LENS-ARTISTS

Lens-Artists Challenge #194- Bokeh

/ Leya / 90 kommentarer

Sofia’s Bokeh – an amazing theme. Go to her lovely site for more inspiration!

As Nature is my greatest source for photography, achieving a fine bokeh is always one of my aims. It makes the viewer rest in the image, rest in the harmony and magic of nature. Bokeh images also convey something of my own feelings in that very moment. I do agree with Sofia – it is the feeling that does it.

I will try to explain some of the ways and situations where I’m aiming for bokeh. Most of these photos were made with a tele lens, but for focusing on small details I use a macro lens. Aperture priority.

I love focusing on one object or more in the foreground. Concentrating on a spot with a special light.

In close-up or macros of flowers and their inhabitants – or guests – I want the background to be totally soft, almost non-existent.

In real macros, maybe there is only one detail in focus, which means almost the whole picture is blurred.

This image is a favourite, with one of my most loved tulips as the main subject. The use of strong colours and contrast adds to the special impression. The only thing I would like to change in this image is the placing of the tulip – it should have grown from the left hand side…but the image needed the leaves to come alive, so, I had to accept the way nature wanted it!

Another variety for bokeh is the harmony of colours in almost the same hue, paired/contrasted with interesting and different structures. What is your impression – is this image soft or rough?

According to Sofia, many people see this kind of background as the essence of Bokeh. Late evening light adds to a lovely, speckled bokeh, and I had to go back to this stellar magnolia from some years ago, because last year it froze after one day, and this year it did not even unfold – black buds only…

If you stick your camera right into the greenery – the image gets blurred in front and at the back, but it is also a favourite way to get nice surprices!

Yet another possibility to use bokeh is the way we can create mini landscapes and mini worlds. Is this a small world or is it the big one? What about the ”clouds”?

Finally – who doesn’t love droplets, large or small?

Thank you, Sofia, for inviting us this week to primarily think of out-of-focus areas on our photos. ”Are they an important component of your shot? What is bokeh for you and how do you achieve it?” We are looking forward to seeing your softly blurred areas and their story.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful celebrations with us last week. If you join us for this challenge, please link to Sofia’s post and tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you. More information on the Lens-Artists Challenges here.

Lens-Artists Challenge #193 – Birthdays

/ Leya / 61 kommentarer

For this week’s challenge, John wants us to show what is special to us about birthdays. This was a difficult one for me – because the happiest birthdays were of course the childhood ones. Today, as for many people here in Sweden, family birthday gatherings only include food and cake, maybe a small present.

Birthdays for me now, means meeting up with good friends for some nice food, a chat and a visit to some new exhibition. No celebrating really. Then I came to think of my 60th birthday, a birthday that I spent without my family (the only one so far!) – instead I went to Poland for The Light Move Festival with my blogging friend Viveka (My Guilty Pleasures). Of course that is one of my most special birthdays! I posted on it in 2017, and when I go back to read those posts again, I keep smiling at the joyful and relaxed time we spent in Łódź – a city unknown to me before, but a huge positive surprise! So much great art, architecture, friendly people, gorgeous food and of course – the best company – Viveka.

– I hope you will enjoy those days in Łódź too, through some of my shimmering memories in this gallery! You might even find Viveka there somewhere…

I had to finish with the beautiful Jewish graveyard, where we spent hours walking in silence, contemplating. Alone together. Both of us love walking in those abandoned graveyards – so much history, sadness, silence and beauty.

Yes, we had a great time, Vivi and I – and we often talk about those days when we meet up. A wonderful trip…that would be the kind of birthday to have more often …

Sincere thanks to John for the opportunity to reminisce about our special events. Whatever event you choose to feature, please remember to link your response to John’s original here, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag. Thanks also to Amy for last week’s Earth Story challenge. She is worth celebrating and taking extra care of – and you helped to show a marvelous display of Mother Earth’s many gifts – and her vulnerability.

As always, we thank you for joining us and hope you’ll be with us again next week, when Sofia leads our challenge. Until then, please stay safe and be kind.

Interested in joining Lens-Artists? Click here for more information

Lens-Artists Challenge #192 – Earth Story

/ Leya / 64 kommentarer

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.
― Mahatma Gandhi

Earth Story. This week, we hope you will join us in sharing earth stories through your lens. As we share the natural world, we hope to share our understanding of planet Earth and the glory of her magic. Amy made me decide to celebrate Arbor Day, April 29, and in fact I think I celebrate it every day.

Let us start with an image of sky, mountains, water and trees – Earth seen from above.

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
― John Muir

And as we fly downwards, under the canopy, to the forest floor – we will find the tiniest creatures that need you to lie down on the ground to meet them. Their little world is filled with a special kind of magic.

