Jude of Cornwall in colours is our guest host this week, and she has decided on Textures – an interesting choice! Please visit her impressive site for more inspiration.
There are so many textures in this world…I cannot imagine how many. I have chosen some of my favourites from the natural world. Randomly or no special order.
Winter has arrived today, and we have got some snow too. On the east coast and in the south east they got about 30-50 cm in one day. This icy pattern was found on my glass house.
I like the smooth water and the many coloured round stones right under the surface. Often it is opposites or interesting juxtapositions that bring out the interest.
Or, sometimes it’s just enough to view things from both sides.
Manmade and rusty – but it goes so well together with the round, ”soft” green shapes.
More round shapes, now together with spiky ones…
– they enhance each other.
Some of my absolute favourites are the hydrangeas – all seasons.
Trunks fascinates me, and some trees more than others. Birches have so much character…even as fallen and dead.
Somehow this looks like a big smile!
Last year’s heavy snow took its toll in the forest…many branches lost on this one, but the tree lives on!
Finally, a gallery with some different textures found in my garden and out hiking.
We are very much looking forward to seeing the different textures you can find in your world. Please link to Jude’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Sincere thanks to Anne Sandler for a marvellous challenge last week. Your Wildlife Close to Home took us around the globe and showed us the wonderful variety of wildlife in and around your area. Next Saturday, Tina will be our host for LAPC #227, so be sure to visit her amazing site Travels and Trifles for inspiration and details. Until then, stay safe and be kind.
”Stop. Look. Listen. Doing those three things will help you discover the abundance of wildlife you have nearby.” I will follow Anne’s advice…
This summer we were fortunate enough to have a couple of Hummingbird Hawkmoths in our garden – guess if I was happy! An astonishing little creature that is not often found this high up north.
I love my bees and bumblebees of course, and since I planted even more flowers favourable to pollinators, they are increasing.
This little friend is a guest every summer, and while our plumtree was still alive, the hedgehogs feasted on the fallen fruit.
This Grass snake met a harsh destiny due to climate change. The sun warmed up too early and the snake was lured to wake up and venture out of its winter home. They go stiff when the cold returns, and there is no food either. I couldn’t do anything for him.
It is always a joy when this golden gem, the green rose chafer, visits my garden. Its flight is rather clumsy, but the sight of him is a true joy.
I am no spider enthusiast, but in a net of pearls it is OK with me.
This beautiful red kite was lying under a log in the forest. I don’t know how he got there, but they say this species often fight each other, so I guess that might have been his story. We took him to a gamekeeper, but he could not be saved. His wings were too damaged and he could not fly properly after a week, so he was unable to feed himself.
The nearest lake has its beautiful inhabitants, and of the mute swans there are several pairs. Cold winter mornings make them something extra.
”From squirrels to birds, wildlife is around us. What non-domestic animals live in your neighborhood or nearby?” Let us see your wildlife. Remember to link to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag.
And, special thanks to Sophia for her interesting Exposure challenge. I hope you had fun with it – I certainly had! Next week we are pleased to tell you that our guest host is Jude of Cornwall in Colors. Visit her beautiful site for more inspiration.
Looking forward to seeing you – until then, stay kind and cool.
Sofia leads us in this interesting challenge – Exposure. Please visit her beautiful site for inspiration! Now, it is up to you how you work on exposure. I prefer using aperture when photographing, but for this challenge I decided only to play with changing the exposure settings while editing. In general, I find that the easiest way to get the look I want. The idea here is to see how the mood of any photo depends on its exposure.
First, some of my high key flower images. I used to be rather obsessed with that some years ago.
What is High-Key Photography?
In short, high-key images are those that have few shadows and have the subject set against a very bright background. High-key images are often set against over-exposed backdrops and the average of all the pixels in the image is very bright. High-key is the opposite of low-key images that are defined by their darker tones.
But, I am cheating…I have this opportunity in one of my cameras, and I also use NIK. If you want to try it for real, here’s an explanation and a tutorial.
Hiking last week in the deforested area, made for sunlit roots and grass. The area felt desaturated – in a positive way.
