Photography – Page 76 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens-Artists #113: Labor of Love

September 10, 2020Posted in Butterflies, Flowers, Nature, PhotographyTagged Butterfly Garden, Gulf Fritillary, Labor of Love, Lens-Artists, Mexican Sunflower, Monarch Butterfly, Photo Challenge, Skipper Butterfly, weekly smile, zinnias17 Comments

This week’s photo challenge comes from guest host Rusha Sams of Oh, The Places we See… We are asked to show images that represent a Labor of Love.

Planting my butterfly garden and maintaining it is a labor of love for me. By planting seeds and plants that attract pollinators such as butterflies and bees I am providing a place for them to feast on the nectar. At the same time I have a space in my backyard to relax and enjoy nature.

Here’s a few of the late summer critters that visited the garden recently. You can click on a picture to enlarge it.

Monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries, and Skipper butterflies have been all over the zinnias and Mexican Sunflower drinking up the nectar. Wasps, bees, and even a tiny grasshopper enjoyed the flowers, too.

It’s been a long, hot, dry summer and hopefully the flowers will continue to attract the butterflies and other critters for a little while longer.

I smile whenever I see these beautiful visitors to the garden. What made you smile this week?

Thanks to guest host Rusha Sams for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #113 – A Labor of Love.

Also shared with Trent’s Weekly Smile.

Bird Weekly Challenge #12: Seagulls

September 3, 2020September 3, 2020Posted in Birds, PhotographyTagged birdweekly, Photo Challenge, Seagulls20 Comments

Seagulls are common here on the Georgia coast. Whether I’m at the beach, riding in the boat, or sitting on my back deck I am likely to see some seagulls. They are so common I hardly even notice them and rarely photograph them. The gull at the top of the page is a ring-billed gull I spotted on the beach one winter.

When the shrimpers clean their nets, seagulls come by for an easy meal

Laughing Gulls are frequently seen where I live in Georgia, but I captured these on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Thanks you Lisa. for this challenge. Her original post is Bird Weekly Challenge #12 – Seagulls

Lens-Artists #112: Pick a Word

August 30, 2020Posted in PhotographyTagged Comfortable, Crowded, Exuberant, Growing, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Pick a Word, Tangled28 Comments

This week, Ann-Christine has challenged us to pick a word and illustrate it with a photo. We can choose one or more words from the following choices: Comfortable, Growing, Tangled, Crowded, Exuberant.

The photo at the top is at a sold out and crowded University of Georgia football game from last year.

Comfortable:

Growing:

Tangled:

Crowded:

Crowd before the start of the 2018 Daytona 500

Exuberant and crowded:

Tailgating crowd before the 2019 Georgia Bulldogs vs Notre Dame game in Athens, GA

Ann-Christine, thank you for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Pick a Word

Bird Weekly Challenge #11: Rare Bird for your Area

August 24, 2020August 26, 2020Posted in Birds, PhotographyTagged birdweekly, Photo Challenge, Roseate Spoonbill, snowy owl18 Comments

Several years ago, Henry and I were sitting on our back deck when a big pink bird flew over the marsh and landed in the creek. Like any good bird photographer I grabbed my camera and went out to investigate.

There were two Roseate Spoonbills searching for food in the creek bed. Until that sighting I had never seen one of these magnificent birds in our area.

Roseate Spoonbill in Georgia Tidal Creek

Roseate Spoonbill with 2 young juvenile little blue herons in Georgia

There was another Roseate Spoonbill in the creek for a few days the next year. Sadly, they haven’t been back since then.

One winter a few years ago a Snowy Owl was spotted on top of one of the condominium buildings at the beach. Of course I grabbed my camera and went in search of this bird rarely seen in coastal Georgia. I set up my tripod with other excited birders and snapped away. He was pretty far off but I managed to get this shot. Can you see his yellow eyes?

Thanks you Lisa. for this challenge. Her original post is Bird Weekly Challenge #10 – Rare bird for your area

Lens-Artists #110: Creativity in the time of Covid-19

August 21, 2020Posted in Birds, Flowers, PhotographyTagged creativity in the time of COVID-19, Lens-Artists, Mexican Sunflower, Photo Challenge, ruby throated hummingbird40 Comments

This week, Tina has asked us to show creativity in the time of Covid-19.

I’ve tried my best to stay creative with my photography during this time. I’ve been experimenting with different photo techniques and some different editing effects.

One day in early spring I went out after a rain shower to take some photos. I wasn’t happy with them until I started playing around with different editing effects. This Mexican Sunflower photo was boring until I added a water color effect.

I am usually on the ground looking up when I take pictures of hummingbirds. One day I sat on our deck looking down at the flowers and captured this Ruby Throated Hummingbird going from flower to flower. By shooting from above I was able to get the shots I wanted.

I’d like to thank the amazing Lens-Artists team of Tina, Amy, Anne-Christine, and Patti for giving me inspiration and keeping me motivated during this time.

Tina, thank you for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Creativity in the Time of Covid-19