Patti says this week we’re exploring “the edges.” What have we captured “On the Edge” of buildings, cliffs, beaches, shelves, or any kind of edge we can think of. An interesting challenge open for many interpretations.
In the header, I have put Icelandic rocks and a weasel(?) on one of the edges.
I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center.
– Kurt Vonnegut
Switzerland and my garden – varied things and creatures on the edge.
We live at the edge of the miraculous.
– Henry Miller
Alaskan rainforest and a small tent covering a First Nation family. On the edge of society.
Life and death are balanced on the edge of a razor.
– Homer
My hands and camera on the edge of a precipice – of books!
‘Tis the sharpness of our mind that gives the edge to our pains and pleasures.
– Michel de Montaigne
Climbing on the edge of a cactus, but also on the edge of extinction. Galapagos Islands.
A sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.
– Washington Irving
Morocco, walking the edges of Sahara dunes.
Sooner or later we will come to the edge of all that we can control and find life, waiting there for us.
– Rachel Naomi Remen
Thank you Tina for a marvelous challenge last week, and thank you Patti for this week’s intriguing theme. Please visit her site for magical inpiration and put the Lens-Artist’s tag on before linking it to Patti’s post.
Next Saturday I, Leya/Ann-Christine, will be your host, and the theme is On Display.
”Tina asks us to choose 5 images or fewer,” should have been 10 or fewer… I was on the road/ship for some weeks, and now, having seen so many glorious posts from you, I feel I should also post some oldies and goodies – I did not realize I could do that. (Risking you would tire of them, because I have posted them several times before.) So, here are some old, true favourites for you!
I went to an art exhibition some years ago – and this window, with vines growing outside, ended up being my favourite work of art that day. Ethereal, glowing and living lace. The grid makes it even more special. I still remember the amazing feeling seeing the window from inside the building. A favourite ever since.
A lovely winter morning many years ago, at the local lake. The graceful swans floated by in the morning fog, standing out in the thin, cold rays of sun. It makes for an almost otherworldly feeling.
Iceland – I could have chosen so many of my images from this paradise. But, a late winter evening on the beach, brought this golden shine with diamond crested waves. There were diamonds in the black sand as well. (We had snow, but who could imagine that?) The combination made the very special feeling.
One of my all time favourites, maybe the greatest? The Fluela Pass in Switzerland. We drove there two times that day. In the morning, it was nothing, just an ordinary pass – but returning to our hotel that evening, the reflections were stunning. Also the people in the image makes for understanding the shere size of it, giving it perspective.
Finally – at home, a road often travelled with my dog. One warm summer evening, many years ago, the light was soft and yellow, there was no wind and the gravel road looked like a dream. The stretch of the road, curves and structures were enhanced by the light and shadows. I have never seen the road like this since then.
Thank you again, Tina, for a wonderful challenge – hopefully it is OK to do another post!
Tina asks us to choose 5 images or fewer, and tell us what is special about them. I have chosen five favourites, and different reasons to why.
The first one is macro of a Toad Lily from my garden – a very spectacular little flower that seemingly mimics an orchid. On a sunny morning last week, she was a glorious sight.
The second image is maybe more ordinary, but it is the first rose I have grown and planted from a cutting of my favourite rose, and it is flowering already in its second year. In the very early morning light it stood out through the gate grid. As always, Light means everything.
My third choice is a dry pond in Sofia, Bulgaria. I was immediately caught by its colours, textures and patterns, and the work going on above it added to the special feeling of depth. It might even look more interesting without water!
In Bulgaria, 2017, we visited the most beautiful monastery I have ever seen. Stuck between the mountains and hidden behind colourful doors, a dream was waiting…. The feeling when we walked through that entrance was amazing. We all gasped, and I think I took several hundred photos inside. This is just the first thing we met…
The whole monastery was covered in paintings, every vault and every wall. Unforgettable. And – almost impossible to photograph. This was a try to show both mountains. vaults and paintings.
Thank you to Egidio for last weeks wonderful theme, and for all your beautiful posts!
So, now we are looking forward to seeing your chosen images – and why they are special to you. Don’t forget to tag with Lens-Artists, and link to Tina’s original post.
