LENS-ARTISTS

Lens-Artists Challenge # 364 – Quiet Moment

/ Leya / 52 kommentarer

Ritva wants us to share a quiet moment. ”Where is your serene sanctuary?”, she asks. Is it the warm comfort of sipping your morning coffee or tea – alone in the silence? Or, maybe the peaceful moments engaging in your favourite hobbies? This week’s challenge is encouraging us to connect with our inner emotions and experiences.

You who follow me, or often read my blog, will know how much I need and love those quiet moments. I think we all crave them to have harmony in our lives.

I so envy cats. They seem to effortlessly land in those moments every day. And I, I quietly look at them and would love to know their secret…

Once I had an otherworldly experience, one that I know I might never have again. This is the tiny island of Corvo in the Azores archipelago. We were only allowed to stay for half an hour, and those soundless 30 minutes passed all too fast. We sat looking down in the hydrangea filled volcano crater – that was all the island consisted of – floating in the skies around us. Everything was blue and green – no borders, nothing.

And the white and black dots you see deep down there – are cows.

Summerhouse sunset, and my two children growing… too fast. I remember this moment, maybe 16-17 years ago, standing there looking at them, tears burning, loving them with all my heart.

These last photos are from an early morning, same place, no dog, only my camera. A quiet walk, contemplating the last days of a beautiful summer.

As I reached the path, I stopped breathing when the delicate deer stepped out of the forest and into the light.

At the end of the path, is the sea. In the smooth water sailed silent birds and boats.

This beautiful family was sailing while eating, teaching their young how to dip down and dive for food. In quiet moments, details become more clear to us, we can watch, enjoy and learn.

Thank you Ritva for this wonderful challenge. I warmly recommend a visit to Ritva’s beautiful post and be inspired by her thoughtful photos and words. Remember to link back to her original post and to tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you.

Last week we had so much fun with Anne’s challenge. I loved to see how differently we can interpret a theme! Next week it is Egídio’s turn to host, Saturday 13th September. Until then, take care and be kind.

If you want to know more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, please click here.

Lens-Artists Challenge #363 – Virtual Scavenger Hunt

/ Leya / 41 kommentarer

This week Anne is taking us for a scavenger hunt – some great fun to be had! Visit Anne’s post for more about rules and inspiration. I searched my archives and these are some of her guidelines that I used:

Wheel, cirkular, some cool morning jewellery,

and some very green eyes…

Something glass – behind glass too (Chihuly), and something with water in it – Water Library (Roni Horn) in Iceland.

The coolest shadow I have ever caught was in Segovia.

Art supplies in Beijing and in a studio in Sweden.

Something with a design and something with a pattern.



Be creative and bold, Anne says, but most of all, have fun! She urges us to find at least five images, but no more than ten! Please be sure to link back to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag. This will be a fun challege to see what you have scavenged!


Many thanks to Beth, for getting us in a sports mood last week. Next week Ritva will be back so
be sure to visit her site for inspiration. In the meantime, stay safe and be kind.

Lens-Artists Challenge #362 – Sports, Sporting Events and Fun Games

/ Leya / 40 kommentarer

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.

– Henry David Thoreau

I feared this would be a difficult challenge for me – I don’t do sports anymore even if I enjoy watching some of them. My daughter was in a gymnastic team and my son an avid skater. My husband a handballer and myself, I was a swimmer, runner and a horse girl. I definitely never (?) photograph sports. Fortunately I have my archives and hoped to find some pictures anyway. Beth´s challenge gives you many possibilities!

Well, searching my memory and archives paid off – here are some different sports and games:

Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.

– Kobe Bryant

In Bhutan, the national sport is archery. We went to see some teams compete at a sports arena – and their long shooting bows were incredibly sharp.


I’m a competitive person and I love the challenge of mastering new things.

– Sasha Cohen

Some of my son´s happiest moments were in the big bowls of Malmoe skate park. And still are.
(Photo by David P.) The skateboard was with him on all vacations for several years – at Figueres as well. I wonder what Dalí would have made out of it…

Sports involving both animals and humans are the most difficult ones. Cooperation is essential. One of my old students is a Swedish champion in jousting.

The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.

– Ernie Banks

A spectacular racing event was the famous reindeer race in Jokkmokk, Lapland. Reindeer are very tough to train – they are not like our pets. To handle them, you have to keep your tongue steady in your mouth too!


It’s a crazy world, so sports and athletics and music can be a form of escapism.

– Eddie Vedder

Finally some competitions/sports for dogs. I never really liked that, but if we wanted to buy our dogs it was necessary to let the breeder have his certificates. Good memories though – Totti won Swedish and Danish Champion titles.

Totti at Hovdala championships
Hamar, Norway for a dog show. This is Totti’s son.
More competitions…Me and Totti to the right

– In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.

 – Edward Hoagland

And Totti held a boxing title too…shared with Mille of course. Those were the days – daily entertainment in our garden!

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.

– Michael Jordan

In the header, debating monks at the Sera Monastery in Tibet. A popular sport where the ”performers” loved to show off both their versatility and knowledge. I wish I knew their language so I could follow their intelligent arguments!

A massive thank you to Beth for this challenge that got me hard working and showed me I need to take more photos of sporting events. When you join us, (I know you will find something in the end, even if you despair like I did…) remember to tag Lens-Artists and to link back to Beth’s original post.

Last week meant so many beautiful doors raining over us! A big thank you to Sofia, and to all of you for sharing your doors and doorways with us.

Next week it is Anne’s turn to lead us, Saturday 30th August. Until then, take care and be kind.

Lens-Artists Challenge #360 – Found at the Fair/ Market

/ Leya / 104 kommentarer

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.

– Walter Hagen

We have all been to a market or fair at least once when we were children. Some of these are still fun to visit as grown-ups, even if we don’t buy anything. It is the joy of an abundance of fruit and vegetables, flowers, people…And often everything for sale is elaborately exposed.

Here are some of my summer memories from such events. Enjoy the season and the smiles, and then – I’d love to see some of your memories too! They can be from any fair, Farmers’ market, Christmas market, or maybe a carnival? From your own country or from abroad – feel free to choose whatever you have in store!

Life is a lot like jazz… it’s best when you improvise.

– George Gershwin

Ystad Jazz festival last week – Good music, lovely people and beautiful, creative art! (And ice cream of course…) Jazz maybe attracts mostly grown-ups and elderly people, but they do bring their children and grandchildren too. (And dogs) Hoping they will get hooked on the feeling?

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

– Hans Christian Andersen

Every year there is jousting at Hovdala castle – our nearest castle just 10 kilometers away. I used to go when one of my students was in the competitions. Fun for all ages. Knights, horses, castles and fair ladies!

To me, flowers are happiness.

– Stefano Gabbana

Finally, Madeira – the lovely land of flowers. When we visited for a week in June, we came upon several different fairs and markets. They have quite a few over the year. One of them had a sustainability theme. At the harbour they had put up big hearts for life and painted recued PET bottles as a ceiling.

A big Thank you to John for another turn of learning last week! I truly enjoyed seeing examples and tips. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with this week! Next week we will have another chance of ”Looking Back”, with Sofia at the helm. Be sure to visit her beautiful site for more!

Until then – stay calm, be careful and loving.

Lens Artists Challenge #359 – Tools of Photo Composition: Lines, Colours, Patterns

/ Leya / 44 kommentarer

John’s very informative and inspired challenge this week is – Tools of Photo Composition: Lines, Colors, and Patterns, composition guidelines that are invaluable for both new and seasoned photographers. Visit his post for some great ideas.

Here are some examples of tools I love to use: Leading lines and colours of contrast and harmony.

Above is a shot from Japan, where an exhibition with giant balloons and coloured lights opened up a special kind of leading lines.

In this picture, I even managed a triple of leading lines as shadows too are involved. All of them will find Milo.

This photo from an English castle has got some interesting leading lines in several directions, including downwards.

An ordinary dirt road in Sweden, with patterns, lines and a lone tree.

Photographers often use contrasting colours to make both colors appear more intense. In the last two photos though, the browns and muted greens of the landscape are close to each other on the color wheel, which gives a beautiful sense of harmony.