I decided for monochrome before changing the exposure in LR. The low exposure was a hit for me. I could almost feel the beautiful, whitened roots come alive in the play of light and shadow. Please click to enlarge.
For this plumbago flower, I used Lightroom to create different exposures. You can see that in the underexposed image the light is softly shining through the petals, something you cannot see that well in the overexposed picture. Harmony.
NIK can make striking high key images, while the low key one with LR touched shadows gives another feel.
Different umbrellas
This fly agaric stood alone in the shadow, neutral exposure – with an underexposed image, you can make the ”hat” glow when editing in for example LR. More magic!
Landscapes – well, I don’t know what you prefer, but I prefer the ethereal look of the overexposed image.
Last, but not least, if you are a follower, you already know that I love double exposures. You can make them in Photoshop, but I am lucky enough to be able to make them in my camera. This image I have featured several times, but it is the one I think have turned out the best. So far. In the header – roses.
To sum it up, for me it’s aperture photography, but I often find that playing with exposure while editing gives me a wider range of opportunities. Good for me – I am not always fast in deciding how I want the final image to look. I think that underexposed images make for interesting edits and overexposed images can lift the photo to something ethereal.
Last week we had John’s creative challenge to lighten up our windows to the world. The variety of replies showed how every challenge can be interpreted in a different, personal way and that applies to this week’s challenge as well. We” invite you to play, think or just do your own thing with exposure, either on camera or while editing. and then show us the result.”
Please link to Sofia’s original post and tag with Lens-Artists so we can all find you. Next challenge it is Anne hosting, be sure to visit her beautiful site for inspiration.
John leads this week’s challenge, and it is no surprise it involves a ”flight”…
I was a little bookworm, a girl with my head full of dreams. Many dreams of foreign countries I read about in books and saw fascinating pictures of. Mostly special places in these books, not so much whole countries. I never thought they would be more than dreams, but then I met a young man as eager as myself to see the world. We started travelling together when I was 16 and he was 21. And we never stopped. Today I am very grateful that so many ”flights of fancy” from my childhood really came to fruition. Of course I have many dreams left, but in fact there is only one more great travel dream, and that is to see the cherry blossom and the wisteria tunnels in Japan. Somehow I don’t think that dream will come true – but it feels good to still have dreams!
Please go to John’s site for more inspiration!
I have picked three different ”flights”… big and small, and in two out of three there is a real flight involved.
One of my first ”flights of fancy” was this house. As a young girl I used to spend every summer in the public swimming pool of our village. And on my way to the pool, every day I passed this white house, surrounded by a big garden with lots of birches, apple trees, plum trees and pear trees. It was built on a bit higher ground than the other houses, and I also knew that one of the most handsome young boys in my little village happened to live there…
Little did I know that my boyfriend and I would buy this house when I was only 21 – and we have lived here since then, for 44 years now. And, it is still my dream house!
This image is from quite some years ago, when we had both Mille and Totti waiting for us to come home.
Another ”flight of fancy” was going to New Zealand. I had a pen friend when I was 11 (one of many…), and this girl sent me a calender with photos from both islands, North and South. I was so mezmerised, so in love with these extraordinary nature sceneries, that I started dreaming of getting there one day. In my mind, no other country could literally have ”everything” I loved: high mountains and glaciers, volcanoes and hot springs, magical forests and jungle, unimaginable animals…yes, everything. A dream which of course sounded absolutely impossible…NZ was at the the other end of the world – the New Zealanders are our antipodes.
Then there is another ”flight of fancy” involved too. I had always loved the novels of JRR Tolkien, and especially Lord of the Rings. Our children loved it too…so, finally we arrived in NZ, North Island around Christmas 2011. We travelled the islands for a month, and of course we had to visit Hobbiton! And do you know what – it looked just like in my dreams.
Yet another ”flight of fancy” started with a novel, James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. I dreamt of the magical Himalayas and mystical Tibet, but realised I would never get there. This was literally another world. But, in 2009 my family took the train from Beijing over permafrost and the Tibetan Plateau to Lhasa. It is the world’s highest railway, 5,068 meters at Tanggula. The cars are equipped with oxygen supply to avoid altitude sickness. Still today, we all think this was one of our greatest adventures.
