June 18, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #204 Doors/Doorways

Doors can be seen wherever we turn, they are literally everywhere! And, all doors are surrounded by doorways for us to walk through, some look more attractive than others. With so many different types and designs, it should be fun to pick several doorways that attract your attention. Ask yourself, what caught your eye.  Does this doorway communicate a friendly, inviting atmosphere (perhaps much like its owners)?  Or, is it imposing due to its size and grandeur, or perhaps ominous looking, sending a message to stay away? Here are a few different styles of doorways I have noticed. A few were recently taken and others came from my archives so…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in LENS-ARTISTS, Photography, Quotes, Types of Doorways

May 26, 2022

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #200 Every Little Thing

“Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset, the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall. It’s the little things that make happy moments, not the grand events. Joy comes in sips, not gulps.” – unknown We are invited to share little things that makes us smile and hopefully  you will also.  The header shot is a white Hydrangea flower.  Interestingly, this large single flower is made up of many clusters of small flowers. These beautiful flowers are quite popular and come in several colors. They have a wonderful way of bringing happiness and warmth in someone home. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius When looking at this…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Flowers, Food, Photography, Quotes

May 12, 2022

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #198 Light and Shadow

“Darkness is absence of light. Shadow is diminution of light.” – Leonardo da Vinci Light and Shadow:  Patti suggests we feature a few pictures showing how well they play together to create beauty, drama, serenity or a smile. “I am forever chasing light.  Light turns the ordinary into the magical.” – Trent Parke “Don’t be afraid of the shadows, it only means there’s a light nearby,” – Amy Lee In this particular picture, shadows are something to be afraid of!  This once beautiful 19th century home in Maryland is purported to be haunted. ? “A luminous body will appear more brilliant in proportion as it is surrounded by deeper shadow.”…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Flowers, Landscape, Photography

April 10, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #194 Bokeh

“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.” – Destin Sparks Bokeh, what is it and how can you create it with your camera? Since this is such an interesting subject and fun to do, Sofia has challenged us to feature a few of our favorites this week. Bokeh is the out-of-focus background in a photograph which is lovely to look at. It is created when background objects are softly blended together, displaying an array of beautiful colors, while the subject is in focus and sharp. Good Bokeh does not have hard edges or sharpness and sometimes there are round, smooth circles of light visible. So, how can…

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

March 19, 2022

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #190 Close and Closer

“In photography the smallest thing can be the greatest subject.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson This week it is suggested we take a closer look at the subjects we photograph.  Look for interesting details, patterns, colors or unseen objects to show.  This can be accomplished using a macro lens, zoom lens, by moving ourselves in closer or simply cropping.  Note, these images can be enlarged by double clicking them. The banner shot shows different types of coral found on Caribbean reefs.  And, the image below highlights a small area of the reef, revealing the detailed beauty in the various corals.  This was taken at The New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. This…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Burano Italy, Butterflies, Photography, Travel

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 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

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 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 2, 2021

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: #166: Colors of Autumn

“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.    “How beautifully leaves grow old.  How full of light and color are their last days.” – John Burrows. A look…

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written by Sylvia - Posted in Autumn Colors, Landscape, LENS-ARTISTS, Maine, Photography