LENS-ARTISTS

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Soft

/ Leya / 31 kommentarer

This week, Tina is our host, and she challenges us to show an interpretation of SOFT.

” Is it something as simple as a puppy’s fur, or as personal as your favorite quilt or sweater? Maybe it’s the soft light of dawn or the whisper of a soft breeze through the trees. Let us know in your response what SOFT means to you.”

Tina’s beautiful series of animals leaves us with a soft whisper from nature – and she inspired me to contribute with some softness from northern Sweden and Norway, where I spent some days last week.

In the header, a lovely little bridge by the road in Lofoten. I stopped to take a photo, but, as I was parking the car, the fog had smoothly settled between the mountains – and totally changed the scenery. Now the landscape was swept in a soft, cool blanket, and my photo created a totally different, but maybe more interesting feeling.

The other shots are from Lapland, Sweden, where we were welcomed back by the softest carpet of white cotton-grass and common cotton-grass.

In Northern Europe, for hundreds of years cotton-grass was used as a substitute in the production of paper,  candle-wicks, and wound-dressings. And used as filling, they made the softest of pillows.

Do you have cotton-grass in your country as well? Do you know what it was used for in the old days – or maybe still is?

 

For more information on how to participate in the Lens-Artists photo challenge, click here. And – be sure to tune in for Patti’s challenge next week on Pilotfish!

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Time to Relax

/ Leya / 33 kommentarer

This week’s host for the photo challenge is Amy : ”Show us your favorite ‘time to relax’ activity, place, or moment.  It can be in any season, month, week, or day. :)”

 

Relax is  something we all try to do – and need to do. Sometimes they are hard to get by, those moments…but sooner or later you will learn what works for just you.

I find it very relaxing to walk along the paths of graveyards – especially really old ones. Père Lachaise in Paris, Highgate cemetery in London and the old Jewish burial places in Poland are my favorites.

At home, this place is an unmistakable relaxing spot – with or without Totti!

Summertime, I love to walk out here in the evenings to enjoy the sunset.

My flowers, pot plants, orchids – all of them need their daily attendance. They give me a very relaxing hour every morning.

No shop can compete with bookshops for my attention as well as relaxation. Libraries also offer instant harmony.

But lastly – my infallible remedy against stress and pro relaxation of mind and body – is a walk in the lush green of the forest.

If you missed Amy’s challenge for this week, click here.  For more information on how to participate in the Lens-Artists photo challenge, click here. And last but not least, remember to tune in to Tina of Travelsandtrifles next week for our next photo challenge!

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Cooling

/ Leya / 153 kommentarer

Cooling

Here in Scandinavia – and several other European countries – we have endured a more than two months’ long heat wave, with temperatures exceeding everything since measurements started in Sweden hundreds of years ago. To function – cooling is essential.

One of my fondest memories of cooling is from 2015, when we were hiking the spectacular Verzasca Valley in Tessin, Switzerland. After some tough hours on foot, the temperature hit 34 degrees C – and we felt an urgent need to cool down. Fast cooling was offered with a swim in the 14 degrees C glacier water of the Verzasca river.

How would you capture cooling in a photograph? Is it an image like this one, showing a much-needed, cooling swim? Or is it maybe a giant ice-cream on the beach, or a dog in a bucket of water in your back yard? Show us your interpretation in a new post.

 

Here are the guidelines:

  • Lens-Artists Photo Challenges are published every Saturday at 12 noon EST by one of our moderators. Post your reply any time before the next challenge is announced.
  • Tag your post with lens-artists  so others can easily find it in the WordPress Reader.
  • Remember to create a link to this post.
  • Subscribe to all 4 moderator blogs to receive the challenge each week.

Week 1 – Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya of https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/

Week 3 – Amy of https://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/

Week 4 – Tina of https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/

 

We had so many great responses to our first photo challenge!

Have You Seen These?

Deborah found a really special wonder in the Perry Sandhills – Wentworth. See her entry here:

https://debbiewhittam.wordpress.com/2018/07/09/lens-artists-photo-challenge-wonder/

And Helen reminds us that ”Everything is a wonder, when we see through children’s eyes.” See her entry here:

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Wonder

 

Amy will be your host for the next challenge on Saturday, July 21.

Missed our initial challenge announcement? See details here.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Wonder

/ Leya / 55 kommentarer

A wonder – everything in creation is. And, in December 2016, I was fortunate enough to enjoy this tiny Wonder (it is the smallest seabird in the world) with my own eyes, swirling around our sailing ship in the Galápagos’ waters. It is an Elliot’s Storm-Petrel. I took hundreds of pictures of these birds…but only a few show clearly enough the bird’s amazing abilities – it walks, runs and stands on water while feeding. I could watch them for hours –

There are two subspecies, and this one is an endemic galapagoensis; ”Elliot” after the man who discovered the bird and “Petrel” refers to Saint Peter walking on water. ”Storm” was the part given to it by the sailors, who believed the birds were warning them about a storm coming their way.

The whole story of this Storm-Petrel is enigmatic…not only is it pelagic (lives at sea only), but despite a population estimated at many thousands – a nest has yet to be found.

The theme for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is Wonder.  We invite you to create a post that captures a moment, a feeling, a place, a person—which filled you with wonder.

For more information about Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – click the link!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come Join Us! A NEW Weekly Photo Challenge

/ Leya / 137 kommentarer

 

Do you miss sharing your creative ideas and photos each week in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge?  We do. That’s why we’re inviting you to join us for the new LENS – ARTISTS weekly photo challenge.  Our goal is to continue our creative community on WordPress.

Each Saturday at noon EST we will publish a photo challenge similar in form to the now-defunct WPC. If you choose to participate, please make sure to tag your post with the name of our group, LENS-ARTISTS, so that all of the responses can be found together in the WP Reader.  Please also include a link to the challenge moderator’s post.  One of our 4 moderators will host the challenge each week:

Week 1–Patti of https://pilotfishblog.com/

Be sure to subscribe to all 4 blogs to receive the weekly challenges.

Patti will post the first challenge on Saturday, July 7. 

 

Many of us who liked the WordPress photo challenge, wish to learn more and experiment with our photography, and many of us also love to travel and to see and share different angles of the world. Just to remind us of what we’re missing, here are three of my personal favorite photos from previous WPC Challenges.
Monochromatic, Scotland, September 2015 – The magnificent Kelpies are so big, that catching their expressions in the best light, from the best position, is a challenge in itself.
Curve, Sweden, Skåne, June 2016 – A simple and serene attempt with graceful curves. I have learned from many of you, that a photo often looks best when making it simple, not overdoing things.
Pedestrian, Poland, October 2017 – A problem to work on for many of us is photographing people. I try to improve my skills – and from the feedback I get, I am… but I need much more practice. Courage to talk to people – not to be afraid of asking. After all – you can only get ”Yes” or ”No”…

 

In the header: Temporary, Sweden, Skåne, November 2017.

We hope you’ll join us as we continue to support the wonderful community of creative sharing we all greatly value. We look forward to seeing you next week!