Another technique is to let there be a single pop of colour in an otherwise calm environment. This picture also shows the poppies in front of a sandy, diagonal slope. An interesting combo.

Another diagonal line, this time featured in a strikingly green/black setting.

Lastly, patterns. This is a square in Madeira with beautifully laid black stones, adorned with fallen yellow petals. The contrast was stunning, and enhanced by regular stones versus irregular petals.

Now it’s your turn to showcase examples of your use of lines, colours, or patterns in your compositions. John gives extra points for showing examples that combine two or three of the categories of composition.

Last week, Tina’s challenge focused on how we all “Live and Learn.” Next week, I (Ann-Christine/Leya) will be your host. If you’d like to submit your own responses to the Lens-Artists Challenge each week, but aren’t sure how to get started, check here.

Hope to see you soon – in the meantime, stay calm and cool.

Lens-Artists Challenge # – Live and Learn

/ Leya / 45 kommentarer

Tina starts this week with another of her wonderful quotes – this time from Mahatma Gandhi:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Through my whole life, I have strived to take good care of and preserve the things I love. When it comes to humans, people I love, it becomes more difficult. We don’t live forever. Photos are essential of course, but to me, also living things I have received or inherited from them.

The white geranium above, was one of the flowers in my grandmothers windows. In Sweden we have a long tradition of keeping geraniums in our homes – indoors and outdoors. My grandmother taught me everything about them, and I inherited all of hers when she died in 1988. Soon I excelled in propagating them from cuttings, and outdoors they thrive the whole summer.

Our National Painter, Carl Larsson, often used his family and home as models for his pictures. The Flower Window is maybe a favourite with most Swedes.

Our summer house is a haven for the whole family – and the old sallow was the warden tree. It was believed to be at least 200 years old. Last year it didn’t make it through the heavy storms, but luckily a sapling survived at its feet. We were so happy. When we arrived early this spring though, the sapling too had fallen in new storms. And maybe, because it no longer had the support of the mother tree.

I was devastated, and so were all of us. I decided to gather some of its twigs and take them home, ”Live!” I whispered… when I planted them, and at least one of them does. I am hoping for more.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.

– Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

I often fall in love with roses, and would love to have more of those. Google is a good friend when my books are too old, and I found a good youtube clip that showed me how to take cuttings. So, nowadays, I don’t have to double expose my rose photos to see more of them! And I can give new roses away as presents too. This yellow rose for example. I now have three of them.

I just could not resist picking something I have learned over the years, ever since I was a child. It still gives me so much joy and satisfaction. It’s a celebration of life. My whole house and garden are filled with plants and flowers, and many of them are gifts from the start, or inherited. So, in fact they are great great grandchildren to the original ones.

Tina wants us to show some of the things we’ve learned about photography or any other subject. How do we learn it – by doing, from classes, or online, or through working with others? Please be sure to use the Lens-Artists Tag with your responses and to link your posts to Tinas’s original one.

Last week Egidio took us Into the Woods for some Forest Bathing. I enjoyed all of the wonderful responses I could read. Our summer house does not easily allow us an internet connection… On Saturday, August 2 at noon Eastern Time John will be hosting our next challenge. Many thanks to Tina for this challenge Lens-Artists #358 – Live and Learn

Lens-Artists Challenge #357 Into the Woods

/ Leya / 21 kommentarer

This week Egidio wants us to focus on the woods – and that suits me perfectly well. Hopefully you too! I walk in my forest every day, but maybe not every day in Madeira…

So, I will pick some lovely Madeira memories from June, that hopefully will add to the mystery of this green island.

The Laurissilva forest is a 20 million years old subtropical rainforest – a UNESCO world heritage,

covering about 20 % of the island. Most of the species here are endemic to Macronesia.

There are many interesting living beings in this forest woods – plants, mushrooms, lichen, birds and insects. Madeiran Chaffinches are spoiled with food from the hikers…

Madre de louro is a mushroom that grows on lager trees in Laurissilva. ”Madre de louro”, or ”Mother Laurel” is said to be good for the blood and work against rheumatism. It was even used as an insecticide.

