Tag Archives: nature photography

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: All Wet

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“A normal lake is knowable. A Great Lake can hold all the mysteries of an ocean, and then some.”
― Dan Egan, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ― Henry David Thoreau

“A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.” ― William Wordsworth

When Tina invited me to delve into my photo archives for a look at something All Wet, I immediately thought of Lake Michigan.

This truly Great Lake is an old friend. I have visited its shores while living in Illinois and Wisconsin and while vacationing in Michigan and Indiana. I have been to the northernmost shore and the southernmost. It always impresses me with its size.

Four generations of my family have submerged themselves in its waters. I knew it as a playground when I was a little girl. I worked in a museum on its shores half a century later and came to know more of its power and importance. 

I find it unfathomable in every sense because there’s so much to know and imagine about its history, its living presence, and its intricate and moody details. I will leave you with a gallery of images to peak your curiosity. 

 

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: A River Runs Through It

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“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

The Wisconsin River runs through Rocky Arbor State Park

“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”
― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

The Green River flows through the Dinosaur National Monument campground

“We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.”
― David Brower

Gunnison River, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
― Heraclitus

Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness, Michigan

“For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.” ― Khalil Gibran

The Green River, Kentucky

“Daddy, won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River, where Paradise lay. Well, I’m sorry, my son, but you’re too late in asking. Mr. Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away.”
― John Prine

Wyalusing State Park, where the Mississippi and the Wisconsin Rivers meet

What does Nature teach us when we stand beside a river, ever flowing, ever changing, where life and death coexist in a dynamic dance?
Pay attention. We are one with the river. We can accept its flow. We can steer toward the depths. We do not conquer it. 

Thank you, Amy, for inviting us to contemplate and visualize rivers. They are great teachers. 

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Change Your Perspective

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“I believe everyone should have a broad picture of how the universe operates and our place in it. It is a basic human desire. And it also puts our worries in perspective.” ― Stephen Hawking

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” ― Steven Wright

“Distance lends enchantment to the view.” ― Mark Twain

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is — infinite.” ― William Blake

“Look at everything as though you are seeing it either for the first or last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Thank you, Patti, for challenging us this week to change our perspective as we photograph our subjects and for reminding us that Ansel Adams said,

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.”

 

 

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Treasure Hunt

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Today’s photo challenge from Tina is sort of a laundry list of prompts which includes:

  • Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall
  • Extra Credit Items:  An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image. 

Tina’s choice photos illustrate these beautifully, as usual.

Well, let’s see what’s in my Treasure Chest.

Gotta admit I treasure the photo above. It’s my son and his dog on the coast of Oregon, where I’ll be moving at the end of June. So, it’s an expressive portrait of my son at a seascape/mountain landscape with a dog. Do I get extra credit?

How about the picture above for a sunset over a mountain landscape? 

Expressive portrait with a musical instrument? 

Double rainbow. Check. 

Very cold waterfall. Check.

My favorite church photo.

And my favorite bird photo.

I do enjoy the treasures I have in my photo files. Thanks, Tina, for sending me on this hunt!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Narrow

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Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. – Matthew 7:13-14

The road that leads to destruction is paved with excess, with greed and growth. Its breadth permits the accumulation of possessions. The narrow road admits only the unburdened. 

Travelling the narrow road with steadfast feet and open eyes, you open yourself to the natural world around you, imposing few of your own devices on it. To learn from the path, from the trees, from the sky, is the beginning of wisdom. 

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. – Henry David Thoreau

Life is a narrow path. At last, only you can get through it. – Poolu

Thank you, Amy, for this week’s challenge. 

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: A Window with a View

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Amy of The World is a Book is the host for this week’s photo challenge. She writes: “This week, we invite you to explore ‘A Window With A View’. Share with us photos you’ve captured through windows.” Some of the views she shares on her post take my breath away!

In my part of the world, this is a typical January view. It’s good to be on the inside looking out!

