Wandering Dawgs

Sunday Stills – Paths and Trails

June 18, 2025Posted in Nature, Parks, Photography, State ParksTagged National Outdoors Month, Parks, Paths, Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, trails14 Comments

June is Outdoors Month and this month Terri’s Sunday Stills challenges are all focused on the great outdoors. This challenge is Paths and Trails in the great outdoors.

I more of a wanderer than a hiker but I enjoy being out in the great outdoors. I like to take my time wandering on a scenic trail or path looking at the trees and searching for birds, wildlife, and wildflowers. The featured image is from the McKenzie Head Trail at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. The following are a few others that I have enjoyed.

We read the warnings and started on the trail anyway. We turned around after rattlesnakes were sighted on the trail in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas.

The trail leads to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Swamp Trail, Silver Springs State Park, Florida

Boardwalk Trail at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia

Shared Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge Sunday Stills Paths and Trails

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #353 – Stormy

June 14, 2025June 14, 2025Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Clouds, hurricane, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, snow storm, Storm Clouds, Stormy, thunderstorm, Tropical Storm, Weather110 Comments

I am very excited and honored to present my first challenge as a member of the Lens-Artists team. This week I’m challenging you to show us your stormy images. Think about stormy weather, stormy feelings, or maybe stormy situations.

It’s June and Hurricane Season has just begun. Where I live in coastal Georgia thunderstorms are a normal occurrence all summer long and we keep a close watch on updates from the National Hurricane Center. The featured image is what we saw through our windshield as we were headed into a thunderstorm on our way home from a recent trip. We were grateful to arrive home safely.

The following images show different kinds of stormy conditions we see during the summer months in coastal Georgia.

Before a hurricane the red flags indicate high hazard conditions and the beach is closed to the public.

We have often encountered stormy weather during our travels.

Driving through snow on the road to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

Our bear watching excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska started out in the pouring rain but that didn’t stop us from braving the weather. We didn’t mind getting wet – we saw 8 black bears.

A violent thunderstorm cut our day short with grand kids at a Florida water park one June.

Sometimes we are rewarded with a rainbow after a storm

We ran into some scary storms when we traveled around the U. S. and Canada towing our fifth wheel trailer. I’ll never forget traveling through snow and sleet with icy road conditions as we drove through Minnesota in early April one year. We ended up getting off the Interstate and spending the night in a motel. The next day when the roads were clear enough to travel we continued our westward trek. We found an open state park in South Dakota and were the only campers in the park.

Terrifying icy road conditions in Minnesota

What does stormy look like to you? For stormy weather, think about rain, blizzards, sleet, snow, hail, wind, dark clouds, angry seas, lightening, a storm rolling in, or people out in the weather. Some other options would be to show stormy feelings or stormy situations. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to this post. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Last week I really enjoyed your creative and calming responses to Sofia’s Mellow challenge. Be sure to look for Anne’s challenge next Saturday, June 21 at noon Eastern Time.

For information on how to join the Lens-Artists challenge please click here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #352 – Mellow

June 11, 2025Posted in Photography, SunsetTagged Calm, Lens-Artists, Mellow, Photo Challenge, Relaxing, Yellow39 Comments

This challenge from Sofia is Mellow. She asks us to “Show us what gives you a mellow mood of calmness and cosiness; your favourite spot to relax, a beautiful scenery, a nice cup of coffee with a delicious slice of cake… and convey that sense of relaxation, with subdued warm tones, soft shapes and focus.”

The featured image is a sunset over a Georgia salt marsh. I hope the rest of the images bring you a sense of calm.

Mellow Yellow Hibiscus

A swing at the beach is calling my name to sit and chill out while listening to the waves of the ocean

What better way to end the day than with with a Mellow Yellow Sunset

Last week Ritva’s challenge was Books. I loved seeing all of the books and libraries from so many book lovers. Next week will be my first week hosting the Lens-Artists challenge. Look for my post on Saturday, June 14 at noon Eastern Standard Time.

Many thanks to Sofia for this challenge Lens-Artists #352 – Mellow

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #351 – Books

June 3, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Books, Lens-Artists, Long Room of Old Library, Photo Challenge, Reading35 Comments

This challenge from Ritva is a topic near and dear to my heart – Books. She asks us for “visual representations that highlight the beauty and allure of books, reflecting the passion of those who are truly bookworms amongst us.”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

I’ve been a bookworm ever since I learned to read in elementary school. As I got older I never lost my love of reading or of libraries.

Long Room of the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

When we visited Dublin, Ireland the first place we went was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room of the Old Library. Being surrounded by all of these beautiful, ancient books was a book lovers dream. I wanted to pick one up and look inside but of course that was not allowed.

My Bookshelves

Our home has a book case in almost every room. They are filled with collections of all kinds of books – novels, cookbooks, travel books, reference books, you name it. There is no rhyme or reason to the way the books are shelved. Even though I love the feel of a book in my hand I mostly read digital books these days.

Three of my favorite pastimes are photography, blogging and reading. When I’m in the middle of a good book everything else gets set aside. I’m in the middle of two books now and I’ve got several books I’m waiting on from the library. Thanks to Anne’s mention of “Travels with Charlie” I just added that one to my must read book list.

Last week I enjoyed seeing all of the creative responses to Anne’s Zooming challenge. I love learning new things and for some of us (like me) it was a new technique that was fun to do. I hope you will join us for Sofia’s challenge on Saturday, June 7 at noon Eastern Standard Time.

Many thanks to Ritva for this challenge Lens-Artists #351 – Books

For information on how to join the Len-Artists challenge please click here.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #350 – Zooming

May 28, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Intentional Camera Movement, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, zoom effect, zoom technique, Zooming29 Comments

Anne has challenged us to create images using a zooming technique. She tells us “Zooming is part of the Intentional Camera Movement family, but instead of moving the camera, you are just moving the lens back and forth.”

I had never heard of this before reading Anne’s post so I spent a lot of time experimenting with different subjects. I had a lot of fun even though I ended up deleting more photos than I kept.

The featured image is of an oleander bush in my back yard. It was one of my final attempts at zooming.

I started out taking night photos of the lights on my neighbors docks. I didn’t use a tripod and I tried many different settings on the camera. Most were epic fails but I liked the way this next photo turned out.

My next images were taken during the day looking up at trees in the woods of rural Georgia.

Last week Tina challenged us to add captions to our photos that would make us smile. Thanks to everyone who rose to the challenge and not only made me smile but sometimes made me laugh out loud!

Ritva will be leading next weeks challenge so be sure to look for her post on Saturday.

Many thanks to Anne for introducing me to Zooming with this fun challenge Lens-Artists #350 – Zooming

Are you interested in joining the Lens-Artists challenges? Click here to learn how.