We welcome Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes as our guest host this week! He challenges us to show how we recharge our batteries when we need more energy.
As long as I can remember, walking, hiking with family to beautiful places has been my medicine.
One of the best ways to recharge is by simply being in the presence of art. No thoughts, no critiques. Just full-on absorption mode. ― Dean Francis Alfar
– Listening to the sounds of nature
– maybe alone in the forest
– or with Milo (and all of my dogs…)
Soft, clear light is a magical recharger, walking along the shore, listening to the waves.
Not to talk about the levada hikes in Madeira, they are the ultimate rechargers. Enjoying the fantastic views, the heavenly scent and listening to the rippling water – the stillness. Your senses filled to the brim. But unfortunately Madeira is not that close to home…
At home I go to my secret garden to easily recharge my batteries. Just walking, pruning, planting – or sitting in a comfortable chair watching everything grow. To follow the birds nesting and the seasons glow fills my heart.
Another way of recharging is photography, playing with my photos in different software, making double exposures or looking at macro worlds. Then, like a tree in spring, I will feel elevated, lifting my eyes again, towards a new day with new promises.
Many thanks to Donna for last week’s wonderful Time challenge. We truly enjoyed your many different interpretations, and hope you’ll join us for this week’s challenge too. Please remember to link to Egídio’s original post, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag for our Reader section. Finally, Tina will lead us next week, so, be sure to check her out next Saturday at noon, EST.
Donna has chosen Time as her theme. And Time can indeed be looked upon in many ways. We humans invented Time. Wikipedia explains it, in short, like this:
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future.
Sometimes I think about how much my husband’s grandmother and my own grandmother had seen and experienced during their lifetime. Born at the end of the 19th century and died in the 1990’s. How did they cope with such gigantic changes during their lifespan? WWI, WWII, cars, TV, video, digital worlds, walking on the moon…Well, we do. We have to. We are made to. AI next.
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.
– Albert Einstein
The enigma of Time. My grandmother spent her whole life in the little village where I was born. She read poetry and worked the land. She loved John Lennon and Michael Jackson. At the same time her eldest son hosted the Swedish pavillion at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. He moved back to Sweden after 17 years, but he never even mentioned his working days or time over there. (When I asked, grandmother took out a photo of my uncle together with Robert Kennedy at the fair. A frozen piece of time.) Born and raised in a poor family, he knew you should never boast about what you had achieved. Today…..I feel it is very different. Time changes…and in many ways not for the better.
The older I get, the more I find the concept of Time strange. That I am living in it, cannot stop it and cannot go back to relive it. ( Maybe you too loved those movies about time travel. I remember Back to the Future for example. And the Time Lord, Doctor Who.) Maybe the worst thing is that feeling of not being able to take good enough care of the time we are given…That is the trap we all are stuck in. One possible reason for this could be that most of us see time linear; some people, in other civilizations, see it circular. If we could do that too, I believe the trap might dissolve.
In my first image, a Bhutanese woman is working the soil in the same way that my grandmother did as a young girl, about 100 years ago.
100 years later, the land is worked with modern machines into even furrows and the potatoes are set with exact precision on top.
Time –
They say Time is the most precious gift. As I am ageing,I am beginning to understand just how precious.
In pictures, my Time gallery over 20 years, are from life with my beloved Lagottos. Mille was born 2002, a wild one, then along came Totti in 2008 – quite the opposite to Mille. Calm, laid back – a bon vivant. We had so much fun together.
You know – opposites can go well together. My husband and I are opposites – and over the years we have learned to live well with each other. It takes time, but you have to give it that time too.
I lost Mille in 2014 and Totti in 2021. Milo arrived in 2018, and it took more than six months for Totti to even look at him…but they too, eventually, became the best friends. Milo is the sweetest dog I have ever had, and I have had six dogs all in all between 1970 and 2023. They have shared my precious time and made every day more positive and fun.
Now this post was a lot of rambling through Time – hope it still held together and you did not tire of my time travels!