The moving window of a car is a difficult opening through which to photograph, but I’ve seen some of the most spectacular sights through those windows. 

Telluride, Colorado

Near Hovenweep National Monument, Utah

Windows high above a vista provide a good frame for a landscape shot.

Wyalusing State Park, Wisconsin

From the spire of the Basilica on Holy Hill, Wisconsin

And sometimes, the view from the window is not as important as the contemplation within.

Whether you are inspired from within or without, may you have new windows of perspective in this New Year!

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Special Spot Shots

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This week, Ann-Christine gives us a tour of Diocletian’s Palace in Croatia and invites us to share our own Special Spot Shots. 

My special spot is not an exotic location far away. What makes it special is that I wake up to it every day, in every season, in all kinds of weather. It is a parcel of land measuring about 56 acres, including woodland, wetland, and prairie habitats. I rent a house here from my employer, the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation. Recently, it was opened to the public as the Joan M. Pick Nature Preserve. 

I have been extremely fortunate to have called this place my home for 3 years. I am planning to leave in another 6 months, and I know that I will miss its many facets and familiar charms. Here is a gallery of photos that I’ve taken of this property. 

The driveway and our front yard are both expansive, for sure.
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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Favorite Photos of 2019

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Favorite Photos of 2019 is Patti’s pick for the theme of this last Lens-Artists Photo Challenge of the year. She organized her eight top shots by category and included a ballot to collect votes for her readers’ favorites. Check out her excellent Challenge HERE.

 

I have selected 12 of my favorite photos from 2019 to make into a Retrospective Calendar. I have to admit that the photos were not necessarily taken in the month to which I assigned them for this gallery. What that means is that some months, I did not take any great photos…and in others I took more than one.

These photos all have special meaning for me, and I hope that you find them interesting for your own reasons. If you would care to comment about your favorites, that would really be uplifting to me. Thank you!

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
September
October
December


May 2020 provide you with at least 12 great shots and many more great memories!

 

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Creepy!

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This week, Ann Christine suggests that we share some CREEPY photos that will show something “causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or unease”. Some of her examples include spiders. I personally find arachnids fascinating and not unpleasant. I frequently share a shower with some of them. And they make great photo subjects:

Do any of you remember that Jim Stafford song, “I Don’t Like Spiders and Snakes”? Well, having picked on spiders as creepy, here’s a shot of a snake:

How about UFOs? That idea is pretty creepy. 

Here’s something that I personally find incredibly creepy, and it lives in my house. It’s a Jenny Haniver. Wikipedia will tell you: 

A Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray or a skate that has been modified by hand then dried, resulting in a mummified specimen intended to resemble a fanciful fictional creature, such as a demon or dragon.

So, what this tells me is that human beings fabricate “Creepy” to far more fearful extents than anything that exists in nature. 

I took the first four of these photos while walking around in the natural world. I find them perfectly peaceful and interesting. I am a bit creeped out by the Jenny Haniver, as were my children when they found it hidden in our microwave as a practical joke!

Fear is a very natural human response. It can be useful and kind of fun. But manipulating fear is a human activity that can cause great damage, confusion, and disaster. We must be very careful when we create creepiness.  

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Filling the Frame

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Patti is our host this week for the Lens-Artist photo challenge, and she posts a good tutorial on framing your shots so that the subject is treated with the importance it deserves. How does framing make a difference? Consider:

If this is a shot of two people engaged in conversation about the land, getting a lot of land in the picture might be important. But this also has a truck bumper, distant telephone poles, and other distractions. How about this? You still get the feeling that they’re working on the land, but now it’s about their interaction.

Photographing a monarch in its habitat can be scaled down to photographing a monarch at its food source. 

June

The petals of a fringed gentian make it distinct from other gentian varieties. Why not make that the focus of the photo?

And finally, even if giving a small portion of the subject a full frame might make the object unrecognizable, creating an abstract might make a better shot.

March

Experimenting with framing opens up new possibilities for making photos more dramatic. Thanks for the tip, Patti!