Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #51 – Unique

23 juni, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 47 kommentarer

Unique – ask a dictionary, and it says being the only existing one of its type or, more generally, unusual, or special in some way. The most unique place I have visited is the Galapagos Islands.

This Ecuadorian archipelago with 19 islands are all unique in their own way – both flora and fauna. They all have endemic species, and the animals let you come close without being startled or afraid. They do not consider humans their enemies. Unique.

Thank you, Charles Darwin!

Charles Darwins resa med HMS Beagle 1831-36, Galápagosdelen

Some of the strange and fascinating landscapes on the islands –

If you look closely, you might see the flamingo…-

We had a very unique opportunity to see the land iguanas eating from the giant cactii.

Not many visitors are that lucky – at least our guide told us so.

Unfortunately we came too late to meet Lonesome George. Every effort to help this last of his species failed, and he died 2012. But we met several other giant tortoises on the island Santa Cruz.

In the header, two marine iguanas – unique to these islands, but unfortunately on the road to getting even more unique. As the waters are warming due to climate change, their sea food is dying and their numbers are already decreasing.

Let us hope these islands will stay unique – in a positive way. Nature is good at mending – if we will just let it.

A special thanks to Amy for this week’s photo inspiration.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #50 – Trees

15 juni, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 197 kommentarer

Most of you know how much I walk in the forest – all year around. So the theme this week comes natural (!) to me – Trees. I will stay in Sweden, except for the header – waiting for you to post trees from every corner of the world! Anything about trees is free for you to explore in this theme – leaves, forests, fruits, stumps or saplings…maybe tree houses? Looking forward to seeing you here!

In the header, a famous site – The Dark Hedges in Ireland. Famous because of the Game of Thrones. There are thousands of pictures from under those old giants…I guess it must be the most photographed tree avenue ever?

Mille posing

The tree I had in the garden as a child, my beech tree, I used to climb up there and spend hours. I took my homework up there, my books, I went up there if I was sad, and it just felt very good to be up there among the green leaves and the birds and the sky. – Jane Goodall

This is Mille, my first Lagotto, posing nicely… As a child I too spent many hours every day in the forest and in the trees – climbing, jumping, playing and wishing I could swing in lianas, like Tarzan. Sigh…

The old Sallow

A tree grows. If you’re staying the same, something is wrong. You’re not alive. – Hamza Yusuf

This grand old Sallow stands in our summer garden, and someone lives in this flat every year. This spring a Eurasian blue tit – but, the family left last week for new adventures!

Trees exhale for us so that we can inhale them to stay alive. Can we ever forget that? Let us love trees with every breath we take until we perish. ― Munia Khan

If a tree dies, plant another in its place. – Carolus Linnaeus

There is little in the architecture of a city that is more beautifully designed than a tree. – Jaime Lerner

I’m just delighted to be living, to be able to have a simple conversation, to feel a ray of sunlight on my skin and listen to the breeze move through the leaves of a tree. – Ryuichi Sakamoto

My sorrow, when she’s here with me, thinks these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be; she loves the bare, the withered tree; she walks the sodden pasture lane. – Robert Frost

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. – Albert Schweitzer

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. – Martin Luther

I think the kind of landscape that you grew up in, it lives with you. I don’t think it’s true of people who’ve grown up in cities so much; you may love a building, but I don’t think that you can love it in the way that you love a tree or a river or the colour of the earth; it’s a different kind of love. – Arundhati Roy

Hope I haven’t been ”too much” with many photos this week – but you who know me will understand – Trees have always been close to my heart and a big part of my life. Now I am really looking forward to seeing Your posts – hopefully you too will have a great time with this challenge! Thank you to Patti for last week’s abundance of Favorite Things –

Finally, wishing you all an inspiring week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #49 – Favorite Things

8 juni, 2019 / Leya / 55 kommentarer

Our host this week, Patti, challenges us to show some of our own favorite things! They may be old or new – but all of us have favorites…

Many favorites have their own story, and some of my favorites are living things. In the header, a precious tulip I got from a collector, a friend of mine who sold his garden last year – he and his wife are now in their 80’s, and found it too hard to maintain it all.

Voltaire had Candide concluding, after all his travels around the world: Il faut cultiver notre jardin – ”We must cultivate our garden”.

And in my garden, I find the peace and magic I need when life gets too busy. I guess he was right, the old Voltaire…

Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened. ― Anatole France

My best friends ( maybe not ”things”… but…) – Totti and Milo – belong to my family, and therefore they are also my favorites, together with my other children. I grew up with animals – so living without them would be impossible.