Trees have beautiful souls and science has proved they can communicate and help each other when in trouble. They can even ”walk” some centimeters.

When trees age, they stay beautiful. This oak tree in Blekinge, Sweden, is about 300 years old.

It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.
― Rainer Maria Rilke

Trees bring us spring in soft showers…

…where some are as short lived as the shimmering magnolia beauties.
Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.
― Khalil Gibran

Some trees are famous because of the way they grow, and because they have appeared in popular movies.

This old beech tree is one of my best friends. I talk to him every week and rest quietly in his shadow.

Silent autumn moments are healing.
Winter trees bring a lasting serenity that I never tire of.
I often contemplate the bare trees and their reflections in the water. Calm and quiet moments. Not many animals are to be seen during this season. But trees are home to many creatures…
We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
― David Brower

… and some live in them their whole lives. They eat, play, mate and raise their young.
What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?
― Henry David Thoreau

Finally, without trees the world would not exist. We are all dependent on them. Everywhere in art we find trees as well, and many of us have special ties to certain trees, or remember special trees from our childhood. So, treasure them and protect them, plant seedlings and make the forest and your garden grow!

The earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.
― Pope John Paul II

Thank you for last week’s many curves from you! I must admit there were curves I had never even thought about – creative! Next week, John (Journeys with Johnbo) will host LAPC #193, and we should be thinking about what is special to us regarding birthdays or anniversaries… Be sure to visit John’s site for more!

Lens-Artists Challenge #191 – Curves

/ Leya / 233 kommentarer

Magic lives in curves, not angles. – Mason Cooley

On a visit to Gothenburg last week, I was mesmerized by some intriguing curves, in nature and at a museum…so, this week, I thought we would find more examples of curves: funny, beautiful, unusual – roads, paths, art, architecture, animals, plants – anything that interests you. Because, curves are everywhere around us. In nature almost everything is – curves.

You will find them in small stones under your feet…

In water…

In trees…

Under and below the trees…

Sometimes they are a bit scary…

But mostly friendly…

Curves exist in every little creature on Earth…

In roads and manmade things too, like in this agricultural landscape.


Last weekend I found great curves in something called a Treillage – at Gunnebo there is a really big one – 7 meters high. There are three reconstructed ones in modern times (they were common in 1500-1800), and those are to be found at Hampton Court in England, Het Loo in Holland and Versailles in France. The trellis forms a kind of link between nature and architecture, and over time, the growing trees at its sides will form a bower.

Finally, in the opener is my favourite curve, a koru. And, I will close the circle of this ”curvy”post with an orb of a spider’s web in my garden.

In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Many thanks to Patti for the great Close and Closer challenge that gave us such a variety of interesting entries – thank you all for the treats!

We are now looking forward to seeing YOUR curves… pun intended! Be sure to link your responses to my original post, and to use the Lens-Artists Tag to help us find you. Next week, Amy will be our host – until then, please stay safe and be kind.

If you would like to participate in our weekly Lens-Artists Challenge, we have easy to follow instructions. Just click this link and join us: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/

Lens-Artists Challenge #190- Close and Closer

/ Leya / 47 kommentarer

I wanted [photography] to be more than a document, to be something that is as close as you could possibly be to the subject. – Chris Killip

A famous quote from Robert Capa goes: If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough. And
surely you win some things by getting closer – but at the same time you lose things too… For LAPC #190, Patti’s challenge is about moving closer to your subject. Post one photo or a series of photos showing what happened when you got closer to your subject!

So, get closer by moving your feet, by using a zoom or macro lens, or by cropping the photo. In my images I have zoomed in or cropped – no macro lens in these.

My inspiration was an interesting design museum in Gothenburg, which made our stay last weekend really worth while. The museum grew from a family with deep interest in oriental art into a versatile collection. We spent some hours enjoying and learning some really new things to us.

A netsuke is an artistically carved button-like toggle that was used to fasten cases for medicine and tobacco onto the belt of a kimono. From originally having been a simple piece of wood, the designs, motifs and materials changed and developed over the centuries. Ivory and wood, but also metal, horn and porcelain was used by the skilled artists.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. – Frank Lloyd Wright

The motifs are from Japanese and Chinese mythology, and from the plant and animal worlds. Clearly it wasn’t enough with overall pictures – you had to get closer. An average sized netsuke is not bigger than 2-4 cm. The details are exquisite.

The word ”netsuke” means ”root to hang from”. Notice the opener with a snake in the pumpkin (?).

One of the rooms contained beautiful tapestries – this one from our famous Swedish artist, Märta Måås Fjetterström.

Her Swedish forest is a gem – and if you crop the image you will get either the canopy in cooler colours, or the forest floor in golden light. I find them all beautiful. Three artworks in one! Not all art will tolerate a good cropping, but this one does.

