Weekly Challenge

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #33 – Nature

/ Leya / 73 kommentarer

Patti’s challenge this week is Nature. I have spent most of my spare time in nature – and that is where I belong. The Galapagos Islands have been a dream ever since I was a child.

And in 2016 we went for Ecuador, the Amazon and Galapagos.

As all 19 islands are of volcanic origin, every island is different and many of their inhabitants are endemic to just that island. Harsh nature, but life thrives.

Among cacti and volcanic ground, birds and plants can live their lives without human interference. As a child I thought this must be a true Paradise.

In fact it is. Here you come close to nature and the animals, because they are not afraid of humans – they have no reason to be.

You can watch them hunt…like this Yellow -crowned night heron,

and fight – be it the giant land iguanas (stay clear here!)…

or the graceful Swallow-tailed Gulls.

Red-footed Boobies

The birds also allow you to watch them building their nests. I was 10 centimeters from the Red-footed Boobies – and they just kept courting and building without minding me.

The Marine Iguanas displayed their grandest costumes while sunbathing…

…and even let you get close-ups while lying on the ground, contemplating life.

It is the co-existing human – nature that fascinates me. It could be so easy…but we humans make it so difficult…

Why not walk the endless beaches together? There is room for us, if we only let there be…

If we are respectful,

Galapagos 3 and 4 407-2

and stay 2 meters away (the limit here on the islands),

then the animals might even come up to you. We are all curious creatures if we have nothing to fear. One of Nature’s little wonders – my favorite..

…the simple beauty of a Mockingbird

So, if you tread lightly and show respect…

we can live together, love together, and let Mother Nature thrive.

I will always love these islands – where Nature rules, and man is only a grateful guest.

Thank you to Patti for this wonderful challenge – and for the chance to present my view of Paradise.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Crawl

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Crawl

For Dutch Goes the Photo this Tuesday – Crawl! I thought I had no photos of crawling creatures…but found these. I was looking for a snake shot of a Swedish viper. But No, did not find it…I hope a Galapagos Land Iguana is OK – at least when it is eating from a cactus. And the Swedish variety is a nice little spring frog.

And I could not refrain from giving you this human crawl as well…spotted in Switzerland some years ago…Enjoy!

 

Lens-Artists Challenge #32 – Shadows

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In the header, the grand Aqueduct of Segovia, Spain. A picture where you cannot ignore the importance of shadows. For Tina’s challenge this week – Shadows.

Shadow owes its birth to light.
John Gay

Even the tiniest creature/ thing displays a delicate shadow when there is light enough

And as you move, your shadow moves with you…

In the late evening… the shadows make us a delightful pair – the cherry tree and me

The fence, in Riga, Latvia – one of my favorite pictures ever

Some flowers look their best in the shadows of other flowers in my garden

The golden browns of the dunes become enhanced by the shadows

…and the trees provide soothing shadow while they thrive and reach for the light

Thank you to Tina for a lovely challenge, and a homage to the importance of shadows.

 

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.

Junichiro Tanizaki

 

 

 

 

Friendly Friday – Comfort Zone

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The Snow Melts Somewhere

This week the prompt is about staying in your comfort zone – or not. The easiest thing is of course to stay there, but…nowadays we often hear we have to come out of it – because it is good for us. But is it… always?

My comfort zone is nature: in the forest, among meadows of flowers, in the mountains – and preferably alone. Or with my dogs.

Stepping out of my comfort zone is to ask people for a photo, a close-up – but I very seldom do. I am still not good at it – and do I really want to become good at it? I admire people who do street photography and get people to pose for them. But…maybe that is not for me.

I do like people who look cool though…

And, I never do selfies – that is to leave my comfort zone completely. This is not a selfie – my husband and his camera were sitting opposite me and Totti in the boat…

Only once have I asked someone to take a photo with me and another person. That was last year, when I met the world’s oldest blogger, Dagny (106 years old).

Finally – the biggest step out of my natural comfort zone, was when I decided to become a teacher. Everyday standing in front of hundreds of students and colleagues, speaking, writing, communicating. That really went against all my intuition and common sense. But I came to love it. So, I came out of my comfort zone to grow, test my capability and learn for life. But please let me escape selfies…

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #31: Landscapes

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The challenge from Amy this week is Landscapes. And I must agree with her, searching the archives for landscapes I have traveled through brought back many fond memories. I also got reminded of my love for two English painters, namely John Constable and William Turner. Constable a naturalistic painter and Turner a Romantic – they merge into the kind of art I love the most. So, let me start with a photographic painting from the winter where I live in the southern part of Sweden. And then, some different Swedish landscapes.

