John wants us to share photos of what Winter means to us. He knows it should be winter now – but I can hardly see it here in the southern part of Sweden. We have less and less of the traditional Winter we had when I was a child. And even when our children grew up.
If you join in, don’t forget the Lens-Artists tag and to link to John’s original post.
We haven’t even had frost yet…except for a couple of nights – and all the beauty gone in the morning again. So, I have to rely on pictures from favourite winters some years ago.
Winter and Christmas means of course snow and a typical red cottage. You haven’t been to Sweden if you haven’t seen red cottages!
It means having fun with my dog in the snow – and he loves it even more than I do!
Calm and silent Winter days it is true harmony to walk in the forest. Milo ahead of me of course..
Winter when it is more than – 15 degrees C is a treat – beautiful icicles decorate the old bridge.
But, this picture is more like our winters nowadays – very powdery snow, and too little to ski on.
I will finish with some favourite photos from lovely winter days. As you know, there is not much sun during winter here, and the bluish photos means that day was very cold.
Last week, Sofia’s challenge focused on the Five Elements of Wuxing, a Chinese philosophy. And the answers were amazing. Many of you added Air as well, and we loved that. Next week, it is time for our annual year-end challenge – a ”Last-Chance” for the year’s images that never quite fit our challenge subjects that year. The “rule” is that your chosen photographs must have been taken in 2024 and not have been included in response to our 2024 challenges. We are looking forward to seeing your choices! Go through your gallery and join us on Saturday, December 14, at noon Eastern Standard Time.
Sofia‘s interesting challenge this week is about the 5 Elements of Wuxing, that create the world around us: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. This Chinese Theory asserts that the world changes according to the five elements’ generating or overcoming relationships.
Generating processes promote development, while overcoming processes control development. For example Water nourishes Wood (Water flowers, plants and other changes in forest) and/but Water dampens (or regulates) Fire. By promoting and restraining, systems are harmonized and balance is maintained.
This is a beautiful but complicated theory, so please go visit Sofias post for more inspiration. I will make it simple – only using pictures of the 5 different elements.
Wood
Fire
Earth
Metal
Water
Sofia says we can focus on one of the elements if we wish. I did try to get them all in one photo – but could not manage it… The closest I came for all of them together…is in the header. Maybe you can? We’re looking forward to seeing what you’ve found, feel free to use your archives or to go out and find new images. Link back to Sofia’s post and tag with Lens-Artists so we can find you on the Reader.
Last week we had plenty of smiles looking at the screen – A big, warm thank you to everyone for sending so much joy! We very much appreciated the positive photos you shared.
Next week it is John’s turn to lead us, Saturday 7th Dececmber. Until then, take care and be kind.
Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
– Lord Byron
So much in this world is rather tough right now, I guess we all feel it… I was thinking, don’t we all need a smile? Let’s share something that made us smile, made You smile – and make the world smile with us! Old or new smiles, big or small, we welcome them all!
Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people. ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Art makes people smile, brings people together.
– Yusaku Maezawa
You know I can’t smile without you.
— Barry Manilow, Can’t Smile Without You
Life is too short not to smile…
– Unknown
You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.
– Charlie Chaplin
I think that anybody that smiles automatically looks better.
– Diane Lane
What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.
– Joseph Addison
I hope some of these made you smile, and I can’t wait to smile even more from seeing Your choices! (I was thinking of suggesting 1-3 photos…but why, when we desperately need those smiles?) Remember to tag with Lens-Artists and link to this post.
Next week, Sofia will lead us from her inspirational site Photographias – be sure to visit on Saturday 30!
A massive Thank You, Tina, for a wonderful challenge last week! So many things to be grateful for and so many heartwarming messages from you all! Until next time, stay grateful, warm at heart and keep smiling.
Tina leads this week, on Gratitude. And I would have loved us here in Scandinavia to also have a Thanksgiving holiday. We all have things to be grateful for, even if we sometimes cannot see them for all the troubles in our world. Thank you, Tina, for reminding us with this theme – we cannot be grateful enough for what we have been given.
Remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
– Epicurus
Those who follow me know that my gratefulness always include Mother Nature and her wonderful gifts, and the opportunities to travel and learn about the world and our fellow inhabitants. Here are some things that come to mind almost every day – big or small:
My country lives in peace since more than 200 years – and no nuclear war has touched us. May it never happen to anyone, anywhere in the world.
I’m grateful for the trees and forests that grow close to me – the fresh air and the freedom to walk everywhere I want in nature – ”The Right of Public Access” (Allemansrätten) – in Sweden.
I have my wonderful family and a lovely grandchild who is my sunshine.
And, I am grateful there is still snow in the world – and Robins…
Hopefully, our seasons will continue to bring us joy. Another Spring will arrive with fragrant flowers and trees reaching for the sun, making our spirit shine.
Friends – I am grateful for having many good friends – in the blogosphere as well. I also have some old and very longlasting friends. This photo is from Holland in September where I met up with my mathematics professor, Wim, whom I first met on a hike in Lapland more than 35 years ago. To honor Sweden, he wore a Swedish t-shirt with Dala Horses!
In these dark days, I think maybe Light is our greatest gift – let there always be Light.
– Light in all its intrinsic meanings.
Thank you, Patti, for all the Details we could enjoy and be amazed at in last week’s challenge! Now we hope you’ll join us in this week’s Gratitude and please link your post to Tina’s original using the Lens-Artists tag. Next week it is my turn, Ann-Christine/Leya, to host the challenge – until then, keep your light shining!
The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.
– Charles R. Swindoll
Patti makes us look for the details this week – and we’re looking forward to seeing what you have found! Please visit Patti’s site for wonderful inspiration.
This bronze sculpture by the American Paul Kubic, stands in Keukenhof Castle Garden and is named The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Saint Anthony was a hermit in the desert of Egypt in the 300´s. The bronze below was made 1978 -1984 and it measures 175 x 400 x 150.
We were there for the Dahlia festival, but were totally absorbed by the details in this work. We went back to it several times for even closer looks. I also talked to a man, who used to go see this statue every year, photographing the changes. Mostly how parts of it were disappearing I think…
The theme used to be popular with artists in the old days because it represented the temptations of everyday life and reminded audiences to mimic Saint Anthony’s devotion and re-enforce the trust in God to ignore temptation.
Many details included hands, and if you want to see a little bit more of all the fantastic details, you can click this link for a 2.32- minute video that really conveys the mystery of Kubic’s work.
Patti allowed us to post one more story though. My second detailed sequence is from the Dahlia Floats in Holland. A different kind of art work, but also a demanding one.
I was very impressed by the work to fit in every single flower in its prepainted place matching its correct painted colour…
– and fast too! Flowers don’t last very long without water. For cut flowers even shorter time. They must last the whole parade and a second day.
An even closer look when the float was passing, and you could see the flowers and construction in detail.
So, have fun and show us what you’ve discovered! Be sure to link to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Last week, Egidio hosted his “Silence” challenge, which was a beautiful exploration of places filled with quiet. Something we all need in this turbulent world and I enjoyed every minute! Next week, it’s Tina’s turn to lead us, so be sure to stop by her gorgeous site, Travels and Trifles, next Saturday at noon EST. See you then!
When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
― Ansel Adams
Egidio is our silent guide this week, and silence is one of our most precious gifts in life. Please visit Egidio’s inspirational site to learn more about the challenge and American photographer Robert Adams’ use of silence in photography.
Trees, forests and water are my main sources for portraying silence. And as always, Light. My favourite places to go for complete silence – only allow the sound of wind, water or bird song.
Silence is a source of great strength.
– Lao Tzu
In silence there is eloquence.
– Rumi
Let silence take you to the core of life.
– Rumi
Silence speaks louder than words.
– Thomas Carlyle
Silence is not the absence of sound but the presence of a deeper meaning.
– Unknown
Silence is a true art; it teaches us to speak without words.
– Unknown
A massive thank you to Ritva for last week’s challenge based on Leonard Cohen’s poem. I loved the variety of responses to this creative challenge. We hope you will join us again, and remember to link back to Egídio’s original post with the Lens-Artists tag, so we can find you in the WP reader.