Thank you to Anne for her inspiration with Black & White/Monochrome last week. Wonderful responses! Next week we are proud to have Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes as our guest host and we are set to Recharge. Please check his stunning photography and post for more info.
I want to send a huge thank you to Donna, for such an interesting theme and for the inspirational post she presented to us. I’m more than curious where all your replies will take us. Remember to visit Donna’s beautiful post and link back to it. The Lens-Artists tag will help us find you.
Finally, I will be on the road for some weeks, start Monday, with less wifi than usual – but I will check you out as soon as I can! Until then – stay well and be kind.
Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
Although humans see reality in colour, for me, black and white has always been connected to the image’s deeper truth, to its most hidden meaning.
– Peter Lindbergh
I have come to love monochrome almost as much as colour. I think mostly because you are more free to create another mood in the picture and to enhance features you would like to dominate. Thank you, Anne, for this interesting theme.
I believe details become clearer, and you can easier rest your eyes on a monochrome image.
There is of course another difference if and how you frame your picture…
…and if you go closer or keep a distance to your object.
You decide, depending on what your goal is with your image.
Some images I just love to have fun with in B&W – making them into abstracts…
– here are some favourites from the kite festival at Fanö, Denmark.
I use NIK Silver Efex for my B&W and monochromes. The option ”yellowed” in NIK is a favourite of mine. So is this crow, contemplating the waves, sitting on an abandoned jetty.
I don’t see the world completely in black and white. Sometimes I do.
– Benicio Del Toro
Sincere thank you to Sofia for her colourful challenge last week and for all your photos using amazing primary colours.
Thank you again to Anne for hosting this week, hope you are feeling better now, resting from the accident! I invite you to visit Anne’s amazing site and join us this week. Please tag Lens-Artists and link back to her original post.
Next week, Donna will be our host and that promises to be a treat so, please visit her beautiful site for more information. Keep well!
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.
– Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Sofia challenges us with primary colours. I realise that I seldom – or never – use these colours. Not in my home, not in my clothes or presents. Not much in my paintings, but in photos!
My first associations with primary colours are grounded in their old meanings. I know there is a whole science about this, but my grandmother taught me: Red for roses and love,…
…Yellow for the sun and for Autumn to come.
Blue for the blue hour, the blue sky and sea.
A perfect combo for me would be a picture like this – in muted, soft primary colours. Because My greatest love lies in the seconday colours: orange, green and violet. A ”mixed” person? Maybe. And – who are you in colours?
In daily life, red and golden yellow is also significant for Christmas…
…and for old time fairs and celebrations.
In some countries red is the colour to get married in…
…come rain come shine.
In Prague I found this colourful and patterned couple. Not on their way to church…I think.
In China, yellow was only for the emperor, and still yellow, blue and red seem to be the preferably used colours in their art works. Yayoi Kusama, Japan, is an avid user of primary colours as well – but with dots.
Swedish summer means much of the colour blue – but not this year…rain and wind were the primary ”colours” for our three summer months, June, July and August.
And soon, the cold, blue winter nights are awaiting.
Finally, Ukraine and Sweden have the same colours in their flags. A fact we are reminded of every day. Freedom is the difference. May it come to all of us – to stay.
This week Sofia invites us to play with primary colours. Red, Yellow, Blue. You can pick one colour or show us examples of all 3, separately or together. Looking forward to seeing your replies! Please link back to Sofias original post and tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you.
Last week it was all about Faces in the Crowd with John’s challenge. So many fun expressions and creative approaches for this theme. Next week, Anne will be our host with Black & White and Monochrome. Please visit her lovely site and be inspired to join us, Saturday 2nd of September. Until then, be nice and take care.
If you want to know more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, please click here.
John asks for faces in a crowd – not too easily done for a shy person like me. But, there are many alternatives for us too!
John points out that we might include examples from nature photography, pets, street photography, headshots, portraiture, fashion, sports, or wedding photography. And more.
To my surprise I found both old and new ones for this post. Here we go:
On Emma’s high school graduation day we finally spotted each other in the crowd!
Stockholm – at the market hall I spotted a happy young man running around with his sea creatures…
Jousting always gathers crowds of spectators, handsome horses and handsome men.
