Photo Challenge – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #387 – Shadowed

March 2, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged beach, Ireland, Lens-Artists, Live Oaks, Photo Challenge, Scotland, Shadowed35 Comments

Our host John described his challenge like this: “Shadows evoke mystery, wonder, nostalgia, and even a touch of fright. This week, consider how shadows shape your photos. Look for the places where light steps back. You can take a literal approach and photograph an actual shadow, or lean into contrast and mood—shapes, silhouettes, or scenes where darkness adds depth and character to your subject.”

Blarney Castle Window, Ireland

Shadows on the Beach

Shadows in the Swamp Trail, Silver Springs State Park

Shadows in a Cemetery

Thank you to Patti for last week’s challenge of the Power of Juxtaposition. Your responses were very creative.

Many thanks to John 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 John’s post Lens-Artists #387: Shadowed.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, March 7 at noon eastern time when Ann-Christine 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 #386 – The Power of Juxtaposition

February 22, 2026February 22, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged Glasgow, Grandfather and Grandson, Jolly Green Giant, Juxtaposition, Lens-Artists, Niagara Falls, Photo Challenge, Statue of Liberty, U.S. Coast Guard28 Comments

Patti is hosting this week and she has challenged us to explore Juxtaposition as a photographic technique. Patti included this quote to help explain juxtaposition:

“By carefully placing two different objects or concepts together in a photograph…one is able to create an interesting sense of contrast which, in turn, can elicit a reaction, provoke meaningful thought, lead to a story, or just raise a smile. Such juxtapositions will have different effects on different viewers, depending on how they are presented, and on the viewers’ own experience and background. ~Lourens Durand“

This Grandfather walking with his young grandson on a swinging bridge shows the juxtaposition of old and new.

In Glasgow, Scotland, this modern, curved building next to an old stone building shows the juxtaposition of old and new in architecture.

The following gallery shows the use of contrasting sizes to show juxtaposition. It’s hard to comprehend the size of the Statue of Liberty without the contrast of the tiny people at the base of the statue. The man and his dog look tiny standing at the base of the Jolly Green Giant statue. The orange Coast Guard inflatable is small compared to the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle. The boat sailing towards Niagara Falls looks small compared to the powerful waterfall.

Last week I enjoyed all of your creative cropping in response to Ritva’s challenge. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge..

Many thanks to Patti 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 Patti’s post Lens-Artists #386: The Power of Juxtaposition.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, February 28 at noon eastern time when John will be hosting the challenge.

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

I may not be able to do much blogging for the next week or two so I may not be able to respond to your comments right away. I will try to respond to them as soon as I can. Please be assured that every comment is appreciated.

Every Day is a Gift

Sunday Stills – Sweet

February 19, 2026February 19, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged Cake, Pecan Pie, Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, Sweet, Waffle15 Comments

Terri’s latest Sunday Stills challenge is Simple and Sweet. Can you tell I like sweets?

Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge Simple and Sweet

Every Day is a Gift

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #385 – Unusual Crop

February 18, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged crocodile, Cropping, curious dog, editing, Lens-Artists, Nature, Oahu, Photo Challenge, Photography, Sidney Lanier Bridge, unusual cropping39 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.

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.

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