Over the last years, our home has become a ”flight of fancy” for birds and insects, plants and hedgehogs. I try to make it my own Shangri-La, a hidden paradise behind birches, bird cherry and lilacs. I cannot save the planet, but I know I can be of great help to make this little piece of Earth thrive.
According to John, and to Dictionary.com, the idiom “flight of fancy” refers to “an unrealistic idea or fantastic notion, a pipe dream. For example, ‘She engaged in flights of fancy, such as owning a million‐dollar house.’ This idiom uses flight in the sense of ‘a soaring of the imagination,’ a usage dating from the mid‐1600s.”
I believe we all need imagination and flights of fancy to survive in this unruly world, so, keep dreaming…
A big thank you to Amy for a spectacular mountain challenge – and to you all for your fabulous entries! Now we are looking forward to seeing what was your flight of fancy (or someone else’s) that came to fruition? Please link to John’s original post and tag Lens-Artists.
Next week, Sofia hosts challenge #224 – Exposure. Be sure to visit her beautiful site for inspiration. Until next, stay calm and kind.
Amy is our host this week, and she hopes we will share our joy and pleasure of visiting/climbing mountains. I know many of us are mountain lovers, so we are looking forward to seeing your responses! Be sure to link to Amy’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
– T. S. Eliot
Let’s start close to home, in Scandinavia, with green summer mountains…
…blue glaciers and
mocca coloured, volcanic Iceland. They are calling to me with their special light and fresh air.
The Canary Islands offer more than beaches, we usually hike the mountain areas. Pico de las Nieves in the faraway clouds, and the pinnacle in the middle is called Roque del Fraile (monk)
On top of the world is the Himalayas, an impressive mountain range. Here seen from northern Bhutan.
More from the Himalayas, now seen from the Tibetan Plateau, where we went by train to Lhasa.
A holy lake in Tibet. The landscape is vast and it took some time for my son to walk down to the water. Lower mountains here, but still impressive. The clouds seemed to hang right above us, almost touchable, and the contrasts were bright in the thin air. This is about 3000-4000 meters above sea level.
The mountain meadows of Switzerland are a haven of summer flowers in July. I think this image shows the essense of this week’s challenge – “The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir
Hiking mountains is so much more than the spectacular views – it is meeting other hikers, photographing flowers, animals, and different landscapes.
Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.
― Jeffrey Rasley
Many of us seek the mountains to be alone. To shut out the world and just BE. Silence is rare in this world.
Go where you feel most alive.
– Unknown
So, mountains are calling me because of their beauty, for peace of mind and soul…for moving my body at a pace that suits me, for spending time in the glory of nature. And for photography.
I will finish with other ways of loving mountains… bungyjumping, kiteflying, skiing, rafting, aso…today there are endless activities to try in the mountains if hiking is not your thing. In New Zealand you can get it all.
I cannot thank you enough for last week’s explosion in flowers! You sent us just what I had hoped for – an abundance of glorious flowers! For once, you could indulge in lovely flower images without regret (!), and many of you pointed out the impossibility in chosing favourites – because we love them all! ♥
Next week, John will host LAPC #223. Be sure to visit his site for loads of inspiration. Until then, stay safe and be kind.
I must have flowers, always, and always. ― Claude Monet
This week I hope will bring some colourful joy to us all – we will have more Favourite Flowers than ever! And, should it not be flower season where you are, you are welcome to share other beautiful or interesting plants that you love. If there is a story to go with them, we’d love you to share it with us.
My first choice, in the header, must be a Cattleya Iwanagaara Appleblossom – this was my favourite for many years, but sadly it died last year. Then…tough choices for me as I love many flowers! I will not complain if you too find it difficult…
I love the white Magnolia in my garden. Maybe the reason for loving these flowers has to do with its extreme fragility in our climate. The first Spring flowers, the anemonies, can take several days of frost and bad weather, but most years we lose the magnolias after a day or two – because of the cold.
