After all this snow maybe you are hungry for a fresh Beach Walk with Frank? He’ll take you along with him every week, reflecting on life through what he sees and experiences: Moon, Dawn, Storm… and today it is Fog. I managed to find some fog and mist for him to illustrate his ponderings. His thoughts are peacefully reflective and refreshing: just the thing to brighten your morning.
Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. – Albert Einstein
After a beautifully emotional week with Patti, I thought we would make this week’s challenge very straight-forward – but hopefully fun as well. We find Striped and Checked everywhere around us, but maybe this is so common a pattern that we don’t notice it if we don’t go looking for it? One thing is clear though – I love these patterns, but remember that my children used to hate them. Today, our whole family often use a mix of striped and checked clothes as well as interior decoration. So, here we are – what about you?
In the header – almost only striped. Notice that the chairs make it somewhat checked too.
In fact, checked is a pattern of modified stripes consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical lines forming squares. Which make for endless possibilities!
According to Wikipedia, the word ”checked” is derived from the ancient Persian word shah, meaning ”king”, from the oriental game of chess – particularly from the expression ”shah mat”, ”the king is dead”, or more modern, ”check-mate”. The word came into English from the French echec in the 11th century.
Did you know that the check pattern has a number of symbolic meanings? In auto racing, the chequered flag is displayed at the finish. They say this originates from the ”checkers” who watched the finishing line and checked when cars had finished the race.
In some countries, the check pattern has become a symbol of the police. Known as ”Sillitoe tartan”, it was first used in Glasgow in the 1930s and was inspired by a pattern worn by some Scottish army regiments. The symbol is used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland and some cities in the United States (notably Chicago).
Before I finish, many warm thanks to Patti and to all of your creative Emotions shared with us last week! Now we are looking forward to seeing some fun Striped and Checked findings from you! Please link to my post and don’t forget the Lens-Artists tag. Stay safe, wherever you are, and we are eagerly waiting for you to check (!) in. And, please stay tuned for January 30, when Amy will be our host.
This week, Patti is our host, and LAPC#131 gives us the opportunity to focus on Emotions. We can do portraits or street photography – or, choose a subject or scene that evokes an emotion in the viewer.
Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts. – Sigmund Freud
No flowers this time… In my opener, I have chosen rippling water in a soothingly green environment – Madeira’s levadas. Green is always recommended for bedrooms because of its calming effect – and that is the emotion I get whenever I meet the colour Green.
My images here will show maybe one main emotion – happiness. But, also love and friendship.
I cannot think of better choices than students and the storm of feelings on their graduation day. It’s impossible to get enough of their happy faces and their vivid body language!
Two of the photos are of my daughter. Now I am maybe being too personal…, but seeing her walking up the stairs last Friday as a freshly baked Doctor – filled my heart with pride. She looks so happy, so confident – so ready for a working life outside university.
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. —Franklin D. Roosevelt
And, don’t we all feel that for our children, for their first steps into this world, for our students and for every person who have worked hard and reached their goal? (For making tears fall it is even enough reading a good book where the hero succeeds…) I am very grateful to have met so many students in my life – and to have left them as fully fledged young men and women.
Looking back at last week, thank you Anne Sandler, for It’s a Small World, which made us all see the beauty in little things. And thank you for the fabulous macro/micro and close-up images from all of your collections!
I, Leya/Ann-Christine, will be your host for LAPC #132 next Saturday, January 23rd at noon. So, stay tuned… and for all of you in the USA – may the inauguration go smoothly.
Now we are looking forward to seeing Your emotional images! Be sure to link them to Patti’s beautiful examples, and don’t forget the Lens-Artists tag. As always – stay safe and well and mind the little things until next time.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. —The Dalai Lama
”This week’s challenge is to take your camera for a walk around your yard or home and shoot some close-up or macro shots. Too cold, too wet, too busy? Feel free to choose some images from your archives.”
This week Anne Sandler of Slow Shutter Speed is our guest host, and we are introduced to similarities and differences between, micro, macro and close-up. Personally I love close-ups from nature, and macros since I bought a new macro lens two years ago. These days there are plenty of opportunities for hunting the little things in our world. My garden is always a gem – and the asters give me my favourite close-ups.
Without water drops, there can be no oceans; without steps, there can be no stairs; without little things, there can be no big things
― Mehmet Murat ildan
Find gratitude in the little things and your well of gratitude will never run dry.
― Antonia Montoya
Seed pods are also favourites of mine. Every autumn I go looking for them – often they display soft, strong colours and a variety of interesting textures.
These images are all from the archives, except a funny hovercraft Rex Begonia – found last week, not hibernating as I thought!
During winter time, I sometimes get roses from kind people…(my husband that is, or visiting friends). The latter not possible right now though… I love roses, they give you infinite possibilities for photography too – even when withered and decayed.
