago when visiting a botanical garden in Canada.  These artistic metal flowers among the other plants added a lot of color and interest.  And, below is a popular ice cream shop in Maine which is known for their long list of delicious ice creams plus humorous signs around the property.  The picture of the cow and…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

January 16, 2022

Cellpic Sunday 16 Jan 2022 The Painter

“The Sea, once it casts its spell holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Cousteau My husband and I spend our summers in the southern part of Maine and I love walking along Marginal Way in Ogunquit.  This beautiful walkway, beside the Atlantic Ocean, is lined with native trees and flowers with plenty of benches so people can sit and enjoy the ocean.  Even though it is only a little over a mile each way there are many wonderful opportunities for picture taking.  On this particular day I was out early before the crowds gathered while a sea mist was still hanging in the air.  On this…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Cell Phone Photos, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Travel

January 6, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #180 Highlights from 2021

“There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” – William Frederick Halsey, Jr.     2021 was such a challenging year for so many; hopefully everyone one got through it ok and became a wiser and stronger person.  I would like to wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy Year in 2022.   Tina suggested we show our favorite pictures from 2021. When looking through my pictures I was surprised as to how many I found. The opening picture shows a pair of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) which were featured in an April post, entitled Taking Flight.   The next two images are from a…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Highlights from 2021, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

December 16, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #178 Holiday Lights

“We didn’t realize we were making memories; we just knew we were having fun.” – unknown I always enjoy the sights and sounds surrounding the Christmas holidays and especially the time spent with family and friends.  Christmas music everywhere, Christmas cards, buying gifts, wrapping presents, decorating the house, the smell of the tree and other evergreens throughout the house, all leading up to the big day.  Since Tina is giving us our choice of topics this week, I decided to share a few pictures of holiday decorations.  (Each of these images can be enlarged by double clicking it.) For years, during the Christmas holiday my husband and I would spend…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Christmas Holiday Lights, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

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…

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

November 20, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #174: Shapes and Designs

Images featuring shapes and designs, they are all around us, easy to see once you become aware of them.  They can be found in nature, your home, garden, architecture, fabrics, paintings, just about everywhere.  This week Patti invites us to share a few we have noticed.   A dead tree, dried out by the elements, has been shaped into an interesting design.   It’s base looks like a circle with small branches curving overhead and off to the side. Beautiful star shaped clematis flower growing along the fence in our yard. Once the flower petals die, this lovely circular seed pod appears and remains for quite some time. Other examples of shapes…

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

November 13, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #173: Interesting Architecture

“As an architect you design for the present with an awareness of the past, for a future which is essentially unknown.” – Norman Foster Interesting, beautiful architecture can be seen most anywhere people live, especially in cities and towns.  It is visual art that is hard to ignore.  I always enjoy photographing interesting looking buildings.  I selected a few favorites pictures from within the United States – Maine, Boston and Chicago. This Gothic-inspired architectural house has won the distinction as the most photographed house in Maine.  It is known as the Wedding Cake House since George W. Bourne (a prominent 19th-century shipbuilder) built it for his new bride in 1825. …

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Architecture, Boston Massachusetts, Chicago, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Travel

November 6, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #172: A Day in My Week

“Right in this moment, I can’t even remember what unhappy feels like.”  – Maggie Stiefvater A few days ago around sunrise, I decided to take a long walk on the beach, something I try to do at least twice a week.  When walking down the boardwalk my attention was immediately drawn to the beautiful sweetgrass brushes growing beside the sand dunes.  “Nature unfolds her treasure at the first ray of sunrise.” – Kishore Bansol The beach looked magical this particular morning.  It was low tide and the sun was casting bright rays of light off the ocean surface and wet sand.   For the first half an hour the ocean and…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Kiawah Island SC, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Sunrises

October 23, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #170: Street Art – Boston

Street art, such as sculptures, murals, graffiti, poster art, is commonly displayed on buildings, walls, sidewalks – anywhere it can attract public attention.  This week Patti invites us to share images of street art whether it is scrawled messages all the way up to the most elaborate of commissioned work.  Even though Boston Massachusetts is full of beautiful and interesting murals and graffiti, I decided to feature four pieces of commissioned works of art and public statues.  The header shot of the Tortoise and Hare at Copley Square, was created as a tribute to all Boston marathon runners by Nancy Schon in May 1995. This first street exhibit more than…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Boston Massachusetts, LENS-ARTISTS, Sculptures, Street Art