Category: Nature

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #415: Move Your Body

Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , 38 Comments

Our host Anne is asking us to move our body up, down, forward and back to get the shot we want.

I chose galleries of three famous United State Landmarks to illustrate how I had to move my body around and look up in order to capture the subject from different angles.

The first gallery is of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Because of it’s size, it is difficult to capture it all in one shot. I walked around the base of the arch and I had to lean way back when I looked up at the arch.

We had seen Mount Rushmore from the road as we approached the entrance to the National Monument. The first image is a view of the monument from the paved path at the entrance to the park. We walked along the path towards the monument for a closer look. We then walked along a trail beneath the monument where we had to look up to see the faces.

The last gallery shows three different views I captured of the Devil’s Tower as we walked along a trail at the base of the Tower.

Last week Ann-Christine asked us to feature images that showed Harmony. Your responses were amazing. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host Anne for this week’s fun challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to her post Lens-Artists #415: Move your Body.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, October 3 at noon eastern time when Ritva will be hosting the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Sunday Stills – Animals with Antlers, Horns and Hooves

Posted in Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged , , , , , , 24 Comments

Terri is asking us to feature animals with antlers, horns and hooves.

A Texas Long Horn named T-Bone

Caribou

Big Horn Sheep
After a fun ride in the Long Horn Cadillac we arrived for dinner at the Big Texan Steak House

Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge Animals with Antlers, Horns and Hooves

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #414: Looking back to #44 Harmony

Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , 47 Comments

Ann-Christine is looking back to Tina’s Lens Artists Challenge #44 – Harmony. She describes Harmony like this: “Harmony is the combination of separate but related parts in a way that uses their similarities to bring unity to a painting, drawing, or other art object.”

I find many examples of harmony in nature. These images focus on harmony between animals of different species. Some share the same spaces to hunt for food, some share a log together for who knows what reason, and sometimes they are together to help each other out.

Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills sharing a pond to search for food

An alligator and turtles share a log

Cattle egrets and cows are often seen together in nature. The cattle egret helps the cow by eating the fleas and ticks off of the cow.

It was my pleasure to host the Bridge challenge last week. Your incredible images included many kinds of bridges from all around the world. I enjoyed all of them. Thank you to everyone who responded to the challenge.

Many thanks to our host Ann-Christine for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to her post Lens-Artists #414: Harmony.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, September 26 at noon eastern time when Anne will have another great challenge for us.

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Terri’s Flower Hour #48: Can you guess these flowers starting with S, T, U, V?

Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, WildflowersTagged , , , , 33 Comments

Let’s have some fun with Terri’s Floral ABC’s theme of flowers featuring STUV. I don’t have a flower that begins with U but here are some flowers that start with S, T, and V. Can you identify any of these flowers? You can check your answers at the end of this post.

S
T

V

Sharing with Terri’s Flower Hour #48

S: Purple Salvia with bee, T: Tithonia (more commonly known as Mexican sunflower), V: Vinca (also known as Periwinkle)

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #412 – Places shaped by Water

Posted in Georgia, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , 60 Comments

John is our host this week. His challenge: “Share up to six waterscapes—images where water shapes the scene. Choose your favorite places, your favorite photos, or a single location that inspires you. Natural or man‑made, peaceful or wild—if water helps tell the story, it’s fair game”

When I first read John’s challenge I thought it would easy. Oceans, rivers, creeks, lakes, swamps, bayous, and salt marshes are a few of my favorite places shaped by water. However, for this challenge I decided to focus on a place near and dear to my heart, the Okefenokee Swamp in my home state of Georgia. The Okefenokee Swamp is first site in the United States to be added as a World Heritage Site in over 30 years and is the only site in Georgia to receive the designation.

The Okefenokee Swamp is North America’s largest blackwater wetland and one of Georgia’s Seven Natural Wonders. It was designated as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1937 and on July 25, 2026, the Okefenokee Swamp was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can read more about the Okefenokee at Okefenokee World Heritage Site.

One of our favorite state park campgrounds was once named Stephen C. Foster State Park located in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Fargo, Georgia. The state of Georgia renamed the park Okefenokee State Park on September 1, 2026. We camped there many times during the years. Our favorite thing to do was to take a boat ride into the swamp. Sometimes we went on a Ranger led boat tour, sometimes we rented a canoe to paddle through the swamp, and sometimes we rented a small motor boat. As we rode through the swamp through Spanish Moss Covered Cypress trees we always saw plenty of wildlife including alligators and birds.

Here are a few of my favorite images of the Okefenokee.

Into the Okefenokee
Okefenokee World Heritage Site

Alligator in the lily pads, Okefenokee Swamp

Cormorant in Okefenokee Swamp

Okefenokee Swamp

Okefenokee World Heritage Site

Last week Sofia’s fun challenge of What is it? had us guessing what was depicted in a photo. You had some really great photos that made me think “I have no idea”. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host John for this week’s fun challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to his post Lens-Artists #412: Places shaped by water.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, September 12 at noon eastern time when I will be your host for the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift