Lens Artists Photo Challenge #25 – Reflections

24 december, 2018 / Leya / 42 kommentarer

Patti’s challenge this week is Reflections – and I agree, it is a fascinating theme! New worlds. Worlds in worlds. Your eyes are meant to see, and sometimes they surprise you, they open your mind to dimensions you never dreamed of…

Buildings change faces…

Nature becomes glass art…

The street dips into the ocean…or the ocean rises to meet you…

Nature turns into yet another work of art…

In Switzerland I met my forever favorite – the Fluela Pass. When driving here earlier in the day, we saw nothing special. On returning home, in the afternoon, this reflection changed everything.

Lastly, reflections turning the whole world into a Monet painting…I can live with that…

Life would certainly be a bit more grey without reflections! Thank you, Patti, for letting us reflect on their importance. And thank you all who joined in! Lens-Artists last challenge this year, 2018, will be hosted by me, Ann-Christine. Hope to see you Saturday, December 29 – Merry Christmas!

Lens-Artists Challenge #24 – Seasonal

16 december, 2018 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Tina’s challenge this week is Seasonal – so I start off in the middle of winter, with snow. I am fortunate enough to live in a country with four seasons – and I want it to stay that way. Many poets and writers have beautifully expressed their feelings on seasons – enjoy:

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
– Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

”In summer, the song sings itself.”
– William Carlos Williams

”It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside”.
– Maud Hart Lovelace

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
– L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.”
[The Autumnal]”
– John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose

”Frost is the most sophisticated of poets.” – Peter Davison

”Winter is not a season, it’s a celebration.”
-Anamika Mishra

Thank you, Tina, for the opportunity to celebrate our seasons!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Challenge

14 december, 201813 december, 2018 / Leya / 24 kommentarer

Frank at Dutch Goes the Photo gives us the challenge: Challenge.

Well, this young man is my great challenge every day…and Totti’s…

…but now he is 7 months old and I believe he is coming along nicely. We train every day, and his school teachers tell him he is a smart and talented student. Next week will be the last meeting before Christmas, and then we will see if he shall pass the exam…

Photo for the Week – 21 – Trees

11 december, 2018 / Leya / 5 kommentarer

https://ryanphotography.uk/2018/12/10/photo-for-the-week-21-trees/

Bren, at Ryan photography, invites us to a tree treat this week – cannot miss out on that… Trees are so close to my heart.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #23: Celebration

8 december, 20189 december, 2018 / Leya / 26 kommentarer

This week it is Amy hosting our challenge, and of course she takes us to colourful and festive Peru! The festivities now in Sweden is for celebrating Christmas, and it looks a bit different to colourful Peru…but as my family attended a julbord today, I thought you might want to tag along!

No Swedish-style Christmas is complete without a julbord buffet. If you didn’t grow up with the julbord tradition it may appear to simply be a buffet of everyday foods, but the julbord (literally ”Christmas table”) is dear to many a Swede’s heart.

Normally, what appears on the julbord are several standard dishes, divided into three courses.

The first generally includes a variety of pickled herring and cured salmon, the second is bread, ham, liver pâté, red beet salad, and cheese, and the final course is comprised of the warm dishes with Janssons frestelse, dopp i grytan, meatballs, sausages, pork ribs, and cabbage.

Pork is a significant element here – the julskinka, or Christmas ham, plays a starring role despite the fact it didn’t become common on the julbord until the end of the 1800s.

The Janssons frestelse is a more modern addition too – because of the late arrival of the potato. The recipe wasn’t published until 1940 but the casserole made-up of julienned potatoes, sliced onions, anchovy fillets and cream is a well-loved favorite at Christmas as well as other festive occasions throughout the year. When our children grew up though, I had to use salmon instead. Today they both enjoy anchovy fillets.

Meatballs are another standard dish and everyone has their own family recipe. Swedish meatballs have become well-known with the world-wide phenomenon of Ikea. But generally speaking – nothing beats my grandmother’s recipe…

Another well loved tradition down here in southern Sweden, is to visit Copenhagen or Elsinore for the Christmas markets. We go every year – for the lights, the fun, the food. Next week – Copenhagen here we come!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #22: Happiness is…

1 december, 20182 december, 2018 / Leya / 165 kommentarer

True happiness is… to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

In March this year, we traveled to a long dreamed of country, Bhutan. I had read some books in advance, and knew the Bhutanese values and their use of GNH (Gross National Happiness) instead of GNP to measure prosperity. Values that went straight to my heart.

– But then, what Is Happiness?

Let’s start off with something really tangible – according to John Gunther, All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. And, I might agree…because what makes my mornings happy is a quiet room, a good newspaper (made of real paper…) and a cup of strong coffee with some warm scones.

So, this week’s Lens – Artists’ challenge is: Happiness is...and it is up to you to fill out that sentence! What is Happiness to you? It could be anything from a big ice-cream on a hot day to spending a glorious sunset with your loved one – or running barefoot in the rain.

If I try to pin down what Happiness really is to me – what makes me warm inside and my eyes shine… it might look something like this:

Happiness is…photographing of course, but also…

…enjoying the little wonders in our world

…traveling with my family – meeting other cultures and exciting new people

….forest walks with my dogs

…playful (or mischievous…), smiling young faces – and the sound of their laughter!

…writing with my smooth fountain pen (I am a pen-freak…)

…the coming of spring

I am really looking forward to your interpretations of what Happiness is… to You! The next challenge (#23) will be hosted by Amy – just returned from Peru – on Saturday, December 8. Welcome to join us!

DID YOU SEE THESE? Here are some interesting posts you don’t want to miss from Patti’s Splash challenge :

Anvica’s Gallery, where she is playing with a single drop of water.
Visit Janet for some beautifully lit splashes!
Visit an interesting garden with some very colourful splashes, with Manja

For more information on the Lens-Artists Photo Challenges, click here. Most importantly, remember to TAG your post ” Lens-Artists ” so it appears in the Reader.

And finally, thank you for participating in the fun – and I wish you all an inspiring and happy week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #21: Splash!

24 november, 201824 november, 2018 / Leya / 31 kommentarer

This week, Patti is hosting our challenge – and she has chosen an interesting subject – ”Splash!” for us to illustrate, and relate to. The essential Water. And in order to survive and live on this beautiful planet, we rely on water. (And oxygen…and…)

In the header, the photo shows the bathroom at Casa Battló in Barcelona. (Fake water…)

Memories from the Spanish west coast – a warm and glorious evening!

The sound of a River in Iceland, making its way to the cold winter sea.

Lofoten, Norway, is something otherworldly…

And down to the tiniest spot, we rely on water. To catch fish, drink, but also to play with – and in…Bring your mum if it looks too dangerous!

My students always had to go through several ”tests” when they first started college. One of them meant filling a tube with water, and to cooperate to stop the water from splashing through the holes in it. Using yourself only! And there were several holes drilled in it…. They almost always threw themselves into the game – After some minutes the leftover water was measured, and the winners were…:-D

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #20: Open Sesame – Doors and Doorways

17 november, 2018 / Leya / 38 kommentarer

Tina’s challenge this week is for us to find doors – and maybe to open them…or at least making you want to find out what is hidden behind them.

“Doors can lead you to other worlds, or to what is behind what is in front of you.”

Stephanie Torbert

I like that quote from Tina’s post, because I like word play, and my doors are simply a diverse gallery of some favorites from my travels. All of them works of art – natural or man made. In the header, the enigmatic doorway to Rila monastery in Bulgaria.

Bhutan

Tibet

The Moroccan desert – where the doors are the woven, striped and checked ”carpets” on the left hand side.

Spain

Latvia

Sweden

Please remember the Lens-Artists tag to be seen in our Reader section. For more information about our challenge click here. And don’t forget to join Patti for her challenge next week!

Tuesday Photo Challenge: Trio…

14 november, 2018 / Leya / 17 kommentarer

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Trio

For Dutch goes the Photo – maybe two heads are better than three…?

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #19: Magical Light

11 november, 201811 november, 2018 / Leya / 51 kommentarer

Magical Light – thank you, Amy, for a magical challenge! Hear a photographer’s voice:

I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.

Trent Parke

Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher.

William Wordsworth

A gray day provides the best light

Leonardo da Vinci

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light

Theodore Roethke

While we are alive we should sit among colored lights and taste good wines, and discuss our adventures in far places; when we are dead, the opportunity is past.

Jack Vance