A massive thank you to Steve for guest hosting the Lens-Artists Challenge this week. Please visit Steve’s brilliant site where you can find his best ever photos and so much more. I find his photography both unique and impressive, and extremely inspiring. We look forward to seeing your choices. Please remember to link to Steve’s original here and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you.

Well, I honestly cannot choose ”best ever” photos from my own archives, so I guess if you asked me next month, they would not be the same. The best I can do (!) is to choose some of my own favourites that I love, and try to tell you why. I am a very emotional person, so, first of all they must touch my heart.

Easy criteria would be prize-winning photos – as this one. But, this is the only picture that I have ever entered into a competition – and in fact – won. It was about very special trees in our life, and this old beech tree that stands in ”my forest” was not already in the book of trees. So, I was the one who filed it in the national site for old trees. I walk past it often and I report if anything has happened to it – like a storm making old branches fall. I do love it.

About the photo: Autumn is the most beautiful time up here, and as this beech is very big, I could see the smaller trees behind it from an interesting angle. Irresistible opportunity.

This caravan spotted in Morocco several years ago was exotic to me at that moment, but what more makes the photo one of my favourites are the lovely memories of that trip and everything about it. The food, the people, the desert itself and its animals.

About the photo: Sheer luck to be in the right place at the right time. This also goes for the next one.

How can I not choose this big yawn? I love cheetahs and had the camera ready when this happened – not a perfect shot, but such a beautiful animal and a fun surprise!

Greenland offered an abundance of spectacular moments and I came back with thousands of photos. The midnight sun among the icebergs was an unforgettable experience, and picking only one photo has been almost impossible. Finally I decided for this special iceberg, not because it is the best photo, but because it took me awhile to figure out that the brownish part on top of the ice must come from a frozen kayak that probably once was lost on the glacier. When? Amazing.

About the photo: I had seen this iceberg when we headed out in the late evening, and kept thinking about it the whole trip. Finally I took some photos because of its mysterious and intriguing history.

Finally, posted a couple of times – but still a favourite – is this family in Bhutan, sitting on the stone wall, looking at a cell phone. I am not sure who is the most fascinated one here, but clearly the thing was not new to them.

About the photo: I seldom take photos of people, but this family was so preoccupied by the phone, that I clicked without asking…

Last week, Egídio asked us for over-the-top photos, and I loved them all. It was great to see such variety and thinking outside the box. We hope you’ll join us next week when Ritva leads us once again. Until then, as always please stay safe, be kind and enjoy the adventure.