Next week it’s Patti’s turn, Saturday 9th November. Patti’s challenge will be In the Details, as she asks us to choose a subject (a statue, a person, a place, street art, etc.) and take a series of photos ot it. Getting closer and closer to the subject, focusing on a particular detail(s). We can vary our shots by changing perspective or angle of shooting – or even lens. Post three photos of the subject, but feel free to shoot another series on a second subject.
This week Ritva – inspired by Leonard Cohen’s lyrics and his characteristic blend of melancholy and optimism – offers a challenge based on these lines:
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, in everything That’s how the light gets in
This is a personal favourite quote, and I will try to show some feelings it arises within me. Light and thoughts of healing is the main focus. Your feelings might be very different.
Who lived in these rooms…and were they really happy?
Were children running and playing here or were they always restricted by strong rules and traditions, dressed up in impossible costumes?
Have you ever seen the ice breaking up? The special light and the sound it makes when you walk on it?
Never stop being a child within, because children help us see the light still shining in this world.
Nature is the helper and the answer to many of our human imperfections. When we cannot find beacons ourselves – nature can.
We struggle, like mankind always have done, to find a meaning – a light – in our lives. Some people find it in religion or from special and charismatic people. From Love.
People are like buildings, they can be dilapidated, but beauty still shines through those cracks, and we can try to accept them and find peace within through them.
The struggle for light is constant, but I always see the darkness first. I strive to share beauty and light in everything I do, because the walk of life will be easier, despite the cracked steps and roads we walk.
Ritva says it so well: ”By sharing these images, we not only showcase our individual stories, but also create an opportunity for dialogue and connection. Let each image tell a story, convey an emotion, or illustrate a moment of seeing light.” Thank you, Ritva, for a thoughtful and uplifting challenge. Don’t forget to link to Ritva’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
A big thank you to Anne, for the artistic approach to photography with ICM, it was so much fun to do and fun to see what we were able to do with this style. Next week Egídio leads us to something new again, please visit his inspirational blog to see more.
Anne is urging us to try ICM – and I agree with her – it is great fun once you give it a go!
In 2016, Sue of Wordsvisual taught me how to do when she was here in Sweden. I immediately fell in love – the results are close to impressionistic. I have had some fun with it maybe once a year – but now, I really wanted to give it a fair try. (What wouldn’t I do for Anne?) Please visit her beautiful site to find some great inspiration!
As I am closing down my garden and glass house for the winter – I took my inspiration from there. The colours are still alive and here are my results from a couple of hours’ joy!
No laundry – but vines! I let them climb there because I love them flaming, and the two following pictures are also from those lines.
In the left one I drew the camera sideways and down, trying to catch the colours in the clothes pins while they went towards the ground. The right one was made by making u-formes with the camera to get the feeling of yarn hanging out to dry.
These two pictures are from the open place under the trellis. I still have some trees standing there, but tomorrow they are moving inside. The left one is a Plumbago and the camera was moved upwards. The right one is the Ginkgo tree and some different leaves on the ground, and camera was moved downwards.
These two are from the last of my Asters. You can guess how I moved the camera. The diagonal lines on the left side are from straws leaning over the flowerbed.
This last pair is from my fiery Yellow Ginger Lily – the last flower standing, and to the right is the soft Acacia buds waiting to bloom in January.
I was so inspired by Anne’s trellis ICM, that I had to try catching the last grapes out there. I thought the thrush had eaten them all, but here they are!
I took all photos in evening light and at low shutter speed. Mostly 8.
I had a lot of fun preparing for this post, and I hope you do too. My biggest smile and thank you to Anne, who made me take this up again! Please share your thoughts and images. I took hundreds of photos, and it doesn’t have to be flowers…so count on it that you will have to throw away 90% of what you produce.
We all had a great time last week as Sofia had us looking back. I enjoyed experiencing all your thoughts and memories. When you share your post for this challenge, please link back to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artist tag. In the meantime have fun learning and experimenting with ICM.
Sofia makes us look back. It can be both good and bad – but we always learn something in the end. I wish the world leaders would learn from looking back too.
