Photo Challenge – Page 11 – Wandering Dawgs

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

June 30, 2025Posted in Georgia, PhotographyTagged creativity, Lens-Artists, Looking Back, Photo Challenge, Public Art, Tybee Island, Tybee Turtles36 Comments

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.

Sunday Stills – Sunrises and Sunsets

June 24, 2025Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged great outdoors, Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, Sunrise, sunrise/sunset, sunset27 Comments

June is Outdoors Month and this month Terri’s Sunday Stills challenges are all focused on the great outdoors. This challenge is Sunrises and Sunsets in the great outdoors.

The featured image and the next one are of recent sunsets in my neighborhood in coastal Georgia. The rest are from various places around the United States.

Sunrise in Everglades National Park, Florida

Shared with Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge Sunday Stills Sunrise and Sunset in the Great Outdoors

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #354 – Reflections

June 22, 2025Posted in Birds, Photography, SunsetTagged Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Reflections47 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 of Cypress Trees in Louisiana

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.

Sunday Stills – Paths and Trails

June 18, 2025Posted in Nature, Parks, Photography, State ParksTagged National Outdoors Month, Parks, Paths, Photo Challenge, Sunday Stills, trails14 Comments

June is Outdoors Month and this month Terri’s Sunday Stills challenges are all focused on the great outdoors. This challenge is Paths and Trails in the great outdoors.

I more of a wanderer than a hiker but I enjoy being out in the great outdoors. I like to take my time wandering on a scenic trail or path looking at the trees and searching for birds, wildlife, and wildflowers. The featured image is from the McKenzie Head Trail at Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington. The following are a few others that I have enjoyed.

We read the warnings and started on the trail anyway. We turned around after rattlesnakes were sighted on the trail in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas.

The trail leads to Landscape Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.

Swamp Trail, Silver Springs State Park, Florida

Boardwalk Trail at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia

Shared Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge Sunday Stills Paths and Trails

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #353 – Stormy

June 14, 2025June 14, 2025Posted in Nature, PhotographyTagged Clouds, hurricane, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, snow storm, Storm Clouds, Stormy, thunderstorm, Tropical Storm, Weather110 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.

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

We have often encountered stormy weather during our travels.

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

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.