The orchid is Mother Nature’s masterpiece. – Robyn.

I have kept my grandmother’s geraniums for more than 30 years, and they are my favorites as well. I can see her loving smile whenever I tend to them. The same feeling is there for other flowers I once got from old friends and relatives, now gone. But the orchids are something extra when it comes to beauty – first and foremost this delicate Cattleya, which has lived here for quite some years now. A glorious treat when in flower, filling the rooms with a delicious scent.

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
― Groucho Marx

Not to forget – books and pencils, of course… Favorites for reading, writing and sketching. Preferably outside of a dog…

Welcome to join in the fun! Remember to link your post here and tag it ”Lens-Artists” to help us find your post in the WP Reader.
Next week, it’s my, Ann Christine’s, turn to host the challenge, so be sure to visit!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #48 – Wild

1 juni, 2019 / Leya / 44 kommentarer

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” – Henry David Thoreau

Tina encourages us this week to go Wild! And, this time of the year I spend as much time as possible outdoors, in the wild, so my decision was easy – to go for my own neighborhood and use the most common meanings of the word Wild (according to Wikipedia) –

Wild animal – I met this lovely deer on my morning tour a couple of days ago. She noticed me of course, but waited patiently in the sunlit glade until I was gone.

Wilderness – a wild natural environment not significantly modified by human activity.

Wildlife traditionally refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Represented in the header by a wild rose.

One of the most fascinating things in the wild is the metamorphosis of butterflies. Here some caterpillars of the small tortoiseshell, feeding on stinging nettles…

…but later developing into these beauties – Wild Wonders!

Finally, Wildness – the quality of being wild or untamed……easily recognizable even in domesticated animals – such as my dogs running and chasing each other like maniacs.

Would you like to go wild for a moment? Welcome to join in! Tag your entry ”Lens-Artists” so we can find you in the reader. And stay tuned for next week’s host, Patti, for challenge #49!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #47 – The Five Elements

25 maj, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Our challenge this week, hosted by Amy, is about the Chinese theory of the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Welcome to join in!

This Theory asserts that the world changes according to the five elements’ generating or overcoming relationships. Generating and overcoming are the complementary processes — the yin and yang — of Five Element Theory.

Generating processes promote development, while overcoming processes control development. By promoting and restraining, systems are harmonized and balance is maintained.

Wood fuels fire

Fire forms earth

Earth contains metal

Metal carries water

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #46 – Delicate

18 maj, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 183 kommentarer

We have buried so much of the delicate magic of life – D.H. Lawrence

On my walks in the forest, I love everything fresh, fragile and delicate that spring brings to nature – the feeling of looking at the world for the first time. Rebirth. Renewal. The importance of a living planet Earth for our children and grandchildren to be a part of, echoes with every step.

This week, the challenge must be Delicate. To me, Spring itself reveals something of the very essence of the word – Delicate. I hope you will enjoy walking with me, meeting some spring flowers from my ramblings!

Naturally, Delicate is used in several meanings, not only concerning flowers…:

Pleasantly soft or light – like the scent of a rose…; having a thin, attractive shape – delicate hands for example…; fragile or easily damaged – like fine china…; pleasant but not easily noticed – like a delicate floral pattern on the walls…

And being ”a delicate matter” is of course another, more difficult, possibility…

So, what is Delicate to you? We are looking forward to seeing your interpretations – Let us bring back some of ”the delicate magic of life”!

When you see how fragile and delicate life can be, all else fades into the background

– Jenna Morasca

The delicacy of flowers takes different shapes – they might be tall and stately…

…or as tiny as these moss flowers, not higher than your thumb nail…

Some live in the shade on the forest floor, and some thrive in the bright sunshine…

Sometimes delicacy stands out most beautifully when placed in rough company – oh, the joy of forest apple blossoms!

As humans we are indeed, in many ways, just like flowers. So, I would like to end with a reflection from Henry David Thoreau – together with a hope that we will be more delicate in how we treat Mother Earth as well:

The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.

Thank you again, Patti, for a marvelous Street Art Challenge!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #45 – Street Art

11 maj, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 31 kommentarer

Patti’s challenge this week is all about Street Art – something I believe people in general have a special relation to. She shows us some remarkable examples of fine Street Art and asks us to send some more…so, here we go. Greetings from Poland, Sweden and Ireland.