Sofia has shared some very special experiences from her looks back in time – please visit her lovely site for more inspiration!
I did not know where to go with this challenge at first, but as I have been scanning old slides and right now Nepal and Peru, I have tried to find some of those overwhelming experiences I had as a young woman never been outside of Europe before.
In my home we had many grand picture books from travels near and far, and during winter time my nose was deeply buried in them. I read and savoured everything about interesting places, and two of my major dreams were to see the Himalayas and the Andes. All the treasures hidden, Machu Pichu, Annapurna, Mount Everest…Shang-ri-La from the old novel by James Hilton…
In 1986 we flew to Kathmandu in Nepal. Here are some important ”looking back moments” from that journey. Moments of beauty and moments of pain and sadness. I certainly grew up some and learned much from these experiences.
After some days in Katmandhu and biking in the Kathmandu Valley, we decided to go to Dakshinkali. D is an important Hindu temple in Nepal where they sacrifice animals to the fierce goddess Kali. Not a place for the weak hearted – like me. But I went. This was a place that truly made me understand the difference between reading facts and seeing them in real life.
There were endless queues with people holding flowers or leading goats to their last minutes. The stairs down to the temple was crowded with holy men and disabled people.
This woman suffered from leprosy and hade neither fingers nor toes. I could not bear to look at her closely. This day was a day of tears only.
Today I do not regret I went, but that very day, and for some weeks after, I really did. Leprosy was in my mind something fearsome from the Bible, and I automatically kept the distance to this poor woman.
Fishtail Mountain – or Machapuchare (6993 m) – is the majestic mountain close to Pokhara, where we stayed for some days at a Ghurka lodge. I knew about the British Brigade of Ghurkas, they were considered among the bravest and most feared soldiers in the world.
We had a lovely stay, and planned an Annapurna hike some day in the future. (But this never came true.) Our last day here, a big monitor lizard walked by our breakfast table, something I very clearly remember as I was home alone…
Back in Kathmandu again, we went to Nagarkot in the early morning to walk towards the best point for the sunrise over Mount Everest – Sagarmāthā (himmelens huvud). A sensation never forgotten. Was I really here?
We also wanted to go to Chitwan to see wildlife from a bit closer up. (It’s us two in the photo, taken by someone I no longer remember.) While we passed through the river in an oxcart, the owner asked us if we came from Sweden – we said we did. ”I’m sorry about Olof Palme”, the man said. That was both surprising and heartwarming – so overwhelming to sit in an oxcart in the middle of nowhere and people knew that our prime minister had been shot less than a week ago.
The next long journey was in 1987, and went to Peru and the Andes.
Machu Pichu needs no introduction. This photo was taken when we first arrived at the top and could see the old city. The moment I went through the opening in the stone wall, is one of my best moments ever. And certainly when it comes to travel. No picture in the world can show the feelings I had there and then.
I had read a great deal about the Nazca lines too. They cover an area of 500m2 in southern Peru. They were made 500BC -500 AC, and there is still no answer to why or what for. Only theories.
We soon realised that our plane was very small and only took 6 passengers. OK, smaller planes are said to be safer… but when I looked out of the window and saw them pumping up the tires by hand…I had my doubts.
We survived of course, and had a great flight seeing signs that Von Däniken had proposed coming from outer space.
This is one of the animals in the Nazca lines – The Condor
We went by train over the great plain to Cuzco. A wonderful tour with llamas, vicunjas and the majestic mountains. The trust and confidence these happy women showed! They threw up their handmade carpets to us in the train and expected them to either be bought or to come back again! And it never failed.
The Uros are an indigenous people of Bolivia and Peru. They live on floating islands in lake Titicaca near Puno. I guess they still are – and I had seen them in my books. They used Totora reeds to make reed boats and the islands they live on. On the islands they grew different vegetables and potatoes and they had pigs too. An island lasts for about 25 years.
I hope you could follow my thoughts, and maybe understand something of how much I learned during those two journeys. Travel is one of the best teachers.
