Weekly Challenge

Lens-Artists Challenge #353 – Stormy

/ Leya / 48 kommentarer

We welcome Beth to her first Stormy session with Lens-Artists!

What does stormy look like to you? For stormy weather, Beth wants us to think about rain, blizzards, sleet, snow, hail, wind, dark clouds, angry seas, lightening, a storm rolling in, or people out in the weather. Another option would be to show stormy feelings or stormy situations. Be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to her original post. We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

This is a tricky challenge for me – living in the southernmost part of Sweden we seldom see really stormy weather. So, here’s my take:

Seeing storms from afar, slowly sailing up, that is the closest I can come to this challenge. In heavy rain I seldom go out, only watch from my window. And I like watching it – Mother Nature rules.

I can also watch storms unfolding from my house or my car – and still stay dry.

Alaska cruising – in really unhappy conditions – but dry and happy on the boat!

Iceland is much more weather beaten than Sweden, being an island and situated further north.

Iceland again – I don’t remember the year, but I do remember that fast disappearing road. Icy, windy and cold. It took us some time to drive through to the other side of the island.

Last week I really enjoyed your beautiful responses to Sofia’s Mellow challenge. I learned that the the word could be used in so many ways I had never heard of before.

Hope to see you – and be sure to look for Anne’s challenge next Saturday, June 21 at noon Eastern Time.

Lens-Artists Challenge # – Mellow

/ Leya / 28 kommentarer

This week Sofia invites us to continue in a relaxing mood, after the wonderful Books theme from last week. However, she wants us to focus on a different mellowness: a sense of softness, in tones or shapes, the slowness of a summer holiday, for example. That kind of relaxation. Please go to her beautiful site and find some very inviting and glorious inspiration!

Mellow is not a common word in my vocabulary, but my immediate thoughts went to Mellow Yellow – which I save to the end of my post.

I’ll start with a plant that softly spoke to me saying: touch me…

As Sofia pointed out, light is strongly connected to this feeling. Some morning light on the first spring anemonies.

Soft evening light when I walked out of the car and up to our house. The magnolia was the softest of soft and I just had to pick up my camera.

My favourite colour is green (as you know who follow me). Again a spring morning, with a fly and attached bouquet.

Yesterday I came back from a hiking vacation to Madeira – talking about mellow – every day was a wonder.

I love the little lizards basking on the sun warm stones – when I click my tongue they listen and sometimes even come up to me.

Mellow can also be so soft that the picture is somewhat blurred.

Lastly…

– some misty, Mellow Madeira Yellow! The mist softened the intense yellow and made the landscape dreamy.

And a close-up. Temptingly soft.

Remember to tag Lens-Artists and to link back to Sofia’s post when you join us. We’re looking forward to seeing your concepts of mellow.

Last week we had Ritva’s Books Challenge, and as books open our minds, the responses were varied and beautiful, truly inspiring.

Next week, Saturday 14th June, Beth is hosting for the first time so please visit her site for more information. Until then, take care and try some relaxing.

Lens-Artists Challenge #301 – Books

/ Leya / 30 kommentarer

Ritva has chosen books as her brilliant topic – and who doesn’t love books? My children used to call me the saint of all books…

Partly because – my life has revolved around books. Reading and writing, learning, practising and teaching.

Being a teacher I had this sign on one of my book shelves at school, saying: Literature helps us understand ourselves and the world and contributes to build an identity of our own. So true.

The Long Room at Trinity College, Dublin – a marvelous library. MANY books. Beautiful books in a beautiful room.

In our old churches, the biblical stories were painted on the walls for the illiterate – and on this Swiss house we found Adam and Eve. I don’t think they are illiterate though…

My heart jumps with joy when I see a youngster with a book instead of a phone. Maybe we are not lost yet…

In this library in Prague they certainly knew how to make the kids interested.

An abandoned book in an old shut down factory. I went exploring there with my son and found many interesting things to photograph.

They say books open up new worlds…and so they do. Yacek Yerka illustrates this so well.

My daughter once gave me this piece of an Encyclopedia Britannica. She had folded every page herself.

Well, it all started long before she could read…and long before she became a dentist. Her favourite thing still is – pulling out teeth…

Luckily, she is still an avid reader – and now that she is married, she also begins a new chapter in her own Book of Life.

I’ll finish off with this happy double exposure of a bookstore My daughter often visited during her years in Umeå.

