Nature

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #15: Change and/or Changeable

/ Leya / 43 kommentarer

There is nothing permanent except change

Heraclitus

This week Amy is hosting our challenge, and she lets us all have the opportunity to change the world…or the world in photos at least!

As summer is changing into autumn, so the colours here in Sweden change our perception of nature. I love autumn for its earthy scent and for its colours – only lasting for a few days, but what beautiful days!

My walks in the foggy mornings at Hammarmölledamm (a pond in our forest) this week, showed the area in a new mood every day. Fog and mist too are great changers.

Changing the original picture into something like a painting is easily done with different software, and great fun. Here is a water colour…

…and here is an abstract version. For both pictures I have used FotoSketcher. Which one do you like most? And how much does the framing mean to the picture – and to you?

Thank you, Amy, for the opportunity to Change!

 

CFFC: Things People Grow

/ Leya / 24 kommentarer

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things People Grow

Flowers and plants

in greenhouses and pots

Grapes

Fruit and vegetables

Rare orchids…

and beards…

CFFC: Pastel Colours

/ Leya / 20 kommentarer

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Pastel Colors

Pastel? I did not know I had any possible photos here…

…but I found some summer flowers

a fancy dress

a Moroccan yarn dying and drying

and my frozen beauties!

 

 

Lens Artists Challenge #12: Path

/ Leya / 49 kommentarer

Our host this week, Tina,  asks us to send paths her way. I have chosen some of my favorite paths walked in Sweden, the Azores and Switzerland. They all live in my memories and thoughts – because they still have something to tell me…every season of the year. And tomorrow, we celebrate the autumnal equinox.

“True morality consists not in following the beaten track, but in finding the true path for ourselves, and fearlessly following it.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

“A beautiful path does not need to invite people; the beauty itself is already an open invitation!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

”I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.”
– Rosalia de Castro

“The path of light is the quest for knowledge.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“A path well traveled may still yield secrets that only one person may discover.”
― Anthony T. Hincks

”If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads”.
– Anatole France

“A beautiful mind is like a beautiful path! The more you travel with it, the more you find peace and happiness!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
― Gautama Buddha

 

 

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #11: Small is Beautiful

/ Leya / 37 kommentarer

”Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly, ”one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower.”

Hans Christian Anderson

For Amy and the Lens-Artists Challenge, I have chosen a series of small beauties from a trip to the Pyrenées in 2011.

A hidden valley that has kept its biodiversity almost intact –

– and is renowned for its variety of butterflies

A couple of days hiking this valley, and I felt harmony restored

Serenity

And …

… I even managed to capture a Hummingbird Hawk moth – what joy!

CFFC: Reds

/ Leya / 22 kommentarer

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Red

There are so many kinds of reds…

…but my favorite ones are always natural

Of course the Swedish Falu red (made from copper) house is a must, and so is Christmas red! Wishing you all a lovely week!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #7: Everyday Moments

/ Leya / 56 kommentarer

Everyday moments – maybe it is easy to forget how important they are, because (I) we seldom succeed in living as mindful as we should… Thank you, Amy, for the opportunity of highlighting some of those precious moments.

Everyday I have to care for my best friends, Totti and Milo. Following their lives is a gift.

Even if I see to their daily needs, sometimes a professional grooming is necessary – especially if you want to win next competition!

Not yet….are they best friends, but it is coming. Milo is slowly learning what he can do… or not…Totti has an angel’s patience – he is really too kind and considerate for his own good.

So, I try to walk Totti alone, just him and me, once a day. Picking berries, finding wild animals – and apple trees – in the forest and meadows.

Some days we go to our summer house, or just to the sea, to relax, and only – exist…

…which is so important…Life is short – someone will soon grow out of those sandals.

Taking a boat to one of the small islands in the archipelago is always a treat.

Driving home to our ordinary house again, the farmers are usually busy in the fields, but this year there is not much left to harvest. The drought has taken its toll.

Every month – not every day – we usually visit some interesting exhibitions. It could be about almost anything. Here a fashion and theater theme by designer Camilla Thulin.

This summer there was no rain – but all the other summers there usually are everyday moments with umbrellas!

During summer, spring or autumn – or all of them – we sometimes get a bit tired of everyday life, and decide to hop on the train/ferry to our neighbor country, Denmark.

Somehow I love train stations…

…and ferries. Some guys are very, very tired of the everyday thing…but there is always room for a ferry feet stretching!

Strolling the streets of Copenhagen is always a treat. To us, Denmark means good food, fantastic exhibitions, lovely people and yellow houses with cosy corners!

To see how others interpreted the challenge, visit our Lens-Artists reader section, or click on Amy’s challenge here.

 

 

 

 

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!