Tag: Lens-Artists

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #355 – Creativity Looking Back to #42

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Ann-Christine is our host for the first “Looking Back” topic and she explains the challenge like this: “This week we are starting to look back… each month or maybe every 6 weeks, one of us in the LAPC – team will repeat a PREVIOUSLY USED subject for the week. We will share a link to the old post, and then create a new post on the same subject. This will also give us all a chance to address challenges we may not have done before.”

Ann-Christine is asking us to look back to the topic #42 Creativity from April, 2019. I didn’t start participating in the challenges until later that year so I don’t have a previous post to look back on. You can visit Ann-Christine’s #42 post here.

Tybee Island, Georgia is home to many creative artists. In 2006 a few residents came up with the idea to display turtle statues painted by local artists around the island. In 2007 I photographed most of the turtles that were here at that time. Sometime later some of the turtles were auctioned off to raise money for sea-turtle research and preservation. For more about the project please visit Public Art on Display – Tybee Island.

I’ve always thought I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. When I was in school I was terrible in art classes. I can’t draw, I can’t paint, I can’t sculpt. I got the idea for this challenge when I saw one of the turtle statues on a morning drive around Tybee Island.

The featured image is the turtle that greets everyone at the Welcome to Tybee Island sign. I photographed it and the following image this morning.

The following gallery are some of the turtles I photographed in 2007. Each turtle was done by a different artist and each turtle is unique. These statues show the creativity of the different artists who made them. A few are still located around the island.

Last week I enjoyed all of the great responses to Anne’s challenge Reflections. The Lens-Artists team is taking a break next weekend so be sure to check back on Saturday, July 12 at noon Eastern Time when our guest host SH will be hosting the challenge. And as always, please remember that Every Day is a Gift.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this challenge Lens-Artists #355 – Looking Back to Creativity

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

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #354 – Reflections

Posted in Birds, Photography, SunsetTagged , , 47 Comments

Anne’s challenge is Reflections. She shared many beautiful examples of reflections and also shared some good advice on how to capture a reflection. Thanks also go out to Leeanne Cole for sharing her tips and images.

I often find reflections in water. I’ll start with a gallery of birds reflected in water.

Reflections at sunset

Reflections of Cypress Trees in Louisiana

Reflections of trees in South Georgia

Purple reflection of a bridge across the Mississippi River in New Orleans a few days before Mardi-Gras

Mirrors are a great way to photograph reflections even if you didn’t mean to get a reflection of yourself.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my first Lens-Artists challenge. The topic was stormy and I had a lot of fun reading all the responses and seeing all of the amazing stormy weather images from around the world. Next week Ann-Christine is leading the challenge so be sure to look for her post on Saturday, June 28 at noon Eastern Time. And as always, please remember that Every Day is a Gift.

Many thanks to Anne for this challenge Lens-Artists #354 – Reflections

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

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #353 – Stormy

Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , 110 Comments

I am very excited and honored to present my first challenge as a member of the Lens-Artists team. This week I’m challenging you to show us your stormy images. Think about stormy weather, stormy feelings, or maybe stormy situations.

It’s June and Hurricane Season has just begun. Where I live in coastal Georgia thunderstorms are a normal occurrence all summer long and we keep a close watch on updates from the National Hurricane Center. The featured image is what we saw through our windshield as we were headed into a thunderstorm on our way home from a recent trip. We were grateful to arrive home safely.

The following images show different kinds of stormy conditions we see during the summer months in coastal Georgia.

Water Spout over the Atlantic ocean

Before a hurricane the red flags indicate high hazard conditions and the beach is closed to the public.

Angry Seas from a Tropical Storm

We have often encountered stormy weather during our travels.

Storm over the Blue Ridge Mountains

Stormy day in Jamaica

Driving through snow on the road to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park

Our bear watching excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska started out in the pouring rain but that didn’t stop us from braving the weather. We didn’t mind getting wet – we saw 8 black bears.

A violent thunderstorm cut our day short with grand kids at a Florida water park one June.
Sometimes we are rewarded with a rainbow after a storm

We ran into some scary storms when we traveled around the U. S. and Canada towing our fifth wheel trailer. I’ll never forget traveling through snow and sleet with icy road conditions as we drove through Minnesota in early April one year. We ended up getting off the Interstate and spending the night in a motel. The next day when the roads were clear enough to travel we continued our westward trek. We found an open state park in South Dakota and were the only campers in the park.

Terrifying icy road conditions in Minnesota
We had the park to ourselves at Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne, Minnesota

What does stormy look like to you? For stormy weather, think about rain, blizzards, sleet, snow, hail, wind, dark clouds, angry seas, lightening, a storm rolling in, or people out in the weather. Some other options would be to show stormy feelings or stormy situations. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to this post. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Last week I really enjoyed your creative and calming responses to Sofia’s Mellow challenge. Be sure to look for Anne’s challenge next Saturday, June 21 at noon Eastern Time.

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

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #352 – Mellow

Posted in Photography, SunsetTagged , , , , , 39 Comments

This challenge from Sofia is Mellow. She asks us to “Show us what gives you a mellow mood of calmness and cosiness; your favourite spot to relax, a beautiful scenery, a nice cup of coffee with a delicious slice of cake… and convey that sense of relaxation, with subdued warm tones, soft shapes and focus.”

The featured image is a sunset over a Georgia salt marsh. I hope the rest of the images bring you a sense of calm.

A relaxing cup of tea to start my day

Mellow Yellow Hibiscus

Morning birds in the salt marsh

A swing at the beach is calling my name to sit and chill out while listening to the waves of the ocean

What better way to end the day than with with a Mellow Yellow Sunset

Last week Ritva’s challenge was Books. I loved seeing all of the books and libraries from so many book lovers. Next week will be my first week hosting the Lens-Artists challenge. Look for my post on Saturday, June 14 at noon Eastern Standard Time.

Many thanks to Sofia for this challenge Lens-Artists #352 – Mellow

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

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #351 – Books

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This challenge from Ritva is a topic near and dear to my heart – Books. She asks us for “visual representations that highlight the beauty and allure of books, reflecting the passion of those who are truly bookworms amongst us.”

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

I’ve been a bookworm ever since I learned to read in elementary school. As I got older I never lost my love of reading or of libraries.

Long Room of the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

When we visited Dublin, Ireland the first place we went was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room of the Old Library. Being surrounded by all of these beautiful, ancient books was a book lovers dream. I wanted to pick one up and look inside but of course that was not allowed.

My Bookshelves

Our home has a book case in almost every room. They are filled with collections of all kinds of books – novels, cookbooks, travel books, reference books, you name it. There is no rhyme or reason to the way the books are shelved. Even though I love the feel of a book in my hand I mostly read digital books these days.

Three of my favorite pastimes are photography, blogging and reading. When I’m in the middle of a good book everything else gets set aside. I’m in the middle of two books now and I’ve got several books I’m waiting on from the library. Thanks to Anne’s mention of “Travels with Charlie” I just added that one to my must read book list.

Last week I enjoyed seeing all of the creative responses to Anne’s Zooming challenge. I love learning new things and for some of us (like me) it was a new technique that was fun to do. I hope you will join us for Sofia’s challenge on Saturday, June 7 at noon Eastern Standard Time.

Many thanks to Ritva for this challenge Lens-Artists #351 – Books

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