Tag: Nature

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #396 – Pick a Favorite Quote and Illustrate it

Posted in PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , 35 Comments

This week Ann-Christine’s challenge is Pick a Favorite Quote and Illustrate it. We can choose one quote accompanied with a maximum of five pictures or a maximum of five quotes illustrated with one picture each. She asks us to “Make us ”feel”your quote(s) in pictures!”

My first quote is one of my favorite sayings. I have a plaque on my kitchen wall to remind me of it’s message every day. Seeing the sunrise is a beautiful gift to start a new day.

“Yesterday is History

Tomorrow a Mystery

Today is a Gift

That’s why we call it the Present”

— Anonymous

The next quote reminds me to live life to the fullest. One of my greatest adventures was flying in a small plane over mountains and glaciers in Alaska and seeing Mt. Denali from the air. I’m not a fan of flying in small planes!

“Life is either a great adventure or nothing” — Helen Keller

Almost twenty years ago volunteers on Tybee Island planted Oak Trees to help celebrate the 120th anniversary of Tybee Island. Today the trees are thriving and getting taller every year.

“What does he plant who plants a tree?
   He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
   And far-cast thought of civic good—
   His blessings on the neighborhood,
      Who in the hollow of His hand
      Holds all the growth of all our land—
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.”

— “The Heart of the Tree” by Henry Cuyler Bunner

The final two quotes and images need no explanation.

“If there is a heaven for me, I’m sure it has a beach attached” — Jimmy Buffett

“Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat” — Laura Ingals Wilder

It was my pleasure to host last week’s challenge. Your responses took us all around the world with fantastic images On the Water. You wowed us with all types of water from puddles to mighty oceans, peaceful landscapes and thundering waterfalls. The variety of animals, people, and plants on the water were great. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge..

Many thanks to Ann-Christine for this fun challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #396: Pick a Favorite Quotes and Illustrate It.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, May 9 at noon eastern time when Anne will be hosting the challenge.

You can receive our weekly challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #391 – Phone Photography

Posted in PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 45 Comments

Tina’s challenge is Phone Photography. I usually take my DSLR camera and telephoto lenses with me when I am going anywhere to try to capture wildlife shots. Otherwise, I always have my phone in my pocket or purse when I am out and about. I never know when something photo worthy will come up.

I like to use my phone to capture close ups of flowers and critters I find on flowers when I am on a walk or in my garden.

Bumble Bee on Rue

This Brown Pelican was close enough to capture with my cell phone.

I often use my cellphone to capture food images like this bowl of Tortilla Soup.

When I don’t have time to grab my camera I use my phone when I see a beautiful sunrise.

On a road trip I often take pictures through my car’s windshield when I am not the driver.

The Brown Pelican was taken with my old IPhone 7 Plus. All the rest were taken with my current IPhone 13.

Thank you to everyone who shared you wonderful images in Egidio’s challenge Color in Black and White.

Many thanks to Tina for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Tina’s post Lens-Artists #391 – Phone Photography.

I hope you will check back on Saturday, April 4 at noon eastern time when Patti will be our host.

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #389 – Time to Relax

Posted in Georgia, Photography, Road Trip, TravelTagged , , , , , , , 37 Comments

Anne’s challenge is Time to Relax. For this challenge she is looking back to the challenge from July of 2018. She asks us “But what relaxes you? What gets you away from the stresses of daily life. What’s your passion?”

This challenge couldn’t come at a better time. I haven’t been able to travel or go on photo excursions for several months due to health issues. My husband and I were badly in need of a break. We finally were able to go for a short two day getaway this week The beach is my happy place and being by the ocean is my favorite place to relax so we chose Jekyll Island for our destination.

Jekyll Island became a Georgia State Park in 1947. The island is managed by the Jekyll Island Authority. Most of the island is undeveloped to preserve the natural beauty of the maritime forests. There are 24 miles of bike trails, miles of beach with several parking lots and picnic areas, a beautiful National Historic Landmark District, wildlife, hotels and restaurants, and a golf course.

We like to stay off interstates so we took a leisurely drive south to Jekyll Island on the Coastal Highway, also known as US Highway 17. Our goal for the trip was to kick back, relax and not have an agenda. We succeeded!

We stopped for a lunch of wild caught Georgia Shrimp at Skippers in Darien. I had to take some photos of diamond back terrapins in a pond just outside the restaurant.