In the header, Codex Gigas from the 13th century.

In conclusion, zooming last week with Anne was fun and, to many of us, a new experience. Her challenge was an excellent reminder of the joy of learning something new. I hope you have fun joining us again this week. Remember to tag Lens-Artists; also, please link back to Ritva’s original post.

Next week is Sofia’s turn to host, Saturday 7th June. Until then, be good and keep smiling!

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

Lens-Artists Challenge #350 – Zooming

/ Leya / 34 kommentarer

Your challenge this week is to take your camera and zoom lens out for some zooming. Anne is our guide in this fun challenge which takes some practice…

My offerings were not made this week, as I have been extremely busy with many birthday parties and also my daughter’s wedding. Our last guests will be leaving in a couple of days – so much joy and fun, but also looking forward to return to my ordinary life.

The bird bath sits among the flowers, and made a lovely start. I was glad there were no birds harmed in the swirling scene!

I tried to keep only one flower in the middle… Many tries on this one!

It was easier with multiple flowers. They turned the picture into a waterfall.

Another one-flower-focus.

This Agapanthus I was quite happy with – after thirty or more takes.

Why not a tomato?

”My photographs are a celebration of life, fun and the beautiful. They are a world that doesn’t exist. A fantasy.”

– Ryan McGinley

Thank you to Tina for her challenge: “The First Thing I Thought Of.” It’s amazing how a picture can have several different interpretations!

So,
have fun, try something new, get creative and yes, enjoy exploring new techniques and ideas. You never know what can happen! We hope you’ll join us this week, making sure to visit and link to Anne’s challenge here, and to use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you.

Finally, we hope you’ll join us again next week when Ritva leads us once again. Until then as always please stay safe, be kind, and enjoy the adventure.

Lens Artists Challenge 349 – The First Thing I thought of…

/ Leya / 35 kommentarer

when I saw this…

Not many times we find ourselves in a sitution that coinsides with a sign or an advertisement right at the place we are… We were hopelessly lost in Tokyo a late night in a part of the city without recognisable street names. You know – when you think you know the way home to your hotel, but are walking in the wrong direction… I can say it was not funny. All shops closed and not a single person in the streets. Finally a biker came to the rescue…phew.

How extremely Fancy! I found out this phenomenon was not as unusual as I first thought – a Digitalis Peloria. But it surely looked too fancy to be real. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was an AI thing. I don’t know about you, but nowadays I question almost too many pictures in media…

A forest fayerie? This was a lovely surprise!

I did NOT walk down that street – I have had too many dreams of walls falling in on me…

Wanås – the first time I saw a Wish tree! They are still there, and both the wishes and the trees have grown and multiplied. A brilliant idea brought here by Yoko Ono. I believe it to be therapeutic to write and read wishes. I take photos and read many of them every year. (And write at least one new wish.)

Well…what did I dooo??? Mille was our first lagotto and a very lively and expressive soul…

CF Reuterswärd’s brilliant non-violence statue – I remember how clever I thought he was. And I still think so. The message so clearly comes through. No words needed. Somewhere I still have a knotted pin too.

WHAAAT? In Tokyo every big shop has an umbrella drier. I had to study it real close to see how it worked. The Japanese are really clever and innovative.

I found these relaxing in a grand castle garden in England – And I felt how I get tired just fixing my own little garden… – more chairs needed!

This stone I found in a graveyard in Prague – I had to look twice. I really had to.

Thanks to Tina for this creative challenge. I’ve already had quite a few good laughs from the responses I’ve seen. Last week, Egidio’s Serenity challenge calmed us with the many serene reactions from everyone.

As Patti announced back in late March, she broke both of her wrists after a bad fall and unfortunately she is still unable to type. She’s postponed her return until November. We wish her continued improvement and look forward to having her back with us then.

Some more news! As you might have already read in Tina’s post, we are excited to have Beth of Wandering Dawgs joining the Lens-Artists team. She is a long-time participant and will be a great addition to our team. We very much look forward to having her on board and the new inspiration she will bring us. Welcome Beth, looking forward to your first challenge.

Be sure to link your responses to Tina’s post , and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Anne from Show Shutter Speed will lead us next week, so be sure to check out her post next Saturday. Until then, be kind and keep smiling 😀

Lens Artists Challenge #348 – Serenity

/ Leya / 55 kommentarer

The only way to bring peace to the earth is to learn to make our own life peaceful.