”The landscape you grow up in speaks to you in a way that nowhere else does.”

Molly Parker

Detta bildspel kräver JavaScript.

If we go abroad, the landscapes of course change for every country. Here are some of my favorites, starting with the Alps of Switzerland.

Endless, lonely beaches in Latvia

…and in Iceland. More Icelandic landscapes are here and here. More? Here and here!

Early morning dunes in Morocco – so different from the warm yellows of the evening sun!

This view from a kapok tree in the Amazon basin is one of my loveliest memories ever

The unforgettable, strange landscapes of the Galapagos Islands. The impressive, 5-40 ft, endemic Opuntia cactus is common, but

– every island is different…

Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers of New Zealand display extremely impressive landscapes

Back in Europe again, and the lush, rural landscapes of Bastán, Spain

A spectacular landscape hidden somewhere in the Pyrenees, Spain

And finally, China, along the Yangtze river…

… and the vast landscape of the Tibetan Plateau – shot through a train window. We traveled on the highest built railroad in the world, and the only train running on the permafrost.

 

Thank you, Amy, for this opportunity to revisit some favorite landscapes! I quote Charles Lindbergh: ”Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.”

Thank you for visiting, and welcome to join in the challenge! Also, be sure to tune in for Tina’s challenge next week, February 9!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Revisited

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Amanda asks us to revisit this Friendly Friday, and I have chosen Iceland. We have visited several times, and never tire of this magical saga country. This summer we are going back again, to the western part of Iceland, and to revisit Vestmannaeyar.

Seljalandsfoss 2006 – in the header, 2016 and winter.

Gullfoss winter 2016 and summer 2006.

And the mesmerizing lava fields, 2006, just have to have it again!

Thank you, Amanda, for a chance to remember and revisit!

 

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Rose

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Tuesday Photo Challenge – Rose

The rose has got an advantage over many flowers…it looks good even when it is fading.

 

And I love them in any colour. But orange might be my favorite. For Dutch Goes the Photo.

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #30 – Unexpected

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Unexpected – unexpected what? Now, that is up to you!

Did something totally unexpected happen today? Did you meet someone unexpected at the grocery store, or did you find something in an unexpected place …or, maybe You are up to something unexpected?

My post hopefully will contain something you would not expect from me!

Our son is a good photographer and a graphic designer – I borrowed his fish-eye lens for a couple of days… just for fun, and the opportunity to illustrate how it is to live in My bubble. Because I do live in some kind of bubble, where I try to create a positive life surrounding me and my family. I find it rather necessary in this world!

Hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my own transparent bubble – and then – I am looking forward to seeing Your interpretation of Unexpected!

When I am not traveling or hiking, much of my time is spent at home. Among everything else, I try to take care of my husband, my old parents and my two dogs.

My house is not that big – but… bigger than a Hobbiton house anyway!

It contains mostly flowers – many of them orchids – and memories…

…from travels, my children and my own childhood

Let’s step into my everyday life…

 

…where I spend most of my time!

In the kitchen I spend a lot of time
Doing the traditional chores
the boring ones as well…

A soft place where to rest quietly – maybe listening to music – is necessary. And there has to be much light.

My working area is indeed something for Marie Kondo…but they say a tidy and empty place reveals how you look inside too…

My space for work, fun, correspondence – and memories…

…this is the crew on our Galapagos ship – still smiling at me!

But soon it is time for a dog walk again! (At least three times a day, so I don’t have to worry about fitness training…) I wonder who is the happiest creature about that?

I hope you enjoyed these bubbles – at least I had great fun!

 

Have you seen these from Patti’s Challenge ”Cityscapes”? Thank you for joining in with so many amazing entries – I had difficulties in picking out just a few!

Laura at poetrypix gives us a London feeling

Click this, TAPG – a marvelous view of Tokyo

Bulldog, Moody winds from Chicago

 

 

Friendly Friday: Coralish

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Coralish for Friendly Friday – I looked up the pantone site, and …well, I don’t have much in that colour either. Here are my suggestions,  somewhere near I hope!

In the header, the Dragon of Bhutan’s Druk Air.

A rose…

…and my garden poppies