Lens-Artists – Page 55 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens-Artists #100: Long and Winding Road

June 10, 2020June 26, 2026Posted in Alaska, British Columbia, Photography, YukonTagged Alaska Highway, Lens-Artists, long and winding road, Photo Challenge40 Comments

This week Tina has chosen “The Long and Winding Road” as our challenge. During our travels we have driven on so many long and winding roads I wasn’t sure which ones to include.

As I thought about how to approach this challenge, my mind kept going back to our 2013 RV trip to Alaska. There were many long and winding roads during our journey but I decided to focus on just one.

Exactly seven years ago today we were in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada at the start of the Alaska Highway (also called the AlCan). Before returning home we would travel on every mile of this long and winding road.

The United States military began construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942 to provide an overland route to Alaska. The approximately 1400 mile road from Dawson Creek, BC to Delta Junction, Alaska was completed in 8 months and 12 days.

Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway! in Dawson Creek, BC

As you can see from the photo above, like many other travelers, we posed for a picture at the famous sign marking the beginning of the Alaska Highway. (The actual location of mile marker 0 is in downtown Dawson Creek, BC). There’s more about our stay in Dawson Creek at Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway.

Part of the road was paved, part was gravel, and part was under construction. There were frost heaves and pot holes, some marked with signs and some not. Sometimes we would go for miles without seeing another vehicle. We stopped at pull outs for breaks and never had a problem finding campgrounds or diesel fuel.

20130615Day-31Watson-Lake-to-Skagway-(5) — Gravel section of the Alaska Highway in the Yukon

20130612Day-28Alaska-Hwy-to-Liard-Hotsprings-(2) — The Alaska HIghway in the Yukon

We drove slowly and enjoyed the wildlife and magnificent views.

20130612Day-28Alaska-Hwy-to-Liard-Hotsprings-(31) — Alaska Highway

20130612Day-28Alaska-Hwy-to-Liard-Hotsprings-(50) — Alaska Highway

As I worked on this post I thought of how empty this road must be this summer with the U.S./Canadian border still closed. I remember the campgrounds, restaurants, and stores we stopped at along the way in Canada and Alaska. These businesses have a short season and depend on summer travelers to make it through the rest of the year. I hope that they will be able to make it until next year when hopefully people will be traveling again.

I am so grateful we made this trip when we did. I still dream of returning to Alaska. Next time we will not be towing our fifth wheel along the Alaska Highway. Instead, I see airplanes and ships in our future.

Thank you to Tina for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Long and Winding Road

Lens-Artists #98: Delicate Colors

May 28, 2020June 26, 2026Posted in Photography, SunriseTagged Delicate Colors, Everglades, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, salt marsh16 Comments

This week Ann-Christine has challenged us to feature delicate colors.

For this challenge I browsed through my archives and chose these images that show delicate colors of the sky.

20120118PMPa-Hay-Otee-(2) — Blue sky over the everglades

20191226-Morning-Walk-(3) — Blue sky over salt marsh

20180214Okefenokee-Boat-Tour-(102) — Blue sky in the Okefenokee Swamp

20181020-Tybee-Sunrise-and-beach-walk-(20) — Sunrise at the beach

Thank you to Ann-Christine for this weeeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Delicate Colors

Lens-Artists #97: Pastimes

May 23, 2020June 26, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged beach, blogging, Lens-Artists, Memorial Day, Pastimes, Photo Challenge28 Comments

This week’s challenge comes from guest host Sue (Mac’s Girl) at The Nature of Things. She has asked us to feature hobbies or interests we have enjoyed over the years or something new we have discovered during this time of staying at home.

During this time of staying at home each day consists of a few of these activities: Reading, cooking, walking and photography. A major outing is an occasional grocery store run.

Reading

I’ve always loved to read and I have really enjoyed having the time to read more than usual. These days I get most of my books digitally from the local library and I often have four or five books on hold. My favorite recently read book is Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. As you can see from the next photo, I’ve just about worn out the cover for my IPad and my two favorite books have been read and reread many times.

20200414-chrysalis-day-5-(2) — My favorite place to read

Cooking

I’ve had a lot of time to spend cooking and baking during the shutdown. I’ve enjoyed using fresh produce from my favorite produce stand whenever I can.

20200414-chrysalis-day-5-(10) — Fresh produce from my favorite produce stand

Walking

Before the shut down I walked on the days I wasn’t going to water aerobics or going to the gym at the local YMCA. During the shut down my main exercise is walking. For a while the beach was closed and most walks were in my neighborhood. Now that the beach is open, I walk on the beach at least once a week.

20200521-north-beach-walk-(10) — Early morning surfer

20200521-north-beach-walk-(12) — Horseshoe Crab

Photography

I’m always looking for things to photograph. Recently my garden has been full of birds, butterflies, and blooms.

20200512-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(40) — Ruby Female Throated Hummingbird

The Tybee Island Lighthouse is across the street from the parking lot for the beach. I was excited when I saw the flag flying Friday morning in honor of Memorial Day Weekend.

20200521-north-beach-walk-(21) — Honoring America’s fallen heroes for Memorial Day weekend

Please take a moment this Memorial Day Weekend to remember all of our fallen military heroes who gave their lives for our country.

Many thanks to guest host Sue (Mac’s Girl) for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Pastimes

Lens-Artists #96: Cropping the Shot

May 14, 2020June 26, 2026Posted in Photography, WildlifeTagged Cropping the Shot, Female Painted Bunting, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, ruby throated hummingbird18 Comments

This week, Patti has asked us “show how cropping helped to improve an image and create a desired effect.”

I enjoy wildlife photography and even though I usually use a zoom lens the animal or bird I am photographing is often too far away to get a good close up. I crop many of my wildlife photos in order to make the animal the focal point of the image.

Here is the before image of a Ruby Throated Hummingbird at a feeder. The hummingbird is the focal point of the shot but he is too far away to see his face clearly and there are too many distractions around him.

20200512-Original Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(1) — Original Ruby Throated Hummingbird

After cropping the photo, I was able to get the desired effect of a closeup of the bird without all of a extra space around him.

20200512-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(1) — Cropped Ruby Throated Hummingbird Male

All this spring I’ve been watching a pair of Painted Buntings who come by my feeder almost daily. This week was the first time I was able to get some photos of the female. In the original image she’s too far away and I didn’t like having the bird bath in the shot.

20200512-Original-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(3) — Original Female Painted Bunting

After the crop, the female Bunting is the star of the show.

20200512-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(3) — Cropped Female Painted Bunting

The before picture of a Blanket Flower in my garden is ok, but the bricks and mulch take away from the vibrant colors of the flower.

20200512-Original-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(44) — Original Blanket Flower

When I cropped the photo into a square, the colorful flower takes center stage.

20200512-Hummingbirds-and-Female-Bunting-(44) — Cropped Blanked flower

Many thanks to Patti for this weeks Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Cropping the Shot

Lens-Artists #95: All Wet

May 7, 2020June 26, 2026Posted in Alaska, PhotographyTagged All Wet, Labrador Retriever, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Yellow Lab24 Comments

This week, Tina has asked us to show things that are All Wet.

As we traveled through Alaska in 2013 we saw wildlife almost every day and some the animals were all wet.

Two Sea Otters Valdez — Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Puffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez

Moose in pond — Moose in a pond in Denali National Park

Black Bear fishing for salmon in Hyder, Alaska

I can’t end this post without including our beloved yellow Labrador Retriever, Blondie. She was happiest when she was all wet. No matter where we were, if there was water around, she wanted to swim in it. She’s been in doggie heaven for over two years now and I still miss her every day.