beach – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #381 – Minimalism in Black and White photography

January 18, 2026Posted in Flowers, Nature, PhotographyTagged beach, Black and White, Lens-Artists, Minimalism in Black and White, monochrome, Photo Challenge42 Comments

Ritva has challenged us to combine minimalism and black and white photography. She tells us “This week, I encourage you to embrace this artistic fusion and challenge yourself to capture images that marry minimalism and black and white.” To help us get started she says to “Aim for simplicity by eliminating unnecessary elements. Harsh light reveals structure while soft light creates mood, and contrasting blacks and whites deliver a striking visual impact.”

This is my first try at using minimalism in my photos. I had fun creating these images and hope that I succeeded in meeting the challenge.

Sometimes colorful flowers look better when converted to black and white. Removing distractions by replacing the background with pure black allows the viewer to focus on the details of the flowers.

The next two images were found on the sand at the beach. I removed the sandy background with solid colors to create the minimalist images.

The final image uses negative space to focus on the surfer in the water.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Anne’s challenge last week. I enjoyed all the places you took us as you showed us your walks around the corner.

Many thanks to Ritva for her challenge Lens-Artists #381: Minimalism in Black and White. I hope you will join us for her challenge. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and link back to Ritva’s post.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, January 24 at noon eastern time when Egidio will be hosting our next challenge.

You can learn more about how to join the Lens-Artists challenges here.

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #380 – What’s around the Corner

January 13, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged beach, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Tybee Island, Tybee Island Pier and Pavillion, What's around the corner34 Comments

It’s Anne’s turn to lead us in the challenge. She explains the challenge like this: “I encourage you to take the block less traveled—with your camera. Look around, and using your imagination, what do you see? Please keep this to the same walk and the same block—that’s the challenge.”

I’m so grateful for Anne’s challenge this week. My husband and I needed to get out of the house after both being sick with the flu. Anne inspired me to grab my camera and go for a walk looking for things to photograph. I didn’t really walk around a block or turn a corner but I did have fun.

The beach is my happy place so on Sunday we drove to the Tybee Island Pier and Pavillion to see the ocean and breathe the fresh salt air. The pier is a great place to view the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. It can get crowded in the summer but on a chilly January day there were only a few others on the pier and on the beach.

One of the things I like about walking on the pier is the great view of the beach. In the following gallery, from left to right, is the view looking south, the view looking north, looking down at footprints in the sand, and looking at our shadows in the sand.

There are always pigeons hoping for a handout.

You never know what you’ll find that someone left behind. Henry spotting this fishing fly laying on the boards. He picked it up and put it up where no one could step on it.

On our way home after our walk we drove to the Sugar Shack for an ice cream cone. Technically it wasn’t part of our walk but we did turn a corner in our car to get there. Sorry, I was too busy enjoying my Blue Bell salted caramel brownie cone to take a picture.

Thank you to everyone who participated in last weeks favorite images from 2025. I enjoyed seeing all your favorites from the year.

We hope you will join us in responding to Anne’s fun challenge. If you do be sure to use the Lens-Artists tag in your post and include a link to Anne’s Lens-Artists #380 What’s around the Corner.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, January 17 at noon eastern time when Ritva will be hosting our next challenge.

You can learn more about how to join the Lens-Artists challenges here.

Every Day is a Gift

Cellpic Sunday – Not Something you see Every Day

October 12, 2025Posted in Georgia, PhotographyTagged beach, Beached Buoy, Cellpic Sunday, Coastal Georgia, Tybee Island27 Comments

A marker buoy weighing around 13,900 pounds from Port Royal, South Carolina washed up on the beach at Tybee Island, Georgia this week. Thursday afternoon a Chinook helicopter lifted the buoy and carried it off.

Every Day is a Gift

Shared with John’s Cellpic Sunday

Cellpic Sunday – September at the Beach

September 21, 2025Posted in PhotographyTagged Atlantic Ocean, beach, Cellpic Sunday4 Comments

Here are two photos of people enjoying a beautiful day on the beach. One is real, the other a zigsaw puzzle.

Shared with John’s Cellpic Sunday

Every Day is a Gift

Celebrating my Birthday on Daufuskie Island, SC

July 27, 2025Posted in Celebration, Historic Sites, South CarolinaTagged beach, birthday, boat ride, Bull River Marina, Daufuskie Island, day trip, Old Daufuskie Crab Company, Pat Conroy, South Carolina30 Comments

We celebrated my June birthday with a day trip to Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.

Daufuskie Island is one of the South Carolina sea islands located near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. The island can only be reached by water. You can take your own boat or take a water taxi from either Hilton Head or Savannah. There are tours available on the island but we chose to rent a golf cart and see the island on our own.

Our day trip adventure began with a water taxi ride on the Bella from Bull River Marina in Savannah. We felt like we were on a private charter when we discovered we were the only two passengers on the boat. Henry and I both love boat rides through our beautiful coastal waterways. It was wonderful to watch for birds and dolphins as we traveled the 45 minutes to our destination.

The captain dropped us off at the public dock on Daufuskie where we hopped in our rental golf cart and began to explore the island. The roads are mostly dirt although there are a few paved roads. As we headed in the direction of Bloody Point Beach we saw a few houses but most of the ride was through undeveloped woods. We took a walk on the almost deserted beach. A logger head turtle nesting area was marked off for protection and we could see Tybee Island off in the distance.

As we rode along we stopped to explore some historic sites on the island. The following gallery includes the old Silver Dew Winery, the Bloody Point Lighthouse and former living quarters for the lighthouse keeper and his family (the building is now a museum and gift shop), and the former Mary Field School where the author Pat Conroy once taught. His novel The Water is Wide is based on his experience there.

It was time for lunch so our next stop was the Old Daufuskie Crab Company and Scrap Iron Bar at the Freeport Marina. This is a popular place for boaters and some of the water taxis stop here. I was a little disappointed when I discovered they didn’t have any of the famous deviled crab but my locally caught fried shrimp was delicious. The Scrap Iron Bar is known for it’s Scrap Iron cocktail.

Our last stop was back at the public dock where we waited for our water taxi at D’Fuskie’s Store. I saw a sign for Deviled Crab behind the cash register. I asked if they had any frozen to take home for my birthday dinner and bought the last three they had. They kept them in the freezer for me while we waited for our boat ride home. We enjoyed sitting on the porch talking to some of the locals who live on the island. When it was almost time for the boat to arrive we sat under an oak tree by the water and enjoyed talking to some other locals.