In the header – This happy party I found in a small alley in Lodz, Poland.

Light Move Festival – Lodz

Poster – Canadian artists from famous Cirque du Soleil visiting Sweden

Mural – Blending in nicely in Lodz

Installation – Poland

Graffiti: Peace Wall – Ireland

Welcome to join in!

Create a new post on this week’s theme.
Link your post to Patti’s post ”Street Art”.
Tag your post with Lens-Artists to help us find you in the Reader. We’ve had some trouble with pingbacks, so tagging will help us find your post.
If you need more detailed instructions, click here.

Next week…

…I will be your host! Ann-Christine, Challenge #46. Wishing you an inspirational week and hope to see you then!

Lens-Artists Challenge # 44 – Harmony

4 maj, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Tina challenges us this week to think Harmony – and in her splendid post, she encourages us to show our favorite harmonies. In short, Colour Harmonies are colors that look good together. If you have ever taken classes in painting, you should be familiar with the colour wheel. There are many different systems to create a color harmony. You will find a useful, free tool, for colour harmony here.

I guess colours are always a part of what makes up our inner concept of ”Harmony”, but there are also other types of harmonies. These are some of my favorites.

Art is a harmony parallel with nature – Paul Cezanne

Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece Sagrada Família.

Organic architecture is a philosophy of architecture which promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world. The term ”organic architecture” was coined by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), and Wright’s ”Fallingwater” is a very good example – but the concept can also be illustrated with an old Nordic cottage like this one.

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the Universe

– Marcus Aurelius

A life in harmony with nature, the love of truth and virtue, will purge the eyes to understanding her text – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony – Mahatma Gandhi

Harmony is pure love, for love is a concerto ~ Lope de Vega

Even if some will always be playing out of tune…

…it still is a Concerto.

With love from the vast tulip fields in The Netherlands.

So, How do you reach colour harmony in your picture if it isn’t there from the start?

A simple and effective way to change its mood is to shift the white balance either towards the warmer or colder temperatures. This can often also push the image towards a colour harmony. One of the simplest yet also most effective ways to further tune your colour harmony is to use the Hue, Saturation, and Luminosity (HSL) panel in Lightroom.

Or, if you were a certain fashion icon: Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.

― Coco Chanel

Thank you to Amy for last week’s lovely ”Less is More” and we’d love you to join in with Tina’s ”Harmony”!

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #43 – Less is More

27 april, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 47 kommentarer

Amy challenges us to think Less is More – and that, is always a challenge… In photography we often talk about simplicity, and a photo standing on its own. No need for words. Often Black and White is helping us to achieve that.

So, let us slow down…because “Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

Less is More even when the ground is covered in spring flowers below a blue sky,

or when a lonely path strives to reach the mountain lake – because colours matter here –

The history of the phrase Less is More, is that it was adopted in 1947 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohem. Since then, the aphorism is one of the most used (and abused) in design and architecture.

Originally though, this is a 19th century proverbial phrase, first found in print in Andrea del Sarto, 1855, a poem by Robert Browning. And it still is a phrase very much alive!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Thank you for all your innovative and creative contributions to my hosted challenge Creativity last week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #42 – Creativity

20 april, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 152 kommentarer

Creativity 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. Being creative is a very valuable asset today – and has always been. That is, when creativity is used in a positive way.

I believe for many of us, being creative is a way to relax from our ordinary jobs (of course your job is creative in its own way too) and also to develop our minds as well as the use of our hands.

Snapshot of my son’s desk – (he is a graphic designer, and the wall quote is by Einstein)

Maybe the creative space most used today is at the computer in our own room? Or maybe not? This week’s challenge is all about Creativity – hobbies, crafts, creative spaces at home or places you have visited – show us your creative post…unlimited!

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Keukenhof in the Netherlands, and the annual Flower Parade (Bloemencorso in Dutch). This is a glorious feast brimming with beautiful colors and delicious flowers. Twenty huge floats and thirty lavishly decorated cars follow a 42 kilometer route from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

Millions of flowers and the creative work of hundreds of volunteers make this most amazing flower parade possible. And, hundreds of thousands of visitors from Holland and abroad are drawn to the colorful flower spectacle every year. Let’s have a look at something of the brilliant Dutch creativity!

Some floats were so big, that they were divided into two – like this one.

The impressive Phoenix

When we visited Keukenhof in the 90’s we missed out on the parade, so this year, we decided to go to Noordwijk early in the morning to see the flower creations from up close.