– Gautama Buddha

Egidio sends us a very timely, and beautiful challenge – Serenity. He says:

The world is in constant chaos. If not close to our doorstep, we just need to look around.

We are left with two options: to let things bog us down or to look for serenity to lift our spirits and calm our minds. Serenity alleviates today’s problems for me.

And for me, Egidio. Thank you for a wonderful challenge! My choices speak for themselves, so there is only a quote attached to each picture.

And joy is everywhere; it is in the earth’s green covering of grass; in the blue serenity of the sky.

– Rabindranath Tagore

We have forgotten what rocks and plants still know – we have forgotten how to be – to be still – to be ourselves – to be where life is here and now.

– Eckhart Tolle

Everything passes, nothing remains. Understand this, loosen your grip and find serenity.

– Surya Das

Journey with me to a true commitment to our environment. Journey with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in equilibrium.

– Paul Tsongas

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.

– Luis Barragan

The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence. The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence. Silence gives us a new perspective.

– Mother Teresa

For this challenge, there are many possibilities – please visit Egidio ‘s inspirational site for more!

Last week, Ritva asked us to break the rules. Your beautiful photos taught us that photography can be emotional, and without rules. This week, the challenge is for us to find serenity in our photos. Don’t forget to use the “lens-artists” hashtag when creating your post so we can easily find it in the Reader.

Next week, it is Tina’s turn to share a new challenge. Stay tuned. But stay calm and kind as well.

Lens-Artists Challenge #347 – Break the Rules!

/ Leya / 52 kommentarer

Ritva says: ”We work so hard to learn the photography rules, at least I do but now it is time to BREAK them!! The problem is just that in order to break a rule, you must know that there is a rule in the first place!” And, as I used to say to my Swedish language students: You have to learn the rules first – then you can break them with style.

I included a short composition map, but I will also try to break some other ”rules”, (like not having a sharp focus…).

Many of us recognise these, or at least a couple of them. But do we use them? Like Ritva said, I think most of us use our instinct and emotion – and we get it ”right” that way too. So, Ritva, I’m ready to try and break some rules!

Framed – but a blurred object. Who is this? We still recognise the silhouette… so familiar to many of us. A (black)bird.

Tilting the camera for a more interesting and playful photo. I didn’t fill the frame – Empty space?

B&W for contrast – a double rose with focus in the middle.

ICM and irregular repetition, still there is rhythm and balance.

Differently framed, low perspective. No rule of thirds. It works because of the big umbrella leaves with interesting patterns and colours.

Going low with a moving object – not so good! I fell over of course – Milo is a too loving guy. Just seconds before this he was snoozing relaxedly in the grass. Let sleeping dogs lie…a good rule to follow.

For once I photographed letting go of the rule of odds – but there wasn’t any other option – these two were made for each other.

Looking through some photos with objects, I mostly had odd numbers in the pictures. I believe my two most used ”rules” must be the rule of thirds and the rule of odds. But they come intuitively – it just looks best that way! (Or – maybe I have known that for so long that it feels intuitive?)

Last week we enjoyed so many creative and cinematic photos with Sofia’s challenge. So, time to continue on the same track this week! Next week, it’s Egídio’s turn to host on Saturday, May 10th—hope to see you then! In the mean time, stay kind and keep smiling. Make someone’s day a little brighter – I think that is just what you did, Ritva!

Lens-Artists Challenge #346 – Cinematic

/ Leya / 30 kommentarer

Sofia leads this week, and we’re exploring the close relationship between photography and cinematography and how we can emulate in a single shot what movies do.

There are a few things that give a photo that cinematic feel: camera angles, bold and high-contrast colours, light, locations, just to name a few. The main objective is to take a shot that is part of a story, there’s mood and a sense of location; our image is but a snapshot of a much wider situation.

I have consentrated mostly on horror and mystery movies…where B&W plays a big part of the feeling. In fact I was surprised how many pictures I have got on that theme… But, there are some other examples too of course.

This first picture is from the Tutanchamon Immersive – loved the feeling in this one – and the colours are familiar.

Maybe not a horror movie – but the bridges and bicycles of Amsterdam is very cinematic. Audrey Hepburn? Greta Garbo? I can feel their prescence.

Did I say horror? This ominous image from some years ago, could have been used in any such movie. The following two were photographed in Whitby, where Bram Stoker lived for a while to write Dracula. The perfect place for inspiration!