Finally, a hydrangea in winter costume – I had to have a flower too of course… The soft colours and the close-up make the skeleton petals a special treat.

Thank you, Patti, for helping us discover new things in our images! Do visit her site for more inspiration!

A special thanks to Tina for encouraging us to post our wonderful, odd, and eclectic photos. Next week, it’s my turn to inspire, so hopefully we will soon meet again!

Lens-Artists Challenge #189 – Odds and Ends

/ Leya / 52 kommentarer

We are always curious, always inquisitive, always picking up odds and ends for our patchwork minds, since there is no knowing when and where they may fit into some corner.

Charles Dickens

Well, now Tina provided us with that corner, and here are my offerings…

This weekend we went to Gothenburg for a break as the weather these last few days have been bright and sunny. When walking home to our hotel after dinner, we found a door opener in the wall…but no door. I pressed it twice to see if there maybe was a secret door somewhere…but sadly, no. Maybe I would have needed some secret code. I don’t know why there was a cigarette on top of it either. But I love a good mystery now and then!
”There is a crack in everything –
that’s how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen

This Cohen quote is one of my own favourites, and I loved it for this crack in a building in Lodz, Poland. It was the last warm rays of sun (October), and this beautiful Peacock butterfly used the light and the protecting walls of the crack to make it through another day.

A street market in Madrid, and one of my students spotted these – I had never seen anything like it before. Angelica just had to touch it to understand the structure.

I don’t remember how this happened, but I remember the feeling I had on turning around in the queue – I thought it was a real baby sticking out of that bag.

My opener/header is one of my absolute favourites – and I believe I found him too in Spain.

Last week we visited many special places when Karina was our Guest Host, and what wondrous places there were! This week is all about odds and ends and I’m looking forward to all the possibly also whimsical things you’ll show us. Make sure you link to Tina’s incredible post and also tag Lens-Artists so we can easily find you.

Want to know more about Lens-Artists Challenges and how to join us? Click here!

Lens-Artists Challenge #188 – A Special Place

/ Leya / 76 kommentarer

Karina of Murtaghs Meadow is our lovely guest host this week, and she wants us to show something of our special place. She writes: ”Many of us have a special place; maybe it is a place you like to escape to when you need a break from the ups and downs of the everyday; or it may be just a place you enjoy spending time. Your special place may be a certain room in your house, it may be a place you like to visit, or it may be a building such as a library, museum, or church.”

Today I chose my own room – left to me when my daughter, Emma, moved out. I have all my hobby materials here, and the window is facing south, so it is always sunny and warm. A welcoming space!

More than me love this room, and last week we had Milo’s girlfriend, Esther, here. Both sweeties kept me company every day when they had got tired of playing outdoors. Reading was not easy though…as the young lady liked to sprawl her longlegged body all over my chair. I had to put a blanket there.

In this chair, I do my knitting and crocheting too, so that had to be paused for some days… I also keep my dried and pressed plants in this room , ready to be put into frames or fit into a card or a book.

The light makes it perfect for my scribbling, painting and doodling as well, as I try to find the old me again with watercolours, pencils and pens. In the yellow box to the right, new little plants find this sunny spot a nice place to start life, or restart it. I think we somehow share this feeling…

Finally, special thanks to Anne Sandler for her Water challenge. We all love water, and your variety of beautiful photographs and posts made the importance of water really shine!

We hope you will join us this week, and we look forward to seeing what makes a place special for you. Get inspired by visiting Karinas post from beautiful Ireland, and link to her original post with the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you.

Next week, Tina will lead LAPC #189, on the subject ”Odds and Ends”.

Lens-Artists Challenge #187 – Water

/ Leya / 64 kommentarer

We welcome Anne as our host this week! She has chosen Water – we cannot exist without water, and we admire its beauty and love the many ways we can interact with it. I am sending some water thoughts from a rainy Sweden. Water, water everywhere…

Roni Horn is the creator of the Library of Water (Iceland) in the opener.

Water is the driving force of all nature. – Leonardo da Vinci

I am merely an insignificant creature on a microscopic blue dot in the vastness of space.

– Abhijit Naskar

I always welcome this feeling, it gives me a refreshing insight and reminder of my place in this world. The endless sea is there to show me.

The sound of water is worth more than all the poets’ words.

– Octavio Paz

Because no matter who we are or where we come from, we’re all entitled to the basic human rights of clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and healthy land to call home.

– Martin Luther King III

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.

-Lao Tzu

We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea … and you don’t believe in miracles? – Unknown

I always reflect upon life while walking in nature, I guess many of us do. A Miracle, yes, she is, Mother Earth and everything living on her. I am grateful to be here for a short second.

Yesterday I learned how to make droplets out of my images…so, from my garden I am sending my dewy autumn aster and some clear droplets for you to reflect upon too.