Our greatest favourites in Sweden must be the shy blue anemonies. We even poke around last year’s leaves in order to find the first blue buds… And, it’s a yearly competition to show the first photo on facebook or instagram…
Sweden and the other nordic countries are rather cold places, so when Spring arrives with the light and warmer temperatures – our first flowers are always the most loved ones.
While the blue anemonies grow rather scarcely and are more of solitaires – the white wood anemonies fill the whole forest with their little faces turned towards the sun – just like we do. They bring out people of all ages to walk in the forest and admire the magic.
As you probably know, wild flowers and grasses have a special place in my heart. In my garden I have many wild summer flowers, and not only for the insects – they are for me too. I love their delicateness, often in contrast to the bigger and sturdier cultivated flowers.
Among cultivated flowers, Miss Willmott’s Ghost is a favourite of late, I just love the silvery whiteness and its sharp needles – and the story of course. How Miss Willmott loved this plant so much that she secretely spread it everywhere in people’s gardens…
The colour of plumbago is heavenly. Ever since I saw the first one, in my teens, in a little village somewhere in the Mediterranian, I was caught. Finally I can have this beauty at home, as my glasshouse makes it possible for it to survive winter temperatures.
And then, one of the strangest flowers…
Callistemon – or bottlebrush. It was love at first sight, 1986 in Nepal. I brought home a twig and made it live, but coming back from one of our travels I found it had died. I have bought several ones over the years, just to see them die during winter, but now they survive happily in the glass house.
Asters are the last ones to flower before winter, and that is a good reason to love them, because they have to endure cold and rain, frost and sometimes snow. Sorry to say, they don’t look this brilliant in 2022. We have had too much rain and too little sun this autumn.
I guess this is what is left before winter, a much appreciated plant firing away its last flames of autumn. It’s even clinging to my washing line – so, no clean wash there right now…
If you love a flower which happens to be on a star, it is sweet at night to gaze at the sky. All the stars are a riot of flowers. ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
For winter then? Well the only flower growing here then is…the frost rose. I don’t know what you call them – if you have them where you live – but my grandmother always said they were frost roses. I wonder if there will be a renaissance for them in our homes this winter…?
Now we are looking forward to seeing your favourite flowers and plants – and don’t forget the stories (if there are any) – I know it will be a colourful and interesting parade! Please link to my original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Sincere thanks to Patti for a marvelous challenge that really got us testing and thinking over our photography. I think we all learned something from each other!
Next week Amy will be our host, so be sure to visit her amazing site for inspiration and details! Until then, stay safe and be kind.
This weeks challenge is hosted by Patti, who once again wants us to think photographically – One subject three ways.
I am just back from Porto, and I have to post from the amazing Livraria Lello – ”The Most Beautiful Bookstore in the World”… and a bit more than three images it had to be. How do you portray a staircase like this? Hope you don’t mind, Patti! I stayed for an hour and a half to work this shot…
There were so many people in queue to come inside, that we had to try three times to find a queue that didn’t stretch all over Old Town Porto.
And I really don’t know how many books were sold or borrowed or… most people were there for the same reason as we were there – for the love of the architecture and for photographing.
My photos are all crowded, but there was no chance of shooting without people getting in the way…
…taking turns posing or just standing in awe. But for a second or two, suddenly there were only two people in the staircase!
I loved it almost more from behind …but every minute here, I was thinking ”Harry Potter”…
This is my favourite perspective and the lady looking upwards shows there is more to see up there – a beautifully painted glass ceiling for example. But that will be for another post, this one was all about the spectacular staircase!
Patti says: ”This week, we invite you to “work the shot.” Post 3 photos of the same subject–from your archives or from a recent outing. Vary your distance from the subject, try different perspectives, zoom out for the big picture, or zoom in on the details. It’s up to you. You can even experiment with processing the photos differently–in black and white or color, cropping, or trying different filters or effects.”
As usual, be sure to include a link to the original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so we can find you in the Reader.
I, Ann-Christine, will host next challenge, LAPC #221, so be sure to visit Leya, next Saturday at noon to get all the details. We hope you will join us!
