Every Day is a Gift!
In photography, a Bokeh is the blurred or out of focus background in a photo. I’ve achieved this affect many times by setting the camera to aperture priority or by using a telephoto lens for taking close ups of birds or flowers. I never knew there was a name for this effect until I read Sophia’s challenge Lens’Artists #194: Bokeh
For Sofia’s challenge I chose a few images of this year’s spring blossoms from around my yard.
Thanks to Sophia for the challenge Lens’Artists #194: Bokeh
January 16, 2022
Another day, another gorgeous, tropical Caribbean island. Our ship was docked in the capital city of Castries. The above image shows some of the colorful buildings in Castries as seen from the ship.
There is so much to see in St. Lucia it would be impossible to see it all in one short shore excursion. The 237 square mile volcanic island is very mountainous with lush green tropical foliage, most of the island is covered in rain forest, and the waters surrounding the island provide many opportunities for boating, scuba diving and snorkeling.
We had been to St. Lucia twice before on dive trips. Both times we stayed in Soufriere on the western side of the island. When we weren’t scuba diving we were exploring around Soufriere, taking in the spectacular scenery, and enjoying the delicious local cuisine.
On our previous trips we didn’t get an opportunity to visit the northern part of the island so we chose to take a bus tour to see it. As our bus climbed the hills on steep, narrow roads with hairpin turns we were treated to jaw dropping scenic views and learned about the island from our guide Amelia. Tourism is the number one economy on St. Lucia.
Our destination was a private home called Stony Hill with magnificent views and beautiful gardens. We enjoyed listening to a steel drum as we relaxed with a cold fruit juice and delicious snack of banana bread and coconut cake.
I love lighthouses so I had to capture the Vigie Lighthouse as we cruised out to sea at the end of the day.
Fun things to know about St. Lucia:
Where do you think we’ll be next? Stay tuned…
Tina is hosting this photo challenge and she is “suggesting that in addition to our challenge you explore and link to some of the other creative opportunities our friends and fellow challengers make available in the WP blogosphere or any other sites where you post photos.” Many thanks to Tina for encouraging us to participate in other challenges. Be sure to visit Tina’s original post Lens’Artists #181: Double Dipping
All the photos in this post were taken this week near where I live. The caption of each photo contains a link to the original challenge.
The Hibiscus (above) and Camellias (below) are blooming where I live.
For John’s Cellpic Sunday the only requirement is to include a photo taken with a cell phone, IPad or other mobile device. The next image was taken on an early morning walk with my IPhone 7S and then cropped and edited on my computer.
Natalie wants to know how our week has been. My week as been filled with preparing for a trip and getting out to take a picture a day for nine days in a row. Maybe this is the year I’ll reach the goal of taking a picture a day for 365 days. This shrimp boat is one of my favorites from the week.
Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge topic is “The Future is Ours”. A flower bud’s future is to become a flower. We humans don’t know what our future will bring. I posted more about that in Every day is a gift.
Many thanks to Tina, Cee, John, Natalie, and Terri for the inspiration for this post!
Wandering Dawgs will be taking a 2 – 3 week break.
My butterfly garden is filled with overgrown Mexican Sunflowers and zinnias going wild this time of year. The weather is too hot and humid for me to keep up with all the weeds. But the butterflies and other pollinators love it!
Many thanks to Natalie for this challenge. Be sure to visit her original post at Sunday Stills: In the Garden
Our host Patti has challenged us to show what our inspiration looks like. I find my inspiration in the natural world.
In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.
John Muir
Starting the day by watching the sun rise adds inspiration to any day.
The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration.
Claude Monet
The natural beauty found in America’s National Parks never ceases to inspire me.
If you truly love nature you will find beauty everywhere.
Vincent Van Gogh
The weekly challenges from the gifted lens-artists hosts Tina, Ann-Christine, Patti and Amy always inspire me to be a better photographer. I’m also inspired by all of the talented WordPress bloggers who respond to the challenge with their wonderful photographs.
Many thanks to Patti for this challenge. Be sure to visit her original post at Lens-Artists challenge #160: Your Inspiration.
Wandering Dawgs 