May 10, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #298 To Be Young Again

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson  Tina, who is hosting this week, suggests we feature children in our pictures. I rarely photograph people so this topic required a bit of searching through photo archives. My first thought was to look for pictures taken during the summer months that included water. From personal experience children love to play in water on a hot, steamy summer days! The perfect activities at the beach include building sandcastles, skimming the surf on a board, swimming in shallow waves or just enjoying the cool breeze blowing off the ocean. This taken near our house on Kiawah Island…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography

February 16, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #286 Weather

“Sometimes I wish that I was the weather, you’d bring me up in conversations forever. And when it rained, I’d be the talk of the day.” – John Mayer “The weather” almost always seems to come up in general conversations! Discussions can center around what to wear outside to stay comfortable, whether to plan an outing on a given day, how today’s weather makes us feel, and this list could go on. For some photographers, weather is an important consideration before going outside with the camera! Suppose the light outside is too harsh or flat at midday or too stormy or its snowing too hard to venture out? These are…

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

January 27, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #283 Illustrate a Favorite Quote

“Birds in flight fascinate me. I admire eagles, falcons [and all birds]. I’m inspired by a feather but also its color, its graphics, its weightlessness and its engineering. It’s so elaborate…” – Alexander McQueen This week I am sharing a few favorite quotes and illustrating them with pictures. This first quote relates to the header image showing a flock of Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) during one of their stop-overs on Kiawah Island, SC. These birds migrate from their winter home on the coast of southern Chile and Argentina to islands above the Arctic Circle for summer, a flight of more than 9,300 miles or 14,966.9 kilometers, a journey which…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Red Knots Migration

January 12, 2024

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #281 Highlights from 2023

“Photography is a love affair with life.” – Burk Uzzle This week Tina wants us to share a few favorite pictures from 2023. Selecting only a few turned out to be harder than I thought! Note: Clicking on a picture to open it in full screen. Also, to read more of an individual post, click on the underlined title. “Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” – Orhan Pamuk It only seems right to start off by showing pictures of Tucker, our puppy who recently turned one year old. His energy and enthusiasm has dominated our household and our lives!  Tucker was featured in May…

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

December 30, 2023

Lens Artists Photo Challenge – Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead filled with happiness, inner peace and Hope for a better tomorrow!   I feel lucky to have seen this lovely holiday scene at Freshfields, Kiawah Island, SC. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – J.K. Rowling (Albus Bumbledore, from Harry Potter) My Hope for 2024 is for it to be a prosperous year of pleasant surprises, joy and good health for you and your family! In closing, it would not seen right if I did not include my favorite quote which many of you have read before… “Unexpected kindness is the most powerful,…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Kiawah Island SC, LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Quotes

November 25, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #276 Looking Up, Looking Down

“Sometimes changing your perspective is all it takes to see the light.” – Dan Brown James of Jazzibee is the guest host this week. He challenges us to view the world from different perspectives by Looking Up and Looking Down. This first image was taken looking up at the colorful rigging on a local commercial shrimp boat. Looking up at the upper half of the stupa at Brahmavihara-Arama Buddhist Monastery in Bali, Indonesia. Tibetan style eyes surround the top symbolizing Buddha’s wisdom to see all things in four directions. “Look, up at the sky. There is a light, a beauty up there, that no shadow can touch.” – J.R.R. Tolkien…

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

September 23, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #267 Recharge

“Lose yourself in nature and find peace.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Egidio, Through Brazilian Eyes, is the guest host this week. The topic he chose is Recharge, he suggests we show examples of something we enjoy doing or seeing that help recharge our batteries and relax. For me, a walk outside is the perfect solution. I tend to walk fast when exercising, oftentimes taking our dogs so we can exercise together. Needless to say, at times when they are along it is not particularly relaxing right now since the puppy often sees interesting things to explore along the way. Although  going out with them does increase my energy level for…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Atlantic Ocean, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Nature, Photography

August 26, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #263 Faces in the Crowd

“A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk is but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.” – Francis Bacon Our challenge this week is to feature faces, in a crowd or standing alone. I decided on a few random pictures showing various people’s faces in a crowd.  Most are strangers although the last few pictures are the faces of long-time friends. The first is a fascinating exhibit showing numerous faces of Chicago citizens at Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. A different person’s face is projected on LED screens at regular intervals and each fountain has an outlet in the screen there…

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

August 9, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #261 Work in Progress

“Life is a work in progress” – Jeff Rich Ann-Christine is our host this week and she has selected a topic everyone can relate to, Work in Progress. As she says, everything is a work in progress! A work in process is evident in our household now as my husband and I are training our eight month old American Cocker Spaniel, Tucker, to become a good citizen! The good news is things are going well; he has a wonderful disposition and is a quick learner. The not so good news is our trainer says he is going through a puppy adolescent stage which will probably last several more months, Ugh. (As…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in cocker spaniels, Fine Art Photography, Quotes, Wildlife

July 29, 2023

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #259 Unbound

“I have never in my life been so struck by any place as by Venice. It is the wonder of the world.” – Charles Dickens This week Dan of departing in 5 mins, is the guest host, and has chosen ‘Unbound’ as our photo challenge. He says, “Unbound: Capturing moments that take you away from your daily routine and/or everyday responsibilities.  Is it a day trip, a road trip, or maybe a great escape?” Several years ago my husband and I took a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, visiting many interesting countries along the way. We spent fifteen wonderful days learning about other people and countries, sight seeing, relaxing and…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Landscape, Photography, Travel