Tankar

Thursday Thoughts – Found in Forests and Fields

/ Leya / 50 kommentarer

My son was born on the 14th of May – the most beautiful time of the year. I always go for long walks that day, feeling grateful for everything I have been given.

Wishing you all a beautiful May.

Lens Artists Challenge #348 – Serenity

/ Leya / 55 kommentarer

The only way to bring peace to the earth is to learn to make our own life peaceful.

– Gautama Buddha

Egidio sends us a very timely, and beautiful challenge – Serenity. He says:

The world is in constant chaos. If not close to our doorstep, we just need to look around.

We are left with two options: to let things bog us down or to look for serenity to lift our spirits and calm our minds. Serenity alleviates today’s problems for me.

And for me, Egidio. Thank you for a wonderful challenge! My choices speak for themselves, so there is only a quote attached to each picture.

And joy is everywhere; it is in the earth’s green covering of grass; in the blue serenity of the sky.

– Rabindranath Tagore

We have forgotten what rocks and plants still know – we have forgotten how to be – to be still – to be ourselves – to be where life is here and now.

– Eckhart Tolle

Everything passes, nothing remains. Understand this, loosen your grip and find serenity.

– Surya Das

Journey with me to a true commitment to our environment. Journey with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in equilibrium.

– Paul Tsongas

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.

– Luis Barragan

The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence. The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence. Silence gives us a new perspective.

– Mother Teresa

For this challenge, there are many possibilities – please visit Egidio ‘s inspirational site for more!

Last week, Ritva asked us to break the rules. Your beautiful photos taught us that photography can be emotional, and without rules. This week, the challenge is for us to find serenity in our photos. Don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag when creating your post so we can easily find it in the Reader.

Next week, it is Tina’s turn to share a new challenge. Stay tuned. But stay calm and kind as well.

Lens-Artists Challenge #347 – Break the Rules!

/ Leya / 52 kommentarer

Ritva says: ”We work so hard to learn the photography rules, at least I do but now it is time to BREAK them!! The problem is just that in order to break a rule, you must know that there is a rule in the first place!” And, as I used to say to my Swedish language students: You have to learn the rules first – then you can break them with style.

I included a short composition map, but I will also try to break some other ”rules”, (like not having a sharp focus…).

Many of us recognise these, or at least a couple of them. But do we use them? Like Ritva said, I think most of us use our instinct and emotion – and we get it ”right” that way too. So, Ritva, I’m ready to try and break some rules!

Framed – but a blurred object. Who is this? We still recognise the silhouette… so familiar to many of us. A (black)bird.

Tilting the camera for a more interesting and playful photo. I didn’t fill the frame – Empty space?

B&W for contrast – a double rose with focus in the middle.

ICM and irregular repetition, still there is rhythm and balance.

Differently framed, low perspective. No rule of thirds. It works because of the big umbrella leaves with interesting patterns and colours.

Going low with a moving object – not so good! I fell over of course – Milo is a too loving guy. Just seconds before this he was snoozing relaxedly in the grass. Let sleeping dogs lie…a good rule to follow.

For once I photographed letting go of the rule of odds – but there wasn’t any other option – these two were made for each other.

Looking through some photos with objects, I mostly had odd numbers in the pictures. I believe my two most used ”rules” must be the rule of thirds and the rule of odds. But they come intuitively – it just looks best that way! (Or – maybe I have known that for so long that it feels intuitive?)

Last week we enjoyed so many creative and cinematic photos with Sofia’s challenge. So, time to continue on the same track this week! Next week, it’s Egídio’s turn to host on Saturday, May 10th—hope to see you then! In the mean time, stay kind and keep smiling. Make someone’s day a little brighter – I think that is just what you did, Ritva!

Lens-Artists Challenge #346 – Cinematic

/ Leya / 30 kommentarer

Sofia leads this week, and we’re exploring the close relationship between photography and cinematography and how we can emulate in a single shot what movies do.

There are a few things that give a photo that cinematic feel: camera angles, bold and high-contrast colours, light, locations, just to name a few. The main objective is to take a shot that is part of a story, there’s mood and a sense of location; our image is but a snapshot of a much wider situation.

I have consentrated mostly on horror and mystery movies…where B&W plays a big part of the feeling. In fact I was surprised how many pictures I have got on that theme… But, there are some other examples too of course.

This first picture is from the Tutanchamon Immersive – loved the feeling in this one – and the colours are familiar.

Maybe not a horror movie – but the bridges and bicycles of Amsterdam is very cinematic. Audrey Hepburn? Greta Garbo? I can feel their prescence.

Did I say horror? This ominous image from some years ago, could have been used in any such movie. The following two were photographed in Whitby, where Bram Stoker lived for a while to write Dracula. The perfect place for inspiration!

This graveyard in Whitby started falling down to the sand (to the left here), with old bones spreading along the beach.

Then steam and mist are also favourites to make a photo more interesting – and cinematic. These are hot springs in New Zealand.


More scary again…this Great Frigatebird, in the Galapagos Islands, is sitting on the roof, waiting for the right moment…to steal food from another bird. Everything about this species makes it a star in any horror story.

Vast landscapes also feel cinematic – this is in Tibet. My son down by the lake – how far away is that? It’s always tricky to decide.

This is an old favourite of mine – a motor cycle gathering in Barcelona. I guess it is the spotlights behind the building that makes it cinematic to me.

What is more cinematic than a romantic dinner in Morocco?

And, of course there must be a blurry train – someone must be coming or going…

Thank you, Sofia for this energizing theme! Last week we visited the most wonderful places with John’s challenge. I’d love to visit as they were unknown to me. Next week it’s Ritva’s turn to lead us, Saturday, May 3. Until then, take care and be kind.