Tina’s challenge this week is about treasure hunting! You can do one, many or all of the objects in the treasure hunt, which are listed below. Visit Tina’s beautiful blog for more inspiration, and please remember to link to her original post and to use the Lens-Artists Tag.
My treasure, Milo – of course!
Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
– Confucius
Winter sun and clouds at home
Moon over the golden Buddha in Bhutan – fun find? Early morning walk and a great surprise at least. 52 meters high and containing 125000 small Buddhas inside.
Time is the only treasure I have on earth. ― Mitta Xinindlu
Autumn foliage and reflection
Don’t let a man put anything over on you except an umbrella.
– Mae West
Umbrellas through the rainy window
All I’ve ever wanted is a nice truck, and that’s what I got.
– Cole Swindell
A truck, a driver and a new wall
Children are the world’s treasure. ― Matshona Dhliwayo
Cousin and family visiting
Sincere thanks to Donna of Wind Kisses for guest hosting last week. Her beautiful post was inspiring for all of us, and your responses were truly wonderful. We hope you enjoy this week’s Treasure Hunt. Here is the list of items:
A pet or pets (yours or someone else’s)
The moon or the sun (extra credit for both in one image)
Clouds (extra credit if you also include rain or snow)
A reflection
A child (extra credit if with other family members)
An umbrella (extra credit if you include a person using it)
A truck (extra credit if you include the driver or what the truck is hauling)
Autumn foliage (extra credit if it’s something that only blooms in the fall)
Something fun you found on a walk
We look forward to seeing your treasures. Until then, please stay safe and be kind.
We are pleased to have Donna of Wind Kisses as our guest host this week, and she wonders what ”Over The Hill” means to us. Please visit her wonderful site for some more inspiration!
My interpretation is mostly an intuitional one…and my first thought was of The Great Wall of China. Climbing all those hills and mountains, at the cost of thousands of lives. And they were all buried in that great wall…
I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least – and it is commonly more than that – sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.
– Henry David Thoreau
Literally…these children are walking over that hill.
”Over the hill” also means the hardest climb is over and the view is terrific. So, after 12 years at school – you are over the hill too!
Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed.
– Arthur Schopenhauer
Hiking in the mountains often brings amazingly magical views. Again and again…
After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
–Nelson Mandela
In Switzerland we saw this nun contemplating the grandness of God’s Creation, and maybe the road meandering over that hill.
Over some hills you don’t reach another hill – but something totally different – maybe a volcano abyss…like this one in Iceland.
And after a volcano eruption, there are endless lavafields covering the land – the plains, hills and mountains.
I will turn 65 next week…and as I’m ageing I often wonder… when I finally have struggled up that hill – will I see The Light? The Light that our religion talks about?
And what about our animal friends? They must be even more overwhelmed by the vast views from up there…especially if you are a cat on a (hot) tin roof…
And what an impossible task for the tiny scarabs climbing this seemingly endless hill of sand.
But remember:
It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top.
– Arnold Bennett
Thank you, Tina, for last weeks fun challenge of Opposites! So many clever and mindblowing examples. Hope to see you all this week as well. Tag your entry and link to Donna’s original post.
Next week, Tina will lead us again – on a treasure hunt…Until then, please stay safe and kind.
This week Tina has put together some interesting opposites. Please visit her beautiful blog and get inspired! Once you have started, it is difficult to stop… ”just think about it, they’re everywhere!”
Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin.
– Hermann Hesse
Soft – Hard
Morning – Evening in the Sahara desert
Old and dilapidated ( but warm and ornamented…) – Modern (cold and straight)
Cold and hot climate
In the header – opposites in the same image with day and night in one – midnight sun! Above – two in one as well – hot springs in cold ice and snow.
Special thanks to Sofia for last week’s Urban Environments challenge. It was great fun seeing the many urban examples you all shared! ”This week we invite you to show us some opposites – big and tall, round and square, new and old….”
Remember to link your response to Tina’s original, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. We look forward to seeing what you come up with. Finally, we’re excited to announce that next week’s Guest Host will be Donna of Wind Kisses so be sure to check out her wonderful site. Until then, as always please stay safe and be kind.
Leya 
Du måste vara inloggad för att kunna skicka en kommentar.