Photo Challenge – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #422: Food and Drink

November 14, 2026November 14, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged Food and Drink, Fresh Produce, Lens-Artists, Local cuisine, Photo Challenge, Thanksgiving23 Comments

“People who love to eat are always the best people.” Julia Child

This challenge is all about food and drink. You can share anything related to food including food growing in the fields, vegetable gardens, fruit on trees, farmers markets, restaurant or cruise ship meals, preparing meals, a favorite recipe, tablescapes, local cuisine, or your favorite beverages,

The following gallery shows three kinds of produce that are grown in my home state of Georgia. Georgia is known as the Peach State but there are are actually more blueberries grown in Georgia these days. Vidalia Onions are sweet onions that are only grown in a few counties in Georgia.

Another option is to show popular local dishes. The following gallery includes some Georgia favorites: Brunswick Stew, homemade buttermilk biscuits, and a Low Country Boil made with Wild Caught Georgia Shrimp.

Another idea is to show vegetables and fruits in the field, on the trees or in a garden.

How about some freshly caught seafood?

Maybe you enjoy a pretty adult beverage from time to time.

Here are some of my most memorable meals from restaurants and cruise ships.

I can’t have a food post without desert.

Americans will be celebrating Thanksgiving in less than two weeks. Thanksgiving is a national holiday set aside for giving thanks.

A turkey is the traditional main course at Thanksgiving. Deep frying the turkey is one of my favorite ways to cook a turkey.

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

Are you hungry yet? I’m looking forward to seeing your food images. Feel free to share a recipe, a farmer working in a field, a fisherman, people enjoying a meal together, or someone cooking.

Last week Patti challenged us to show Geometry in our images. Your responses were amazing. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

I’m looking forward to seeing your responses. Please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to this post.

Check back again on Saturday, November 21 at noon eastern time when Ann-Christine will be our host.

You can keep up with all of our 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 #421: Geometry

November 13, 2026Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Architecture, Geometry, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge29 Comments

It’s Patti’s turn to challenge us. She says “I’m asking you to be a photo detective, hunting for geometry—-circles, rectangles, squares, triangles, arches, spirals–on the street, or in nature, or in unexpected places–like in your kitchen or on a bookshelf. In your images, the geometric shapes are the main focus.”

Geometry in Architecture

Rectangles, circles, triangles and arches at the Jameson Distillery, Ireland

Geometry in Nature

Geometry in other places

Last week you showed us beauty in the imperfect, incomplete and impermanent in response to Sofia’s challenge Wabi Sabi. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host Patti for this week’s fun 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 her post Lens-Artists #422: Geometry.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, November 14 at noon eastern time when I’ll be hosting the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our 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 #420: Wabi-Sabi

November 5, 2026Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Crazy Horse Monument, Driftwood, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, seashells, Wabi-Sabi50 Comments

Sofia’s challenge introduces us to the term Wabi-Sabi. She askes us to “Think of the imperfection of things that are flawed or unsightly, the impermanence of things that have past their prime, the incompleteness of the transitional, capturing moments instead of the whole thing. Think of the unconventional and the ordinary and find beauty there. You can pick one of groups or work all three, that is up to you.”

I hate to admit that this challenge had me stumped at first. Sofia’s description of Wabi-Sabi and her great examples helped get me started. I came up with a few examples that I hope fit the challenge.

Imperfect

Nature is filled with imperfect things. I find beauty in the imperfect broken seashells that wash up on beaches.

Impermanent

Nature is also filled with many impermanent things. When I see driftwood on a beach I am reminded that the weathered wood was once a living tree. The driftwood continues to bring us beauty even after the tree has died.

Driftwood along the beach at Jekyll Island, Georgia

Unfinished

The Crazy Horse Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota was dedicated on June 3, 1948. Work on the monument continues today. The monument honoring Lakota Chief Crazy Horse was the dream of Oglala Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear and is the world’s largest mountain carving in progress.

