Lens Artists Photo Challenge #313 – Cool Colors

Our host Johnbo asks us to feature cool colors for this challenge. He tells us “Cool colors evoke calmness, serenity, and tranquility, feelings often associated with water, sky, and nature.” I’ve included a few of my favorite cool colors for this challenge.

Blue umbrellas on the beach under a cloudy sky

A river runs through the Georgia Salt Marsh

Green Palms against a brilliant blue sky

Turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea

Blue Ridge Parkway

Many thanks to our host Johnbo for the challenge Lens-Artists #313 – Cool Colors

Exploring Nature’s Golden Yellows with Gardens, Flowers, and Butterflies

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is Nature’s Golden Yellows. The Lens-Artists challenge from Ann-Christine is What’s in a Garden? Both these challenge have flowers and nature in common so combining them into one post made perfect sense to me.

I’ve discovered many golden yellow flowers and butterflies during walks in nature and when visiting gardens. The following images are a few of my favorites.

Yellow at Calloway Gardens

Garden in Alaska

Yellow Butterfly

Yellow Meyer Lemon in my garden

I’ll finish with a gallery of yellow flowers

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for her Lens-Artists Challenge #311 What’s In a Garden?

Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge Nature’s Golden Yellows

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #310 – ZigZag

When I read Patti’s challenge was ZigZag I didn’t think I had any images that would work. As I went through my photo archives I was surprised by what I found.

Bridges with ZigZags

Zigzags in Ireland

Rivers that Zig and Zag

Roads that ZigZag. I had too many to include them all so I chose this one that descends into Palo Duro Canyon in Texas.

Many thanks to our host Patti for her challenge Lens-Artists #310 – Zigzag

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #309 – Balconies

Our guest host PR of Flights of Soul chose Balconies for this challenge. Decks and porches are more common where I live so I searched through my travel archives to find images of balconies.

I decided to feature a few balconies from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Many thanks to our host PR of Flights of Soul for this challenge Lens-Artists #309 – Balconies

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #308 – Perfect Pairs

The challenge from Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures is to use diptychs to create perfect pairs. I wasn’t familiar with this term so I was glad she defined it like this: “diptych is two images placed in proximity to one another, forming a pair. To make a successful pairing there should be several things in common, and something very different, contrasting.

I love lighthouses and I am fortunate to live close to two different lighthouses. The first one I will feature is the Tybee Island Light Station, Georgia’s oldest and tallest lighthouse with 178 steps to the top. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1736. The lighthouse has been rebuilt several times and the daymark has also changed several times. Today the lighthouse is painted with the 1916 daymark of three stripes – black at the top, white in the middle, black at the bottom.

The lighthouse has just completed it’s latest restoration. The first two images below show the lighthouse during the restoration project and the lighthouse as it looks today with it’s new coat of paint.

The Lighthouse flies an American Flag on patriotic holidays such as Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran’s Day. The following two images show the lighthouse as it was on Memorial Day, 2021 and this year’s Memorial Day, 2024 after the old layers of paint had been scraped off.

The Cockspur Island Lighthouse is shown in the next pair. On the left is a closeup of the lighthouse at high tide as seen from a boat. On the right is the lighthouse as seen from the Lighthouse trail at Ft. Pulaski National Monument near Tybee Island. If you look closely at the image from the trail you can see the top of the Tybee Island Lighthouse to the right of the water tower on the other side of the water behind the lighthouse.

Many thanks to our host Elizabeth of Albatz Travel Adventures for this challenge Lens-Artists #308 – Perfect Pairs