Thanks again to Anne for hosting our challenge this week. Be sure to visit and link to her beautiful original post here. Many thanks for the beautiful images shared in response to Tina’s 2020 Favourites challenge – many of us realized there were more happy moments than expected last year!
We hope you’ll join us next week as Patti once again leads our challenge. Until then, remember to stay safe and warm – and be kind.
Our team is back and we wish you welcome to 2021. This New Year comes with much hope for the future. Maybe more than ever –
It was as if the land opened its lips and breathed again, and was made anew.
― Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Our “Favorite Images of the Year ” challenge will be a bit different – as this whole year, 2020, has been different. No visits to foreign lands or faraway places. Instead it opens for images that tell something of our own journey for 2020. For me, this year meant living in my bubble, struggling to stay reasonably sane. So much less camera…and so much less energy – but still, here’s my year through lens and sense.
I begin with my absolute favourite image for 2020 – the broken window with wine leaves and the last rays of sun. From here I will travel backwards in time, down to when it all started, somewhere in January/February.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. —Lao Tzu
In September my mother left us. Unexpectedly and unforeseen. And Autumn darkness at the door. After the funeral I went from feeling low to feeling exhausted and powerless. No recharging at hand. Even on our hikes I seldom brought my camera.
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. – Khalil Gibran
In the sandy soil of southwestern Skåne…you will find the most beautiful of spring flowers – the Pasqueflower. Only about 7 centimeters high, but abundant here. It felt comforting to lie down and touch the earth, knowing it is still there…
A lovely winter’s morning before the world changed… before everything we knew as normal was … gone.
In retrospect, I realize I have made more images than I knew of… despite this invisible invader and its impact on all our lives. Now we can only wish the vaccine will help us come back to easier and brighter days. The wiser. The first thing I would do… is go to a café for a nice cup of coffee and a tasty piece of cake – and quietly sit down to watch smiling people passing by.
We are excited to announce that next week’s challenge will be guest hosted by Slow Shutter Speed’s Anne Sandler. Do stop by her blog this week to see her beautiful photography and don’t miss her post next Saturday at noon EST.
May 2021 bring peace, health, and happy moments to us all. We look forward to seeing Your favorite images of 2020 and understanding why you’ve chosen them. Please link them to Tina’s original post, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. As always, we greatly appreciate your continued support of our challenge and the inventive creativity of your responses.
A strange, surreal Holiday Season. For many of us, it will be very different from earlier years.
I know many creative plans are being made to make these celebrations work – somehow and anyway. This last LAPC challenge, of the strange year 2020, is all about your Holiday Season. So what will your holidays look like? What are your plans and/or memories? Will you create new traditions or will you just ”survive” this one, looking forward to a ”normalized” celebrating next year?
For me, the holidays are all about Christmas – memories of Christmases gone by and what Christmas really, essentially means to me. What traditions can still be kept this year, and what will I have to let go of…
Well, let us begin… be my guest!
”So this is Christmas…” – John Lennon and Yoko Ono – is always present when we are decorating the Christmas tree. In Sweden we celebrate Christmas, even though not many of us are truly religious. But the message is much the same – Imagine… Wishes for Peace and Harmony. Caring for family and each other – Love for everything living. Gratitude.
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To me, Christmas also means discussing, listening to music and playing games together. Happy music, classical music, religious music…
Candle light was made for these the darkest days of winter. Lights in our windows are glowing the whole day – to chase the darkness away. Today’s sunrise was 8.34 AM – and sunset 15.35 PM. No complaining when I compare to my daughter Emma’s situation in Umeå: 9.27 AM and 13.45 PM. (But where I live, the sun has not shown its face for the last two months.)
Adding – just listening to the news it seems people are decorating their houses double up this year – I too bought new lights for the path up to our door…75 meters!
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. – Buddha
So far, these holidays look much the same as every year. But, Imagine Covid19 was over and gone …. then more of the happy celebrating would come alive – Going to Denmark for delicious food, coffee and cake, attending Christmas markets, traveling to beautiful places, finding snow again – at least for the Christmas card photos… and having the youngsters back for baking, laughing and pottering!
Luckily we Will have three youngsters here with us this holiday season – which makes me truly happy. Corona safe, no hugging or kissing. I know many families with mixed generations have booked barbecue places to eat outdoors in recreation areas. A very good idea.
The greatest differences will be the lack of hugs and kisses. And, our mother and grandmother will not be here with us to celebrate. Her photo is standing where she used to sit at the table, with a candle lit by her side. Maybe she Is watching us somehow, from somewhere. I’d like to think she is.
The much longed for light will slowly return, starting with the Winter Solstice, December 21. This year has made it crystal clear just how much we have to be grateful for – and how little we can take for granted.