The monument still has a long way to go before the work will be complete. The following image shows what it looked like in 2011.

Unfinished Crazy Horse Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota

Last week you took us around the world with your wonderful images of Landmarks and Monuments in response to John’s challenge. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host Sofia 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 his post Lens-Artists #420: Wabi Sabi.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, November 7 at noon eastern time when Patti will be your host for the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our 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 #419: Landmarks and Monuments

October 29, 2026Posted in PhotographyTagged Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Celtic Cross, James Oglethorpe Monument, Landmarks and Monuments, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Savannah Georgia, Waving Girl23 Comments

John’s challenge is to focus on Landmarks and Monuments. From his post: “Whether your post features a tour of multiple subjects or a closer look at a single location from several angles, we invite you to share up to six photos of crafted or natural sites that inspire you to pause and capture a photo.”

I decided to stay close to home and feature a few Landmarks and Monuments from the city of Savannah, Georgia.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah, Georgia

The cornerstone for the historic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was laid on November 19, 1873. The two spires were added in 1896. The Cathedral has been through several restorations through the years.

The Celtic Cross Monument was erected in Emmet Park in 1983. The inscription at the base says:

“To Americans of Irish Descent

Past – Present – Future

Erin Go Bragh”

The Waving Girl Statue of Florence Martus is located on Savannah’s Riverfront.

She is remembered for waving a cloth at ships entering and leaving the port of Savannah from 1887 to 1931.

General James Oglethorpe Monument, Chippewa Square, Savannah, Georgia

The monument honors James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Province of Georgia. He also established the city of Savannah in 1733.

Last week Tina challenge us to show Memories. Thank you to everyone who shared their memories.

Many thanks to our host 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 his post Lens-Artists #419: Landmarks and Monuments.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, October31 at noon eastern time when Sofia will be your host for the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our 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 #418: Memories of Italy

October 24, 2026October 24, 2026Posted in Photography, TravelTagged Brindisi, Europe, Italy, Lens-Artists, Memories, Photo Challenge, Trulli Houses47 Comments

When I first read Tina’s challenge Memories I thought it would be easy. I was wrong. I’ve been struggling all week with how to approach this challenge. I finally decided to focus on my last two years of high school when my family lived in Italy.

My father was a career United States Air Force officer. He was never stationed outside of the United States until shortly after my 16th birthday when we moved to a small U.S. Air Force base near Brindisi, Italy.

My Mom and Dad wanted to take advantage of our time in Europe so we often went on road trips on the weekends. Sometimes we explored close to Brindisi and occasionaly we took longer trips to places like Venice, Rome, and Florence.

Full Disclosure: I did not take these photos. My father took many of these photos with his Minolta 35 mm film camera and some of the photos were taken by my brother Joe. Joe converted Dad’s slides to digital format. I made a few minor edits to their photos. All of the photos are from either 1967 or 1968.

Brindisi, Italy is located on the heel of the boot on the Adriatic Sea. The Air Force base was located in a rural area just a few miles from Brindisi. The following gallery includes images from the town of Brindisi and the surrounding area.

The town of Alberobello, was close enough to Brindisi to make a day trip to see the Trulli Houses. All these many years later I still remember how enchanted I was by these unique houses. My Mom also liked the beautiful hand woven bedspreads made there. Of course she bought a few to take home.

We also took some weekend road trips around Italy. These images are just a small sample of the incredible places we visited.

My brother and I attended Munich American High School and lived in a dormitory our second year in Europe. After I graduated we returned to Brindisi a short time before my Dad’s tour of duty there was over. Our European adventures were not over, though. I have many more happy memories of the month we spent traveling around Europe before we returned to the U.S.

Last week Egidio asked us Where does it lead?” I really enjoyed your creative responses. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host 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 his post Lens-Artists #417: Where does it lead?.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, October 24 at noon eastern time when John will be your host for the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our 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