” Within a single drop of water, an astrologically large number “sextrillion or 1.67 x1021” of molecules exists. The size of the tiny water molecule is approximately 0.275 nanometers or 2.75 Angstrom (x 10-10m). Water is the most abundant substance on earth.”

Finally, a favourite image from the Galápagos Islands. My dream of endless, warm water with an abundance of life!

Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth… these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security and women’s empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.

– Ban Ki-moon

Please show us your thoughts and images of water. Go through your archives and retrieve some memories or make new photographs this week. We’re looking forward to seeing your images. Please remember to use the Lens-Artists tag and link to Anne’s original post.

Thank you for participating in Sophia’s beautiful challenge of “Low Light” last week. Next week we are pleased to have Karina of Murtagh’s Meadow as our guest host. I wonder what she has in store for us…

If you would like to participate in our weekly Lens-Artists Challenge, we have easy to follow instructions. Just click this link and join us:

https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/about-lens-artists/

Lens-Artists Challenge #186 – Low-Light

/ Leya / 69 kommentarer

This week we welcome Sofia and her delightful theme ”Low-Light”. Sofia says: ”For me, any circumstance where there is less light than the normal daytime is low-light as it requires different settings to take a good photo.”

I have chosen some of my all time favourites. In the header though, a new image from our recent visit to an old health resort, Lundsbrunn. It shows one of the great photo opportunities with low-light – long shadows.

A late evening walk at our summer house can be magical – in the right light.

On the west coast of Spain, just before sunset, I had one of my most magical low-light moments. I had to do some post processing in Lightroom and Photoshop to bring out the structures from the dark cliffs.

My cactus flowers are about 20-25 cm and the flower lasts only for about an hour, night time. They were photographed with my cell phone, and I used a small flash light to make it all possible. I knew when the flower would start to unfold, and by then I must have tried out how to use the light.

Sitting in a canoe, in the Amazon, I faced great difficulties because of the thick darkness. I was not happy about many of those night photos, but some of them managed to catch the magic –

– at least for me to remember the adventure by. I can still hear the sounds and the silence…just by looking at the images. So, don’t be afraid of blurred images – they too have a story to tell!

Of course I have to have something from Iceland here too. Iceland is all about the light. This image is from the south coast, a late winter evening – and the roaring sea. Velvety browns and the black sand beach showing off its diamonds.

Lastly, I will give you a glimpse of our Swedish watercolour master, Lars Lerin. The light in his paintings is incredible. Many of his paintings are from places in low light, Lofoten in winter for example. I believe we can learn not only from other photographers, but also from our painters, artists, how they picture light, and light when there is almost none.

This week we are inviting you to share your experiences with Low-Light photography. Do you have any special tricks to share? Please link your views to Sofia’s original post and use the Lens-Artists tag so we can find you.

Thanks also to John for last week’s Change challenge, and for your many creative and interesting responses. We look forward to seeing your Low Light images this week and to your joining us next week when Anne leads our challenge, be sure to visit her wonderful site.

Lens-Artists Challenge #185 – Change

/ Leya / 62 kommentarer

Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

– Albert Schweitzer

This week, we’re delighted to welcome John Steiner as a new member of our Lens-Artists team. For his topic, he asks us an interesting question: What does change mean to you? John has some clever answers worth visiting!

The opener shows the change we all are waiting for now – at least here in the northern hemisphere. But it will not arrive for another two months…

Change is inevitable, and I believe Charles Darwin says it best: ”It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who will best manage change.” But survival comes at a hard cost too. I have chosen changes from my own life. A mixed bag of joy and sorrow – Life is.

I love photography, even though it sometimes has to rest for a while – now much due to covid times… This photo is from a dam close by, always an autumn hiking treat. With different possibilities in computer programs, you can play around and get almost any change you want. Photosketcher used here. It is nice when you are in control yourself, isn’t it?

My hiking interest is huge – I have to visit the forest every day for dogwalks and fresh air that will keep me breathing and happy. Some favourite paths are gone, but other areas have become new favourites, and new trees will be planted where the old ones once stood.

In the autumn 2020 we finally decided for a glass house. The old stump from the big birch tree had to go – and make room for so many other plants. I have never regretted building the glass house, because all my special plants will easier survive winter. (And you might get some nice pictures of them too…)

Lastly, some changes are not wished for at all, but belongs to our closest circle of life. I lost my dear mother in 2020, and I lost sweet Totti. Little Milo has now grown up to be my handsome number 1 companion.

Many thanks to Amy for her ”Travels Have Taught Me” challenge, where we learned a great deal from your travel lessons! Next week, we’ll be looking forward to Sofia Alves’ challenge topic. Be sure to visit her beautiful blog!