Good looking male lions…
Art… with legs, in Vilnius.
Mural art in Lodz, Poland.
Art in China – theatre and music along the Yangtse river.
Flower faces in Lund.
Animal faces – my Totti.
Strays in Thimpu, just outside our hotel. Very sweet and well behaved.
Lovely Bhutanese faces from the street, a famous traffic conductor and a family on pilgrimage.
– On their way to Tiger’s Nest.
Hungarian dolls in Budapest – faces in a crowd!
Your challenge this week is to share images featuring faces, in a crowd or standing alone, human or animal. Selfies are approved. We are looking forward to seeing your take on “Faces in the Crowd”. Don’t forget to link to John’s original post and be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists.
Sincere thanks to Amy for her challenge last week, “Frame your Photos.” Next week, Sofia will be our host. If you’d like to participate but aren’t sure how to get started, click here.
Amy has chosen a fun challenge this week, we’ll explore Framing our Photos. She states that the purpose of framing a photo naturally is to create a pleasing composition, so we can direct the viewer’s attention to the subject of our photo.
You can frame a moment. But you can´t frame life. ― Armin Houman
In the opener, St George (Göran) and the Dragon are framed by the vaults in the cathedral. Some of my favourite ways to frame are:
Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ― G.K. Chesterton
– buildings, tunnels, vaults and gates
– windows and doors
All images made from the trip to Stockholm.
Like creating a masterpiece, quitting is an art: you have to decide what to keep within the frame and what to keep out. ― Richie Norton
But, the absolute best thing for me is searching for the natural frames – trees, hedges, stones etc.
There are endless ways to frame your photos, and we hope to learn some new ones from this challenge! Please link to Amy’s original post and tag Lens-Artists, so we can find you in the reader. Many thanks for all of your creative Works in Progress and your beautiful photos. You are always inspiring us!
Next week, John (Journeys with Johnbo) will be our host, be sure to visit his site. Until then, stay creative and be kind.
If you think about it, everything is a work in progress, isn’t it? So, this should be a challenge open to endless possibilities – I can’t wait to see what YOU think when you hear this phrase. Here are some things I came to think of – hopefully they will help refreshing your thinking cap…
Everybody’s a work in progress. I’m a work in progress. I mean, I’ve never arrived. I’m still learning all the time. – Renée Fleming
A work in progress…often we think we know the outcome – and other times we really have no idea. But, that is part of the fun. Planning, longing, guessing, following the project. I know though, that the work in progress in the opener/header, is one of my homegrown cucumbers.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying. – Tony Robbins,
The artist here is sculpting with a chainsaw and other, smaller electric tools.
The secret of making progress is to get started. – Mark Twain
Ladies making Churchkhela candy in the streets of Tblisi, Georgia. Smashingly tasty, I promise!
Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection. – Mark Twain
– Or?
The construction site in Barcelona as it looked in 2011. This famous project started in 1882, but Antoni Gaudí died in a tram accident before he could finish Sagrada Família. It is said to stand finished in 2026 – a rather long work in progress. We plan to visit then, or when…
Then I must add some examples of budding life – fascinating works in progress.
Failure is success in progress. – Albert Einstein
A new puppy means working on – becoming a sociable dog and hopefully a lifelong companion.
Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. – C.S. Lewis
A newlywed couple with their young daughter. Maybe one of the longest and most important works in progress we can embark upon – growing a harmonious family.
– Gaudi knew…
So, now it is your turn! A work in progress can be almost anything…can’t it? Looking forward to seeing your ideas and images! Don’t forget to link to this post and use the Lens-Artists tag.
Finally, sincerely thanks to Janet and her creative theme Overlooked – which it indeed wasn’t (overlooked) ! And thank you to all our fantastic guest hosts this July – we hope you enjoyed it just as much as we and the readers did! Now we are back to the ordinary hosting, and next week it is Amy’s turn to lead us. Until then, stay calm and be kind – also to yourself.
Oh, and one last, wise quote for all of us to remember:
Allow yourself to be proud of yourself and all the progress you’ve made. Especially the progress that no one else can see.– Anonymous
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