Before finishing off with the volcano Misti at Arequipa, I want to thank you so much for Setting a Mood in every post last week! Incredible variety on how we can create moods and how we can feel differently about them too.
Next week Anne’s challenge will be on Intentional Camera Movement, ICM. You can learn all about it by checking out the various online tutorials or wait for instructions from Anne. She says it’s all about having fun and there’s no wrong way to do it! Hope to see you then – and before that, stay nice and curious.
By definition atmosphere is always what the individual objects that occupy places are not. Light, air, materials and sound.
– Stefan Vujić
Atmospheric is the character, feeling, or mood of a place or situation. It might be the mood of the mist, the collusion of clouds, or just a stunning structure. Ambience is another word for the mood a place or setting has.
The kind of music I like depends very much on my mood. – Frida Lyngstad
Let’s start with the ”natural” mood settings. A summer sunset by the sea settles your mind. It doesn’t have to be blue colours – grey is perfect too. And the sound of the waves plays an important part. Somehow I believe we search for the surroundings that lifts or matches our own mood.
Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow. – John Lennon
Love is in the air. Maybe your man or your lady brings you flowers, sets the table and lights the candles to welcome you… Although I believe atmosphere is not as pragmatic as it is poetic.
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. – Aristotle
Yesterday’s late Autumn walk with silent friends. Mist is mostly an autumnal fenomenon, created by the warmth of the day and the chill of the night. But, we’ll stick to the poetic mood. The soft light and the quietly munching sheep set my mood right for the end of the day.
I like the muted sounds, the shroud of grey, and the silence that comes with fog. – Om Malik
By the sea, Autumn brings many days of fog rolling in. In me it creates both a tension and a feeling of being hidden from the outside, troubled world. It is an inward looking mood.
Don’t tell me how good you make it; tell me how good it makes me when I use it. – Leo Burnett
Advertising is good at creating perfect atmospheres for us to take the bait…We visited a big beer company in Amsterdam – I don’t have to say which one… Instead of showing the process (which we got a professional presentation of in Ireland with another company), we were presented with a full show with party light and music. And beer. I guess it was all for engaging the younger generation.
While we still are in the mood for a party – let’s add a carnival mood too!
Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. – Michael Franti
In September we went to Amstedam for the Dahlia Festival, where every piece of the pageant was made of dahlias (except the carriages). A fiest for both eyes and ears. Happy people makes happy spectators! (Find some mischievous happiness in the header/opener, where some boys enjoyed shooting water at us from a bridge.)
I have lived with several Zen masters—all of them cats. – Eckhart Tolle
For atmosphere and mood – this was a perfect setting at the Cat museum in Amsterdam. A combination of light, art, furniture and details. And if you know some cat lovers, cats on the table is not unfamiliar. Real cats too… I guess you have noticed there is a special atmosphere where there is a pet in the house? The first thing you will see (except for Milo) when you visit My home, is a sign saying: ”A home without a dog is just a house.” But, I assure you he is not allowed on the table…
Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood. – Ginger Rogers
As a photographer, you might also use the possibility of setting the mood you want in your pictures – either with the natural environment, lamps, software or other means. An easy way is just converting a photo into B&W or sepia tones to set another mood, like this theater photo. I could almost see Greta Garbo and Clark Gable passing by in the lobby…
I love kids. I just love kids. They put you in a good mood and they are so full of life. – Carmen Electra
Very little changes can make a difference too. A park in Amsterdam housed some rabbits for the children. I smiled as I saw this little girl, who so gently patted her friend. An animal lover with the right feeling. I could easily see myself at her age.
By desaturating the colours a bit, I felt the photo fitted both my own nostalgic mood and the warmth between these two friends.
I hope you will be in the mood to join this challenge (pun intended) – as we search for special atmospheres you have met or created. A big thank you to Patti for making us see beauty everywhere – and somehow I feel this week’s challenge is a natural way to follow up. Mood and atmosphere are very individually seen, but so is beauty. I am looking forward to seeing your posts! Be sure to link to my original post and to include the “lens-artists” tag so we can find your images.
Next week Sofia will lead us, please go to her lovely blog for more inspiration! Until then, stay calm and kind.
Leya 
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