There is something special about dense forests with high humidity. The scent, the quietness. And, I can hear the water as it trickles along the mossy stones. In Madeira the levadas add to this soothing sound – sometimes they are fast flowing, sometimes only a slow, hardly noticeable flow. And I know how good this is for my well being. Forest bathing in its true sense – and it’s no surprise that it’s origin is Japanese!

I have always loved hiking, and hopefully I will be able to keep it up even if it has become more difficult as I age. The best thing with hiking is the possibility of being alone in and with nature, for reflection and for restoring myself. Sometimes we meet a fellow hiker or two. We nod and say a soft ”hello” as we meet. I guess many of us feel the same about hiking, so talking is unnecessary.

We heard from someone in the city though, that since Covid, the levadas can even feel crowded in places…luckily we did not have to face that. This island is a hikers’ heaven and haven.

Thank you, Egidio for this beautiful challenge, and our guest host last week, Stupidity Hole, asked us to share quiet hours. You gave us more quiet times with your beautiful galleries. I hope you will join us again this week in forest bathing. Don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag when creating your post so we can easily find it in the Reader.

Next week, Tina will send us another challenge. It will go live at noon EST in the USA. Tune in to find out more about the challenge then. Please see this page to learn more about the Lens-Artists Challenge and its history. Stay well.

Lens-Artists Challenge #356 -Quiet Hours

/ Leya / 45 kommentarer

SH is our new guest host this week. He has chosen Quiet hours – and how we can show them in pictures. For me, I agree with Christina:

When I get up early, I appreciate the quiet time to enjoy a coffee or water my plants.

– Christina Tosi

I have picked my quiet hours from Madeira, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Ecuador, England and Japan. But, with this topic, it is hard to stop delivering pictures. I guess we all have lots of fitting photos for this challenge!

Fog and mist – and snow – make for quiet hours. I often go out for a walk, long or short, in those weather conditions.

Sunrise and sunset – I try to catch both. A lonely boat and a quiet sea…both attract me.

Iceland easily provides quiet hours – as many as you need. And not only because there are few people…

Mornings and evenings glow in the clear and fresh air and the hot springs never forget to send their messages.

Over to Norway, Lofoten. Quiet beauty – I understand why painters want to live there. Our famous water colour artist Lars Lerin was one of them. He lived there for several years.

The blue hour seems even more blue in Lofoten…

Let’s go to the Southern Hemisphere for another kind of quiet. In Ecuador and the Amazon – the quiet hours are filled with the sounds of the jungle. I loved it. I have never slept like a baby since I was… a baby…but now I did.

I love to spend some quiet hours walking in cemeteries. This one in Yorkshire, England. The Brontë’s are buried here. I could feel their stories with every step.


Japan is a busy country and the cities are as busy as ever. But, after the rain the streets were empty and there was not a sound…

In the mountains of Southern Japan – I was caught by the quiet beauty of wisteria in the misty morning hours.

With that I’ll close this week’s post with thanks to SH for joining us as Guest Host this week, using this lovely topic to give us all moments of peace. Be sure to visit his original here and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. I also want to thank all of you who responded to my looking back challenge on Creativity. So many creative (!) examples! And there will be more of looking back soon. From another Lens Artist.

Finally, we hope you’ll join us next week when Egidio leads us once again on his Through Brazilian Eyes site. Until then, as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy your week.

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

/ Leya / 127 kommentarer

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.

In 2019 we had a challenge on Creativity – I have picked that one as a starter for this series. Much because we need to be creative in life’s ups and downs, and I guess most of us also love being creative. Blogging is one creative thing we have in common!

Here’s what I wrote on Creativity in the first post, #42: ”… is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new or somehow valuable – inventiveness. The created item may be an idea, a scientific theory, or even a joke; or a physical object, maybe a new invention, a literary work – or a painting.”

Last Sunday I met one of the most creative souls I have ever met – Susanne Demåne. We went with some friends to see her studio and garden – she calls it ”The World of Demåne.” In 1998 she bought this old schoolhouse – rather dilapidated and no garden worthy of the name. Over the years she has created a fantastic place filled with creativity and fantasy, which also involves animals like beautiful black horses of the breeds Frieser, Knabstrupper, Arab and Shetland pony. Horses she trains with nothing but her voice and the bond she makes with them.