Diamond Back Terrapins in Darien, Georgia

Our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and maritime forest. Beyond the trees is the Atlantic Ocean, Other guests were relaxing by the pool while we were relaxing on our balcony.

The hotel pool was a great place for guests to relax

I enjoyed seeing the ocean and hearing the waves when we walked out on a walkway too the beach. There were only a few others relaxing on the beach on this warm, sunny March day.

I couldn’t resist capturing this guy chill-axing at the beach.

This cardinal was easy to spot in the tree.

The next day we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, the only turtle education and rehabilitation facility in Georgia.

Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island

The beaches on Jekyll Island are a great place for a relaxing family vacation.

Thank you to everyone who shared you memorable journeys for Ann-Christine’s challenge Journey in 5 to 10 images.

Many thanks to Anne for this week’s challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to Anne’s post Lens-Artists #389: Time to Relax.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 21 at noon eastern time when Egidio will be hosting the challenge

If you don’t want to miss any of our challenges you may want to think about subscribing to the Lens-Arrists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #385 – Unusual Crop

Posted in PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , 39 Comments

This week Ritva is challenging us to be bold and creative with our cropping. She is encouraging us to deliberately defy traditional framing conventions. At first I didn’t think I could come up with anything but her many great examples inspired me to give it a try.

I almost always crop my photos to begin the editing process. For this post I tried some new to me cropping techniques. The original photo of our dog checking out the butterfly was not close enough to see the details of the butterfly. Normally I would crop the photo into a rectangle but I tried making a square image instead. It’s out of my comfort zone but I hope you like it.

Curious Labrador Retriever finds a butterfly

This photo of a crocodile was originally shot in landscape mode. I like the way it turned out after I cropped it to portrait mode.

I wanted to have lots of negative space in the next image so I cropped out the palm tree that was in the original.

Pacific Ocean in Oahu

I snapped this final photo of the Sidney Lanier Bridge out the car window as we were leaving Jekyll Island, Georgia. At first I wanted to trash it but I decided the negative space of the cloudy sky added to the image.

Sidney Lanier Bridge, Georgia

Thank you to everyone who responded to my challenge last week of What Astonishes You! Your responses were amazing and showed us many astonishing images.

I hope you will join us this week for Ritva’s Lens-Artists #385: Unusual Crop. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and link back to Ritva’s post.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, February 21 at noon eastern time when Patti will be hosting the challenge.

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

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #357 – Into the Woods

Posted in Georgia, Nature, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 35 Comments

This week Egidio challenges us to go Into the Woods for some Forest Bathing. He tells us “Shinrin-yoku is a concept that was developed in Japan in the 1980s as a form of natural therapy and stress relief. In English, it is translated as “forest bathing” or immersing oneself in a forest atmosphere. It is a way to allow all your senses to experience nature mindfully.” His challenge is to show how we do forest bathing in our corner of the world.

I think I was “”forest bathing” before I knew what it was. I just know that I love the quiet of being in the woods. I feel peaceful and calm when I stand in the woods surrounded by trees.

I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree. – Joyce Kilmer

The trees in my home state of Georgia vary depending on where you are in the state. In coastal Georgia the common trees are pine trees, oaks, palmettos, and palm trees. The featured image is of a maritime forest on Jekyll Island. The following gallery was taken on a Georgia marsh hammock near my neighborhood. Wood Storks are one of the many wading birds that are seen on the trees here.

The Okefenokee Swamp in south Georgia is filled with Cypress trees. Seeing these ancient trees from a boat makes me feel like I have stepped back in time.

Cypress Trees in the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

Sweet Gum, Winged Sumac, Maple, Sycamore, Pine, and Water Oaks are just a few of the trees that I see when walking in the woods of middle Georgia. The landscape changes with seasons. No matter what the season I feel a sense of serenity in these woods.

Early Spring in the Georgia woods

Wild Dogwoods bloom in the spring in the Georgia woods

Summertime in rural Georgia woods

Many thanks to last week’s guest host SH for his challenge of Quiet Hours. Your responses to the challenge took me to many beautiful quiet places. I hope you will join us next week as Tina leads us in our next Lens-Artists challenge on Saturday, July 26 at noon Eastern Time.

Many thanks to Egidio for this challenge Lens-Artists #357 – Into the Woods

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

Every Day is a Gift.