This graveyard in Whitby started falling down to the sand (to the left here), with old bones spreading along the beach.

Then steam and mist are also favourites to make a photo more interesting – and cinematic. These are hot springs in New Zealand.


More scary again…this Great Frigatebird, in the Galapagos Islands, is sitting on the roof, waiting for the right moment…to steal food from another bird. Everything about this species makes it a star in any horror story.

Vast landscapes also feel cinematic – this is in Tibet. My son down by the lake – how far away is that? It’s always tricky to decide.

This is an old favourite of mine – a motor cycle gathering in Barcelona. I guess it is the spotlights behind the building that makes it cinematic to me.

What is more cinematic than a romantic dinner in Morocco?

And, of course there must be a blurry train – someone must be coming or going…

Thank you, Sofia for this energizing theme! Last week we visited the most wonderful places with John’s challenge. I’d love to visit as they were unknown to me. Next week it’s Ritva’s turn to lead us, Saturday, May 3. Until then, take care and be kind.

Lens-Artists Challenge #345 – My Go-To Places

/ Leya / 65 kommentarer

This week John asks us to show our Go-To Places – where you go or what you do to help lift those spirits when you are feeling low? So, here are some places close to my heart that helps me rest and reload.

People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable!

The forest fills my heart and soul with everything I need.

Every season it brings harmony and helps me shut out the troubles of the world.

My dog(s) are a constant source of happiness and energy. They are my best companions, and they never fail in their efforts to make me smile.

My garden is right at my doorstep…and its inhabitants, big or small, are a joy to follow in their daily life. Every morning and evening I walk slowly through the garden to see who’s in, what’s growing and what or who needs me.

Right now, I need to fill the drinking places for birds and hedgehogs twice a day – it is very dry in Skane, and in the whole country.

Summertime, the old cottage lifts me up to manage life when it is too warm outside and I think too much. Early mornings and late evenings bring solace and time for contemplation.

Last week, Anne brought us the “Abandoned” challenge – and we got loads of wonderful responses. Many of us do love abandoned things to photograph! Next week, Sofia will be our host. Be sure to follow her here so you don’t miss her post, which will go live next Saturday at noon Eastern time. If you’d like to join in with your own challenge responses, but aren’t sure how to get started, check here.

Lens-Artists Challenge #344 – Abandoned

/ Leya / 43 kommentarer

“The Abandoned

Did you ever wonder
Why abandoned houses looked so sad
Much like the people
Their exterior was only for the function

We would not feel so sad
If we recognized
That the spirit of the house
Had already moved on

The dream remained”
― Maria Lehtman, The Dreaming Doors: Through the Soul Gateways

Anne has sent us one of my – and many others’ I know – favourite themes, Abandoned things! Personally I love abandoned houses and places, and for some time I joined my son in searching and photographing our finds.

My thoughts on Abandonement? A great theme it is, and an opportunity to dig out precious things from the archives – thank you, Anne! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, with only a short title on each of them. I don’t want to think of abandoned people though…that feels too sad. And, I have never photographed anyone in that kind of situation.

Tjernobyl

The saddest photograph in the gallery is of the Jewish cemetary in Warsaw. Walking in the silence there, knowing what happened to all these people and that there are no relatives left to remember or to tend to the graves… It is hard to fathom all the sadness and tragedy, but somehow there was a comforting feeling in walking alone in the silence, reading on the gravestones. Many of them still so beautiful.

Two homes – one in Norway, Lofoten, and a little bird’s nest in my forest

The stray dogs in Tblisi, Georgia, were many, but in a way they were not totally abandoned. Every dog had a tag in their ear, emitting medicine, so they were all castrated and friendly. They could also find food at a special place built for them in the city centre.

Sweden. A library in the forest – unfortunately an abandoned, unfinished octagon building

Agricultural machinery from an abandoned farm

Two abandoned factories that I visited with my son when he too was into photographing

The challenge is to tell and show our thoughts on abandonment. Please visit Anne’s beautiful site for more inspiration. I enjoy being alone, but that is my own choice – being abandoned does not sound that positive… When you respond, please link back to Anne’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Last week, I had the pleasure of being your host – thank you for so many fun and original responses of your last outings! I enjoyed seeing the varied places you visited and things you saw. Next week, look for John’s post as he will be leading our challenge.

Until then, stay safe and be kind. To yourself as well.