Please include a link to my post and use the Lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find your post in the WP Reader. We look very much forward to seeing your creative work!
Special thanks to Amy for her beautiful “Precious Moments.” And thank You for sharing with us so many positive and loving moments! Smiles and tears in a beautiful mix.
Finally we send our deepest and most grateful Thank You to you all for being an endless inspirational resource this special year, 2020. Hopefully we have helped each other stay reasonably sane in a crazy world. I want to close with John Lennon’s words in:
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
………………………………………..
A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
……………………………………….
– someday soon we hope this invisible enemy, Corona and Covid19, will be defeated too –
Have you seen these:
KFBuchsbaum posted a Christmas card treasure
Big and small moments with Mei-Mei of Jedi by Night
Get starstruck at David M’s Photoblog
Announcement: We’ll be on break until January 2nd at which point our theme will be Favorite Photos of 2020.
Short Note: There have been issues with WP pingbacks not working. If you don’t receive a reply or a comment from us, please let us know.
Amy is hosting this week, and she says: ”This week, as we are approaching the end of 2020, let us share some of the precious moments we have had, before or during the pandemic.”
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? – Mary Oliver
So, my images are all from before the pandemic – when planning was possible.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. – Marcus Aurelius
The most precious resource we have is time. – Adam Neumann
Life is short, and every moment is precious. – Gad Saad
We invite you to share your own precious moments, from traveling, holidays or with family and friends. Include a link to Amy’s post here and use the lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find your post in the WP Reader. We look forward to seeing your creative work.
Special thanks to Patti for her inspirational “Subjects That Begin with the Letter A.” Marvelous!
Finally – stay tuned for December 19, when I, Leya, will be your host. Until then, be safe and well.
An Alphabet challenge! This week Patti invites us to share images that feature a subject on the letter A. We can also include signs and graffiti with the letter A. For an added challenge, Patti suggests capturing an image that illustrates a concept with the letter A, such as alone, abstract, or afraid.
I have chosen Art, Arch, Architecture and Abstract.
When it comes to impressive new artwork, one of my greatest favorites are The Kelpies in Scotland. We visited in 2014 when they were just put in place. The Kelpies are 30-metre-high horse-head sculptures depicting kelpies (shape-shifting water spirits), located near Falkirk, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal. The Kelpies were designed by sculptor Andy Scott as a monument to horse-powered heritage across Scotland.
Thank you for all your inspirational entries for Tina’s challenge last week! A beautiful highlighting of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi.
We are looking forward to seeing your new choices – please include a link to Patti’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find your post in the WP Reader. We hope you will join the fun!
Finally, stay tuned for Amy’s challenge next week – and until then, stay safe and well.
I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them.
— Diane Arbus
This week Tina is our host, and she says: …”we hope you’ll share a subject that is near and dear to you, that you find interesting, or challenging, or perhaps that shows us something new or unique to you.” Please visit her page, marvel at her artistry and get inspired by the art of Wabi-Sabi!
I am not interested in shooting new things – I am interested to see things new. – Ernst Haas
Personaly, I have chosen nature’s beauty combined with different processing of the images. A creative pastime that has become even more interesting in days of seclusion this year. But, let’s start with my capital city – Stockholm. (I do visit cities too…) Said to be one of the most beautiful capitals in the world – much because it is a city on water.
All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.
— Richard Avedon
Earlier this year (pre-pandemic…), a grey day, just like today, I had some hours between trains in Stockholm. I walked past Stockholm City Hall, sailing in the air – a double exposure processed with an oil painting filter.
In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story. – Walter Cronkite
My visit to Ifö art center some weeks ago also presented some splendid natural artworks. This beautiful window was covered in colourful Boston ivy (?) (oil painting filter) – but its real beauty wasn’t revealed until we went inside, looking out of the backlit window.
The memory has as many moods as the temper, and shifts its scenery like a diorama.
― George Eliot
This gallery shows the same window, processed with different filters. From left to right: colour pencil, water colour, oil pastel, pencil, abstract.
Only photograph what you love.
– Tim Walker
My final image is the window seen through my eyes, lens and oil painting filter. It represents my heart’s own memory of this moment in time. Our memory works like this – reality through filters like personality, feelings, mood and situation. In the header – double exposed roses processed with an oil pastel filter.
So, this week it’s all up to you – choose your subject and share whatever it is about it that you find interesting. We are looking forward to seeing your interpretations.
Thank you for treating us to your creativity on Amy’s Now and Then Challenge!
SPECIAL NOTE: For those who wish to have advance notice on our themes, next week Patti will treat us with an Alphabet Challenge – Subjects That Begin With The Letter A.
Until then – stay warm, safe and hopeful.
Leya 
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