Tag Archives: WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge
Weekly Photo Challenge: Weathered
Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Feeling wordless and weathered myself, with a bad cold…but I’m not yet a ruin.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Growth
Growth can be experienced in many dimensions. All around are things that are growing deeper, broader, wider, higher, inward and outward. In this culture, though, a dominant expectation says that growth is “up and to the right” – as in a chart of profit over time. This single story spreads a kind of growth retardant in other areas. My focus has never been on increasing my wealth. I’ve had paying jobs at a nursing home, a summer camp, a school district, a children’s theater company, a few museums, and a land trust. Most of them are non-profit organizations that measure their success in benefits that are not easily quantified.
Surely, though, multi-dimensional growth can be captured in snapshots over time. There is always a beginning point…
…any number of midpoints…
…and some final outcomes. 
Whatever you are nurturing this year, be it a new skill…
…a deeper relationship…
…a broader viewpoint…
…or an inner journey,
I wish you joy in the process and peace and contentment in the end. May 2018 be a great year of growth for you! Cheers!
Weekly Photo Challenge: 2017 Favorites
My 2017 photo Favorites have to include those I took of my favorite son, who got married and asked me to do his wedding photo shoot. 
My other 2017 photo Favorites would be those I took while traveling and camping in 8 National Parks/Monuments with my favorite camping companion, Steve.
It’s been a very special photo year for me! To all you Photo-philes in the Northern Hemisphere, happy Winter Solstice – may you rejoice in the return of LIGHT!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Ascend
The example set for this challenge is exceptional. Please take a look at Krista’s post on WordPress.
I am thrilled when someone sets the bar high. “We can do better,” Steve often says, as a sort of mantra to a deeper call to “do no harm”. Here he is in Canyonlands National Park, just outside of Bears Ears National Monument. Can we ascend to higher thinking about how we treat wild places? 
The newest addition to the National Park system is Pinnacles National Park. What is our goal for protecting the natural beauty and balance of this place we call America? Have we reached that summit? Are we striving to ascend towards it?
“We can do better.” It doesn’t matter where you start. Ascend, and see how your perspective changes. 
Weekly Photo Challenge: Cheeky
My son got a marriage license. Then he asked me to do a wedding photo shoot. I am no professional photographer, but I would say that my professional opinion as a mom is that he is a bit…..cheeky.
Of course, I was delighted to grant his request!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Serene
“Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.” — author unknown
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” — Buddha
“Like water, we are truest to our nature in repose.” — Cyril Connolly
Weekly Photo Challenge: Transformation
“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature’s delight.” — Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor)
“I am the joy in change and movement.” – Steve Wiencek (Milwaukee guy)
Celebrating my place in Nature has long been my way to transcend losses and feel grounded. When my husband died, it was like my identity died with him. 
Transitioning to a new life was very difficult, but spending time pursuing my hobby, photographing the changes in nature, certainly opened my eyes to new life all around, even in unexpected places.
Mayapple
Change is the characteristic of Life. Everything is transformed, even sadness, loss and fear. There is always something new, in a new state of being, to discover. In my case, I discovered Steve, in the state of Wisconsin. 
Weekly Photo Challenge: Experimental
When my son asked me to do a photo shoot with his fiancee, and casually mentioned that they had already gotten the marriage license, I was (1) elated and (2) terrified that I would disappoint them. Without a ceremony, the photo shoot was likely to be the most public and enduring record of this important milestone. I wanted it to be very special. And I was totally unqualified. I have never done portrait photography. This was one grand experiment – and turned out to be a ton of fun and very successful by all opinions gathered. Whew!
To start, I practiced trying out portrait settings. I knew we’d be outdoors. I live on 56 acres of conservation property, so my front yard was a great stage. My test subject was Jimmy Bear, appropriately clad in his concert tuxedo. He made a fine and very patient groom, but he’s a little short. My music stand gave him a boost.
I learned a lot about fill-in flash, back lighting and bokeh. The wedding entourage of 7 people helped with carrying in props and equipment and providing support of all kinds…and were great photo subjects as family. Here are a few of my favorite results of this joyful experiment.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Temporary
This is my absolute favorite time of year. Fall colors resonate deeply with me, and I feel like I belong on this tapestry. Browns and golds and greens reflect in my eyes, red and burgundy flow in my veins. I always feel a little sad as the season begins. I feel even sadder as it ends. There’s something about this heroic explosion of color as the world marches slowly toward winter that makes me feel triumphant and nostalgic to the point of tears. This moment is temporary, but it holds the seeds of eternity and the losses of the past in its grip. It is a complex and fleeting experience, a poignant mood that sweeps by like a leaf on the wind.
scillagrace 