In these photos here, of Susanne’s own, I hope you can feel some of the magic …

How much they love and respect each other…

How much her horses trust her…

And how much she trusts them…

Susanne works in various materials, living, clay, metal, enamel, wood etc. Maybe her most famous works are in wood – made with a chainsaw…

And while we were admiring her studio – Susanne herself suddenly appeared in the doorway. Silently waiting, graceful and humble. So beautiful – a creative witch, a troll from the deepest forest. When she walked into the room – she filled every inch of it – her energy was tangible.

Susanne is a hard working woman who made her life the way she dreamed and wanted it to be. I read about her son, Kim Demåne (also a brilliant artist), how he stated that she was the most hard working woman he knew – and how much he admired her.

Many questions whirled through the air, and she was happy to answer them all. She was so natural, so down to earth, and so humourous. She laughed and told us she had worn out several men – because she was not that easy to live with… I can imagine not. Creativity was written all over her. A passionate woman!

The final gallery shows her work at Bredåkra cemetary. She was asked if she could make something out of the many dead elm trees there – and she did. She made magic. In these photos you see: ”We are all someone’s child”, ”Madonna and child”, ”The Elm Angel” .

Someday, early morning and late evening, I will be back for the perfect light…

Hope you will enjoy this concept of looking back! We are looking forward to seeing your new take on (or first take on, if you never did ”Creativity” in 2019)! please use the Lens-Artists tag and link your post to my original post.

A big thank you to Anne for her wonderful Reflection challenge. You found reflections we never even had thought of! Next week it is holiday time, so we hope to see you July 12, when our guest host SH will be your guide. Please visit his site for inspiration.

Have a great holiday you who celebrate!

Lens-Artists Challenge #354 Reflections

/ Leya / 46 kommentarer

Anne is making us reflect…and our different reflections will be remarkable, I am sure! This is a much loved theme for photographers. There are so many ways to show reflections, and these are only some of my own favourites. Looking forward to seeing Yours!

My number one favourite was captured in Switzerland – the Fluela Pass. I have told the story many times…but here it is again: We drove out to a tiny little village, knowing we would pass this beautiful pass (!). We could not find the view along the road though, even if we had seen it in the guide books. Finally, on our way home, the sun stood in the right position and we stopped, overwhelmed, to take it all in. I can still feel it every time I look at this photo.

Water turning into ice is also a possibility for reflections. This is Totti walking on thin ice at Vedema. I still don’t know how he dared to…being just as afraid of water as a cat! Luckily he didn’t walk through the ice.

Buildings – I love those opportunities for reflections and possible fun distortions. This is in London, and I even got a red double decker in the picture.

Canoeing a silent morning at our summerhouse – the river doesn’t stop over there…it turns right beyond the trees. Herons usually fly up along the growing reed.

An old reflection of our first lagotto, Mille. He was patiently waiting indoors when we returned late from the sea.

A Yayoi Kusama exhibition in Copenhagen with multiple mirrors and holes to peep in through. My camera in the upper right corner!

A standing mirror in a dark room in a Danish castle.

At Vanås architecture park, you can walk on mirrors in one of the barns. Exhilarating – but some people just cannot do it…even I had to brace myself.

An installation of mirrors in Copenhagen. (Really, one of me is quite enough…)

Another old favourite of mine, taken in Beijing many years ago. I photographed a lantern in the street – and the result turned out like this.

In the opener is a whole block of houses covered in fragments of glass. Tough to look at in sunlight, but very special. Finally a favourite from a botanical garden with giant waterlily pads.

Many thanks to Anne for giving us an opportunity to enjoy the most lovely reflections. Be sure to visit her original challenge post here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag in your response to help us find you. Thanks also to Beth for her first challenge as a Lens-Artists team member, and to all those who responded with amazing, stormy scenes. Finally, I hope you’ll join us next week when I, Leya/Ann-Christine, will lead – this time with a new Lens-Artists ”look-back” which we’ll be using again from time to time. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the good things in life!

Interested in joining our challenge? Click here .